Innovation Seed Grants

2013 AWID Innovation Seed Grants Recipients.

Following the Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women’s Rights and Justice Forum held in Istanbul in April 2012, AWID disseminated a “Call for Proposals” to all Forum participants interested in applying for a $5000 “Innovation Seed Grant.” Seed Grants are a tradition dating back to the 2002 Guadalajara Forum aiming to support proactive members of women’s rights movements turn creative ideas into action. This time around, the response we receive to our call was unprecedented: Within two weeks we were inundated with close to 300 proposals from Forum delegates, each detailing a plan to turn ideas sparked at the Forum into concrete projects.

As you can imagine, the decision making process was extremely difficult, but with the help and support of an International Selection Committee, 24 winners were selected to implement initiatives for transforming economic power. We sincerely thank every applicant for sharing your project ideas and dreams with us—they were amazing to read through and we wish you the best of luck with finding future support.

It is our pleasure to announce the following list of 2013 Innovation Seed Grant winners… congratulations to all!

• Engendering Tax Policies in Selected Countries in Asia, A Research-Competency-Development & Advocacy Project, Jubilee South Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JSAPMDD), Philippines
• Palestinian Women in Israeli Civil Service: A Critical Examination of Economic, Social, and Political Ramifications, Gender Studies Program at Mada al-Carmel–Arab Center for Applied Social Research, Israel
• The Bioeconomy through a Gender Lens, Global Forest Coalition, Paraguay
• Empowering Home-based Worker Women Project, Kozadan İpeğe Ev eksenli Çalışan Kadınlar Kooperatifi, Turkey
• Introducing Feminist Economics to Gender and Sexual Justice Activism in Kyrgyzstan and Georgia, Bishkek Feminist Collective SQ (Kyrgyzstan); Independent Group of Feminists (Georgia), Kyrgyzstan
• First Transsexual Persons’ HR Report in Chile, Organización de Transexuales por la Dignidad de la Diversidad (Transsexual Organization for the Dignity of Diversity), Chile
• “Owning my money, owning myself”, Asociación Mujeres con Voz (Association Women with a Voice), Spain
• Basics: Feminism and the left, Jelena Savic, Reconstruction Women’s Fund in Serbia and Serbia for Roma Education Fund (REF), Serbia
• Creating leaders in Feminist Economics towards the 2013 National Feminist Gathering, Centro de Apoyo para el Movimiento Popular de Occidente (CAMPO) – REPEM (Center to Support the Grassroots Movement in the West), Mexico
• Sex workers rights are human rights, Association of Hungarian Sex Workers, Hungary
• Food Sovereignty (FS) and Care Economy: gender strategies to confront income and time poverty, ONG Centro de Estudios para la Mujer CEDEM (NGO Center for Women’s Studies), Chile
• Red Umbrella Diaries Memoir Storytelling Workshop, Red Umbrella Project, USA
• Sex, Fun and Money, DEBOLINA DUTTA, India
• “Where’s the Money for Women’s Rights?”: A Kosovo Case Study, Kosova Women’s Network (KWN; 91 diverse member organizations), and Alter Habitus (AH; a KWN member), Kosovo
• Project to support the emergence of women’s organizations for effectively including women’s issues in development projects, PEJELF, Niger
• Centering Economic Justice for Caribbean Women: the Caribbean Institute in Gender & Development: An Intensive Training Programme, July 1-31, 2013, Institute for Gender & Development Studies: Nita Barrow Unit (Caribbean Institute in Gender & Development: An Intensive Training Programme), Barbados
• Gender, Extractive Industries and Livelihood in the Pacific Islands with initial focus on Fiji and Papua New Guinea, PANG and potential partners, Fiji Islands
• Set-up of the Cantine Communautaire Agricole (Agricultural Community Warehouse) and re-launch of agro-pastoral activities for women and girl victims of sexual violence and other vulnerable women and girls of Kamanyola/Walungu, Conseil des Organisations des Femmes Agissant en Synergie (Cofas), Democratic Republic of Congo
• Using Comics for Economic, Social and Gender Justice Advocacy, Alliances for Africa (AfA), Nigeria
• Building a political voice for women living with HIV to demand for increased funding for women’s human rights and social justice, International Community of women living with HIV&AIDS Eastern Africa, Uganda
• Project on awareness raising and education to promote a culture of peace in Cameroon as a means of recognizing the work of women as economic operators and not as instruments of the economy, Women Peace Initiatives, Cameroon
• Opening bank account to save money, Myanmar National Network of Sex Workers (MNNSW), Myanmar
• Young women workers Trade Union for economic sustainability, Serene Secular Social Service Society (SSSSS), India
• Advocacy campaign of the national women’s network for the recognition of the role of women in the artisanal fishing sector, Réseau national des femmes de la pêche artisanale en Mauritanie (National Network on Women in Fisheries in Mauritania), Mauritanie

*NB: The successful candidates, listed above, most closely met the criteria set out in the guidelines, including:

• Initiatives showing a strong connection to Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women’s Rights and Justice
• Projects deriving inspiration directly from the 12th AWID Forum
• Proposals describing a workable methodology and a viable budget
• Ideas having potential for lasting impact and growth
• Initiatives with strategic relevance to the 12th AWID Forum theme (‘compelling logic or idea’ behind the proposal that was not just relevant to Transforming Economic Power, but seemed like it could make a creative contribution)
• Applications that stood out for their levels of innovation, originality and/or creativity