UN Women will provide funding through Women and Youth Democratic Engagement (WYDE) – Women’s Leadership Initiative, which is a multistakeholder initiative, including the European Union, UN Women, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).
This Call for Proposals is the funding under WYDE | Women’s Leadership for civil society and women’s rights organizations.
In the scope of this Call, The WYDE | Women’s Leadership Initiative aims to advance women’s full and effective political participation and decision-making at global, regional, and local levels.
Based on expertise in the specific context of civil society and women’s rights organizations, applications may focus on strategies including the following:
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Building women’s political leadership capacity
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Mentorship for emerging leaders
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Leverage convening powers for social norms change
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Bolster feminist movement building
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Increasing women’s political leadership
Underpinning this work is the goal to ensure that women are perceived as equally legitimate political actors as men in decision-making processes and institutions.
The deadline of the proposal is specified not later than 23:59 EDT (NY Time) on 10 November 2025.
Funding is available for a period of 12 – 22-month projects for a budget between a minimum $45,000 and a maximum $150,000.
The lead organization may aim to engage sub-partners to build the capacity of and support a consortium of organizations. At this point, we encourage our members, as local and regional governments, to participate in the Call as sub-partners to empower women’s political participation at the local level.
Proponents (CSOs) must meet all mandatory requirements/pre-qualification criteria as set out in Annex B-1 (from page 9). Additionally, they must provide the Annex B-2 Template for Proposal Submission, Annex B-3 Format of Resume for Proposed Personnel, and Annex B-4 Capacity Assessment Minimum Documents.
For details, please check the proposal document. For any further inquiries, requests for clarification are available via email wyde@unwomen.org from 20 October 2025 to 27 October.