FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
If you are happy with the proposal you submitted and are sure that it is eligible, you don’t need to submit it again. But if your application is not eligible (see eligibility criteria here) you have more time to revisit your proposal, prepare an eligible application and submit it again. Please let us know if you are re-applying by sending an email to womanity.award@womanity.org. If you haven’t submitted your application, you can make your changes on the online form and submit it when ready (until 14 March 2021)
No, for the Call for Proposals stage you only need to have an agreement in principle and clarity on what programme you want to adapt. In the final stage of the selection process, the finalists will be asked to provide a letter of agreement or intent.
Both the Innovation Partner and the Scale Up Partner need to be based in the Global South (in different countries) and registered, legal organisations. They should be not- for-profit organisations including: civil society, civil association, NGO, cooperative, social enterprise, women’s rights organisation, foundation, university, research organisation. See more information on Eligibility Criteria here
Yes, there are no restrictions for academic or research organisations to apply if they meet all the eligibility criteria, see here.
Yes, if they are not-for-profit and meet all the eligibility criteria. See here.
No, there is no requirement for any of the partners to be an International NGO or an international organisation. The Womanity Award supports small organisations, they only need to be registered and have the experience mentioned in the eligibility and evaluation criteria – see here. However, International NGOs can also apply if they meet the Eligibility Criteria.
You can see the list of countries based in Global South in the list here.
What are the restrictions related to countries subject to economic sanctions administered by the US?
Please note that Womanity and partners are not able to engage with countries, entities, or individuals subject to economic sanctions administered by the US Dept of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (for more information see here).
No, for the Call for Proposals stage you only need to have an agreement in principle and clarity on what programme you want to adapt. In the final stage of the selection process, the finalists will be asked to provide a letter of agreement or intent.
Yes, organisations can apply more than once – both as Innovation Partner and Scale Up Partner. All applications will be considered, if eligible.
No, the whole principle of the Womanity Award is for the organisations interested in applying to find partners that they believe are suitable to work together. If you are an Innovation Partner, for instance, you may want to look for an organisation based in countries where you have not worked before but want to adapt your programme to. If you are a Scale Up partner, you may want to look for organisation with a programme on prevention of domestic violence that you want to bring and adapt to your country. Since the Innovation Partner and Scale Up partner will work together for three years (if they have not worked together before), it is critical that they choose who they want to collaborate with. The Innovation Partner will have the expertise about the program to be adapted, and the Scale Up Partner will bring the country expertise for implementation. The Womanity Foundation will not have the same in-depth understanding of the programme and/or the country to make recommendations.
We will only consider proposals done together by the Innovation Partner and the Scale Up Partner. We are looking for organisations that will work together, in partnership, for three years with Womanity support. So both Partners need to agree on what programme they want to adapt and what will be the role of each partner before they submit their proposal (information about the programme chosen needs to be clearly explained in the proposal).
It can be either the Innovation Partner or the Scale Up Partner considering that all content of the proposal has been discussed and agreed between the Partners before submitting.
Please see the Partnership Model here.
At the end of the selection process, one pair of Innovation Partner and Scale Up Partner will be selected to receive the 3-year support from the Womanity Foundation.
Partners need to be able to communicate in English with the Womanity Foundation team and any other contacts that will be involved in the selection process (i.e.: Selection Panel) and during the three-year support from Womanity as all emails, phone calls, reports, communications done about the Award are in English. The language for implementation will be the most suitable language for the successful adapation of the programme (e.g.: the language of the country/community where you will adapt the programme, and it does not need to be English).
The total funding for the adaptation of the programme is CHF 240,000 over three years and this will be shared between the Innovation Partner and the Scale Up partner in any way they choose to, depending on their needs for the implementation of the programme. It can be 50% for each but it does not need to be. The funding for Instituional Strengthening is shared equally between the two partners (CHF 30,000 for each over three years) and the funding for Self-Care is also shared equally between the two partners (CHF 10,000 for each over three years). You can read more detailed information about Womanity Funding here.
Yes, the funding can cover the salary costs of the staff dedicated to the adaptation of
the programme based on their time commitment.
the programme based on their time commitment.
For the first stage of the Selection Process, candidates do not need to submit a budget for the programme adaptation. Only at a later stage of the selection process, the finalists will be asked to submit budgets and Womanity will provide templates, if necessary, and will be able to discuss in detail.
