GFF × CIVIC ALIGN Call for Expressions of Interest and Proposals 2026

Who can apply

• Legally registered local nonprofit civil society organisations operating in one of the 12 eligible countries
• Locally established youth-led organisations operating in one of the 12 eligible countries
• Country-level partnerships comprising a local civil society organisation and a youth-led organisation
• Civil society organisations that have operated in the proposed country for at least two years
• Youth-led organisations that have been locally established and active for at least one year
• Organisations with proven experience implementing adolescent health or nutrition interventions
• Organisations with strong community roots and meaningful engagement with adolescents
• Organisations with basic financial management and internal-control systems
• Organisations with a dedicated institutional bank account and capacity to receive grant funds
• Locally governed organisations whose strategic decision-making, governance and accountability rest with local leadership

Focus areas

• Adolescent health
• Adolescent nutrition
• Prevention of adolescent pregnancy
• Respectful and rights-based maternal care for adolescents
• Adolescent malnutrition prevention
• Food systems and adolescent nutrition
• Mental health and psychosocial support for adolescents
• Health-system accountability
• Youth governance and participation
• Community accountability approaches
• Community scorecards
• Social audits
• Digital civic engagement
• SMS-based engagement and feedback
• Social-listening platforms
• Cross-sectoral health advocacy
• Health, education and gender linkages
• Youth-led evidence generation
• Operational learning and costing
• Community-driven health innovations
• Institutionalisation of proven interventions
• Scaling and replication of adolescent health solutions
• Policy influence
• Domestic financing and sustainability
• Meaningful adolescent participation
• Health equity and inclusion
• Safeguarding and protection of adolescents

Requirements

• Applicants must apply as a country-level partnership comprising a local civil society organisation and a youth-led organisation.
• The proposed activities must be implemented in one of the 12 eligible ALIGN countries.
• The civil society organisation must be legally registered and must have operated in the eligible country for at least two years.
• The youth-led organisation must be locally established and active for at least one year.
• Partners must be locally rooted and governed and must not be branches, subsidiaries or locally registered affiliates controlled by international organisations.
• The proposed intervention must address adolescent health or nutrition and align with ALIGN priorities.
• The proposed innovation must already have been implemented successfully and supported by credible evidence of results.
• ALIGN is intended to scale, adapt, replicate or institutionalise proven innovations rather than fund initial testing of completely new concepts.
• Applicants must demonstrate meaningful engagement of adolescents in design, implementation, monitoring, learning and decision-making.
• Applicants must demonstrate strong community roots and credible approaches for reaching marginalised adolescents.
• The consortium must clearly define the lead organisation, partner roles, governance, decision-making, accountability and allocation of resources.
• The consortium must demonstrate relevant technical, community, youth-engagement, operational or advocacy capacity.
• The lead organisation must have legal, financial, programmatic, safeguarding and reporting capacity to manage the grant.
• The consortium must have basic financial-management and internal-control systems.
• The consortium must have a dedicated institutional bank account.
• The amount requested must not exceed the largest total project budget successfully managed by the lead organisation during the five years before the application deadline.
• Applicants must provide verifiable evidence of the lead organisation's previous management of a project budget at least equal to the amount requested.
• Applicants must confirm that they are not actively debarred or suspended and must provide the required integrity declaration.
• Applicants must meet safeguarding, PSEA, grievance-redress, security and data-protection requirements.
• An organisation may participate in only one ALIGN consortium application within the same country.
• Organisations selected for funding under GFF × CIVIC VOICES cannot also receive funding under GFF × CIVIC ALIGN.
• The requested grant may not exceed US$214,000 and indirect or overhead costs may not exceed 7% of the total award.

Application steps

• Review the official GFF × CIVIC ALIGN Call for Expressions of Interest and Proposals.
• Confirm that both consortium organisations are locally eligible in the same target country.
• Form a partnership between a local civil society organisation and a youth-led organisation and designate the lead organisation.
• Download and complete the official ALIGN Expression of Interest template.
• Prepare a Tier 1 Expression of Interest of no more than five pages in English or French.
• Describe the adolescent health or nutrition problem, the proven innovation and the evidence showing previous successful implementation.
• Explain how the innovation will be adapted, replicated, institutionalised or scaled.
• Describe how adolescents, including marginalised adolescents, will participate meaningfully in the proposed work.
• Define the roles, responsibilities, decision-making arrangements and allocation of resources between consortium partners.
• Provide the required certificate of legal registration or incorporation.
• Provide proof of a dedicated institutional bank account.
• Provide evidence that the organisation can receive funds from a foreign entity.
• Provide confirmation of non-debarment or the required self-declaration of integrity.
• Submit the Expression of Interest through the official ALIGN submission process by 5:00 PM EDT on 21 October 2026.
• Shortlisted applicants will be notified after Tier 1 assessment and invited to prepare a full proposal.
• Shortlisted consortia must prepare a full proposal of no more than 15 pages together with the required annexes and itemised budget.
• Shortlisted applicants must be prepared to undergo pre-award legal, governance, financial, audit, safeguarding and operational due diligence.
• Full proposals from shortlisted applicants are due on 16 November 2026.