Call for Proposals

1

Context

Democratic, inclusive and prosperous communities are the ones able to truly hear, engage and involve varied voices in their democratic structures and processes. This means that all people are able to take part in the decisions that directly shape their lives. Yet, rural young women and girls have been particularly excluded and provided with limited opportunities to be heard in their local civic space. This is a direct consequence of three layers of exclusion reinforcing each other: where they live, their gender and their age.

Globalisation and the acceleration of all the processes linked to it have increased the gap between urban and rural environments. Individuals feel that political institutions are distant, unresponsive and/or focused on urban centers. For girls and young women, this distance is reinforced by their gender. It is women that are mostly underrepresented in the civic space of rural environments. Young women and girls possess limited knowledge on how to own their space and participate effectively in decision-making processes at the rural level, while also facing discriminatory gender norms.

In addition, young people lack opportunities to be heard and influence decisions in a meaningful way, beyond symbolic representation. This lack of agency is, in turn, also further reinforced by the gender dimension. Young women and girls have been recognized as facing multiple barriers that lead to exclusion and lack of opportunities to voice their opinion, carry out civic duties and participate in public and political processes.

As a result, it is crucial to enhance young women and girls in rural areas' opportunities for civic participation in their local communities to build more democratic, inclusive and prosperous communities. Women-led initiatives have been recognized as key action in that regard, helping develop the space, means, and opportunities for young women and girls' civic participation.

This call therefore will support the creation or reinforcement of a Women-Led Innovation Initiative (WLIIs) that develops civic agency among girls and young women to generate tangible outputs that can sustain civic engagement beyond the micro-grant, in the long-term.

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Objectives of the Call for Proposals

This call aims to enhance opportunities for active civic participation for girls and young women in their rural communities. It is designed to be a catalyst for a long-term project, providing a first substantial funding to develop and put in place an action that would create the means, the space and opportunities for the target group to support, participate and influence decisions, and engage in actions and activities that stimulate their civic participation at the local level.

It aims to plant the seed for a local women-led project that allows young women and girls to organise, gain confidence, make their voice heard and collectively own their civic participation space. This call identifies Women-Led Innovation Initiatives (WLSIIs) as the relevant civil society efforts for a project that truly empowers women and young girls in the long-term and leads to structural change.

More specifically, the objectives of the Call for proposals are:

1 Establish (or reinforce) a WLIIs or network at the local level which provides a (intergenerational) safe space where girls and young women can learn about citizenship, how to organise and take action collectively.
2 Develop civic agency among girls and young women, through awareness of local governance processes, self-confidence, and ability to articulate their needs, ideas, and proposals.
3 Facilitate interaction between young women and girls, local communities, and decision-makers, through dialogue with municipalities, schools, civil society organizations, community leaders or other local actors.
4 Generate concrete output(s) which can sustain civic engagement after the micro-grant finishes, such as development of a funding proposal to local authorities to sustain the action, guide, local recommendations, civic engagement kit, campaign, mentoring program, or community action plan, all specifically developed with the participation of and for young women and girls.
5 Create conditions for sustainable impact, through initiatives which may continue after the micro-grant is finished, such as local partnerships, regular meetings, peer learning, mentoring or advocacy.

All in all, this call takes the stance that it is crucial to empower young women and girls to influence the policies and tools designed to support them.

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Selection and Award Criteria

🥇 Highest Scoring Project

→ Grant of up to 3.000€
→ Fully covered participation for one representative to the Let Her In Annual Assembly, Berlin, 10–11 December 2026

🥈 Second Highest Scoring Project

→ Fully covered participation for one representative to the Let Her In Annual Assembly, Berlin, 10–11 December 2026

The evaluation of the proposals will be done against the criteria listed below:

