Apply to the STRATEGIC INNOVATION FUND 2026

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

STRATEGIC INNOVATION FUND 2026

ACTIONAID NIGERIA

ActionAid Nigeria, with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), through the Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership (RWVL) Project, invites Women’s Rights Organisations (WROs) in Nigeria to submit Expressions of Interest for the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).

The fund supports creative and innovative interventions that advance the rights of women and girls, strengthen advocacy, challenge existing barriers and generate scalable solutions for transformative change.

ISSUING ORGANIZATION

ActionAid Nigeria

DONOR

Global Affairs Canada

PROJECT

Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership (RWVL) Project

COUNTRY

Nigeria

ABOUT THE STRATEGIC INNOVATION FUND

The Strategic Innovation Fund provides Women’s Rights Organisations with an opportunity to design, test and pilot innovative approaches addressing gender issues and advancing the rights of diverse women and girls.

Innovation may include:

1. New approaches to existing challenges.
2. Adaptation of existing solutions.
3. Use of technology.
4. Community-driven methodologies.
5. New partnership models.
6. Innovative advocacy approaches.
7. Other creative strategies for advancing women’s rights.

AREAS OF FOCUS

Proposed interventions may address:

1. Violence against women and girls.
2. Protection of women and girls in conflict or on the move.
3. Women’s economic justice and empowerment.
4. Women’s political participation and leadership.
5. Policy advocacy and influencing.
6. Other gender-related issues affecting women and girls.

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must:

1. Be a Women’s Rights Organisation or Women’s Rights Network.
2. Be women-led and operating in Nigeria.
3. Propose an intervention that is innovative, creative, strategic and impactful for women and girls.
4. Demonstrate how the intervention will advance gender equality and gender justice.
5. Demonstrate potential contribution to systemic change and complement existing efforts to advance women’s rights.
6. Show how the proposed intervention can be scaled.
7. Demonstrate the capacity to implement the intervention within a short timeframe and achieve measurable impact.

PRIORITY GROUPS

ActionAid Nigeria particularly welcomes innovative ideas addressing the needs of structurally excluded groups, including:

1. Women and girls with disabilities.
2. Women and girls affected by conflict.
3. Women and girls on the move or returnees.
4. Female inmates.
5. Gender-based violence victims and survivors.
6. Out-of-school girls.
7. Elderly women.
8. Women in politics.

GRANT AWARD

Up to 5 innovative ideas will be supported in this funding round.

GRANT CEILING

Up to NGN20,000,000 per selected idea.

IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD

6 months to 1 year.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Interested organisations should submit:

1. Completed Expression of Interest using the required application template.
2. Organisational profile.

IMPORTANT APPLICATION NOTES

Only one application per organisation will be considered.

Applications not submitted using the required template will be disqualified.

Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

ActionAid Nigeria will not be responsible for costs incurred during the application process.

APPLICATION TIMELINE

CALL OPENS: 23 September 2026

DEADLINE: 12 October 2026, 12 midnight

HOW TO APPLY

Send the completed EOI and required documents by email to:

RWVL.SIFGrant@actionaid.org

EMAIL SUBJECT:

“Strategic Innovation Fund September 2026”

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Applicants are expressly prohibited from using Artificial Intelligence tools, including ChatGPT or similar platforms, to draft, structure or generate application narratives, project descriptions or advocacy goals.

According to the call, the use of AI for these purposes will lead to automatic disqualification.

FULL CALL INFORMATION

View the Strategic Innovation Fund Call