Gender Justice Accelerator Program

Deadline Date: September 14, 2024 

Donor Name: Strategic Advocacy Human Rights

Grant Size: $1000 to $10,000

https://www.wearesahr.org/2024-2025-call-for-fellows-sahr-gender-justice-accelerator

The Strategic Advocacy Human Rights (SAHR) is calling for applications from civil society leaders who are seizing an opportunity for law and policy reform, or, working to implement laws and policies locally to end Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).

The SAHR Gender Justice Accelerator is a twelve-month mentorship program that prepares civil society leaders (Fellows) with the skills and tools they need to meaningfully participate in SGBV law and policy-making and implementation. 

The Accelerator fosters transformation through a comprehensive framework, comprising legal mentorship, workshops, and peer collaboration. Fellows emerge equipped with a roadmap for their local policy and legal initiatives, professional skills, and enduring connections with fellow advocates. 

The commitment extends beyond empowerment; they are dedicated to cultivating a cadre of influential leaders who can navigate the policy and decision-making realms with efficacy, ultimately working towards eradicating SGBV. Through their work, they nurture leadership and amplify voices that often go unheard in pivotal decision-making processes. 

Benefits

• Fellows receive a grant of EUR €3,000 and collaborate with subject matter experts, leaders, and changemakers through their community of practice to put their ideas into action. 
• The Accelerator Program provides Fellows with a safe space and the resources to:
  • Focus on local priorities and areas of concern related to SGBV; or 
  • Test new ideas and approaches for bringing about systemic legal and policy change on the relevant SGBV issues affecting their communities. 
• The Accelerator Program offers Fellows the opportunity to:
  • Engage in specialized skills-building workshops to enhance their technical knowledge and understanding, and 
  • Grow their networks, learning from and building relationships with other human rights and gender justice leaders and changemakers. 

Duration

• The duration of the fellowship is 1 year. 

Expectation

• SAHR also expects Fellows to use the expertise they gain through the program to:
  • Train and engage with local community leaders, law enforcement officers, and/or legal professionals (paralegals, lawyers, judges etc.) and 
  • Respond to SGBV cases in an intersectional, trauma-informed, and survivor-centered way. 

Eligibility Criteria

• SAHR will assess applications based on the criteria below:
  • Are you under 40 years of age?
  • Do you identify as a woman, trans, non-binary or gender non-conforming person?
  • If you are a man, do you come from under-represented and marginalised group or are you working on sexual violence against men and boys?
• Organizations are encouraged to nominate civil society leaders who will benefit from this Fellowship and in turn, contribute back to the organization’s own initiatives towards law and policy implementation and reform. 
• Applicants must be able to demonstrate a commitment to advancing human rights and equal access to justice for women, LGBTQIA+ and men and boys affected by SGBV.
• Applicants from all over the world will be considered. Priority will be given to applicants from the Global South and East. 
• Joint applications from co-leaders (2 or more) are welcome and the total award will be divided equally between the two of them. They actively support and encourage co-leadership.
• In 2024/2025, SAHR will be awarding multiple Fellowships. 

For more information, visit SAHR.