About: HF mobilises resources to support projects written to enhance women’s rights in Hong Kong. The Fund was born in 2004 thanks to a group of local activists. The core goal of HF is to protect women from discrimination and violence while promoting a culture of gender equality. The Fund gives money mainly to community organisations that cannot access other funding schemes. Another priority of the Fund is the education and empowerment of young women in the country.
Geographical focus: Hong Kong only.
Themes: To empower women and young girls to achieve concrete changes in society, which benefit women. Since 2004, HF has successfully sponsored a number of projects targeting the needs of single parents, low-income women and immigrant women. Another goal of the Fund is to educate young girls and to provide tools to raise awareness about gender stereotyping, sexual violence and women’s rights also to facilitate young women in the writing of new projects and the development of campaigns to raise awareness about issues related to gender inequalities and discriminations.
For the years 2012-2015 the Fund will sponsor projects submitted by grassroots or marginalised women-led groups proposing activities that demonstrate a potential to achieve concrete results in strengthening women’s rights in the region. Accordingly, projects must be written in line to at least one of the following goals:
- Capacity building for rights-based grassroots/marginalised women-led groups/projects
- Young women’s empowerment projects – priority will be given to young women-led projects
- Projects that advance women’s rights in emerging gender phenomenon/issues.
Types of grants: The Fund disseminates calls for proposals once a year providing guidelines on issues to be addressed, how to write proposals and where to address them. More information in regards to the next cycle of grants will be made available in 2014. The proposals of the projects selected in 2013 are available on the Fund’s website
It is important to familiarise with these projects in order to understand what are the priorities of the Fund and also to draw on information contained in these successful applications to write new applications as soon as a new call is advertised.
Additional information: Beside the grantmaking efforts, the Fund is also keen in organising outreach events with the aim of sharing their experience and also to offer training to young women in schools or outside established educational curricula. A good way to establish a working relationship with members of the Fund is to co-organise one of these events in your community. To do so you should contact the Fund by writing to info@herfund.org.hk
Eligibility: All women’s organisations working in Hong Kong are eligible to these grants. Yet, the Fund gives priority to less resourceful women’s organisations.
How to apply: Relevant information will be made available to potential candidates once the new call is advertised. The next call will be disseminated though the Fund’s website here
Deadlines: Calls are advertised once a year. The last call for application was closed at the end of March 2013.
