Elsie Initiative Fund Fourth Programming Round

Eligible applicants include Troop and Police Contributing Countries that are current UN T PCCs or can demonstrate serious intention to become one, and eligible UN organisations including UN agencies, funds and programmes, and UN peacekeeping operations with modality limits. CSOs cannot apply directly but can participate as partners under a proposal led by a T PCC or eligible UN organisation. Each security institution submits separately, and it is strongly recommended that military and police do not do a joint barrier assessment. The LOI must be fully completed using the official templates and annexes, and signed by a senior authority such as Minister of Defence or Chief of Defence, Minister of Interior or Police Commissioner, or equivalent. Flexible project funding is available only if a credible barrier assessment has already been completed and is used to inform project design, except for UN peacekeeping operations and UN agencies funds programmes which are not required to submit a barrier assessment but must still provide strong evidence and analysis. You cannot request all three funding types in a single application. You may combine barrier assessment with a GSU premium, or flexible project funding with a GSU premium if a barrier assessment is already completed. For the GSU premium, only T PCCs are eligible, and the unit must exceed the UN Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy targets by at least 5 percentage points, for example troop contingents 18 percent in 2026 and FPUs 22 percent in 2026, increasing in later years. The GSU premium is paid only after deployment and independent verification, and should be reinvested to advance EIF objectives. Applicants must be ready to support UN due diligence processes later in the cycle, including HACT micro assessment and a Human Rights Due Diligence Policy risk assessment, before funds can be transferred.

Flexible project funding minimum USD 100,000 and maximum USD 1,500,000 per proposal for this round, with implementation normally not exceeding 2 years. Barrier assessment funding is available with an indicative cost range commonly around USD 180,000 to 280,000 per institution depending on scope, country size, institutional spread, and methodology, and is expected to take up to 12 months. The Gender Strong Unit premium is separate from the project funding ceiling, calculated based on the size of the deployed unit using the EIF GSU calculator, can cover up to 3 years, and increases over time for subsequent deployment periods, but is disbursed only after deployment and verification. Applicants are notified after LOI review, and selected applicants are invited to develop a full proposal and budget in later steps of the programming cycle.

The Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations is an innovative multi donor UN trust fund hosted by UN Women, established in 2019 by the United Nations, Canada, and Member States. The fourth programming round invites eligible Troop and Police Contributing Countries, both current and prospective, plus eligible UN organisations, to submit a Letter of Interest using the official LOI template and annexes. The Fund supports three funding modalities: barrier assessments to identify obstacles that prevent the deployment of trained and qualified uniformed women, flexible project funding to implement solutions that address barriers and increase meaningful participation, and a Gender Strong Unit premium to incentivise deployment of units with substantial representation of women including in leadership and technical roles, gender equity training, and parity in equipment and facilities. The LOI must be completed electronically and submitted by email in both an unsigned editable file and a signed PDF. Only one military LOI and one police LOI can be submitted per country per programming round, and each LOI may include one or more projects. Projects are assessed for innovation, risk management, sustainability, engagement of women in design and delivery, clear targets and baselines, impact and strategic relevance, and cost effectiveness, and must align to at least one EIF outcome: knowledge of barriers, increased meaningful deployment, increased pool of eligible women, and improved working or living conditions in missions.