As part of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s “Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship” project, ESCAP has launched a Request for Applications.
Funding Goal
ESCAP seeks to partner and provide grant funding for 1) the establishment of a women enterprise impact investment fund; or 2) to expand an existing impact investment fund to specifically focus on women enterprises in the Asia-Pacific Region.
ESCAP’s call for applications asks applicants to take a gender lens investing approach, meaning investing with the specific intent to create a positive impact on women. The impact investment fund should specifically focus on supporting women enterprises. This can be in the form of investing in enterprises which are majority owned by women (51%), managed by a woman, majority of the board members are women, and/or supporting enterprises which support, empower and develop the capacities of women.
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Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship
The Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship project is a five-year initiative, aimed at addressing three key overarching barriers faced by women entrepreneurs:
- enabling policy environment and regulatory challenges;
- access to finance;
- use of information and communication technologies (ICT) by women entrepreneurs.
Overall, the project aims to crowd-in investment capital, competition and innovation, and increase the range and reach of services supporting women entrepreneurs.
Application Calendar
- Deadline to submit the request for clarification: 27/09/2019
- Final deadline for applications: 04/10/2019 23:59 ICT
Benefits
Successful applications will receive:
- Up to US$ 1.3 million in grant funding
- Technical assistance
- Support for applicants requiring regulatory approval
Selected applicants will receive up to US$ 1.3 million in grant funding to support the Impact Investment Fund’s operational development/expansion costs, legal fees, identification/building an investor network, market research, identification of investable women enterprises, portfolio management, capacity building and monitoring of impact.
ESCAP will work closely with the grantee to ensure strong project delivery and results. This will include where required, expertise and technical assistance, and coordination and support for regulatory approvals that may be required.
Eligibilities
- Applications are open to all organizations which hold a not-for-profit status. A proof of the organization’s not-for-profit status will be required as part of the application process.
- Applications are also open to other UN, government and multilateral entities, who have the skills and expertise in developing similar initiatives.
- The applicant can be based anywhere globally, however the Women Enterprise Impact Fund must invest in women enterprises in one or all of the below target countries:
- Pacific: Fiji, Samoa,
- South Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal
- South-East Asia: Cambodia, Viet Nam
- It is highly desired that applicants strive to launch the fund in all 6 of the target countries, or in target countries covering all 3 regions.
Application Process
- Before applying please download the Request for Applications Information Note from the official link, which provides full details on the application guidelines, process and requirements.
- Please download and complete the following documents from the official link as part of the application process:
- Technical Proposal
- Budget Proposal
- Annex 1: Submission Confirmation Letter
- Applications must follow the submission format as outlined in the Technical Proposal and Budget Proposal template.
- Please also ensure that the following annexes are also submitted with the application (no template has been provided for these documents and the applicant is welcome to use any format):
- Annex 2 – Resume/CV’s of all project team members involved in the project
- Annex 3 – Proof of the organization’s not-for-profit status. (This is not applicable for other UN entities).
- Annex 4 – Organizations 2018 financial statement (in English)
- Annex 5 – Limited Partner’s profile including name of fund/individual or company
- The winning applicant will be expected to sign a Letter of Agreement (Grant Agreement) with ESCAP. Samples of the Letter of Agreement and Agreement Terms and Conditions
- Applications should be returned to ESCAP by email to [email protected] no later than midnight on 04/10/2019 (23:59 ICT).
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Application Deadline: October 4, 2019
Application ClosedOfficial link