Selection Criteria	Description	Points
Relevance	The proposal clearly aims to respond to the needs of young women and girls in rural areas in the field of civic participation. Special attention is given to the potential of the project to spark inspiration and develop civic agency in girls and young women, focusing specifically on increasing their self-confidence, leadership skills, and ability to clearly articulate their needs, ideas, and proposals. In addition, it explains and demonstrates a strong understanding of the local context and the specific challenges faced by the target group.	15
Alignment with the objectives of the call	The proposal directly contributes to the objectives of the call, namely: establish or reinforce a WLIIs or network at the local level; develop civic agency among young women and girls; facilitate interaction between young women and girls with local actors; create conditions for a sustainable impact.	15
Capacity-building	The proposal includes concrete activities to enhance efficacy in civic participation, providing young women and girls with practical tools and knowledge about local decision-making processes. The proposal also takes into account the needs, background knowledge, and barriers to participation in activities of the target group.	10
Long-term impact potential	The proposal demonstrates clearly how the micro-grant can sustain an action beyond the timeframe of the project and its ambition to create conditions for sustainable impact, such as building lasting local partnerships, establishing regular meetings, or designing a continuous mentoring/peer-learning framework that survives post-funding.	10
Output Relevance	The proposal includes a concrete and realistic output(s) co-created with and for young women and girls that can be used beyond the micro-grant period. The proposal should clearly describe how the output is going to be created, shared, used and sustained within the local community. Outputs should be conceived as tools for continuity.	10
Target-group reach & inclusion	The proposal explains how it aims to reach the target group, taking into account its diversity. It aims to create an accessible, safe and inclusive space for rural young women and girls. Special attention will be given to inclusivity and diversity components of the proposal.	10
Stakeholders involvement	The proposal includes relevant actors at the local level to create meaningful interaction between the target group and actors who can support civic participation.	10
Cost-effectiveness & Feasibility	The budget is realistic, coherent, proportionate and justified to the proposed activities. The project presents a clear Gantt Chart that demonstrates the feasibility of the project within the proposed timeframe with a clear workplan and timeline.	10
Originality and innovation	The proposal proposes a creative approach to strengthening the civic participation of young women and girls.	5
Awareness-raising and outreach component	The project describes a clear and realistic plan for dissemination and awareness-raising of the activities and output dissemination.	5
TOTAL		100

Based on these evaluation criteria, applicants will receive feedback on their proposal including a rating for each component and a detailed explanation of the rating awarded.

In case of equal scoring, proposals submitted by Women-led Initiatives (WLIIs) or organisations with women in key leadership and decision-making roles will be preferred.

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Eligible Activities

Workshops, seminars, and interactive training sessions aimed at enhancing practical skills in activism, leadership, public speaking, and collective action.
Educational modules on local governance, designed to provide girls and young women with practical tools to understand municipal decision-making processes and articulate their ideas.
Advocacy events and public speaking initiatives to raise awareness about young women and girls' civic participation within the local community.
Intergenerational mentorship and peer-learning sessions, specifically enabling experienced women leaders, senior activists, or elder women from the community to share their stories and build young women's self-confidence.
Creation of (intergenerational) safe spaces where girls, young women, and mentors can connect, share experiences, and co-create solutions.
Networking initiatives aimed at establishing or reinforcing a local Women-led Social Innovation Initiative (WLII).
Dialogue tables and structured interaction between young women, girls, local civil society organizations (CSOs), community leaders, and local decision-makers (such as municipalities, school boards, and local authorities).
Co-creation of tangible and sustainable tools developed with and for the participants, such as a guide/booklet, local policy recommendations, a civic engagement kit, or a community action plan.
Implementation of a dissemination plan to distribute the produced materials across the local territory (e.g., in schools, youth centers, public libraries, or municipal offices).
Design and administration of impact measurement tools (such as pre- and post-activity questionnaires/surveys) to evaluate changes in participants' motivation, civic responsibility, and self-confidence.
Activities that pay attention to a gender perspective, both at design and implementation phase, ensure an inclusive and intersectional approach with regards to for instance racial or ethnic origin, religion, or belief, (dis)ability, age, gender, or sexual orientation.

