Deadline: 12 June, 2013
Open to: to NGOs from Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, The Pacific region
Grants: 7 grants of up to $140,000 each
Description
The GSMA mWomen Programme is pleased to announce the launch of the first round of Innovation Fund grants for NGOs. Please note that the term “NGOs” includes for-profit social enterprises which have a strong focus on delivering social impact. This round comprises three grants, valued up to US$ 140,000 for projects up to ten months long.
The goal of the GSMA mWomen Programme is to promote greater mobile access and usage by resource-poor women in low- and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East, and Asia Pacific1. The programme does so by encouraging industry to serve women, increasing availability of life-enhancing value-added services and promoting solutions to women’s technical and cultural barriers to adoption.
Objectives
The GSMA mWomen Innovation Fund for NGOs aims to provide funding to NGOs in order to:
- Accelerate the use of mobile technology to achieve development-related goals, specifically the empowerment of resource-poor women
- Provide solutions to the barriers to women’s adoption and use of mobile phones and value-added services (“VAS”)
- Generate lessons and models of success which can be shared with the wider development community, as well as mobile operators
- Stimulate productive partnerships between NGOs and mobile operators in order to achieve these objectives at scale.
Eligibility
This grant stream is open to NGOs (including for-profit social enterprises) operating in the geographic regions outlined below.
NGOs are required to partner with a mobile operator in order to distribute the offering on a large scale. NGOs may have additional strategic partners for this project, where helpful. Please note that the grant funds will be received in full by the applying NGO.
The Fund will support projects in low- and middle-income countries in:
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- North Africa and Middle East
- South and Southeast Asia
- The Pacific region
While projects from any low- and middle-income country in these regions are eligible and competitive for the grants, during the selection process, amongst top candidates, preference may be given to projects from the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda and the Pacific Islands of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Grants
A total of $1,000,000 is available for grants to NGOs, enabling a total of 7 grants of up to $140,000 each.
How to apply
A two-step application process is as follows:
Concept note stage: NGOs first submit a three-page concept note to describe their current activities, the specific project objectives, definition of success, high-level approach, anticipated deliverables and outcomes, internal participants and external partners. The Fund Manager reviews concept notes to invite applications based on alignment with Fund objectives and fulfilment of project and organization eligibility requirements. A successful concept note does not imply that the subsequent application will be funded.
The concept note is available here
Please send the completed Concept Note to the Grant Manager and Fund Administrator at mWomengrants@gsma.com.
Application stage: In this stage, applicants prepare a 10-page application including greater detail on the proposed project, approach, budget, key performance indicators and internal governance process for the project, both for the duration of the funding period and beyond. These applications are then reviewed by a Selection Panel which awards grants to to those best positioned to deliver on the Fund objectives.
Key dates
Concept notes due: Wednesday, 12th June 2013
Invitations to submit applications distributed: Friday, 21st June, 2013
Applications due: Friday, 16th August, 2013
Grant awards announced to applicants mid-September 2013
Grant agreements signed: early October 2013
Please refer to the Innovation Fund for NGOs term sheet and the Grants Overview for more details. Don’t hesitate to contact the team at mWomengrants@gsma.com with any questions and/or to enquire about support during the application process.
