CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Investing in Women’s Rights Organizations and Networks in Africa
| Call released | Wednesday, July 1, 2026 |
| Information session | Wednesday, July 8, 2026 (online) |
| Submission deadline | Wednesday, August 12, 2026 (30 working days) |
| Grant range and Implementation period | USD 35,000 – USD 200,000 | 24 – 30 months |
About Urgent Action Fund – Africa
Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF-Africa) is a feminist, pan-African rapid-response Fund committed to transforming power relations by resourcing African Women Human Rights Leaders and Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs), as an act of solidarity. We are part of the broader ecosystem of feminist and women’s rights movements across Africa and globally.
Recognizing the need to move resources rapidly on a continent where opportunities and threats arise and decline quickly, UAF-Africa uses a rapid response grantmaking mechanism to support unanticipated, time-sensitive, innovative, and unique initiatives that promote women’s agency in democratic governance, economic, environmental and climate justice, natural resources governance, and conflict transformation while protecting their personhood, integrity, and rights.
Our work is grounded in trust-based philanthropy and a commitment to supporting organizations closest to communities experiencing injustice, recognizing them as key drivers of transformative change.
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About this Call for Proposals
This Call for Proposals (CfP) is designed to strengthen AWHRDs, (WROs), and their networks working to advance democracy, human rights, gender justice, and inclusive civic participation across Africa. Through this Call, UAF-Africa will provide strategic grant support to organizations operating in complex contexts characterized by multiple and interconnected crises that continue to shape the lives, safety, and organizing spaces of women and marginalized communities.
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Context
Across Africa, feminist organizing is taking place within a complex and evolving social, political, economic, and environmental landscape. Women’s rights organizations (WROs) are navigating interconnected pressures, including regulatory changes, insecurity, economic strain, climate impacts, and shifting public discourse on gender equality. These dynamics often reinforce existing inequalities and disproportionately affect women, girls, and marginalized communities.
In many contexts, civil society operates within increasingly demanding legal and administrative environments that shape how organizations engage, mobilize resources, and work with communities. Women human rights leaders may face increased risks, including online harassment, reputational pressure, and threats to their safety and wellbeing.
At the same time, public debates on gender equality and rights remain highly contested, influenced by a range of social, cultural, and political perspectives. Despite these challenges, women’s rights organizations continue to play a key role in supporting communities, advancing inclusive dialogue, and contributing to locally led solutions.
Ongoing conflict, humanitarian crises, and economic pressures further strain these efforts, with women and girls often bearing the greatest impact. Many organizations respond with community-based support, protection services, and advocacy, often with limited and short-term resources.
Despite these constraints, WROs in Africa continue to demonstrate resilience and leadership by strengthening community solidarity and advancing initiatives that promote inclusion, wellbeing, and long-term social change.
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Purpose and Objectives
The call for proposals seeks to strengthen African WROs as essential actors in advancing democracy, protecting human rights, promoting gender equality, and transforming unequal power relations. Recognizing that WHRDs and WROs operate within increasingly complex and rapidly changing political environments, the Fund aims to provide flexible and strategic support that enables organizations to respond to immediate crises while strengthening their long-term institutional resilience, collective power, and influence.
Rather than supporting isolated projects, the Fund invests in WROs as agents of structural change. It seeks to strengthen their ability to organize, protect communities, influence public policy, generate feminist knowledge, build alliances, and create sustainable pathways towards more inclusive, democratic, and gender-just societies.
Through flexible grantmaking and accompaniment, this call seeks to strengthen both the immediate responsiveness and the long-term sustainability of WHRDs and WROs across the 10 targeted countries in Africa.
4.1 Overall Objective
The overall objective of this call is to contribute to an enabling environment for AWHRDs, WROs and networks to sustain their activism, strengthen their institutional resilience, improve their collective wellbeing, and advance women’s rights, gender justice and democratic participation within the ten target countries .
The Fund will therefore resource areas that strengthen the capacity, collective power, and influence of WROs and networks. These investments are expected to contribute to the following results:
4.2 Expected Results
Result 1: Strengthened Institutional Resilience and Capacity
WHRDs and WROs have increased access to flexible financial resources and accompaniment that enable them to rapidly respond to multilayered crises, shrinking civic space, conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and emerging opportunities, while simultaneously strengthening their institutional capacities, organizational resilience, security and long-term sustainability.
Result 2: Stronger Collective Action for Democratic Governance and Gender Justice
WHRDs, WROs, and networks work more collectively and effectively to advance democracy, protect civic space, promote human rights, influence public policy, and counter the growing backlash against gender equality, women’s rights and the rights of marginalized communities.
Result 3: Stronger Feminist Knowledge, Philanthropic Influence and Learning
WROs strengthen the production and dissemination of knowledge, evidence, and learning that inform advocacy, influence philanthropy and public policy, strengthen movement-building, and contribute to more effective responses to civic space restrictions, human rights violations, and threats facing AWHRDs.
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Thematic Focus Areas
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The Fund is inviting AWHRDs, WROs, and networks in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to submit proposals that respond to one or more of the strategic priority areas outlined below.
