Scaling Women-Led Enterprises: Advancing Growth through Business Development, Digital Finance, and Market Access
Scaling Women-Led Enterprises: Advancing Growth through Business Development, Digital Finance, and Market Access supports CSOs to scale 200 women-led enterprises in Nepal for resilient, secure livelihoods.
Funder: UN Women
Due Dates: October 27, 2026 (Clarifications and pre-proposal meeting) | October 30, 2026 (Proposal due, 5:00 p.m. Nepal Standard Time)
Funding Amounts: USD $80,000–$100,000; programme period of 12 months, December 2026–November 2027
Summary: Supports a CSO partnership to scale 200 women-led enterprises in Nepal through business development, digital finance, and market access.
Key Information: Applicants must be CSOs or a consortium of CSOs with at least five years’ direct experience supporting women entrepreneurs, cooperatives, or women-led producer groups.
Description
UN Women Nepal seeks a civil society organization (CSO) or consortium of CSOs to strengthen the economic resilience and livelihood security of excluded and marginalized women by scaling 200 women-led enterprises. The initiative covers Rautahat in Madhesh Province, Kailali in Sudurpaschim Province, and Surkhet in Karnali Province. It builds on previously supported enterprises, helping existing businesses survive, formalize, upgrade, and grow.
The selected partner will combine advanced technical skills, business coaching, product development, branding, financial and digital literacy, and connections with buyers and financial institutions. Work must also address discriminatory social norms restricting women’s mobility, decision-making, and control over resources. Delivery will involve existing women’s cooperatives and collectives, local governments, and private-sector actors, with disability-inclusive and gender-responsive support for participation.
