Women and girls are uniquely impacted by COVID-19
and they are critical to the recovery and long-term resilience of companies, communities, and countries.
Women and girls are uniquely impacted by COVID-19
and they are critical to the recovery and long-term resilience of companies, communities, and countries.
meet the second round of
free fund recipients-2022
The FREE Fund received over 1700 applications in the first call for proposals. We funded 13 of those applications in 2021. The FREE Fund is excited to announce that 21 more organisations have been funded from the original call for applications enabled by the Players of the People's Postcode Lottery. Meet them below!
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Street project foundation
Street Project Foundation (SPF) is a Nigerian based not-for-profit organisation focused on using creative arts as a tool to facilitate opportunities for youth employment, social mobilization and cross-cultural dialogue.
SPF with the support of FREE fund through its Digital Amazons program, will strengthen the capacity of 100 female creatives who are disadvantaged youths aged 18-35 years old. They will hone their skills in Graphics Design, Photography, Video Editing, Storytelling, Digital Marketing, Project Management and Enterprise Development. After which, they will be placed on internships.
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YNCSD Wanikin Scale
Youth Network for Community &
Sustainable Development
Youth Network for Community and Sustainable Development (YNCSD) is a youth-led movement catalyzing social change by engaging young people and amplifying their voices to speak for human rights.
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Through the Free Fund, they will start empowerment schemes for young girls and Female Genital Mutilation practitioners by providing business and financial management training, business coaching, and training for girls as well. Through this, we can sustain our previous efforts and prevent communities who have pledged abandonment of the practice of FGM from retrogressing.
EHRAA Participants in an ongoing session on tailoring and cloth production technique training.
Equal Health and Rights Access Advocacy Initiative
Equal Health and Rights Access Advocacy Initiative (EHRAAI) is a Peer-led human rights services organization that focuses on Harm Reduction, Research and Human Capacity Development of key and marginalized population in Nigeria.
Through the support from FREE funds grant, EHRAAI will be creating a program titled (URBAN LABORATORY SKILLS DEVELOPMENT HUB FOR WOMEN) to help catalyse Entrepreneurship development , Employability & Leadership development of project beneficiaries( Young Key Population Women affected by Gender rights violation) through engaging beneficiaries in life skills training, helping them to explore business opportunities and ensure participants have access to learnings and improved solutions that contributes to social development prospects in their respective communities
ICT training at AGE Hub in Dalemo
African Girls
Empowerment Network
African Girls Empowerment Network (AGE Network) is a registered young feminine front-line civil society organization dedicated to reducing gender inequality in Nigeria by empowering and advancing the human rights of young women and girls. We are working to advance gender equality in girls’ education, promote young women’s sexual & reproductive health & rights, bolster women’s role in leadership, economic and financial inclusion, as well as strengthen the capacity of young women/girls-led groups in Nigeria.
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AGE, with the support of FREE Fund Grant, wants to empower young women and girls that had been impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis with alternative life skill in fashion design,make up, Digital/ ICT skills as well as provide micro-credit to support those vulnerable young women who have lost small business capital due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project’s main goal is to achieve the economic empowerment, leadership & financial inclusion of vulnerable young women and girls that had been impacted by the COVID-19 global health crisis.
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Wanel-aedon Development Association
Wanel-aedon Development Association (Waneledon) will use the project fund to pay salaries and related expenses, select farmers, buy bags of maize, and cassava cuttings and distribute them to 71 women farmers for cultivation, hire agricultural extension services to train them; buy goats and pigs for 24 farmers and have them trained by a veterinarian. Also, they will obtain 5 garri processing equipment and fence the processing sites, provide seed funding to selected 12 traders, train 10 women in dressmaking and buy 10 sewing machines for them; and train 8 women in hairdressing and provide them with basic tools. These will improve the livelihoods of beneficiaries and reduce gender inequality.
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girls leading africa
Girls Leading Africa (GLA) is a women-led non-profit organization in Odukpani, rural Nigeria, focused on accelerating the development of communities by providing girls and young mothers access to employable trades like tailoring, pastry making, and computer training and equipping them with interpersonal skills to take responsibility for their lives and community.
