Guidelines for applications
to the Nordic Gender Equality Fund

Purpose and criteria

The fund aims to stimulate Nordic co-operation in the field of gender equality within the framework of the Nordic Co-operation Programme for Gender Equality and LGBTI 2025–2030 and its priorities.

Funding is granted to projects that add Nordic benefit as well as adding value to gender policy. Decisions on priority themes may be made for each call. These will then be assessed as in addition to the basic criteria for funding applications.

Applications may also need to indicate whether and to what extent they encompass other existing policies and strategies within Nordic co-operation.

All applications must indicate and will be assessed on how well they address the following requirements and focuses:

• Nordic benefit
• Added value for gender equality policy
• Sustainability/long-term view
• Implementation
• Economic feasibility
• Activities and beneficiaries
• Application and deadlines
• Decisions, contracts and reporting

a)    Nordic benefit

This means the extent to which the project:

• Generates significant positive effects through Nordic co-operation, 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 co-operation on gender equality
• Responds in a constructive way to the challenges of Nordic co-operation such as national barriers and differences.

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• Justifies why the project should be implemented as Nordic co-operation
• Describes the added value and the challenges that the co-operating 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 co-operation programme on gender equality.

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• Describes the problems of gender inequality that the co-operating parties have identified and which the project intends to respond to
• Shows how well the co-operating 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 co-operating parties intend to respond to and, based on this awareness, describes how the project will contribute to change and add new knowledge.

c)    Sustainability/long-term view

Sustainability means the degree 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 have been designed to reach relevant target groups.

Here, the assessment will be based on how well the application:

• Describes how and with which target groups the co-operating 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 means here:

• 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 will be based on how well the application:

• Describes how the co-operating 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 viability

Organisations applying for funding need to be able to contribute at least 20 per cent themselves and/or have other sources of funding.  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.

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. A separate audit is not required for the final accounting of projects, but project managers should keep their accounts in order so that any external audit can easily gain an overview of the financial management of the project.

Funding will not be given for audits. Funding will likewise not be given for travel expenses (with the exception of travel expenses for representatives of volunteer organisations/not-for-profit organisations and invited speakers).

Support cannot be provided for indirect costs, such as the salary of support activities and operating costs such as rent, electricity and IT.

Funding will not be granted to activities that aim to generate financial profit or equivalent for beneficiaries.

Activities that are awarded funding may be granted a lower total amount than that applied for, and/or parts of the application. In this case, the conclusion of the contract requires a revision of the project plan and budget in relation to the amount granted.

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Requirements on activities and beneficiaries

The following activities may be funded:

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

The 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 and interest organisations
• Government agencies and other public sector activities (such as municipalities, university departments, divisions, etc.)
• Other non-commercial actors
• Small- and mediumsized business enterprises (SMEs).

The Fund does not finance activities that include as partners political parties or individuals.

Each project must involve at least three different organisations from at least three of the following countries/areas:

• Denmark
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• Greenland
• Iceland
• Norway
• Sweden
• Åland

Alternatively, an organisation from Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania may be included as a partner in a project involving at least two organisations from at least two Nordic countries/areas. The lead applicant must come from a Nordic country/area. Otherwise, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ current policy on co-operation with non-Nordic countries applies at all times.

Institutions subordinate to or partly funded by official Nordic co-operation may be involved in projects but do not count towards the above requirements. Their participation cannot be financed by the Fund.

The Fund only finances activities that commence no later than six months after the signing of the contract and are completed within two years of the signing of the contract. Activities that commence before the signature of the contract will not be funded.

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Application and time limits

Applications are to be made in one of the three Scandinavian languages or English on a form specifically for this purpose available on NIKK’s website (www.nikk.no). The application form will be available to download from www.nikk.no approximately one month before the deadline for applications.

Grant applications are to be accompanied by a project plan and a budget for the planned activity. In the application, one of the applicant parties is to be designated as the principal applicant.

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Decisions, contracts, and reporting

NIKK will communicate its decision to the principal applicants by e-mail once it is made and after the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Committee of Senior Officials for Gender Equality and LGBTI (ÄK-JÄM) has been given the opportunity to veto the decision. Decisions cannot be appealed.

Activities that have been granted funding must be subject to contracts drawn up with NIKK according to specific procedures. After the contract has been signed, the funding can be dispersed.

By default, 75 per cent of the activity’s total granted funding will be dispersed following requisition and the remaining funds, up to 25 per cent, following the approval of final reporting, including the final report.

The main partner responsible for the project is responsible for sending the final report (self-evaluation) and financial accounts to NIKK no later than two months after the end of the project. Unused funds must be refunded to NIKK.

The final report is to include the following:

• What is the benefit of the activity to Nordic co-operation?
• What value has the activity added to gender equality policy?
• What results (such as products, knowledge, processes, procedures) has the activity produced?
• How has information about and knowledge from the activity been communicated (how many individuals/countries has the activity reached, which target groups, which channels)?
• How will (the results from) the activity continue to be spread/used within the applicants’ organisations?
• The most important lessons learned from the activity.