AUDA-NEPAD Call for Proposals: Up to EUR 120,000 Grants for Creating Opportunities for Youth and Women in Africa (COYWA)

The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), in partnership with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), has launched a Call for Proposals for the Creating Opportunities for Youth and Women in Africa (COYWA) Programme. This funding initiative goals to strengthen youth and girls’s socio-economic empowerment, advance gender equality, and promote inclusive growth throughout the African continent.

This alternative is open to civil society organizations, women-led and youth-led enterprises, and public establishments working to enhance livelihoods, construct management capability, and help gender and youth-focused growth.

The African Union Development Agency–NEPAD is the continental growth company of the African Union. Its mandate contains coordinating and implementing regional and continental growth priorities, supporting member states with advisory companies and capability growth, and advancing useful resource mobilization efforts. AUDA-NEPAD performs a key function in driving Agenda 2063, selling regional integration, and strengthening Africa’s growth establishments.

The COYWA Programme builds on the long-standing partnership between AUDA-NEPAD and the Government of Spain by means of AECID. The initiative straight helps the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (significantly SDG 5 on gender equality) and Agenda 2063 Goals 17 and 18, which concentrate on gender equality, youth empowerment, and kids’s rights.

COYWA was established to sort out socio-economic and gender inequalities by offering focused help to youth and girls. The programme addresses challenges equivalent to restricted entry to vocational coaching, monetary assets, entrepreneurship alternatives, digital applied sciences, and sexual and reproductive well being companies.

The Call for Proposals seeks to establish and help organizations working to:

• Advance socio-economic inclusion of youth and girls
• Promote transformative management in politics, enterprise, and neighborhood growth
• Strengthen Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
• Expand alternatives for youth and girls to take part in native and nationwide growth

Funded tasks ought to contribute to long-term empowerment and improved gender equality outcomes.

Projects submitted underneath this name ought to contribute to a number of of the next areas:

• Economic empowerment and monetary inclusion, together with vocational coaching, enterprise incubation, and social safety
• Technology and digital inclusion for youth, girls, and women
• Health, diet, and SRHR companies that enhance well-being and bodily autonomy
• Prevention and response to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), with emphasis on neighborhood engagement and authorized safety
• Leadership growth for youth, girls, and women in any respect ranges of decision-making
• Strengthening human safety in humanitarian motion, migration, and climate-related interventions
• Capacity-building for establishments implementing gender equality commitments
• Improving voice and company of youth, girls, and women in public and non-public areas

Projects supported by means of COYWA are anticipated to ship:

• Matching grants to strengthen women-led companies and enterprise incubation facilities
• Increased entry to market-oriented vocational coaching for youth and girls
• Expanded digital entry and funding for gender-responsive tech options
• Improved SRHR companies and well being outcomes for girls and women
• Reduced ranges of gender-based violence and stronger neighborhood safety methods
• Stronger institutional mechanisms for gender governance
• Greater participation of ladies and youth in management and peace processes
• Increased voice, company, and participation in neighborhood and public decision-making

The COYWA Programme goals to enhance the capacities, autonomy, and livelihoods of African girls and youth, ensuing in better financial independence, stronger management, and enhanced contribution to neighborhood growth.

• Total out there funding: EUR 1,800,000
• Maximum quantity per Regional Economic Community (REC): EUR 360,000
• Maximum grant per applicant: EUR 120,000
• Minimum grant: EUR 0 (ideas might suggest smaller-scale interventions)
• Project length: Up to 24 months
• Eligible RECs: EAC, COMESA, SADC, ECOWAS, ECCAS

Each applicant might obtain just one grant underneath this name.

To qualify, candidates should meet the next necessities:

• Be legally registered in an African Union Member State
• Be a civil society group, youth-led enterprise, women-led enterprise, cooperative, or related public establishment
• Have a minimum of two years of operational expertise
• Demonstrate related experience in youth empowerment, girls’s empowerment, SRHR, GBV, management, livelihoods, or associated fields
• Have the monetary and operational capability to handle venture funds
• Commit to gender equality and inclusive growth
• Be straight accountable for venture implementation

Applicants might apply individually or with companions. Associates might take part however can’t obtain grant funding besides for journey or per diem. Subcontractors should comply with AUDA-NEPAD procurement guidelines.

Eligible actions embrace initiatives that help youth and girls in socio-economic empowerment, management, digital inclusion, well being and SRHR, GBV prevention, and neighborhood growth.

Ineligible actions embrace:

• Debt repayments
• Interest funds
• Activities already funded by one other donor
• Purchases of land or buildings
• Currency alternate losses
• Recoverable taxes equivalent to VAT

Applicants should submit the next paperwork:

• Official signed letter of curiosity
• Concept Note
• Completed Grant Application Form
• Detailed Workplan aligned with programme goals
• Detailed Budget following AUDA-NEPAD’s templates
• Legal registration paperwork
• Audited monetary statements for the final two years
• Optional: Letters of help from companions or native authorities

Documents have to be submitted in PDF or one other digital format.

Applications have to be despatched by e-mail to:

grants-subdelegation@nepad.org

Copied to:
kudzaiishem@nepad.org
angelm@nepad.org
vincentm@nepad.org

Deadline: 30 November 2025, 17:00 (South African Time)

Late or incomplete submissions danger being excluded from analysis.

Questions regarding the name could also be submitted by e-mail no later than 15 days earlier than the application deadline. Responses shall be made out there no later than 10 days earlier than the deadline to guarantee equal remedy of all candidates.

Applications shall be evaluated primarily based on standards outlined in the official Guidelines for Applicants. Evaluation will emphasize relevance, influence, feasibility, worth for cash, and alignment with programme goals.

AUDA-NEPAD follows strict knowledge safety guidelines underneath continental and organizational insurance policies. Personal knowledge will solely be used for proposal analysis and programme implementation and shall be stored confidential for the mandatory interval. False or deceptive info will outcome in disqualification.

Annex A1 Grant Application Checklist.docx

Annex A2 Concept Note Application Form.docx

Annex A2 Grant Application Form.docx

Annex B Projected Grant Budget.xlsx

Annex C Projected Costed Workplan.xlsx

Annex D Declaration of Undertaking.docx

Call for Proposal COYWA – ENG.pdf

GRANTS APPLICATION GUIDELINES – ENG_compressed (1).pdf

Annex A1 Liste de vérification de la demande.docx

Annex A2 formulaire de demande de note conceptuelle.docx

Annex A2 Formulaire de demande de subventionsous-délégation.docx

Annex D Déclaration d’engagement.docx