Happy Friday,

New week, new opportunities. This edition of Funding Friday brings together a set of calls that span peacebuilding, digital inclusion, primary healthcare, climate services, and cultural exchange. Some offer flexible seed funding, others a chance to step into research networks or creative fellowships, but all are anchored in ideas that push for equity, innovation, and local leadership.

As always, I’ve included a few prompts beneath each opportunity, questions that might help you or your team reflect more deeply on how your work connects with these themes. I Hope something in here resonates or sparks a conversation.

Have a great weekend,

Jesse

Global

🕊️ Youth Power for Peace

📝The Youth Solidarity Fund (YSF), led by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), provides seed funding of up to USD 25,000 to youth-led organizations that foster peacebuilding, social inclusion, intercultural and interfaith dialogue, and community resilience. This initiative supports innovative, locally-driven projects with the potential to contribute to long-term peace and social cohesion.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Youth Leadership in Peace: What models ensure projects are genuinely youth‑led—from design through impact—rather than youth‑involved?

Scaling Local Impact: How can small grants translate into sustainable community transformation in post‑conflict or polarization‑affected settings?

Policy Alignment: How might programs amplify outcomes by referencing Youth, Peace & Security resolutions

🔗 Call for Proposals: Youth Power for Peace – Youth Solidarity Fund 2025

🌐 Digital Solutions for an Inclusive Economy

📝A global initiative led by UNIDO, UNCTAD, UNDCO, and ODET—under the Global Digital Compact’s Objective 2 Working Group—seeks digital innovations that advance inclusive economic growth. This call invites proposals from social enterprises, NGOs, startups, and UN agencies that develop tools or technologies supporting women, youth, MSMEs, and marginalized communities in building digital resilience. Solutions may focus on digital literacy, financial inclusion, e-commerce access, or equitable policy frameworks to ensure no one is left behind in the digital transformation.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Digital Skills & Entrepreneurship: How can digital training tools genuinely empower underserved youth and women to start businesses or join the digital economy?

MSME Digitization: What digital platforms or tools could help small enterprises access new markets, financing, and operational efficiencies?

Policy Innovation: How might solution pathways contribute to inclusive digital policy development and regulatory environments, especially in low- and middle-income contexts?

🔗 Global Call: Digital Solutions for an Inclusive Economy

📊 STEG Small Research Grants

The Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG) programme, led by CEPR and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, is accepting proposals for its ninth round of Small Research Grants (SRGs). These grants support original research that deepens understanding of the drivers and consequences of structural transformation in low- and middle-income countries.

🤔Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Data for Growth: How can curated, macro-level data systems improve governance and policy effectiveness in low-income countries?

AI Implications: What are the effects of AI and automation on labor markets and productivity in developing economies?

Gender & Equity: Which structural barriers prevent women’s economic participation, and how can policy interventions address these inequalities?

🔗 STEG Small Research Grants – Ninth Round Call

🧠 KLIC Catalyst Grant Program – Strengthening Primary Health Care Leadership

GaneshAID has launched the KLIC Catalyst Grant Program to support innovative, equity-driven pilot projects aimed at improving primary health care in low- and middle-income countries. The program seeks locally grounded initiatives that enhance community engagement, increase father involvement in childhood immunization, and elevate leadership capacity among frontline health workers. Projects should prioritize culturally responsive solutions with the potential to be scaled or replicated in varied local contexts, ultimately contributing to stronger, more inclusive health systems.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Community Leadership in Health: How can culturally relevant strategies meaningfully involve fathers and local leaders in routine immunization programs?

Prototype to Policy: What leadership and engagement models, piloted at the primary-care level, have the potential to inform broader health system reforms?

Localization at Scale: How might early-stage prototypes be adapted for different community contexts while retaining effectiveness?

🔗 KLIC Catalyst Grant Program – Strengthening Primary Health Care Leadership

Africa

🧱 Building Beyond Programme

The Prince Claus Fund is accepting applications for Cycle 5 of its Building Beyond Programme, a nine-month fellowship for mid-career artists and cultural practitioners in Africa who explore the intersections of spatial practice, public space, and community engagement. The program supports creative approaches to how communities shape urban environments and envision collective futures. Selected fellows receive €10,000 in flexible support to develop a concept, along with mentorship, peer exchange, workshops, and collaborative field experiences. The program encourages cross-disciplinary thinking, urban storytelling, and inclusive spatial design.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Urban Futures through Creativity: How can spatial arts practice reimagine public environments in African cities to reflect local narratives and collective aspirations?

Urban–Community Dialogue: In what ways can artists bridge design, public space, and community leadership to reshape urban engagement and ownership?

