GFF x CIVIC VOICES Call for Proposals 2026: Up to US$175,000 for Civil Society and Youth-Led Organizations in Africa

Applications are open for the GFF x CIVIC VOICES Call for Proposals 2026, supporting local civil society organizations (CSOs) and youth-led organizations (YLOs) to strengthen civic engagement, health financing advocacy and accountability for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health plus nutrition (RMNCAH+N).

The VOICES (Voices Organizing for Inclusive Civic Engagement and Sustainability) initiative will provide grants of up to US$175,000 to eligible country partnerships across 22 African countries, with a total funding envelope of US$3.35 million.

Civil society and youth-led organizations are essential partners in improving health and nutrition outcomes for women, children, and adolescents. Yet too often, barriers to participation limit their influence.

The World Bank Group’s GFF × CIVIC partnership—a joint initiative of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) and the CIVIC: The Civil Society and Social Innovation Alliance—works to help close that gap.

Through its first pillar, the initiative is supporting a consortium led by PATH—in partnership with the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) and the Organisation of African Youth (OAY), working together as VOICES (Voices Organizing for Inclusive Civic Engagement and Sustainability)—to strengthen civil society engagement, coalition-building, and youth leadership around domestic resource mobilization for women’s, children’s and adolescent health and nutrition. To advance these objectives, the VOICES consortium will award subgrants to local CSOs and youth-led organizations in up to 22 African countries.

GFF x CIVIC VOICES Call for Proposals 2026

Working together as the VOICES consortium, PATH, AFIDEP, and OAY are implementing Pillar 1 of the GFF x CIVIC Platform in up to 22 African countries.

The project supports GFF x CIVIC’s aim of empowering CSOs and YLOs to drive better health and nutrition outcomes for women, children, and adolescents by strengthening their role in influencing health financing, policy, and service delivery, with specific goals to boost domestic resource mobilization and scale innovative community-led solutions.

GFF x CIVIC VOICES responds to persistent gaps in health financing, accountability, and civic participation by improving coordination and alignment among CSOs and YLOs and strengthening their capacity to engage more effectively in government-led planning, budgeting, and accountability processes.

The project also seeks to deepen and institutionalize civil society and youth engagement in World Bank-supported processes at the country level, ensuring that health policies and financing decisions are informed by robust evidence, lived experience, and citizen voice.

Key Details

Eligible Countries

Organizations from the following countries are eligible to apply:

• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic (CAR)
• Chad
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
• Ethiopia
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Kenya
• Liberia
• Malawi
• Mali
• Mozambique
• Nigeria
• Rwanda
• Senegal
• Sierra Leone
• Tanzania
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe

The call anticipates 22 awards, with one local partnership selected in each country, subject to the quality of proposals received.

About GFF x CIVIC VOICES

VOICES (Voices Organizing for Inclusive Civic Engagement and Sustainability) is the consortium made up of PATH, AFIDEP, and OAY that is implementing Pillar 1 of GFF x CIVIC to strengthen coordinated civil society and youth advocacy for increased domestic investment and accountability for RMNCAH+Nutrition.

Across Africa, chronic underinvestment and weak health systems continue to undermine progress in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health plus nutrition (RMNCAH+N).

Preventable mortality and morbidity among women, children, and adolescents remain unacceptably high, with the burden concentrated in a limited number of countries. These challenges are intensifying as external health financing declines.

Recent estimates suggest Official Development Assistance (ODA) for health between fell by 23% in 2025, widening domestic financing gaps at a time when health needs are growing. Data from 12 GFF partner countries reveals a crisis of unprecedented scale: 86 percent of surveyed organizations reported national-level ODA disruptions, while 93 percent experienced direct organizational impact, underscoring that funding instability is no longer episodic but systemic.

Purpose of the Call for Proposals

The purpose of this Call for Proposals is to identify and support partnerships of local CSOs and YLOs/networks/coalitions in each target country to design and implement coordinated advocacy and civic engagement interventions toward increased domestic investment and accountability for RMNCAH+N.

Interested parties are required to submit together in a consortium, referred to as the “LCYO country partnerships,” of a maximum of three (3) organizations that includes at least one CSO and one YLO.

Only one local partnership will be selected in each country.

The successful LCYO country partnerships will receive training and technical assistance to advance their advocacy plans with the aim of moving beyond fragmented, organization-led projects toward sustained, coalition-driven advocacy within formal decision-making spaces.

Scope of the Project

Proposals must address two objectives.

