The African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) funds local, national, sub-regional and regional organisations in Africa working towards women’s empowerment. The AWDF is an institutional capacity-building and programme development fund, which aims to help build a culture of learning and partnership within the African women's movement. In addition to awarding grants, the AWDF attempts to strengthen the organisational capacities of its grantees.

The AWDF funds work in five thematic areas:

• Women's Human Rights
• Political Participation
• Peace Building
• Health, Reproductive Rights and HIV/AIDS
• Economic Empowerment

The AWDF prioritises programmes which develop and promote women's leadership and advocacy across all these themes. These thematic areas have been selected because they feature very highly on the agenda of African women and their organisations.

Click here for more information on AWDF's priority theme areas.

What types of grants do AWDF support?

The AWDF gives grants for projects related to any of the thematic areas specified above. Applicants are expected to build in relevant and reasonable running/core costs into their project proposals. Grants are made to national and regional organisations for aspects of organisational growth and development such as strategic planning, developing fundraising strategies, communications systems, retreats, governance systems, etc. Grants cover capital costs such as purchase of computers, printers, photocopiers.

The AWDF makes grants in three cycles each year. Applications can be sent in at any time.

Size of grants

Organisations can apply for grants ranging from US$1,000 - US$40,000. Grants over US$20,000 are only made to organisations which operate on a regional basis.

Click here for more information on the application process.