The International Indigenous Women´s Forum (IIWF/FIMI) in its commitment to the empowerment of Indigenous women´s human rights and Indigenous peoples collective human rights around the world, is pleased to open the first Indigenous Women´s Fund Call for Proposals from 15 October 2009 to 15 January 2010.

Taking into account the unequal distribution of power, wealth, and resources both within and across nations, the Fund will attempt to balance its grantmaking in the 7 geo-cultural regions defined by the Untied Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Africa, Arctic, Asia, Eastern Europe/Central Asia/the Caucasus, Latin America/Caribbean, North America, and the Pacific.

* The Indigenous Women's Fund is for the advancement of Indigenous women's rights in the context of Indigenous peoples rights, respecting and recognizing the different ways in which Indigenous women organize

* Applicants must promote the rights of Indigenous women

* Applicants must address the particular perspectives and challenges that Indigenous women face in their communities and promote women's rights

* Applicants must be Indigenous women's organizations working in the Fund's grantmaking areas of economic empowerment & community development, environment & sustainable development, information & community technology, or Indigenous women's health & education

* Groups that submit proposals may work at the local, national, or international level

* Proposals may be presented by a single organization or as a collaboration among several groups

* Groups that do not have the participation of Indigenous women in significant leadership and/or management roles

* Work that does not have Indigenous women's individual and/or collective rights as a primary component

* Political parties, women's wings of political parties, or election campaigns

* Non Indigenous governmental organizations

* Individuals attending conferences or trainings with no plan for follow-up with other Indigenous women

The Fund will also train Indigenous women's organizations to conduct their own fundraising, and support their management capacity so that groups will be able to find additional support for their work.

It is important for the IWF to support the Indigenous peoples and institutions that are committed to upholding the rights of Indigenous peoples, while recognizing and honoring the different organizational formats of Indigenous women across the globe. The IWF will support projects in the following areas:

- Promote traditional education

- Encourage bilingual and intercultural Systems of education

- Revitalize Indigenous languages

- Organize educational workshops or trainings for Indigenous women

Successful projects may:

- Dignify the productive and reproductive work of women

- Promote the municipal and national markets with Indigenous agricultural and artisanal products from Indigenous women’s organizations

- Promote credit and technical assistance for micro-enterprises and Indigenous women’s projects.

Political Participation: Projects that guarantee access to equal opportunities in political arenas and respect Indigenous women’s ethic and cultural identities.

- Promote the inclusion of Indigenous women in all spheres of local political participation and community leadership.

- Increase the political participation and impact of Indigenous women in political parties and elected offices.

Eligibility

Please take into account that in order to be considered for an Indigenous Women’s Fund Grant the community or organization must meet all the following criteria:

1. The applicant must be an Indigenous community, Indigenous organization, Indigenous tribe or a non-profit organization working for the rights of Indigenous peoples.

2. The applicant must be registered in accordance with current legislation and be based in the country where the resources of the grant will be used. The applicant must demonstrate Indigenous community support of the project through documentation.

3. The applicant may be under the fiscal sponsorship or another organization. A community or Indigenous peoples’ organization may request a non-profit organization legally registered as a non-profit organization within the country to act as the applicant and grant recipient. In such cases, the applicant must explicitly state the relationship between the Indigenous organization and the fiscal sponsor. In addition, the applicant must indicate the name and address of the Indigenous community or tribal representative benefitting from the project.

4. The applicant may only present one proposal.

5. Groups may send proposals at the local, national, regional or international levels.

1. All applications must be designed to directly benefit Indigenous peoples in a culturally appropriate and sustainable way that includes both Indigenous women and men, from the unique perspective of the Indigenous community.

2. The proposal budget should not exceed $5,000 USD.

- Grant recipient organizations should contribute at least 20% of the total to the project.

- The contribution may be made in case or in-kind, including personnel costs and local services.

- The budget must be based on a realistic assessment of local costs.

- The applicant must earmark 5% for administrative expenses.

- The applicant must detail other contribution sources and amounts, including those by the applicant organization.

- Budget must be expressed in US Dollars.

3. The timeline of the proposal must be executed within 12 months of the receiving the grant.

4. Proposals may be submitted in Spanish, English or French. Se recibirán propuestas en español, inglés y francés.

5. Applications must be received no later than 15 January 2010. Late applications will not be considered.

6. Applications must be accompanied by a copy of the registration certificate, in alignment with legislation applicable for each respective community and country.

7. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

For further information (including application guidelines, application format and budget format), please visit IIWF/FIMI