Priority Area 1: Strengthening Democratic Governance, Peace, and Inclusive Civic Engagement
Under this priority area, the Fund invites proposals that strengthen feminist leadership and collective action to defend democratic participation, protect civic space and contribute to more inclusive, peaceful and accountable societies. This includes, but is not limited to, initiatives that promote women’s leadership in democratic, governance and peacebuilding processes; protect fundamental freedoms such as freedom of association, expression and peaceful assembly; strengthen community-led peacebuilding, conflict prevention and social cohesion; advance legal and policy advocacy to strengthen democratic governance and accountability; establish or reinforce protection mechanisms and rapid response systems for WHRDs operating in restrictive environments; and build feminist coalitions capable of responding collectively to democratic regression, conflict and political crises.
Priority Area 2: Advancing Gendered Human Rights, Rule of Law, and Justice
Under this priority area, the Fund invites proposals that advance gender-responsive justice, strengthen accountability, promote the rule of law and protect the rights of women, girls and marginalized communities. The Fund is particularly interested in initiatives that strengthen legal empowerment and community-based access to justice; undertake strategic litigation and legal advocacy; monitor, document and report human rights violations; advocate for legal and policy reforms that promote gender equality and non-discrimination; strengthen community accountability mechanisms that improve implementation of existing legal protections; protect the rights of marginalized groups, including rural women, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, displaced women and minority communities; and address discriminatory laws, institutional practices and structural barriers that perpetuate gender inequality.
Priority Area 3: Advancing Bodily Autonomy and Fighting Gender-Based Violence and Anti-Rights Backlash
Under this priority area, the Fund invites proposals that address both the immediate manifestations and the structural drivers of gender-based violence, discrimination and anti-rights backlash. This may include initiatives that prevent and respond to all forms of gender-based violence; promote and protect sexual and reproductive health and rights; counter anti-rights narratives and organized backlash against gender equality and bodily autonomy; mobilize communities to transform harmful gender norms and unequal power relations; protect and accompany women human rights defenders and activists working on SRHR, gender minority rights and gender justice; advocate against violence targeting women and marginalized communities; and strengthen survivor-centered support systems.
Priority Area 4: Feminist Knowledge Generation and Documentation
Under this priority area, the Fund invites proposals that generate, document and amplify feminist knowledge while strengthening learning, advocacy and movement infrastructure. The Fund welcomes initiatives that undertake feminist research and community-led knowledge production; document human rights violations, and civic space restrictions; produce policy
briefs, advocacy papers and other evidence-based knowledge products; develop storytelling, digital archives and feminist memory initiatives; facilitates knowledge-sharing platforms, communities of practice and learning exchanges; monitor emerging political, legal and social trends affecting women and marginalized communities; and develop innovative approaches to communicating feminist evidence to policymakers, donors, the media and wider audiences.
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Additional Support Provided to Grantee Partners
6.1 Accompaniment Support
The Fund recognizes that flexible funding alone is often insufficient to enable WROs to thrive in increasingly complex operating environments. Beyond financial support, the Fund adopts a feminist accompaniment approach that seeks to strengthen organizations, foster learning, and support movement resilience before, during and beyond the grant period. Rather than focusing solely on compliance, accompaniment is grounded in trust, mutual learning, responsiveness, and long-term relationship building.
6.2 Organizational Capacity Strengthening
As part of the grant inception process, all successful grantee partners will participate in an Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) . The OCA is a participatory process that enables organizations to reflect on their institutional strengths, identify areas for growth, and develop a tailored organizational strengthening plan for their specific needs and context.
The assessment may cover areas such as governance and leadership, financial management, safeguarding, organizational systems and policies, strategic planning, resource mobilization, monitoring, evaluation and learning, communications, digital and holistic security, as well as movement-building and partnership development. The purpose of the OCA is not to assess eligibility, but to identify opportunities for strengthening organizational resilience and long-term sustainability.
Recognizing that strong organizations are fundamental to effective feminist organizing, all grantee partners are expected to allocate up to 10% of the total grant budget to organizational capacity strengthening . Depending on each organization’s priorities, this allocation may support the development or strengthening of organizational systems, policies, governance structures, financial and administrative capacities, safeguarding mechanisms, digital security, staff development, strategic planning, learning systems, resource mobilization, or other institutional priorities identified through the OCA process.
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Grant Parameters
7.1 Grant Duration
The Fund will award grants with an implementation period of 24 to 30 months . Successful applicants may begin implementation as early as September 2026 , and all grant funded activities must be completed no later than February 2029 .
7.2 Funding Windows
Applicants should apply for the window that best reflects the scope, scale, and objectives of their proposed initiative.
| Funding windows | Purpose | Funding Ceiling |
| Window 1 – Strategic Action Grants | Designed for individual organizations implementing initiatives under a single priority area (excluding window 4) | USD 35,000–50,000 |
| Window 2 – Integrated Feminist Action Grants | Designed for organizations implementing integrated initiatives that respond to two or more strategic priority areas through interconnected interventions. | Up to USD 150,000 |
| Window 3 – Collective Power and Alliance Grants | Designed for coalitions, networks, alliances and consortia implementing joint initiatives that leverage complementary expertise, strengthen movement-building and generate collective impact across one or more priority areas and/or countries.
