Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Call for Applications for Small Grants for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on Women’s Participation in Leadership and Peacebuilding efforts at all levels under the “Strengthening Women’s Leadership in Local Governance and Peacebuilding”

Project implemented by UN Woman

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Liberia Office plans to award Small Grants to eligible Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in the range of USD 2,500 to USD 6,000. 

Small Grants are intended exclusively to finance a limited range of eligible activities to support the development or strengthening of institutional capacities of women’s civil society organizations (CSO) and CSOs working on gender equality mainly promoting and advocating for increased women’s participation in leadership and governance systems. UN Women invites eligible applicants to submit Small Grants applications for the eligible activities, as elaborated in this advertisement [GC1] .

The applicants must be operating in one or more of the following areas which are related to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goal 5 ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ and related targets in the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

• Women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels, including in the private sector.
• Engagement of men, boys and youth in gender equality
• Women and girls’ effective participation, influence and leadership in building sustainable peace and security, including through mediation.

This advertisement forms the basis for applying for Small Grants. It must neither be construed as a Small Grant agreement nor as a confirmation of a Small Grant awarded by UN Women to any entity. Consequently, UN Women is not liable for any financial obligations, or otherwise, incurred by any entity in responding to this TOR.  UN Women will not approve such costs as part of any Small Grant budget, and an awardee must not use the Small Grant to cover such costs.

The applications should exclusively address the development or strengthening of the institutional capacities of women’s CSOs’ and CSOs working on gender equality.

Application should be sent to[GC2]  liberia.procurement@unwomen.org by 26 September 2025 midnight Liberia time, 23:59 p.m. The applications and its annexes should be sent as e-mail attachment; any other forms of file transfer options will be considered ineligible.

UN Women will receive written questions for clarification until 21 September 2025 at the following address: liberia.procurement@unwomen.org 

1.  Introduction and Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

In Liberia, women-led and grassroots civil society organizations play a critical role in advancing gender equality, supporting peacebuilding, and promoting women’s participation in local decision-making. Over the past years, organizations such as peace huts, community women’s networks, and members of WONGOSOL have been at the forefront of mobilizing communities, engaging local authorities, and supporting women to step into leadership roles. However, many of these organizations face serious funding shortages and capacity gaps. The reduction of donor support and the absence of sustained institutional resources have left smaller women’s rights organizations struggling to maintain operations, despite their proven role in promoting inclusive governance and peacebuilding. Without direct support, their contributions risk being undermined at a time when women’s representation in local governance remains low and resistance to gender equality persists 

The main objective of this call is therefore to strengthen the institutional capacity of grassroots and women-led CSOs working in local governance and peacebuilding. By supporting organizational development and sustainability, the grants will enable these CSOs to remain active in advancing women’s leadership, building community support, and influencing decision-making processes at the local level.

Against this background, UN Women Liberia, with support from the Government of Ireland under the project “Strengthening Women’s Leadership in Local Governance and Peacebuilding (2025–2028)”, will provide small grants to eligible CSOs. The grants are designed to strengthen organizational systems, enhance advocacy capacity, and ensure these groups can continue driving women’s leadership and participation in local governance.

1. Eligibility

This small grant is intended for a women-led civil society organization legally established and operating in Liberia, with a core mandate in the field of women’s rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment.

The organization must:

• Demonstrate that its primary focus is on advancing women’s rights, gender equality, or women’s empowerment, with this commitment clearly reflected in its mission and vision.
• Demonstrate their organizational approach to the principles of leaving no one behind (LNOB) and in addressing intersecting forms of vulnerabilities (young women, women with disabilities, rural women, migrant women, women living with HIV, internally displaced women etc.)
• Have prior experience supporting women’s participation in leadership, peacebuilding, and community-level decision-making.
• Show proven capacity to advocate for gender equality and to engage with local governance and peacebuilding structures.
• Possess basic financial and administrative systems to ensure accountability in managing small grants.

Applications will be evaluated against the criteria outlined in this call. A review committee will assess all eligible proposals, and grants will be awarded on a competitive basis to the CSOs whose proposals best contribute to the goals reflected in this TOR

• is a registered CSO in operation for at least three years;
• is based in and operating in one of the project target counties: Bomi, Gbarpolu, Nimba, Lofa, Grand Gedeh, or Grand Bassa;
• is not on the Consolidated UN Security Council Sanctions List[1]; 
• is not being investigated for fraud, corruption, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or other wrongdoing. 
• has not had funding received from UN Women entirely or partly written off by UN Women. 
• is not currently engaged as an Implementing Partner (IP) or Responsible Party (RP) for UN Women. 
• has not been engaged as an IP/RP for UN Women at any time after 21 November 2019
• is not a government entity
• is not a UN organization
• is not an established CSO with the capacity to be engaged as an IP/RP 
• has sufficient capacity to collaborate with various stakeholders.
• has sufficient financial stewardship, including having adequate financial policies and procedures in place to manage the small grant; and, 
• past performance has been deemed satisfactory by UN Women (if it has received small grants previously or been engaged as an IP/RP before 21 November 2019).