Priority Area 1: Strengthen Coordination and Alignment

Strengthen coordination and alignment among civil society and youth-led advocacy actors working on RMNCAH+N.

Under this objective, the selected country partnership will, among other things:

• Establish or strengthen coordination mechanisms among RMNCAH+N CSOs, YLOs, coalitions, and networks in the country.
• Support creation of joint advocacy agendas, messaging, and action plans aligned to national priorities as defined in relevant policy documents, including the RMNCAH+N Investment Cases and Country Partnership Frameworks.
• Strengthen inclusive civic engagement, including engagement of youth and community-led groups, in domestic resource mobilization for RMNCAH+N.
• Support community voices, including youth, to influence policy and financing decisions.

Priority Area 2: Advocate for Increased Domestic Resource Investment

Advocate for increased domestic resource investment and accountability for RMNCAH+N at national and/or subnational levels.

Under this objective, the selected country partnership will, among other things:

• Conduct advocacy targeting national and/or subnational planning, budgeting, and financing processes, including those supported by GFF, such as RMNCH+N Investment Cases, Country Partnership Frameworks, and Multi-stakeholder Platforms.
• Package and disseminate evidence, with technical assistance from the VOICES consortium, to inform advocacy to increase public investment for RMNCAH+N.
• Participate in government-led policy, planning, and accountability platforms, such as technical working groups.
• Track commitments and support civil society oversight of RMNCAH+N investments.
• Document lessons learned, good practices, and advocacy outcomes.
• Contribute to cross-country learning agendas.

These illustrative activities will contribute to the GFF x CIVIC VOICES’ expected outcomes of strengthening capacities of LCYOs on health financing and accountability to support advocacy on domestic resource mobilization for women, children, and adolescent health and improving meaningful LCYO engagement in government-led processes, including GFF and World Bank Group-supported activities, on women’s, children’s, and adolescent health.

Selected country partnerships will contribute to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) focused on evaluating these outcomes and share learnings with country partnerships from the other 21 countries.

Intended Impact

Through this project, LCYOs are empowered, resourced, and institutionalized within decision-making structures to influence domestic resource mobilization and accountability, with the aim toward increased and more equitably allocated, sustainable, and youth-responsive domestic RMNCAH+N investments.

Funding Available

The maximum amount to be awarded to LCYOs for this Call is US$3,350,000 in up to 22 countries.

The call anticipates awarding one grant in each country, but this will be dependent on the quality of proposals received.

The maximum grant size for each award, for up to 18 months, will be:

• Up to US$150,000 for Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
• Up to US$175,000 for Kenya and Nigeria, where, in order to make meaningful change due to the decentralized health budget, the proposals should include subnational advocacy engagement.

Please note: The VOICES consortium reserves the right to modify this as needed and based on proposals received. All parties will be notified of any changes simultaneously.

Eligibility Requirements

Composition of LCYO Partnerships

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Applications must be submitted on behalf of an LCYO representing a partnership composed of at least two (2) and no more than three (3) local organizations, one of which must be a youth-led organization (YLO).
• Each LCYO country partnership must designate a lead organization, which will hold legal, financial, and programmatic responsibility for grant implementation and management.
• The lead organization will receive funds and should have the capacity to subgrant to the other members of the partnership, where necessary.
• The lead organization must have a minimum of five (5) years of experience in health financing advocacy and accountability for RMNCAH+N, while partner organizations must each have at least three (3) years of relevant experience in health advocacy.
• All LCYO country partnership members must be local organizations/networks/coalitions that are legally registered and operational in the country of implementation.
• LCYO country partnership members should demonstrate complementary strengths across advocacy and policy engagement, budget analysis and tracking, youth engagement, community engagement, and coalition building.
• An organization can only apply under one LCYO country partnership application.
• To ensure broad and equitable access to the available funding, CSOs and YLOs selected to receive a grant under Pillar 1 will not be eligible to receive funding under Pillar 2 of the GFF x CIVIC funding opportunity.

Organizational Requirements for the Lead Organization

The lead organization must be:

• Legally registered and operating in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Compliant with statutory obligations, including submission of annual returns and regulatory filings.
• Equipped with sound legal capacity to enter into contractual agreements and receive and manage grant funds.
• Demonstrating compliance with labor laws and fair employment practices that promote safe, inclusive, and non-discriminatory work environments.
• Operating with functional governance and organizational structure with defined roles, responsibilities and reporting lines.
• Equipped with well-documented operational policies and procedures adequate for effective project execution.
• Demonstrating institutional continuity and capacity not dependent on a single individual.
• Implementing programs aligned with organization’s mandate, strategy, and national priorities.

