Travel Grants Application; Guidelines and Selection Criteria.

Purpose of the Travel Grants

Travel grants are provided by The Girl Generation: Support to the Africa-Led movement TGG-ALM to end FGM/C programme to support individuals, networks and grassroots organisations to participate in national, regional and international events related to ending FGM/C.

Applicants Eligibility Criteria

Individual

1. Must be nominated by a consortium partners(Options Consultancy Services Ltd ,Amref Health Africa, ActionAid, Orchid Project, Africa Coordination Centre for Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (ACCAF) and The University of Portsmouth), TGG-ALM  grantees and Survivors Leadership Training (SLT) participants.
2. Already be working in ending FGM/C or a related area (e.g. women’s rights or gender-based violence)
3. Be based in Kenya, Somaliland, Ethiopia or Senegal.
4. Agree with TGG-ALM values, safeguarding and do no harm guidelines 
5. Must possess legal travel documents (e.g. passport)
6. Possess insurance for travel
7. Must have the advancement of women’s and girls’ rights as a focus of their vision, mission, and programs and must be associated to an organisation in TGG-ALM operating countries Kenya, Senegal, Ethiopia and Somaliland.
8. Must be committed to feminist principles and Human rights-based approaches.
9. Those requiring support with childcare costs because of their travel/participation will be prioritized.
10. Applicants must  provide reference letter from consortium partner member supporting their application
11. TGG-ALM will facilitate and pay directly to the relevant service provider travel and accommodation costs on behalf of the applicant.
12. Applicants  will only receive funds for other relevant eligible costs 
13. The applicant must provide a budget for the event to be reviewed and approved by TGG-ALM management.
14. Community champions visiting work in other counties or countries for learning exchange purposes shall be considered on case-by-case basis.
15. Must provide evidence of invitation to attend or present at the event and justification for how attending the event will move forward efforts to end FGM/C
16. The application must be submitted online within a minimum of one month before the intended event and incomplete applications will be rejected.
17. Late submission of application shall not be processed.
18. Be legally able to travel to the country the event is being held in.
19. Be linked to a grassroots organisation (such as non-government organisations (NGO)/civil society organisations (CSOs), community-based organisations (CBO), etc.) or network (including youth clubs, school clubs, etc.).
20. Due diligence shall be conducted (including a social media review) on qualified applicants, networks and organisations.
21. Upon approval of the application, the applicant must sign a contractual agreement with TGG-ALM before disbursement of the funds.

Organisation/Network

1. Must have women’s/girls’ leadership in its governance and staff. (A woman or girl lead board).
2. Must be able to receive grants from foreign sources in compliance with their country’s laws and policies
3. Be non-government entity.

Ineligible Applicants

1. Government entity or sub-agencies.
2. Political Party or Election Campaign
3. International organization proposing projects with local partners
4. Known troll on social media.
5. Those not aligned with TGG-ALM theory of change
6. Government representatives(In exceptional circumstances, funding to government representatives might be considered).
7. A consortium partner of TGG-ALM 

Value of the Travel Grants.

Travel grantees will be eligible to receive up to £1,300 and £3,500 per trip.

• Up to £1,300 to support travel to national events
• Up to £3,500 to support travel to regional and international events

Funding will be provided to support:

• Economy class travel using a reasonable route (return ticket)
• Accommodation and incidental costs (provided as a lump sum; in line with TGG-ALM limits, up to £150 a night)
• Cost of conference registration (if applicable)
• Visa costs
• Meals and incidentals

Funding will not be provided for:

• Cost of applying for passport
• Extra days of travel after event has ended (with the exception of the day of the return journey)
• Any accompanying persons (except in exceptional circumstances e.g., disability, caring for infant – will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by TGG-ALM).

Application Review Process.

• All applications shall be submitted via email address: almgrants@options.co.uk.
• The applications shall be reviewed by the grants team and qualified applicants forwarded to Senior Leadership Team (SLT) for approval.
• The qualified applicant shall be expected to undergo due diligence process by filling in due diligence questionnaire.
• The qualified applicants upon approval by SLT shall be required to fill in disbursement forms to enable finance to process and transfer funds to their bank accounts.
• All travel grants will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and those with a tight deadline will be fast-tracked. 

Grant Disbursement and Reporting

• The funds shall be disbursed to applicant verified bank account.
• The applicant must provide trip report and funds liquidation supporting documentations within 5 days after the end of the event to the TGG-ALM programme