Through the FREE Fund grant to Girls Leading Africa, 25 teenage girls and young mothers will receive vocational skills training, confidence to handle their finances, and long-term sustainable solutions to increase economic opportunities and curb unemployment and poverty.
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Tanzania Support for Women’s Rights
Tanzania Support for Women Rights (TASUWORI) is a nongovernmental, non-profitable and nonpartisan organization founded in February 2012. At TASUWORI they focus on women socio-economic empowerment, HTPs/FGM, education and health, HIV/AIDS, partnership and networking; mainstreaming gender, environment and disability; as well as capacity, mobilizing, and synchronizing the efforts of our members.
The funds from FREE Fund contributes to the Empowerment of Girls and women with or without disabilities, Sex workers, Young Mothers and Adolescent girls. in Morogoro Regional-Gairo District State of Tanzania to have a meaningful contribution in and benefit from the overall development of the region and decrease the existing gender gap. This will be indicated by the improved women participation in various economics activities, participation in the decision making arenas both at household level and at community level, respect for their rights, improved access to public services and increased skill and income generation capacity of the subject women
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Furaha Ya Wanawake Wajasiriamali kwa viziwi Tanzania
FUWAVITA is a woman with Disabilities organization which supports young women and girls with Disabilities across Tanzania through Economic generation skills, Leadership, gender base violence and sexual reproductive health education.
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With the support of FREE Fund, FUWAVITA will reach 100 young women and girls with Disabilities in Dodoma and Mbeya regions and empower them through economic generation skills training. This will enable the women and girls with Disabilities to hire themselves and earn money for a living and total remove all discrimination, segregate and gender base violence they experience due to poor economic base they have.
Sable Herb Organization
Sable Herb Organization (SAHO) is a Women, Youth and Elderly Organization, working to benefit marginalized Children, Girls, Women, Youth, People living with HIV/AIDS, Widows, Elderly, People with Disabilities (PWDs) and Key and Priority Population. The Organization exists to provide Sound Advocacy on Women and Girls’ Rights, HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Services, Combating and Prevention of Gender Based Violence, Supporting Most Vulnerable Children (MVC), Youth, Widows and Elderly, Empowerment Programs and Environmental Conservation.
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THE FREE FUND will enable SAHO to establish long-term investment in the adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), through Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) value addition to produce OFSP Flour and Animal feeds, and hence economically empowerment, sustainable income, access to jobs and livelihoods improvement for the target 240 adolescent girls and young women. The project will also enhance the access to HIV and SRH information and services, and the provision of safe spaces for adolescent mothers and key and priority populations to receive training on early childhood development/responsive care-giving.
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Eagle Wings youth initiatives
Eagle Wings Youth Initiatives is a non-governmental organization established by and for marginalized women with the mission of creating the bridge where they will have an opportunity to engage with one another irrespectively of their gender identity and sexual orientation. In the process, Eagle wings creates a platform where marginalized women will engage with the rest of the community in order to promote inclusion, equality and freedom. Focus area covers Advocacy, Legal literacy, Health services. Mental health, safety and security and Economic empowerment.
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This project will create an opportunity for LBTQ women who have been marginalized, discriminated against, and lack economic opportunities to earn living and sustain their lives, it will help them achieve economic independence and help other LBTQ women in the community. It will save the community from the violence; lack of basic needs and depression hence ensure their safety and security. It will ensure them with economic sustainability and resilience. This will be the way towards achieving economic independence for LBTQ women in Tanzania which add up to the mission and impact of FREE.
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Mwavuli organization
Mwavuli organization is the community based organization aim to equip resource-poor young women with knowledge and skills so that they excel as professionals and entrepreneurs, and earn a “livelihood with dignity” in jobs and markets while improving their nutrition status, family planning utilization and mental health services.
