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EuropeAid Funding for Gender Equality, Women's Empowerment and GBV Prevention

EU External Action funding for gender equality, women's empowerment and gender-based violence projects. EuropeAid GAP III grants and feminist foreign policy funding.

Gender equality is a cross-cutting priority embedded in all EU external action programming under the EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III). The EU has committed that 85% of new programmes will integrate gender equality as a significant objective by 2025. This creates both dedicated gender calls and gender mainstreaming requirements in all other sectors. INTERALTER supports organisations working on gender equality, women's economic empowerment and gender-based violence prevention in accessing EU External Action funding.

EU funding landscape

  • NDICI Gender Equality Thematic Calls

    Dedicated gender equality and women's rights calls under NDICI-Global Europe.

  • EU Delegation Gender Grants

    Country-level gender grants managed by EU Delegations, often for local women's rights organisations.

  • NDICI Human Rights and Democracy Calls

    Check current thematic-programme calls for support relevant to women human rights defenders and gender justice.

  • EU Gender Action Plan III Implementation

    GAP III creates both dedicated gender calls and gender mainstreaming requirements across all EU external action instruments.

Typical project types

  • Women's economic empowerment
  • Gender-based violence prevention and response
  • Women's political participation and leadership
  • Sexual and reproductive health and rights
  • Girls' education and equal access
  • Women's land rights and property
  • Feminist activism and movement building

Typical applicant types

  • Women's rights NGOs and feminist organisations
  • Research institutes with gender focus
  • Healthcare providers with SRHR expertise
  • Development organisations with gender mainstreaming capacity
  • Local women's organisations in partner countries

Relevant EuropeAid regions

  • Africa
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Middle East
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Mediterranean
  • Western Balkans

How INTERALTER supports Gender Equality projects

  • Gender-Focused Proposals

    We write gender equality grant proposals with strong knowledge of EU GAP III priorities, CEDAW standards and feminist foreign policy frameworks.

  • Gender Mainstreaming

    We advise on how to strengthen gender mainstreaming in proposals across all sectors to meet the EU's 85% GAP III target and improve scores on gender-related evaluation criteria.

  • Small Grants for Women's Organisations

    We support local and national women's organisations in assessing eligible EU Delegation and NDICI Human Rights and Democracy calls. Available grant sizes and conditions depend on the current call.

Common questions

What is EU GAP III and how does it affect grant applications?
The EU Gender Action Plan III (GAP III) is the EU's framework for gender equality in external action 2021–2025. It commits the EU to gender mainstreaming across all programmes. In practice, this means gender equality is scored in most EU grant and tender evaluations, and many calls now require a gender analysis and gender-responsive indicators.
Can men's organisations or gender-neutral organisations apply for gender equality grants?
Yes. Many gender equality calls are open to all organisations demonstrating strong gender expertise and a credible gender-transformative approach. Some calls are restricted to women-led organisations. We check specific eligibility for each call.

Related sectors

  • human-rights-civil-society
  • health-systems
  • education-skills