Call for projects launched in MOROCCO, BENIN and TOGO

With FAME, feminist organizations have the means to mobilize even more for an economic, ecological and inclusive transition!

Feminist civil society organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean are sorely lacking in funding, despite their major contribution to economic development and gender equality. Feminist CSOs are key players in the ecological and inclusive economic transition. Yet, often constituted as small associations defending sometimes controversial values, it is difficult for them to access funding.

Identify barriers to access to funds and propose a flexible, innovative mechanism

What precisely are the obstacles they face, and how can they be overcome ? Based on bibliographical research and a mapping of the organizations concerned, the FAME project teams conducted a survey of over 250 organizations in the various project countries, in order to gain a better understanding of what was actually preventing feminist associations from accessing funds, and to develop a mechanism to meet these challenges. In a nutshell, here’s what organizations need, and how FAME is responding:

• CSOs have structuring, operating and internal capacity-building needs that are often not sufficiently taken into account in conventional funding. FAME proposes not to set limits on these costs in the grants awarded to CSOs.
• CSOs want less competition between themselves: it’s difficult for a small association or cooperative to obtain funding if it’s in competition with an organization that’s much more professionalized and experienced in this field, and the time spent writing a project is all the more onerous for a small association as it doesn’t have a dedicated employee. FAME is proposing a restricted call for projects in order to reduce competition and give priority to the organizations furthest away from funding.
• CSOs are often blocked by administrative or experience criteria, and can’t get started because they are required to provide documents they don’t have. FAME proposes greater flexibility in the eligibility of organizations, as well as  small amounts of revolving grants, so that CSOs      can gradually build their capacity      to manage funds .
• CSOs often find forms and reports too complex: FAME makes its team available to support CSOs at every stage of the project, from writing to reporting, in project management as well as administrative and financial matters.

The launch of calls for projects implemented by Geres in Togo, Benin and Morocco

In each country, some twenty  organizations meeting the eligibility criteria for the intermediated funds were invited to participate in the first call for projects. Geres implements windows 1 ( Economic Development) and 2 (Capacity Building) in Morocco, Benin and Togo, where it is represented locally . The first launch took place in Lomé on Wednesday October 16, for 20 Togolese CSOs, in the presence of representatives from the Gulf prefecture and Lomé town hall. On Friday October 18, 19 pre-selected Beninese      CSOs were invited to the launch in Cotonou, in the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Maison des Associations and the French Embassy in Benin. Finally, the call for projects was launched in Morocco in the form of a webinar held on Tuesday, October 22. Nine associations and two cooperatives from several regions took part, along with partners including Agence Française de Développement (AFD), CARE Maroc, GIZ, Agence Marocaine pour l’Efficacité Energétique (AMEE) and Institution Marocaine d’Appui à la Micro-Entreprise (INMAA). In all three countries, the event was an opportunity to present Geres and its commitment to a just energy transition and climate solidarity for all, both in France and internationally. The FAME project team, also      reminded  the crucial link between women’s economic empowerment and the challenges of ecological transition. In each country, the speakers introduced the specific context of the challenges for gender equality, particularly in the economic sphere.

During the meetings, each participating organization was able to introduce itself and talk about its objectives. A wide variety of organizations was represented : women defending the rights of women with disabilities, incarcerated women, girl-mothers or girls in care, cooperatives seeking innovative solutions to combine economic empowerment and climate transition, as well as associations involved in vocational training, capacity-building and women’s leadership, awareness-raising and advocacy.

Financing options available under the AMI scheme

These events provided an opportunity to present in detail the guidelines for the call for expressions of interest, and to provide CSOs with the necessary information on the proposed funding windows and the application procedure. For this first launch, organizations will have the opportunity to apply to the following windows:

1. Window 1 “Development and strengthening of economic activities”. It is open to economic structures to strengthen their activities (cooperatives, groups or networks of women entrepreneurs involved in income-generating activities, value chains, economic sectors) or to non-profit organizations wishing to support economic initiatives for the economic empowerment of women.
2. Window 2 “Capacity building, organizational growth and non-profit projects” is reserved for associative structures working primarily for gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. It aims to support their capacity building in associative matters, to ensure their sustainability (equipment, operations, HR…) and/or to support them in the implementation of non-profit projects for economic emancipation (training, workshops, awareness-raising, conferences, round tables…).In addition to the counters, the FAME project plans to organize training and awareness-raising workshops open to more feminist CSOs. A collaborative digital platform hosting a community of learning and practice and an online capacity-building offer will also be made available to stakeholders working for women’s economic empowerment. Next steps : Organizations eligible to apply for this first call are currently preparing their applications, with the support of our field teams. Selected CSOs will be able to receive funding as early as the ^1st quarter of 2025. A   third window, “Collective actions in favor of an ecological and inclusive economic transition”, will support advocacy or mobilization projects led by collectives of organizations, at national or regional level. This window will open in 2025, and will be implemented by WACSI, the West African Civil Society Institute. Calls for projects are also being launched   in Asia and Latin America-Caribbean. The restricted calls for expressions of interest will be repeated several times until 2027   , to enable other CSOs to benefit from funding and thus develop their structures. Ultimately, the FAME project should be able to help over 100 project leaders in the ten countries.