UNESCO Call for Funding: 9th International Fund for Cultural Diversity and U40 Empowered (Up to $100k)

UNESCO Call for Funding: 9th International Fund for Cultural Diversity and U40 Empowered (Up to $100k)

Deadline: April 16, 2018

UNESCO has launched the call for funding for both the 9th International Fund for Cultural Diversity and the U40 Empowered: Women Entrepreneurs Powering The Digital Creative Industries, a new initiative with Sabrina Ho to support women in digital creative industries

About IFCD

The International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) is a multi-donor fund, established by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005) to support its implementation in developing countries.

The IFCD invests in projects that lead to structural change through:

• the introduction and/or elaboration of policies and strategies that have a direct effect on the creation, production, distribution of and access to a diversity of cultural expressions, including cultural goods, services and activities,
• the reinforcement of corresponding institutional infrastructures, including professional capacities and organizational structures, deemed necessary to support viable local and regional cultural industries and markets in developing countries.

About U40 Empowered

“U40 Empowered: Women Entrepreneurs Powering The Digital Creative Industries” is a UNESCO initiative started in 2018 with the support of Sabrina Ho that expands the actions of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD). The call supports projects from national and international NGOs that promote young female cultural entrepreneurs in the digital creative industries.

It is designed to increase opportunities for U40 women to access funding, infrastructure, equipment and co-production opportunities in the digital creative industries. “U40 Empowered” will also support strategies that address the different needs, aspirations, capacities and contributions of women.

Through support for such projects, “U40 Empowered”  will unlock opportunities for young women entrepreneurs and realise their full potential in the digital creative industries.

Areas of Intervention

The IFCD finances projects that:

• Pursue cross-sectoral cooperation in cultural policy making and/or implementation;
• Strengthen processes and mechanisms for public policy-making and implementation;
• Support the engagement of NGOs or civil society organizations in policy making and/or implementation;
• Improve access to markets for cultural goods and services through the introduction of policy, advocacy and promotional mechanisms;
• Support or facilitate the mobility of artists and cultural professionals from the global South;
• Support or facilitate the development of innovative models and/or digital solutions for the creation, production, distribution and access to diverse cultural goods and services;
• Address the identification of capacity gaps or support capacity building activities;
• Widen participation in the creation, production and distribution of cultural goods and services to previously excluded regions and social groups;
• Increase women’s representation as creators and producers of cultural expressions through professional networks and capacity development;
• Facilitate policy measures or funding mechanisms to encourage and improve equitable access to cultural events, goods and services.

The project implementation period shall be between 12 and 24 months. The projects should start, at the earliest, in March of the year following the approval of the project by the Intergovernmental Committee.

The “U40 Empowered” will finance projects that:

• Develop and/or implement strategies that invest in women as entrepreneurs working in the digital creative industries;
• Create networks and opportunities for U40 women working in the digital creative industries to innovate and collaborate;
• Organise female-led creative mentorship programmes for U40 women in partnership with digital creative hubs, incubators and clusters;
• Give visibility to the work and innovations of U40 women entrepreneurs working in the digital creative industries;
• Strengthen the digital skills of U40 female creative industry professionals;
• Collect and analyse sex-disaggregated data with a view to better understand the underlying causes of gender inequality in the digital creative industries with a view to inform policy making.

The project implementation period shall be between 12 and 24 months, with the projects beginning in October 2018.

Funding

The maximum amount that can be requested is 100,000 USD

Eligibility

• Public authorities/institutions and NGOs from developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention, as well as international NGOs are all eligible to apply.

o    Public authorities and institutions from eligible countries (developing countries Parties to the 2005 Convention).

o    Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from eligible countries (developing countries Parties to the 2005 Convention)

o    International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) registered in countries Parties to the 2005 Convention:

• Projects must be implemented and/or benefit only eligible countries

Note for INGOs: Applications from INGOs must be implemented in two or more eligible countries and demonstrate that the proposed project has an impact at the sub-regional, regional or inter-regional level.

Note: Public authorities and institutions, individuals, regional integration organizations and/or SMEs will not be eligible for funding.

Application

• The application and its complementary documents must be in English or French.
• The deadline for submitting project proposals to both calls is 16 April 2018.

Click here to apply.

For more information, visit UNESCO Call for Funding.