The World Bank Group and the Sexual Violence Research Initiative announces a new open call for awards recognizing promising innovations aimed at preventing and responding to gender-based violence.

SVRI and the World Bank Group will disburse more than US$1 million to advance evidence-based interventions to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) in low- and middle-income countries. An expert panel will select winners engaged in research, interventions, or other activities related to GBV prevention and response based on overall merit, research/project design and methods, significance, project manager/team, and ethical considerations. This year, the Call for Proposals includes the private sector; companies that have engaged in preventing and responding to GBV are encouraged to apply.

Award

Awards of up to $100,000 are available. Any applications with requests exceeding USD100,000 will not be considered. Seed grants up to $40,000 are also available for applications from private companies interested in evaluating workplace programmes and can provide matching funds. These seed grants can only be used for publicly available outputs.

Eligibility

• Applications for support under this award should be affiliated with a recognized, legally constituted research institution, a company or non-government organization with existing research or programming capacity.
• A maximum of two proposals will be considered for funding per applicant. Only one award through this mechanism may be held by an applicant until the project has been completed.
• Award applications that are proposing work on behalf of UN Agencies will not be considered.
• Previous award winners will not be considered as principal applicants.
• Partnerships between multiple organizations are encouraged, for example, a local NGO and an academic institution, or north-south academic partnerships or a company with a NGO or an academic institution.
• Proposals must have at least one partner from a low or middle-income country to be eligible for funding. Where appropriate, these partnerships should have as an objective building the research capacity of the implementing agency.
• All projects under this call should focus on GBV prevention and response in low and middle-income countries.
• Due to high levels of competition and limited funds available, the quality of the proposal submitted will determine success in receiving the award.
• Private sector; companies that have engaged in preventing and responding to GBV are encouraged to apply.

Eligible Countries and Organisations

• Low and Middle-Income Countries: All organizations based in low and middle-income countries (as classified by the World Bank), and organizations not based in low and middle-income countries but working in such countries with at least one partner from a low or middle-income setting are eligible to apply.
• Track Record/Experience: Priority will be given to organizations/companies with a track record of research and intervention development for the prevention of or response to gender-based violence in low and middle-income countries.
• Institutions Only: Awards will only be made to institutions, companies and not to individuals. All organizations are eligible to apply, including academic, research, NGOs and companies.
• Number of Proposals: An organization/company may submit a maximum of two applications but no organization will receive more than one award.