You can see the step by step of the selection process here.
The Womanity Award supports a pair of organisations who will work in partnership to adapt a programme for the prevention of domestic violence against women and girls. The two organisations should apply together. Please check the Womanity Award Eligibility and Evaluation Criteria here to check if both organisations are eligible. This evaluation criteria will be used for shortlisting and also explains what is expected from the organistions if they are selected as finalists or named as Awardees.
Please check the different steps and deadlines of Womanity Award Selection Process here.
Learn more about our support for Awardees here.
Full details about the Womanity Award funding can be found here.
Domestic violence is one of the most common and widespread form of abuse experienced by women and girls*. It includes violence perpetrated by a current or former intimate partner, or by a family member or carer. There are many manifestations of domestic violence including: physical, sexual, psychological, emotional and economic abuse and controlling behaviours. Domestic violence is rarely a one-off occurrence. A survivor usually experiences many different forms of violence during one incident. Violent acts are often repeated throughout, and sometimes after, the relationship.
*UN Women, COVID-19 and Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (2020)
An Innovation Partner (IP) is an organisation with an evidence-based approach to the problem of violence against women and girls. The IP must be interested in partnering to adapt their programme to a different geography.
A Scale Up Partner (SP)is an organisation based in the country where the programme is going to be adapted. The SP has the knowledge of the local context and relationships with the communities to enable a successful adaptation.
The Global South is made up of countries from regions including Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Islands. It also includes the developing countries in Europe and Asia, including the Middle East. For a complete list of Global South countries for each region, see here. Please note that Womanity and partners are not able to engage with countries, entities, or individuals subject to economic sanctions administered by the US Dept of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (for more information see here).
Adaptation is to take the original idea and adapt it to a new context, taking into consideration the local social and gender norms, engaging local communities and deeply understanding their needs. It’s different from replication which means to take the original idea and simply copy and paste it to a new context without contextualizing. We consider that adaptation and replication are different processes and we do not use the two words interchangeably.
The World Health Organization/Expand Net* consortium defines scale up as “deliberate efforts to increase the impact of … innovations successfully tested in pilot or experimental projects so as to benefit more people and to foster policy and programme development on a lasting basis” (WHO 2009). ExpandNet classifies four types of scale:
· horizontal, meaning a geographic expansion or replication
· vertical, or integration into policies and systems
· functional, which is the practice of adding components to an existing package
· spontaneous diffusion, when the innovation addresses a need within the programme or when a key event draws attention to a need
The focus for the Womanity Award is on interventions that are horizontally scaled-up in a new geography, hence the need for adaption to the new context.
*ExpandNet, WHO. “Practical guidance for scaling up health service innovations.” Geneva: World Health Organization (2009)
As part of the funding, we provide support to both partners to address areas in their organisations that are critical for their development, sustainability and successful implementation and adaptation of the programme. The institutional dimensions defined by the Award are: 1) Strategy & Governance, 2) Human Resources, 3) Operations, 4) Programme/ Project Design & Management, 5) Monitoring & Evaluation, 6) Communications and Public Relations, 7) Sustainability/ Funds
This means creating opportunities for partners to share their experience and knowledge, to establish relevant connections and to leverage their presence in the media. An increase in the partners’ visibility and networking opportunities are expected to lead to improved learning, engagement with key stakeholders and/or improved status of the organisations in the sector, thereby supporting sustainability. We believe that as a donor, we should devolve power and space to the organisations we support.
One of our concerns when supporting partners is the need for self-care. The ongoing demands, long working hours and very stressful contexts can burn out those running the programmes. We would like to help address some of these challenges by providing funds for the Award recipients to contribute to their needs to heal, survive and thrive. Partners will decide how to use these funds in the way they find most appropriate depending on their circumstances.
The Womanity Award team accompanies the partners during the whole process – from the selection to the adaptation – in order to provide a sounding board, partnerships brokering and advice when asked. There is also an informal process of mentoring between partners during the programme when they share their knowledge to better progress with the adaptation.
Our goal is to announce the chosen Awardees in October 2021. It will take a couple of months to finalise documentation such as the partnership agreement. However, we anticipate the Awardees can start working on the three-year Adaptation Process before the end of 2021.
Please send your questions to womanity.award@womanity.org. We aim to compile all questions received by 08 January 2021 and share the answers on the website so they are available for all.