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The supported FREE Fund will help adolescent girls and young women to enhance economic opportunities by equipping with skills on self-protection, women’s human rights, life skills and entrepreneurship. The skilled participants will be able to protect their rights, health choices and own and manage business to eradicate men-dependency. This will ensure freedom from violence and manage own business for their livelihood improvement. The adolescent girls and young women will be empowered through accessing to correct information and services on nutrition, family planning and mental health, HIV and AIDS, life skills, sexual education and, stigma reduction skills, self-protection, women economic justice/rights and mentored to result into women economic resilience.
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NZIABAKE MIRIAM-Chairperson, RUDIWA & KABUGHO JOJINA-Projects Management Officer,RUDIWA doing tailoring
Rural Disabled Women Association
RUDIWA is a community-based organization founded by disabled young women and girls in 2016 in Bundibugyo, western Uganda, led by and serving marginalized disabled young women and girls fighting the various forms of violence they face. RUDIWA works towards a community where there is justice, fairness, rights protection for the needy and equality for disabled women and girls irrespective of religion, physical ability, and political inclinations.
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FREE FUND support will be used to train disabled teenage girls in hands on work short courses in Hair dressing and saloon management, Tailoring and garment cutting and design, Knitting and modern basket weaving and also train disabled young women and girls in entrepreneurship, small scale business development and establish for them a mini-micro finance revolving funds to support small businesses. It will also support in training disabled adolescent girls both in school and outside school in making innovative re-usable sanitary pads which will support in sustaining girls in school and availing them with SRHR information magazines. The funds will help in creating safe learning spaces for literacy and numeracy skills which is a basis of lifelong learning.
Agrovision She Farmers
Agrovision she farmers is a network of young women established with intentions to increase young women welfare and food security in rural households. Agrovision she farmers responds to high unemployment and poverty among rural young women, increased domestic violence, food insecurity and non inclusion of women with disabilities in community programs.
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The FREE FUND grant will help us support young women to adopt agriculture as a sustainable source of livelihood and income. The fund will also help to implement activities that will build a sisterhood movement young women to address violence against women (VAW) and girls issues in rural communities.
Tusobola Women Initiatives Network
Tusobola (means We Can)Women Initiatives Network –TWIN is a woman founded and led community based organization established in 2017 with a goal of empowering women and girls to have a strong economic status, their rights promoted and protected and have equal access to resources and services.
The FREE FUND grant will help them address the adverse negative impact on the social and economic status of rural women and girls caused by the COVID 19 pandemic in Iganga and Luuka districts. This will be done through; Training and providing seed funding/capital to 20 women and girls groups (with 500 members) to boost their income opportunities. Addressing gender-based inequalities, discrimination and violence at the grass root level. To conduct support supervision, monitoring and evaluation of project activities.
Kuchu shiners uganda
This organisation is a trans women lead organization which was founded in 2015 due to so many challenges faced, such as criminalization, stigma and discrimination facing in their lives and when it came to service provision and the need to promote positive lives among the trans women communities.
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With help from THE FREE FUND, this organisation will be implementing an Economic Empowerment project aimed at giving economic independence amongst Trans women dwelling with HIV to minimize poverty Among their communities and enhancing the residing requirements of rural trans women. The venture seeks to raise lives of rural trans girls who lost their jobs at some stage in the COVID 19 outbreak in Uganda.The project will also seek to document and report sharing on COVID 19 role in economic injustices among trans women communities and how they’ve coped with the pandemic.
Community Women
Enterprise Network
Community Women Enterprise Network Uganda Limited is a non-profit in Uganda focusing on Women economic empowerment with a mission is to build the entrepreneurial capacity of lower income women to overcome economic and social barriers to achieve self-sufficiency.
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The FREE Fund grant will allow CWEN to run an annual young women entrepreneurs boot camp in Uganda for young women between age 18-24yrs.This is a year-long program that will see through entrepreneurship, young women working together to tackle some of Uganda’s complex problems, scaling businesses and creating jobs in one of Africa’s youngest Populations.