The lead organization should also have:

• Well-maintained systems for planning and MEL.
• Demonstrated capacity to track results, document outcomes, and report on performance.
• Readiness to undergo a due diligence process, including a rapid pre-award assessment.
• MOUs or current projects with local authorities and other relevant bodies, which would be an added advantage.

Finance and Administrative Requirements

For the lead organization:

• Demonstrated experience managing donor-funded projects transparently and in accordance with fiduciary requirements.
• Existence of a functional financial management and reporting system.
• Effective internal controls system, including segregation of duties and authorization procedures.
• Demonstrated capacity to prepare and manage budgets and monitor expenditures against plans.
• Evidence of having undergone independent external audits and addressed audit findings in a reasonably timely manner.
• Demonstrated capacity to pre-finance start-up activities depending on the subgranting mechanism that will be agreed upon.
• Adequate, qualified, and experienced personnel and administrative capacity to implement the proposed activities.
• Where applicable, applicants may be asked during due diligence process to provide official documentation from the relevant government ministry or regulatory authority confirming their eligibility to receive external or foreign funding.

Technical and Programmatic Requirements

Across the partnership, applicants should demonstrate:

• Experience in advocacy, civic engagement, or accountability related to RMNCAH+N.
• Experience engaging government institutions and development partners, including GFF and/or World Bank country teams on policy, planning, or budget processes.
• Experience working in coalitions or networks is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to gender equality, youth engagement, and inclusion.
• Strong local presence and experience implementing projects and programs, particularly involving women, youth, and children.
• Experience engaging with governments and local stakeholders on RMNCAH+N in general.
• Active membership in local platforms and/or coalitions such as the RMNCAH+N CSO platform, Multi-Stakeholder Platform, MOH RMNCAH+N technical working groups is an added advantage.
• Ability to demonstrate programming and impact, for example through programmatic reports, annual workplans, and budgets from within the past two years.

Proposal Submission Requirements

Applicants should submit the following:

1. Submission template that has been provided — must be submitted as a Word document.
2. High-level budget using the template provided — must be submitted as an Excel document.
3. Proof of legal registration for each partnership member — PDF or JPEG.
4. Budget verification for lead organization — PDF or JPEG.
5. Organizational organogram, for all partnership members if possible — PDF or JPEG.

How to Apply

Submission Instructions

1. Language:
This Call for Proposal has also been provided in English, French and Portuguese to facilitate broad participation across eligible countries. Applicants may submit their proposals in any of these three languages.

2. Email submission:
All application documents should be submitted via email to voices@PATH.org.

3. Deadline:
The submission due date and time is October 7, 2026, 23:59 EAT.

4. File formats:
Documents must be submitted in the prescribed formats outlined in the submission and budget templates.

5. Attachment size:
To ensure delivery, please ensure your attachments do not total more than 150 MB. If necessary, you may send the PDF and JPEG attachments as a separate email.

6. Confirmation:
You will receive an automated response when your email has been received.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals received by the deadline will undergo a layered and weighted review process, comprising an initial eligibility screening, technical assessment, and final selection.

Eligible proposals will be scored against pre-defined evaluation criteria, with each criterion assigned a specific weight to reflect its relative importance to the GFF x CIVIC VOICES objectives. The weighted assessment will inform the shortlisting and final selection of applicants.

Important Notes

PATH, in consortium with AFIDEP and OAY:

• Will serve as the consortium fiduciary and will disburse and manage all subgrants.
• Will not be responsible for any costs incurred by applicants in the preparation or submission of proposals.
• Reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals at its sole discretion.
• Reserves the right to negotiate final terms, costs, and scope of work with selected applicants, including the substance of proposals, the inclusion or exclusion of specific components, and the involvement of third parties. Acceptance of a proposal does not constitute acceptance of its terms and conditions.
• Reserves the right to reject any and all proposals received in response to this call and is in no way bound to accept any proposal.

Key Dates

The call notes that the VOICES consortium reserves the right to modify the schedule as needed, with all parties to be notified simultaneously by email.

GFF x CIVIC VOICES Call for Proposals – Click here to Apply Now or Get More Info

The GFF x CIVIC VOICES Call for Proposals 2026 provides funding for local civil society and youth-led organizations working to strengthen health financing advocacy, civic engagement, domestic resource mobilization and accountability for RMNCAH+N across eligible African countries.

Eligible partnerships should submit their proposals by October 7, 2026 at 23:59 EAT.

Official application email: voices@PATH.org

Application languages: English, French and Portuguese.