African Women's Development Fund

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OVERVIEW: The African Women’s Development Fund makes grants to women’s organizations throughout Africa and, occasionally, in the Middle East. Grantmaking focuses on health, economic development, justice, leadership and civic participation.

IP TAKE: The African Women’s Development Fund is an accessible funder that focuses on African and Middle Eastern women’s groups that are unlikely to secure funding from other sources.

This is a multi-year grantmaker that makes it difficult to get through the door given competition, but the Fund supports new grantees each year. Most grantmaking involves financial support for two to three years, as well as technical assistance with capacity building and “knowledge management.”

It is worth noting that, in addition to grantmaking, AWDF supports women’s organizations through its capacity building, organizational and data management assistance programs. This is a supportive organization that works to provide it’s grantees with a variety of tools and support to achieve their goals.

The fund issues RFPs twice each year, with thematic and geographic areas of focus changing from one funding cycle to the next. Grantseekers should check back regularly, as the thematic and geographic themes of grantmaking change often with this funder.

This is not typically a funder for larger organizations. The key to receiving a grant is having a smaller, grassroots organization that’s women-led.

Another way to get through the grantmaking door here is to see if this funder would be open to partnering with your organization. In order to increase your chances of a partnership, your work has to also be woman-led or focused on women and able to scale, filling any gaps in services that this funder’s grants may not reach.

PROFILE: Based in Accra, Ghana, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) was established in by a small group of feminist activists in Ghana and is funded by “individuals, corporations, foundations and governments.” The fund’s original purpose was to make “measurable change in African women’s lives” by serving as “an independent resource for gender equality and development across the continent.” Over the years, the fund has refined its goal; today it makes grants to “support the initiatives of African women who may not have access to mainstream funding due to capacity, language, location, and marginalisation.”

AWDF names three funding themes through which grants aim support women’s rights: body and health rights, women’s economic security and justice and leadership, participation and peace. Each year, the fund runs two grantmaking opportunities that vary in geographic and/or thematic focus. Because it is based in Ghana and maintains somewhat sparse information about its grantmaking, it is difficult to discern specifics about AWDF’s grantmaking.

Grants for Global Development, Women and Girls

AWDF’s most recent grantmaking program, Leading from the South, supports women’s advocacy across Africa and the middle eastern nations of Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan. Grants center on three thematic areas of interest. Thematic areas of interest include:

  • Body and Health grants address gender violence, reproductive health and choice, HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases, nutrition and mental health.

  • Women’s Economic Security and Justice grants support organizations working in the areas of women’s formal and informal labor, farming and food production, land and inheritance rights, sustainable livelihoods, equitable business models, housing and climate and environmental justice.

  • Leadership, Participation and Peace grants invest in initiatives for women’s participation in government, women’s safety and security, “challenging the rise of religious and cultural fundamentalisms on women’s rights,” the development of feminist leadership and “defending open operating space for women’s rights organizations and defenders.”

 Grant categories include:

  • Pamoja grants are awarded in amounts of up to $500,000 a year for up to two years.

  • Ananse grants are awarded in amounts of up to $200,000 a year for up to two years.

  • Yalla grants are awarded in amounts of up to $50,000 a year for up to three years.

Past grantee partners have included Swaziland Positive Living, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Focus Droits et Accès, the Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency of Ghana and the Cape Verdean Association to Fight Gender-based Violence.

Important Grant Details:

According to its website, AWDF awards grants to more than 100 women’s groups each year and, since its founding, has made over $59 million in grants to “women-led organisations in 44 African countries and 3 in the Middle East.”

In a recent year, the fund made about $9 million in grants, with most grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000. Grantees tend to receive support for two to three years, depending on grant type and organizations budget. For additional information about past grantees, see the organization’s impact page or its lates annual report.

AWDF runs two grant programs each year, posting RFPs for each on its website prior to due dates that fall in February or March and June or July. Guidelines are directions for the application portal are available at the organization’s website. General inquiries may be submitted to AWDF via the form on its contact page.

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