Empowering Grassroots Movements: Apply Now for the AWDF Siza Grant
Supporting Feminist Movements and Women’s Rights in Times of Crisis
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a pioneering feminist grantmaking establishment that has, for over 20 years, championed the empowerment of African ladies and the strengthening of feminist actions throughout the continent. Guided by its visionary ten-year strategic framework (2023–2033), AWDF stays steadfast in resourcing and accompanying African ladies’s rights organisations, feminist collectives, and gender-diverse actions to steer transformative social justice work.
AWDF’s technique is firmly rooted in intersectional feminism, movement-building, and collective care. It prioritises long-term, versatile assist to initiatives which are usually excluded from conventional donor landscapes—particularly these deemed “too risky,” unregistered, or too nascent. The Fund recognises the intense pressure on feminist actions brought on by political instability, international financial shifts, and cuts in funding from each non-public and public sectors. In response to those challenges, AWDF is actively mobilising sources to maintain the important work being completed by ladies, women, and gender-diverse individuals all through Africa.
One of the cornerstone alternatives in AWDF’s newest Call for Proposals (Cycle 55) is the Siza Grant—an important funding stream designed to assist grassroots and community-based responses to disaster and battle.
What is the Siza Grant?
Named after the Zulu phrase “Siza,” that means “assistance” or “help,” the Siza Grant displays the rules of collective care, group resilience, and feminist solidarity. This disaster response grant offers versatile, rapid-response funding to small, usually unregistered or nascent teams which are working immediately in communities impacted by disaster or battle.
Importantly, AWDF defines battle expansively. It contains not solely contexts of formal civil conflict or navy strife but in addition “forgotten” and under-acknowledged battle zones—areas the place systemic violence, displacement, financial marginalisation, or gender-based oppression have rendered on a regular basis life deeply precarious for ladies, women, and gender-diverse people.
The Siza Grant is meant to useful resource actions earlier than, throughout, and after disaster occasions, enabling feminist actors on the floor to reply with agility, care, and sustainability.
Who Should Apply?
The Siza Grant is tailor-made for:
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Nascent or small grassroots organisations
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Unregistered teams and networks
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Groups and collectives led by African ladies, women, and gender-diverse individuals
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Organisations primarily based in communities throughout all African areas that meet the described conflict-affected standards
Special consideration shall be given to teams that deal with:
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Women’s well being and reproductive justice
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Femicide and home violence
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Sexual violence and exploitation
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Peacebuilding, trauma therapeutic, and ladies’s roles in battle decision
By offering these often-overlooked actors with monetary assist, AWDF ensures that feminist and community-based options to disaster will not be solely heard however amplified and sustained.
Funding Details
Successful candidates to the Siza Grant can obtain as much as USD 15,000 per 12 months for a interval of two years—totaling a most grant quantity of USD 30,000. This two-year funding construction permits teams to have interaction in sustained work that goes past rapid response and helps long-term therapeutic, rebuilding, and empowerment.
The grant is versatile in nature, giving recipients the autonomy to direct funds the place they’re most wanted, be it for group mobilisation, emergency interventions, capacity-building, or restoration assist.
How to Apply
To apply for the Siza Grant, teams ought to comply with these steps:
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Visit the application portal by way of the official AWDF website.
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On the first web page, choose your most well-liked language and select “Emergency/Responsive Grant.”
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On web page 13 of the application, when requested, “What are you requesting support for?” choose “Siza Grant” from the dropdown menu.
The application deadline is twenty seventh May 2025 at 11:59 PM GMT. All purposes have to be submitted by this date to be thought of for funding below this cycle.
A Call to Action for Feminist Resilience
In a world the place crises disproportionately influence ladies, women, and gender-diverse individuals, the AWDF Siza Grant offers not simply monetary assist—however recognition, affirmation, and a platform for grassroots-led transformation. If your group is doing the brave work of defending rights, therapeutic communities, and advancing feminist justice amid battle, this grant is for you.
Opportunities For Youth encourages eligible organisations to grab this opportunity and apply. Let’s assist each other in constructing a world the place feminist responses to disaster are resourced, revered, and resilient.
For extra info, please [click here].
For extra alternatives, please go to Opportunities For Youth.
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Empowering Grassroots Movements: Apply Now for the AWDF Siza Grant
