As part of the Making the Most of What We Know (MMWWK) project, an initiative of the More Than Brides Alliance, the Learning Spark Fund is a participatory grant mechanism designed to stimulate learning as broadly and creatively as possible on the theme of adolescent girl sexuality and child marriage. Three grant windows support virtual or face-to-face learning exchanges within a country as well as across countries, in our nine partner countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mali, Niger, Malawi, Uganda and Ethiopia.

Small grants will support virtual or face to face learning exchanges within a country as well as across borders and continents. Based on what has been learned, each exchange will propose ways to improve the design, implementation, and advocacy of child marriage programs addressing adolescent sexuality.

Learning exchanges are spaces for knowledge sharing and knowledge generation. They stimulate the flow of practical experience, perspectives, and insights. Members of an exchange discuss what they know, listen to one another, reflect, and co-create knowledge.

The MMWWK (Making the Most of What We Know) learning project looks forward to awarding up to 170,000 Euro worth of grants during the period June to October 2020.

There are three grant windows: Spark, Community Skyrocket, and Fireworks.

• Spark– up to 3,000 Euro, local and national exchanges, open now, deadline 4 October
  • A “Spark” is a learning exchange that has one group of learners. It involves people in one country and revolves around one central learning exchange theme. It can engage a variety of stakeholders. The maximum budget for a Spark grant is EUR 3.000. We assume that these in-country exchanges MAY be face-to-face if actual and future COVID-19 related restrictions allow and you can design for safe in-person interaction.

• Community Skyrocket – up to 6,000 Euro, national exchanges focusing on communities, now closed
  • Read more about the grantees and their proposals by clicking here.

• Fireworks – up to 11,000 Euro, multi-regional (within country) or multi-country exchanges, open now, deadline 4 October

• • A “Fireworks” learning exchange has 3 groups of learners, that once a spark is created, they overlap with each other to further the learning across regional and national borders, resulting in more sharing, listening, and knowledge co-creation. Three major collaborators will together design a “Spark” exchange that each of them will carry out in their country or region.Then there will be a “Fireworks” exchange where all three get together virtually and share what they learned in their Sparks, for an additional and geographically larger layer of sharing, listening, co-creating, and elevating and leveraging.
  • The maximum budget for a Fireworks grant is EUR 11.000, covering 3 separate Sparks and a combined Fireworks event. We assume that all multi-country exchanges will be virtual, and in-country exchanges MAY be face-to-face if actual and future COVID-19 related restrictions allow and you can design for safe in-person interactions.
  • Support is provided to host or co-host a regional, national, and/or international learning exchange around the central theme of “addressing adolescent girl sexuality as it relates to child marriage”. Learning exchanges should take place between November 2020 and February 2021.

Spark and Fireworks grant opportunities are open for applications from August 25, 2020!

Eligibility to hold a grant

Organizations that are a partner of any one of the three Dutch funded child marriage alliances (Her Choice; Yes, I Do; and More than Brides) as well as Lead organisations of Girls Not Brides, national partnership, or coalition arrangement are eligible to be a grant holder.

Eligibility to be a member of a learning exchange

Organizations, researchers, government staff, advisors or community members including adolescent girls are welcome to be a member of a learning exchange. This includes those involved in the Girls Not Brides network as well as the UNICEF-UNFPA global program.

Inter and intra Alliance sharing, multi-country exchanges, and bringing together people with diverse perspectives are welcomed and encouraged. Northern Alliance partners are welcome to be part of an exchange.

More information and documentation is shared in our Slack virtual open space, where you can also ask questions and connect with potential collaborators. All proposals are due by October 4, 2020. Ineligible organizations, incomplete proposals, and proposed activities outside the parameters of a learning exchange will not be considered.

You can join our virtual open space by following these steps:

1. Click here to register
2. Enter your email
3. Verify your email through the link in the email you will receive
4. Fill in your name and create a password
5. Create a profile so that people know who you are

Once you have created the profile and joined the Learning Spark Fund virtual open space, you can choose to access it through the web or download the app for your desktop or mobile device.