Joint applications should be submitted by the consortium lead and should clearly outline each CSO’s role, interventions and individual budget costs. |
Up to USD 200,000 |
| Window 4 – Feminist Knowledge and Documentation | Dedicated grants supporting feminist research, gendered documentation, knowledge production, storytelling and evidence generation that strengthen feminist advocacy, learning and movement infrastructure. | Up to USD 105,000 |
Please note: Administrative costs must not exceed 20% of the total grant budget . Eligible administrative costs may include personnel costs directly supporting project implementation, office operations, utilities, office supplies, communication and internet, financial management, audit fees, bank charges, and other reasonable organizational overheads required for the effective implementation and management of the grant. All administrative costs should be adequately justified and directly related to the implementation of the proposed project.
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Eligibility Criteria
This call for proposals is designed to support AWHRDs, WROs, and networks advancing gender justice, human rights, and democratic participation across the 10 target countries listed in section 5. We will prioritize locally rooted AWHRDs and WROs working to challenge structural inequalities, transform discriminatory social norms, and advance the rights of women and marginalized communities through collective action and systems change.
8.1 Who Can Apply
- Women’s rights organizations, women-led organizations, feminist associations, networks, alliances and cooperatives.
- Registered groups with the capacity to manage a grant, ie established governance structure, internal control mechanisms, and a bank account.
- Women’s rights organizations based in Africa and implementing activities in one or more of the ten focus countries listed in Section 5.
- Women’s rights organizations whose primary mission and activities directly relate to advancing women’s rights and gender justice in Africa.
- Women’s rights organizations with a proven track record of meaningful impact in one or more of the thematic areas: Democracy and Civic Engagement, Human Rights, GBV, SRHR, or Feminist Knowledge Documentation.
- Women’s rights organizations that work with and center structurally excluded women, including young women and girls, women with disabilities, Indigenous women, women in conflict and crisis settings, and other structurally excluded women.
- Organizations that meet UAF-Africa’s requirements in terms of due diligence, reputation and integrity.
- Consortia of eligible organizations, applying through a designated lead applicant.
8.2 Who Cannot Apply (Ineligible Applicants)
- Individuals applying in a personal capacity (these call funds organizations, networks, alliances, cooperatives and consortia).
- Proposals falling outside the thematic areas or the focus countries set out in this call.
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Application, Review, Evaluation and Selection
Eligible organizations that wish to apply for a grant are invited to submit a proposal under the funding window that best aligns with the objectives and scope of their proposed initiative.
To apply, applicants should complete and submit the following documents in English or French :
- Completed Grant Application Form
- Completed Budget Template
Additional supporting documentation may be requested during the due diligence process.
9.1 Submission of Applications
Completed application packages must be submitted electronically to grants@uaf-africa.org no later than 12 August 2026 .
The email subject line should clearly indicate: Moto Moto: Call for Proposals – [Name of Applicant Organization]
9.2 Selection Criteria
Proposals that pass initial screening will be assessed using a structured scoring sheet covering:
- Eligibility and alignment: The applicant and proposal meet the eligibility criteria and align with UAF-Africa’s vision, the thematic focus and the focus countries.
- Relevance and need: The proposal responds to a clearly articulated problem and context, as well as to the lived realities of the women and communities it serves.
- Technical quality: The coherence of objectives, activities, expected results and work plan; feasibility within the proposed period.
- Diversity and inclusion: The extent to which the proposal centers and reaches structurally excluded and at risk groups of women.
- Organizational capacity: The applicant’s (or consortium’s) ability to manage and account for the grant, including governance and financial systems.
- Budget: A realistic, justified and value-for-money budget consistent with the proposed activities and the grant parameters.
Upon successful submission, applicants will receive an acknowledgment of receipt. Only complete applications received by the submission deadline will be considered for assessment.
9.3 Due Diligence
By applying, organizations agree to be subject to due diligence. Applicants, including the legal representative, managers, Board members and any private contributors, must not appear on UN, EU or other relevant sanctions lists and must be screened through the Fund’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) system. Additional checks may include verification of registration and governance documents, media searches, financial consistency analysis and reference checks. No grant agreement will be signed until all due diligence checks are completed.
- 10. Key Dates
| Milestone | Date |
| Call for Proposals released
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Wednesday, July 1, 2026 |
| Online information session
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Wednesday, July 8, 2026 |
| Submission deadline (30 working days)
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Wednesday, August 12, 2026 |
| Anticipated award notification | From September/October 2026 (following review and due diligence) |
10.1 Online Webinar/Information Session
All CSOs that receive the Call for Proposals are encouraged to participate in the online webinar scheduled for 8 July 2026, which will provide information about the Call for Proposals and offer CSOs the opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification.
Practical Information
When: 8 July at 12pm EAT, 10am WAT and 9am GMT
Where: Zoom link ( https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AHYa8e9ISjCNO6tF2yBaQQ
Languages: English and French