Cohort Amplification: What mechanisms—such as group shows, digital platforms, or local partnerships—can help sustain and amplify the program’s impact beyond the fellowship?

🔗 Building Beyond Programme – Cycle 5

🌍 African Mobility Fellowship Program 2025

The PAGES Inter‑Africa Mobility Fellowship supports early-career African scientists working on topics related to past global environmental changes. The fellowship enables short-term research visits (2–4 weeks) to institutions in other African countries, covering travel and subsistence costs. The program aims to foster regional collaboration, build cross-institutional scientific capacity, and enhance paleoscience knowledge exchange within Africa.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Knowledge Roots and Climate Futures: How can traditional ecological knowledge and paleoscientific methods be integrated to inform climate resilience strategies uniquely suited to Africa’s diverse biogeographic regions?

Continental Collaboration: What new models of intergenerational and interdisciplinary research exchange can strengthen a sustainable network of African paleoscientists and foster long-term climate solutions?

Beyond the Fellowship: How might storytelling, visual data translation, or community-based exhibitions extend the relevance of past climate research to local policy, education, and grassroots advocacy?

🔗 African Mobility Fellowship – PAGES

🌱 WISER Africa Co‑Production Fellowship 2025

The WISER Africa Co‑Production Fellowship supports early-career professionals in East, West, and Southern Africa to advance community-informed climate services. Fellows collaborate with Regional Climate Centres and national meteorological services to co-design climate service priorities, explore indigenous knowledge, and strengthen stakeholder engagement.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Co-Production in Practice: How can fellows ensure climate services respond directly to community needs and indigenous knowledge systems?

Regional Knowledge Exchange: What value emerges from cross-border peer learning across East, West, and Southern Africa, and how can knowledge be shared beyond the fellowship?

Capacity Building into Policy: What design structures enable fellows to influence national or regional climate service planning and monitoring using research-informed approaches?

🔗 WISER Africa Co‑Production Fellowship Program

Asia-Pacific

🇹🇭Japan Foundation Bangkok Small Grant Program

The Japan Foundation Bangkok Small Grant Program supports Thai organizations working on collaborative cultural and academic projects with Japanese partners. The program funds initiatives such as exhibitions, research exchanges, public events, and educational workshops that promote mutual understanding and long-term partnerships between Thailand and Japan. Grants typically co-fund a portion of the project, emphasizing shared planning and cross-cultural collaboration.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Co-Creation Across Borders: How can Thai-Japanese collaborations be designed to share leadership, credit, and cultural perspectives equally?

Long-Term Impact: What follow-up activities and networks can extend the life of small-scale cultural or research exchanges?

Public Engagement: How can project outcomes (e.g., exhibitions, symposia, digital content) reach broader audiences across both countries?

🔗 Japan Foundation Bangkok Small Grant Program

🗺️ Dealing in Distance Mini Traveling Festival

The Goethe‑Institut invites Southeast Asian and Southeast Asian diaspora artists, curators, and cultural practitioners based in Germany or Southeast Asia to submit existing works for the “Dealing in Distance” Mini Traveling Festival. This curated event explores the themes of diaspora, identity, and cultural belonging, showcasing work from residencies in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, along with selected open-call contributions. The festival will travel across Southeast Asia, with selected participants receiving up to €1,000 for production costs and potential support for travel.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Diasporic Narratives: How can artworks explore belonging, identity, and distance through Southeast Asian diaspora experiences in Germany?

Cultural Conversation: What modes of artistic expression—multimedia, installations, performance—can bridge cultural contexts across Germany and Southeast Asia?

Regional Impact: How can the travelling festival’s structure ensure visibility and engagement across diverse audiences in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam?

🔗 Dealing in Distance Mini Festival Open Call

🇰🇭 U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program

The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh offers small grants (typically USD 5,000–25,000) to support community-driven projects in Cambodia that strengthen ties between the United States and Cambodia. Eligible themes include youth entrepreneurship, STEM education, women’s empowerment, civic engagement, cultural heritage preservation, environmental resilience, and minority inclusion. All proposals must incorporate an American cultural or educational component, such as collaboration with U.S. experts, artistic exchanges, or alignment with U.S. values and policy themes.

🤔 Thought‑Provoking Questions and Insights

Cultural Bridgebuilding: How can projects weave American cultural or educational elements into Cambodian community-based activities in ways that respect local context?

Youth & Civic Growth: What educational or entrepreneurial programming effectively promotes civic responsibility and agency among Cambodian youth?

Inclusive Development: How can initiatives amplify underrepresented communities—including women, rural youth, or ethnic minorities—through creative or civic action?

🔗 U.S. Embassy Phnom Penh Public Diplomacy Small Grants Announcement