The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with Digital Frontiers is empowering women innovators with $ 2 million.
Digital Frontiers anticipates awarding approximately four grants of almost $500,000 each.
To this end, the both organisations have invited eligible applicants to respond to the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative WomenConnect Challenge (W-GDP WCC) Round Three.
The W-GDP WomenConnect Challenge is open to registered US or non-US organisations. Countries excluded from eligibility include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria.
All Applicants must use W-GDP WomenConnect Challenge funds to implement a solution in a country with USAID presence. W-GDP seeks to reach 50 million women in the developing world by 2025 by focusing on three pillars – women prospering in the workforce, women succeeding as entrepreneurs, and women enabled in the economy.
Applicants will be required to include a private sector partner commitment letter in their application. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure long-term sustainability and to facilitate partnerships between the private sector and organisations hoping to bridge the gender digital divide at the grassroots level.
The partner should be an organisation that demonstrates a strong commitment to closing the gender digital divide and plays a unique role in the proposed project.
The private sector partner (or partners) must financially match 100 percent of the USAID contribution; 75 percent must be monetary, up to 25 percent can be in-kind. Multiple partners may be included if needed to reach the 100 percent cost-share match requirement.
Proposed cost-share funds may not be from other US Government sources. The White House established Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, the first whole-of-government approach to women’s economic empowerment.
W-GDP leverages a new innovative fund, scaling private-public partnerships, which address the three pillars. In its first year alone, W-GDP programmes reached 12 million women across the globe. The W-GDP WomenConnect Challenge (WCC) seeks to bridge the gender digital divide so that women can fully participate in the global economy.
