UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls 2025 Call for Proposals: Resourcing Resilience - Investing in Civil Society Leadership to End Violence against Women and Girls
The UN Trust Fund is seeking proposals primarily from civil society organizations (CSOs) that are working on the frontlines of ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG). Priority is given to Women's and girls’ rights organizations, Women-led organizations, Constituent-led organizations (led by marginalized women/girls), and Small organizations. Applicants must have specialized knowledge and expertise in EVAWG programming, generally for at least five years. Initiatives must be implemented in countries and/or territories listed in the OECD DAC list of official development assistance (ODA) recipients.
This call provides crucial long-term, flexible support to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of frontline organizations. Selected organizations will receive four-year grants ranging from US $150,000 to US $800,000. The funding aims to support initiatives that contribute to one or more of the following outcome areas: improving access to essential multisectoral services for women and girls; improving prevention of VAWG through changes in behaviours, practices, and attitudes; and increasing the effectiveness of legislation, policies, and accountability systems to prevent and end VAW/G.
The Call for Proposals is now OPEN. The application window is from 18 September 2025 to the deadline for submissions on 19 November 2025 at 2:00 PM (New York Time - EST/EDT). Note that applicants will be informed of the selection outcome in the second quarter of 2026.
View the Call for Proposals (PDF)
View the Application package (PDF)
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Ineligible Organizations
- Government agencies or institutions, UN agencies or UN Country Teams, private individuals, and private sector entities are not eligible to apply.
- Organizations whose mission or vision does not explicitly focus on gender equality and the elimination of violence against women and/or girls are ineligible.
- Organizations that do not possess legal status in the country or territory of implementation (and whose co-implementing partners are also unregistered) are ineligible.
Ineligible Countries (Where is Excluded)
- The initiative must be implemented in countries and/or territories listed in the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients.
- Organizations proposing interventions in countries not listed are ineligible.
Grant Amount Limits (How Much is Excluded)
- The requested grant amount must be between USD $150,000 and USD $800,000.
- Requests outside this range will be excluded.
- Organizations should not request a grant amount more than three times their average organizational budget over the past three years (2022, 2023, 2024).
- Organizations with a minimum average organizational budget (last 3-year average) of less than USD $50,000 are ineligible to apply.
Submission Limits (Operational)
- Only one application per organization is accepted — whether as the lead applicant or a co-implementing partner.
- Multiple submissions will be automatically disqualified.
- Multi-country proposals are limited to a maximum of ten eligible countries.
- Late submissions (after 19 November 2025, 2:00 PM New York Time) will not be considered.
- Applications predominantly written using Artificial Intelligence (AI) without meaningful human input will be penalized; misuse of AI may result in disqualification.
- Incomplete applications — including those missing required legal or financial documents — will be automatically disqualified.
Previous Grantees
- Previous UN Trust Fund grantees (including co-implementing partners) are only eligible if their prior grant has been programmatically closed by the submission deadline (19 November 2025).
Expenditure Exclusions
- The fund does not explicitly exclude expenditures such as rent or property acquisition.
- On the contrary, it provides flexible core funding that can be used for:
- General operating costs (e.g., rent, utilities)
- Organizational development
- Staff well-being (self/collective care)
- Safety and security measures
- Staffing and human resources
How to apply
Applicants are required to submit proposals online in the form of a Concept Note Application Form. All submissions must be made exclusively through the UN Trust Fund’s Online Grants Management System.
Applications can be submitted in English, French, or Spanish only.
Applicants are strongly advised to complete and submit the Concept Note application well before the deadline, as the online system may experience delays and technical issues, and support capacity is limited in the final days due to high query volume.
Support Sessions: Live Information and Grant Writing sessions with Q&A are offered in English, French, and Spanish across different time zones to assist applicants.
Incomplete applications will be automatically disqualified. Receipt of a submitted online application will be acknowledged via a confirmation email.
Project assessment criteria
The UN Trust Fund mandate is dedicated to ending all forms of violence against women and girls (EVAWG). Applications will be assessed based on the following key criteria, which are essential to the funder’s mandate:
1. Strategic Outcome Alignment: The proposal must clearly contribute to one or more of the UN Trust Fund's three strategic outcome areas: 1) Improving access to multisectoral services; 2) Improving prevention of VAW/G; and 3) Increasing the effectiveness of legislation, policies, and accountability systems.
2. Focus on Marginalized Groups: The application must address violence against structurally marginalized women and girls and those facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination. This is a central priority of the 2025 Call.
3. Contextual Relevance and Resilience: The proposal must clearly demonstrate how the intervention responds to the specific country context, including challenges such as backlash against gender equality, shrinking civic space, or restrictive environments. It should show how the organization plans to sustain and strengthen its work and build long-term resilience.
4. Programming Principles: The proposed work must demonstrate clear alignment with UN Women’s ten Programming Principles on ending violence against women and girls.
5. Organizational Fit: Applicants must justify why their organization is well-placed to respond, based on their expertise in EVAWG, established partnerships, and deep understanding of the local context.
6. Results and Quality: The assessment prioritizes the overall quality and the results-oriented nature of the proposed initiative.
(Note: The funder has not specified a preferred format for pitch decks for this concept note stage, as the submission requires a Concept Note Application Form and supporting documentation.)
Required Criteria (Lead Applicant):
- Experience:
- Must have at least five years of specialized EVAWG programming experience (in the last ten years).
- Must have a primary focus on preventing and responding to violence against women and/or girls.
- Location:
- The initiative must be implemented in countries and/or territories listed in the OECD DAC list of ODA recipients.
- Legal Status:
- Must be officially registered or have a legal basis/mandate.
- Must have been legally registered for at least 5 years (or 3 years in exceptional cases with justification).
- Financial Capacity:
- Must submit certified financial statements for the last three fiscal years (2022, 2023, and 2024).
- Minimum Budget:
- Must have an average organizational budget of at least USD $50,000 over the last three years.
- Exclusions:
- Cannot be a government agency, UN agency, private individual, or private sector entity.
- Ethics:
- Must comply with UN Women’s zero-tolerance policy on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) and Sexual Harassment (SH).
Project selection process
The UN Trust Fund uses an open, independent, and competitive process to award grants.
1. Concept Note Submission: All applicants initially submit a Concept Note through the online system.
2. Appraisal: Proposals are assessed based on their overall quality and results-oriented nature. Scoring follows standardized criteria that reflect the strategic priorities of the Call (Section 2).
3. Review Teams: The appraisal process involves multiple layers, including independent experts, regional and global committees, civil society organizations (CSOs), external reviewers, academics, and UN agencies.
4. Advancement: Only those proposals successful in the first Concept Note round are invited to submit a full proposal. A subset of these final applicants will be considered for grants.
5. Final Decision: The final funding decisions are made by the Global inter-agency Programme Advisory Committee.
6. Conditions: The final grant award is conditional upon the timely submission of a satisfactory full proposal and the positive results of an organizational capacity assessment.
7. Notification: Applicants will be informed of the selection outcome via email in the second quarter of 2026. The UN Trust Fund cannot respond individually to those not selected for further consideration.
