Deadline: 31 October 2025 23:59 pm NY Time
As part of the Advocacy, Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action (ACT) to End Violence Against Women Programme, UN Women is in the process of identifying one or more programme partners (Responsible Parties) to develop and roll out a Global Feminist Technology and Innovation Lab for women’s rights organizations and activists. The aim of the Feminist Technology and Innovation Lab is to foster cross-sectoral collaboration and bolster skills and capacities of women’s rights organizations and activists through structured capacity strengthening initiatives within key areas related to technology and innovation, focused on the following two main areas: 1) Enhancing capacities and cross-sectoral collaboration to prevent and respond to technology facilitated violence against women and girls (TFVAWG) and 2) Leveraging advancements in technology and innovation to advance advocacy on EVAWG.
The UN Women has announced a call to engage a civil society organization (CSO) to establish and implement a Global Feminist Technology and Innovation Lab focused on empowering women’s rights organizations and activists around the world.
The Lab will serve as a pioneering platform for cross-sectoral collaboration, learning, and advocacy that addresses technology-facilitated violence against women and girls (TFVAWG) while advancing gender equality through innovation and digital transformation.
Developed under the ACT Programme, this global initiative will build on priorities identified by women’s rights organizations and activists, ensuring that their voices and needs are central to the global discussion on technology, feminism, and ending violence against women and girls. The selected organization will be responsible for designing and executing the Lab’s framework, fostering collaborations between feminist movements, digital rights experts, and technology professionals.
The Lab will operate under two main focus areas: first, enhancing capacities and collaboration to prevent and respond to TFVAWG, and second, leveraging technology and innovation to strengthen advocacy efforts within the broader Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG) agenda. The overall goal is to empower women’s rights organizations with the tools, research, and strategies necessary to enhance their digital resilience, influence public policy, and drive evidence-based advocacy.
The programme seeks to achieve multiple outcomes. It will support innovative, data-driven advocacy strategies that align with the ACT Global Shared Advocacy Agenda and enhance online safety for women’s rights networks and activists. Participants will gain access to training and new technologies to strengthen their movements, while fostering partnerships with digital and tech rights experts. The initiative will also generate new evidence on what works to prevent and respond to technology-facilitated gender-based violence, helping to inform global and national strategies.
The Lab will be rolled out in three key stages: design and development, implementation of core elements, and assessment of strengthened organizational capacities among participating women’s rights organizations. The total available budget is USD 110,000, divided equally between the two focus areas—USD 55,000 each. Applicants may apply for one or both focus areas. The implementation period will run from November 2025 to June 2026.
Eligible applicants include civil society organizations, research institutions, or consortia specializing in gender equality, innovation, technology, and advocacy. They must demonstrate at least five years of experience in delivering capacity-building activities for women’s rights organizations, particularly in areas related to technology, online safety, and digital resilience. Applicants must also have a proven track record in using research and data to inform policy and advocacy, experience in feminist digital advocacy, and familiarity with global frameworks addressing violence against women.
What is the geographic scope of the project outlined in this Call for Proposals?
- As this call for proposal is for the set-up and roll out of a Global Feminist Technology and Innovation Lab, proposals must be global in scope. In this regard, applicants from country level organizations or proposals focused on country level interventions, or interventions in only one region are not eligible for this specific call for proposals.
Can organisations apply in a consortium?
- Yes, the responsible party must be a Civil Society Organization, academic/research institution or a consortium of organizations specialized in technology, innovation, advocacy and learning/capacity strengthening on gender equality and/or violence against women and girls. If applying as a consortium, please be detailed in the proposal regarding the roles and responsibilities of each member of the consortium, including who the lead organisation is. Please also note that the lead organization must meet the competencies criteria outlined in the call for proposals as well as all of the minimum criteria outlined in Annex B-1.
