Skip to main content

Guide for applicants

Nordic Gender Equality Fund

The information on this page is based on the guidelines adopted by the Nordic Council of Ministers for Equality (MR-JÄM).

The Nordic Gender Equality Fund addresses a broad target group and calls for proposals are open to a variety of activities and organisations including:

  • Volunteer organisations (citizen organisations/not-for-profit organisations)
  • Networks
  • Government agencies and other public sector activities (such as municipalities, university departments, divisions, etc.)
  • Other non-commercial actors
  • Business enterprises (SMEs)

Each project must involve at least the three Nordic countries, where the Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Aaland Islands may constitute one of these only. In addition, grants can be awarded to activities that include cooperation in neighbouring areas, i.e. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania*, that also include at least two Nordic countries. The principal applicant should come from a Nordic country or the Faroe Islands, Greenland or the Aaland Islands.

The Nordic Gender Equality Fund finances activities initiated in the same year as the funding is granted and which are completed within two years from the commencement date. Activities commenced before the application deadline are not eligible for funding.

*Please note that the Nordic Council of Ministers have suspended cooperation with Russia. Cooperation with north-west Russian partners within the Nordic Gender Equality Fund is thereby currently not possible. For more information please see norden.org.

What can you apply for funding for?

The following types of activities may be funded:

  • Staging of Nordic gatherings/meetings
  • Investigations/inquiries
  • Network-building
  • Activity projects
  • The participation of volunteer organisations in Nordic or international conferences/courses/meetings/gatherings

Funding will not be granted for:

  • Activities already financed wholly or in part by Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality (MR-JÄM), or the Nordic Council of Ministers.
  • Activities that submit a budget in a currency other than DKK.
  • Applications submitted after the deadline.
  • Activities that submit an incomplete application (all mandatory fields not filled in or applications without the requisite attached documentation).
  • Political party organisations.
  • Private individuals.
  • Activities whose purpose is to generate a profit or equivalent for the funding beneficiary.

How much money can be applied for?

The amount applied for should be between DKK 50,000 and DKK 500,000.

Organisations applying for grants need to be able to contribute at least 20 per cent themselves and/or have other sources of finance.  The organisation’s own contribution and/or other sources of funding could come from sponsorship or other financial contributions, voluntary work, participant fees, or indirect costs for example.

Funding will not be given for audits or travel expenses (with the exception of travel expenses for representatives of volunteer organisations/not-for-profit organisations and invited speakers). Funding cannot be provided to cover indirect costs, such as the support organisation’s salaries and other running costs (such as rent, electricity, IT).

Successful applicants may be granted a lower total amount of funding than they have applied for in all or in parts of their applications.

How are applications assessed?

Funding applications are to indicate how well the project meets the following criteria:

a. Nordic benefit
This means the extent to which the project:

  • Generates significant positive effects through Nordic cooperation, compared to the project having been implemented at the national level
  • Manifests and develops Nordic cohesion, both within and outside the region
  • Contributes new infrastructure that strengthens Nordic cooperation on gender equality
  • Responds in a constructive way to the challenges of Nordic cooperation such as national barriers and differences

Here, the assessment is based on how well the application:

  • Justifies why the project should be implemented as Nordic cooperation
  • Describes the added value and the challenges that the cooperating parties perceive in working together across country borders.

b. Added value for gender policy
This refers to the extent to which the project:

  • Aims to respond to the problems of gender inequality concerning the rights, conditions, and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys, as well as the power to shape their lives and contribute to the development of society.
  • Contributes new/updated knowledge about methods and models of gender inequality/equality and/or exchanges of experience concerning knowledge about methods and models of gender inequality/equality
  • Helps to respond to the challenges identified in the Nordic cooperation programme on gender equality

Here, the assessment is based on how well the application:

  • Describes the problems of gender inequality that the cooperating parties have identified and which the project intends to respond to
  • Shows how well the cooperating parties understand these problems based on theoretical knowledge and/or tried and tested experience
  • Demonstrates an awareness of previous work, knowledge and/or research concerning the problems that the cooperating parties intend to respond to and, based on this awareness, describes how the project will contribute to change and add new knowledge.

c. Sustainability
Sustainability means here the extent to which:

  • The project design provides scope for others to draw conclusions and learn from the project’s successes and setbacks
  • The project results and efforts are expected to have lasting effects through infrastructure and products which persist after the end of the project such as networks, websites, reports, etc., and how these are designed to reach relevant target groups

Here, the assessment is based on how well the application:

  • Describes how and with which target groups the cooperating parties plan to communicate the project and its results, and how they will ensure that these results will be available even after the end of the project.

d. Implementation
Implementation here means:

  • How likely it is, in light of the applicant’s skills and experience, that the project will be implemented in the manner described by the applicants
  • What bases do the applicants have for working together, for example that they contribute different skills, perspectives and experience which means that they can complement each other

Here, the assessment is based on how well the application:

  • Describes how the cooperating parties plan to go about responding to the identified problems, and the justification they have provided for their choice of approach with regard to the feasibility of achieving the results and drawing conclusions from these results

Describes what the main applicant and each of the partner organisations will contribute to the project, as well as their previous experience of similar collaborations

e. Economic reasonableness
Organisations applying for grants need to be able to contribute at least 20 per cent themselves and/or have other sources of finance. The organisation’s own contribution and/or other sources of funding could for example come from sponsorship or other financial contributions, voluntary work, participant fees, or indirect costs.

The amount applied for should be between DKK 50,000 and DKK 500,000.

The application must be accompanied by a budget containing all items specified in DKK, and include the total amount. Self-funding and total funding must be made apparent in the budget. The budget should explicitly state what the funding amount applied for is intended to cover in the total budget. Funding will not be given for audits or travel expenses (with the exception of travel expenses for representatives of volunteer organisations/not-for-profit organisations and invited speakers).

Funding cannot be provided to cover indirect costs, such as the support organisation’s salaries and other operating costs (such as rent, electricity, IT).

What is the assessment process?

All project applications are assessed by NIKK’s assessment team, which consists of people with a variety of skills and backgrounds. The assessment team processes each application on the basis of the above criteria and makes a decision. Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality (EK-JÄM) then have the option to veto a decision. The decision cannot be appealed. If necessary, the assessment team may ask for clarification from the applicant during the assessment process.

Notification of the decision

NIKK will communicate its decision via e-mail to each applicant after the decision has been made and the Nordic Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality (EK-JÄM) has been afforded the opportunity to veto the decision.

Updated 4 March 2022