Associated Country Women of the World

Associated Country Women of the World is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (charity number 1174798).

Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) is a registered charity that works for the relief of poverty and sickness, the protection of health, and the advancement of education. It does this through advocacy at the United Nations and associated agencies, partnership working, and funding small-scale woman-to-woman projects. It reports more than £4 million invested in grassroots funding, and its latest reported annual giving is £84,494. Its Rural Women in Action Fund has three funding areas: Climate Smart Agriculture, Rural Women's Health, and Education and Community Development.

Priority Areas

ACWW funds registered organisations based in the Global South, with applications available to ACWW members; it particularly encourages women-led organisations supporting rural women and children. Its development funding focuses on climate-smart agriculture, rural women’s health, and education and community development. It supports community-led projects designed around rural women’s priorities, including sustainable farming, accessible and gender-responsive healthcare, education, skills, financial independence and local networks. Its approach combines project funding with capacity building and links development projects with advocacy and learning. ACWW describes its work as supporting women-led grassroots organisations to transform rural women’s lives, with solutions grounded in communities’ understanding of their own challenges.

Themes

• Climate-smart agriculture
• Rural women's health
• Education and community development

Organisations begin by submitting a registration form to confirm eligibility and request an application pack.

Deadlines: Proposals are considered three times per year.

Application windows:

• Rural Women's Health: Closes on the 8th of November

Who can apply:

• Rural Women in Action Fund
  • Small grass-roots organisations based in the Global South
  • Registered organisations based in the Global South. The organisation must be legally established and located in the same country where the project activities will take place.
  • Organisations where at least 80% of those in decision-making positions are women
  • The Rural Women in Action Fund is only available to members of ACWW.
  • Your organisation must be registered in the country in which you are located. Any organisation applying must have been registered in its home country for at least 2 years (with suitable registration for receiving foreign donations)

What to send:

• Rural Women in Action Fund
  • A registration certificate and registration number
  • All of the supporting documents required

Applying again: Rural Women in Action Fund: You may be able to reapply in following rounds, this depends on the reasons your application was not successful the first time.

What the charity says:

• Women-led organisations supporting rural women and children are particularly encouraged.
• At least 80% of decision-making positions should be held by women.
• Projects should use evidence-based, community-led solutions.