4.1 Eligible Participants

The call is open to local organisations, initiatives and actors committed to strengthening the civic participation of girls and young women in rural communities. Eligible applicants include:

WLIIs: civil society organisations, associations, grassroots groups, informal collectives working at the local level;
Youth organisations, rural development initiatives, community-based organisations, feminist organisations;
Schools, educational institutions, youth centres, cultural centres, community spaces;
Local public authorities in cooperation with WLIIs provided the activities and project is strictly non-partisan;

Applications led by or meaningfully involving and/or led by women-led initiatives, grassroots groups or organisations with women in key leadership roles will be strongly encouraged.

4.2 Eligible Costs

All planned costs must be necessary, proportional and justified by the content of the proposal.

Costs enhancing young women and girls' capacity to participate in the eligible activities, such as day care, transportation costs, accessibility adaptations, support for participants with disabilities, or other justified inclusion measures.
Facilitators, trainers and expert fees, or other relevant contributions directly related to the achievement of the objectives of the call.
Workshops, training and meeting costs.
Venue rental and logistical costs.
Catering and refreshments costs during activities.
Materials and supply for the purpose of achieving the objectives of the call.
Creation of the project outputs.
Communication and dissemination costs, such as flyers, local media campaigns, photography, translations, or other outreach activities.

The grant covers up to 100% of the project costs, with a maximum amount of 3.000€.

4.3 Ineligible Costs

Costs outside the proposed project activities and that do not clearly contribute to them.
Political party activities or electoral campaigning: advocacy and civic participation activities must remain non-partisan.
Costs or contributions declared under other grants awarded.
Costs occurring outside the project implementation period (2–6 months).
Debts, interests owned, fines, financial penalties, deductive or refundable VAT.
Regular operating costs not linked directly to the implementation and activities of the project.

5

Required Documents for Applying

📋 A project proposal

The proposal should contain an explanation of the local context relating to the civic participation of young women and girls and clearly demonstrates how the proposed project will help with increasing the civic participation, confidence and agency of rural young women and girls. It should explain how it relates to the call objectives, its strategy for a long-term impact & inclusion of local stakeholders, and a clear explanation of the intended output. In addition, and in line with the local context, it should consider the inclusion of young women and girls facing additional layers of exclusion such as (but not limited to): race, ethnicity, sexual identity, ability and socio-economic status.

🔄 A Theory Of Change (1 page max.)

Comprehensive map that explains how and why your proposed project will create civic agency among girls and young women at the local level, in the long-term.

📅 A Gantt Chart (1 page max.)

Applicants should provide a short Gantt Chart presenting a timeline of the intended implementation of the different activities, milestones and output creation/final deliverable within the project period.

💰 A Detailed Budget

Breakdown of the different estimated costs, cost categories and a short justification for each cost line. The total cost estimated should not exceed the total of the grant (including contingency budget).

All applications should be submitted in English, French, Italian or Spanish. Deadline for application is set on 30th September 2026 at 23:59 CET.

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Indicative Timeline

Only applications who have provided all the documents required (see section 5) will be assessed.

Opening of the call — 10 July

Deadline to submit questions — 31 August

Deadline of the call — 30 September

Evaluation of the proposals — 30 September until 31st October

Awarding of the Grant — 31st October

Presentation of the proposal at the Let Her In Annual Assembly — 10–11 December 2026

Implementation of the project — From January 2027 to September 2027 (2–6 months within this period)

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Questions & Clarifications

Applicants may submit questions regarding the call, eligibility criteria, application process, required documents or budget rules by email before the deadline indicated in the call timeline.

Questions should be sent to:

Olena Korzhykova — international@letherin.org
Júlia Vilafranca — info@letherin.org

To ensure transparency and equal treatment of all applicants, answers to relevant questions may be compiled and shared with all potential applicants through a Frequently Asked Questions document or by email. The organisers will not provide individual support in drafting applications, but may clarify the rules, objectives and requirements of the call.

Questions received after the deadline may not be answered before the application deadline.