Global Learning for Sustainability
Global Learning for Sustainability(GLS) is a young women-led and Inclusive Organization founded in2015 as a Life Skills Education programme with a mission to support and ensure that young people especially Girls and Young Women have opportunities to acquire global skills, learn from one another, and work together to solve common global challenges. Addressing challenges that relate to SDGs 4,5 &13. GLS ensures that its policies and operations place girls and young women at the center. GLS builds capacity of other organizations to provide leadership opportunities to girls and women in their diversities to achieve Gender Equality.
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GLS will utilize FREE to strengthen Leadership Capacities and Economic opportunities for 160 Girl and Young Women in 5 communities of Kampala and Wakiso Districts through scaling up their Businesses, mentorship, and access to market. The funds will also be used to support formation of a Girls and Young Women SACCO through partnership with existing financial institutions. It is hoped that the project will be scaled up to other communities through peer to peer business mentorship.
SparkREAD Trust
SparkREAD trust is a grassroots organization based in Zimbabwe that was founded by Angeline Makore with a mandate of addressing and redressing challenges faced girls, youths and young women in Zimbabwe. We use various styles of programming to reach our targeted audiences we do this through education entertainment, advocacy, campaigns ,trainings and outreach(s).Our organization’s main areas of work include but not limited to elimination of violence against women and girls (EVAW/G), sexual reproductive health and rights , girls educations , improving the livelihoods of Girls and Young Women amongst others.
With support from FREE Fund we will implement a 4 tier project that intends to launch Community Girls Clubs that safe space for girls to learn various life skills, it shall also assist in conducting sexual reproductive health and rights advocacy workshops, FREE Fund will also boost young women with income generation skills-group small start-up funds as well as facilitating a viable gender based violence response system.
For Our Children
FOR OUR CHILDREN (FOC) is female-led, non-profitable organisation formed in 2018 and registered as a trust organisation in Zimbabwe, with a mission to improve the welfare of adolescent girls and women in rural areas. The organisation envisage a Zimbabwe in which all girls have access to quality education, skills and up to date information that enable them to make informed choices and take up leadership positions within society. Our broad aim at FOC is to improve the livelihood of vulnerable girls and women in Zimbabwe living in rural areas.
The organisation seeks to bridge that gap by providing support to ensure efficient provision and utilisation of resources that women and girls need to succeed in life, education is one of those resources. As such FOC aim to empower girls and women in various aspects. The Free Fund grant is going to assist FOC in empowering girls in rural Zimbabwe to take up and be confident in joining the traditionally male-dominated STEM subjects. In addition, we envisage the long term impacts of the fund to create a balance between boys and girls in science professions.
Bayethe
Development institute
Bayethe Development Institute is a Zimbabwe based Not-For-Profit organization that empowers marginalized communities with life skills to strengthen their inclusion and participation in all development processes including humanitarian interventions. Our organisational Vision is to create an inclusive society conducive for sustainable development and our mission is to equip marginalised communities with knowledge, skills and practical ongoing support for youth driven positive social change anchored by an environment of hard work, shared values, cooperation, and mutual understanding.
Bayethe Development Institute, through support from FREE FUND aims to launch livelihoods support rapid response initiative to equip LBTQI entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 35 in Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe with life skills and business support for resilience to cope through the COVID19 pandemic. The project addresses and provides training for LBTQI entrepreneurs focusing in the areas of financial management, business management and communication, sales and marketing strategy, digital and social media marketing.
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Youth Aspire Development Trust
YADT is a youth led organization that aims to empower young people through evidence based programs that promote their health and socio-economic development. The key result areas include youth economic strengthening, youth Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV awareness and skills development and advocacy. YADT's aim is to assist those marginalized youths in communities and youths targeted besides from the general youth populace, include those who are HIV positive, those affected by HIV, those engaged in sex work and those with disabilities, to create a society with young people living health and productive lives.
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With support from FREE Fund the project will enhance business knowledge and adaptive skills and facilitate access to markets and micro-credit facilities of 50 YWIFS. The project will also inform and raise awareness on provisions of by-laws and regulations for YWIFS to register and have operating licenses of their businesses. At the heart of the project is the adoption of the Business Incubator Model to provide YWIFS with space, shared support services and business assistance to nature and foster successful entrepreneurial development.