Frequently Asked Questions

Disability Justice Fund for Women FAQs

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the Disability Justice Fund for Women below.  

Our group is unregistered – can we apply? 

If you are applying for the small fund (up to $10,000) you do not need to be registered in any way. 

If you are applying for the large fund (up to $20,000) then you need to be registered with the national or local government in your country. Affiliation or membership out of country will not be accepted, but you are welcome to apply for the small fund.  

What do you mean by “registered”? 

If you are applying for the large fund (up to $20,000) then you need to be registered with the national or local government in your country. Other types of registration cannot be accepted for this purpose. Affiliation or membership out of country will not be accepted, but you are welcome to apply for the small fund. 

What kind of references do we need to provide, if we are an unregistered group? 

Unregistered groups will be asked to provide the names and contact details of two referees in the application form. References can be provided by any person who knows you who is not a family member. If the referees you provide during application are not people of professional or community standing, we may later ask for this should your application progress. 

What kind of disabilities are applicable? 

If your group identifies as a group with disabilities, then we will accept your application. 

Why is this fund only targeting women? Men are also part of the movement. 

In our consultations with disability activists, we often hear that women with disabilities are even more excluded from control over funds than men with disabilities. This leads to a lack of focus on their priorities and less support for their action and leadership. This fund is therefore focused particularly on women.  

However, proposals for grants from this fund can include work that includes men,  as long as the group applying is led by at least 50% women with disabilities.  

ADD is continuing to raise funds for further grant-making to different target groups.  

How big must a group be to apply? 

Your group must have at least three members. 

Our group is new – can we apply? 

Yes, if you are applying for the small fund (up to $10,000) you do not need to be formally established in any way.  

If you are applying for the large fund (up to $20,000) then you need to have been operating for at least two years. 

Why are these the priority groups? 

ADD is committed to supporting the most marginalized groups within the disability justice movement through participatory grant-making. The women with disabilities from Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda who designed this fund have identified these groups as the most marginalized that they would like the fund to prioritize: 

They identified these groups based on their lived experience and conversation and learning with each other. 

You can read more about ADD’s commitment to supporting the most marginalized groups within the disability justice movement in our strategy, Mtiririko: add.org.uk/mtiririko  

Can we submit an application if we are not based or registered in one of the three countries? 

No, you need to be located in one or the three countries (Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda).  All the project activities must take place in one or more of the three identified countries. Please note that the fund will be favouring locally-led initiatives and activities. 

Do we have to be citizens of the three countries? 

No, you do not need to be a citizen of the countries. We want the fund to be accessible to people living in one of the countries who may not have citizenship, for example, refugees. 

If an NGO/group is led by non-disabled people or only by disabled men, but its members include women and girls with disabilities, can it apply?  

No. This fund is for groups and organisations that are led by women with disabilities. This means at least half of the group leaders must be women with disabilities and if there is a board, they must be made up of at least 50% women with disabilities.

My country has already ratified the African Disability Protocol so what can we do? 

Activities in the proposal can help to advocate to implement the African Disability Protocol and share knowledge about it, or any other activities you think help strengthen it. This includes building movements of women with disabilities to grow support for implementation of the African Disability Protocol and its articles.  

For more examples please see this page on the African Disability Protocol: add.org.uk/adp  

What are the possible activities you are looking for? 

The majority of the activities you carry out should support the ratification or the implementation of the African Disability Protocol. This could be advocating to local or national government, sharing information about the protocol, or mapping current gaps in implementation of the ADP. This can also include building your organisations and movements to then go on to do stronger advocacy about the African Disability Protocol.   

The fund is also aimed at strengthening the women’s disability movement so this could be strengthening or supporting your own organization to grow or become stronger in any way that you think is most needed, and linking with other organisations and movements 

Please look at the list below of Thematic Priorities for activities that the women of the design team have provided: 

  1. Building organisational development and financial sustainability of organization/movements 
  2. Building understanding and doing advocacy on the African Disability Protocol and other supporting policies.  
  3. Building skills on advocacy.  
  4. Supporting mobilisation of women and girls with disabilities for action. 
  5. Encouraging collaboration in movements of women and girls with disabilities, other persons with disabilities and OPDs, and with other movements.  
  6. Supporting accessibility and inclusion for the most marginalised groups in these approaches 

Is there a minimum amount you can apply for? Is there a maximum you can apply for? What is the difference between the small grant and the large grant? 

There is no minimum amount you can apply for.  

If you want to apply for $10,000 or less, then apply for a Small Grant. These are open to both unregistered and registered groups, organisations and movements.  

If you want to apply for between $10,001 and $20,000, you can apply for a Large Grant but please note these are only open to groups and organisations registered with the national or local government in your country, and who have been operating for at least 2 years.  

Apart from the need for registration and two years operating experience for Large Grants, there are no other differences in how you can plan to use the money between Small and Large Grants, e.g. you can use them both for any of the Thematic Priority interventions outlined in the Call for Proposals.  

Is there a template for submitting the budget for my initiative? 

Our strategy is to provide funding that is as flexible as possible. You may find that the application form is more simple and open than these forms often are. This is because it is up to you what you want to do with the funding. There are no prescribed requirements in terms of the amounts allowed for things like “activity costs” and “running costs”. We believe that you know best how you need to use the money, so please tell us what you need the funding for, including for operational and running costs for the organisation. We are doing this on purpose to make it easier to apply, and to keep the process more open and flexible. 

What due diligence will you require?   

This will depend on the size of the group or organisation applying. If your application proceeds, there will be a start-up conversation to discuss your financial processes, safeguarding, and governance.  

In what currencies can I make my application? Can I make this in local currency or in US $?  

You can submit your application in your local currency (Tanzania shillings or Uganda shillings or Ghana Ced) or USD. 

If our application is successful, will the money be received in USD or local currency? 

We will send local currency based on the USD equivalent at the time the Partnership Agreement is signed.  

Can we apply as a coalition? How will the finances to a coalition be disbursed? 

You can join with other organisations or groups to submit your application together if you wish to.It will be up to you to decide how the finances would be divided. ADD would work with you to determine what would work best for the financial management of your grant. 

Can refugee organisations apply? 

Yes, refugee organisations are welcome to apply, please refer to the main fund page to see the different funds available. 

Can organization/associations of parents of children with disability (specifically mentally or those with neurological disabilities) apply? 

This fund is for groups and organisations that are led by women with disabilities (this means at least half of the group leaders must be women with disabilities and if there is a board, they must be made up of at least 50% women with disabilities).  

How can I find out more about the African Disability Protocol? 

Please visit this page to find out more https://add.org.uk/ADP/  

What is the total number of grants you will give out? 

We do not know how many grants we will give out yet as. We have a starting ‘pot’ of money that will be divided between successful applications, depending on the amounts they request. We currently have $66.7K in each country ‘pot’ for Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. We may increase the ‘pot’ of money if we are able to raise more funds.  

Can we apply if we don’t have a bank account? 

Yes. If your application is successful, we would work with you to agree the best way forward as part of setting up the partnership, for example, by finding a fiscal sponsor to receive the funds. 

Sustainability – how sustainable is this fund, will there be future rounds of funding? 

We are currently focusing on delivering this fund and there is no future phase planned for it yet. However, this is a pilot fund as part of our transition as an organisation and we plan to do more participatory grant-making and have future opportunities to apply for funding from ADD.  

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