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Application Deadline: April 16th, 2018 (midnight CET)

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has launched a new initiative with Sabrina Ho “U40 Empowered: Women entrepreneurs powering the digital creative industries”.

This initiative expands the actions of the International Fund for Cultural Diversity by supporting projects from national and international NGOs that promote young female cultural entrepreneurs working in the digital creative industries. It is designed to increase opportunities for U40 women to access funding, infrastructure, equipment and co-production opportunities in the digital creative industries. “U40 Empowered” will also support strategies that address the different needs, aspirations, capacities and contributions of women. Through support for such projects, “U40 Empowered” will unlock opportunities for young women entrepreneurs and realise their full potential in the digital creative industries.

Eligibility Criteria

• Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from eligible countries: Non-governmental organizations that, according to their national regulations, are non-governmental and non-profit and that meet the definition of civil society mentioned in the Operational Guidelines.
• International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) registered in countries Parties to the 2005 Convention: International non-governmental organizations (INGOs), which meet the definition of civil society mentioned in the Operational Guidelines; and which present projects that have an impact in developing countries at the sub-regional, regional or inter-regional level.

Areas of Intervention

“U40 Empowered” will finance projects that:

• Develop and/or implement strategies that invest in women as entrepreneurs working in the digital creative industries;
• Create networks and opportunities for U40 women working in the digital creative industries to innovate and collaborate;
• Organise female-led creative mentorship programmes for U40 women in partnership with digital creative hubs, incubators and clusters;
• Give visibility to the work and innovations of U40 women entrepreneurs working in the digital creative industries;
• Strengthen the digital skills of U40 female creative industry professionals;
• Collect and analyse sex-disaggregated data with a view to better understand the underlying causes of gender inequality in the digital creative industries with a view to inform policy making.