ActionAid Nigeria, with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) through the Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership (RWVL) Project, has opened applications for its Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), targeting innovative interventions that advance the rights of women and girls in Nigeria.

The funding opportunity is designed for women’s rights organisations (WROs) seeking to develop, test and implement creative approaches to gender-related challenges.

The fund will support initiatives that address issues including violence against women and girls, protection of women and girls affected by conflict or displacement, women’s economic justice and empowerment, as well as women’s political participation and leadership, including policy advocacy and influencing.

Under the programme, innovation may involve a new approach, adaptation of an existing solution, technology, a community-driven methodology, partnership model, advocacy strategy or another creative approach capable of providing a more effective way to advance women’s rights.

The call is open to women’s rights organisations and networks operating in Nigeria.

To qualify, applicants must be women-led and operating in Nigeria, while proposed interventions must be innovative, creative, strategic and impactful for women and girls.

Applicants must also demonstrate how their proposed intervention will advance gender equality and gender justice, contribute to systemic change and complement existing efforts to advance the rights of women and girls.

They are required to show the potential for the intervention to be scaled and demonstrate the capacity to implement the project within a short timeframe while achieving measurable impact.

ActionAid Nigeria said it particularly wants to receive proposals addressing the needs of structurally excluded groups.

“Please note: We really want to hear from applicants who have innovative ideas on programming for structurally excluded groups such as women and girls with disability, women and girls in conflict, women and girls on the move/returnees, female inmates, gender-based violence victims/survivors, out-of-school girls, elderly women and women in politics.”

Interested organisations are required to complete the designated application template and submit it alongside an organisational profile.

Only one application will be accepted from each organisation, while submissions that do not use the required template will be disqualified.

Due to the expected volume of applications, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. ActionAid Nigeria also stated that it will not cover any costs incurred by applicants during the application process.

Up to five innovative ideas will be funded under the current round. Each successful idea can receive a grant of up to Twenty Million Naira (NGN20,000,000.00), with projects expected to run for between six months and one year.

The call opened on September 23, 2026, and the deadline for submission is October 12, 2026, at 12:00 midnight.

Completed expressions of interest and required documents should be submitted by email to RWVL.SIFGrant@actionaid.org.

Applicants should use the subject line: “Strategic Innovation Fund September 2026”

ActionAid Nigeria has also issued a strict warning concerning the use of artificial intelligence in applications.

“IMPORTANT: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (such as ChatGPT or similar platforms) to draft, structure, or generate your application narratives, project descriptions, or advocacy goals is strictly prohibited. Use of AI will lead to automatic disqualification.”

Applicants can access the application information and template through the Feminist Hub link provided for the call.

Application information: Feminist Hub – Strategic Innovation Fund application page

Source: africasustainabilitymatters