1.  Eligible Activities 

The applicant may apply for a small grant to cover the following activities: 

• introducing and improving organizational systems, tools, and processes.
• training of workforce in technical and managerial skills. 
• supporting with equipment such as copiers, scanners, printers, laptops, and computers as long as the cost of such equipment is limited to 30% of the total budget.

Attention:

• The purpose of Small Grants is not to finance the delivery of a programmatic or project activity. They should exclusively cover the activities focused on the institutional capacity development of the applicant CSO. 
• The implementation of the Small Grant must be completed within maximum 7 months after signing the Small Grant Agreement for the purposes of this call. 
• The CSOs which previously received Small Grants from UN Women, may apply. However, a CSO may be awarded a maximum of 2 grants (in total maximum USD 60,000) per its life-time and each grant cannot be for a period longer than 12 months. 
• The CSOs awarded with Small Grants will benefit from further capacity development support, experience sharing, networking, dialogue, solidarity and coalition building activities to be organized by UN Women. 
• If the CSO is awarded a Small Grant, it shall comply with the financial, operational, reporting and visibility rules established by UN Women

1.  Application 

An application must contain all relevant information showing that the applicant CSO and the proposed activities are eligible under this advertisement. All applications must be in English. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.

The applicants should submit: 

• Annex 1- Application Form 
• Annex 2- Budget Template
• copy of the CSOs statute
• the registration certificate evidencing that the applicant is a registered CSO that has been in operation for 3 years in Liberia

UN Women will reject any application that does not contain enough information to show that the application or the activities are eligible. 

The application must be received by UN-Women via  liberia.procurement@unwomen.org, no later than October 3,2025. Submissions sent by other means or to different addresses will not be considered.  Applications sent by any other means or to different addresses are not considered. 

1. Review Criteria

 The applicant must: 

• propose eligible activities that develop or strengthen the institutional capacity of the applicant CSO and are consistent with the purposes of this advertisement: to support the organizational development of CSOs working in the area women’s participation in public and political life and leadership. 
• not propose to use the small grant to provide an activity/output on behalf of UN Women, civil construction work, engineering work, purchases of vehicles or other tangible or intangible property, except for copiers, scanners, printers, laptops, and computers
• not propose to use more than 30% of the small grant or USD 1,800, whichever is lower, to purchase copiers, scanners, printers, laptops, and computers. 
• propose a timeline that is no longer than 7 months and eligible activities that are feasible to accomplish, including political, security and logistical considerations.
• not propose to cover its indirect costs/support costs with the small grant. 
• not make a direct profit from the small grant. 
• not propose to cover costs incurred or committed prior to a signed Small Grant Agreement. 
• propose eligible activities where the applicant has the capacity to reach the target audience; and, 
• propose a budget that is cost-effective given the eligible activities, the number of targeted beneficiaries, and the proposed location. 
• propose eligible activities sustainably supporting the applicant

1. Award 

UN Women will evaluate all eligible applications through a competitive process managed by a review committee. Applications will be scored against the criteria outlined in this call. Small grants will be awarded to the CSOs whose proposals best demonstrate relevance, feasibility, and contribution to the objectives of this call. Successful applicants will be informed in writing of UN Women’s decision. The award is conditional on the applicant’s agreement to the terms and conditions of UN Women’s Small Grant Agreement. If the applicant does not agree, the award will be rescinded.

  Annex I Application Form 

Annex II –Budget Template

Annex III 

Declaration by the Authorized Representative of the Applicant Organization:

Through submitting this application, I confirm that:

1. The Organization is not on the Consolidated UN Security Council Sanctions List.

2. The Organization is not being investigated for fraud, corruption, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or other wrongdoing.

3. The Organization is not currently engaged as a Partner of UN Women.

4. The proposal for the small grant does not aim to cover the Support Costs of a project implemented by the Organization.

5. The Organization will not make a direct profit from the small grant.

6. The Organization is not proposing to cover costs incurred or committed prior to a signed Small Grant

Agreement.

 Date:

Name:

Organization:

 Stamp and Signature: 

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent presentation, facilitation and interpersonal skills;
• Strong Knowledge of Result -Based Management (RBM) and programme/project management.
• Demostrates strong skills in writing policies, procedures and guidance;
• Result-Based Management (RMB), financial oversight, monitoring and evaluation, risk management, and compliance
• Excellent ability and work experience in developing online contents and presence in drafting policies, procedures and guidance;
• Demonstrated ability to prepare offices for audits and track recommendations.
• Proven skills in capacity building, including developing and delivering training packages.
• Experience in coordinating key stakeholders from different units/departments and;
• Proficient with office software packages and cloud-based systems.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.