The BRIDGE Gender Grants aim to address barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment in transboundary water governance. The grants support practical actions to strengthen inclusive institutions and promote women-led solutions for managing and restoring freshwater ecosystems. Two types of small grants are distributed during this phase, targeting shared basins in Africa, Asia, and South America where BRIDGE is active.

Explore the work of our grantees, by clicking on the hotspots below

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Gender Mainstreaming Grants

Objective: to enable and support River Basin Organizations (RBOs) and other transboundary water institutions to mainstream gender equality in their operations, governance frameworks, activities, and strategic plans. These grants will support:

  • Gender assessments, strategies, or action plans.
  • Direct stakeholder engagement activities targeting women’s participation.
  • Capacity-building initiatives to strengthen women’s leadership within institutions.
  • Implementation of priority gender actions under existing institutional strategies.

Expected Outcome: Strengthened institutions and agreements that embed gender inclusion and actively promote women’s participation and leadership in decision-making processes.

Woman Leadership Grants

Objective: To support women-led or women-focused initiatives that strengthen women’s leadership in freshwater governance, ecosystem management, and restoration, with a clear link to transboundary water cooperation. These grants will support:

  • Women’s groups or community-based organisations advancing local solutions for shared waters.
  • Civil society organisations and NGOs working directly with women to build their leadership capacity in water resource management.
  • Initiatives that demonstrate innovative, women-led approaches to conserving and restoring freshwater ecosystems that contribute to regional water security and cooperation.

Expected Outcome: Enhanced capacity of women and their organisations to influence, lead and implement actions that benefit shared basins, contributing directly to improved governance and resilient freshwater ecosystems.

Despite their geographic diversity, the 13 grants share several common characteristics:

  1. All initiatives are implemented by local organisations and community actors, ensuring context-specific approaches and strong local ownership. 
  2. Most projects prioritise building women's skills and enabling their participation in governance processes. 
  3. Many initiatives generate data and evidence, such as gender assessments or participatory surveys, to support policy change. 
  4. Nearly all projects facilitate dialogue between communities, civil society organisations, and water authorities. 
  5. The grants recognise that inclusive governance improves water management outcomes and strengthens ecosystem stewardship. 

 

Activities 

Although each project responds to its local context, several key activity types emerge across the portfolio:

  • Capacity building and leadership training: Nearly all projects include training programmes to strengthen women's skills in water governance, leadership, advocacy, and environmental management. 
  • Participatory research and knowledge generation: Several projects focus on generating knowledge about gender and water governance through participatory research methods. 
  • Community engagement and awareness: Various projects engage communities through dialogues, awareness campaigns, and participatory activities. 
  • Policy advocacy and governance engagement: Several grants connect grassroots women leaders to policy processes and governance institutions. 

 

Beneficiaries 

Across the 13 grants, more than 660 women and community representatives should receive direct training. Indirect reach is significantly higher due to community awareness activities and institutional change. Institutional reforms, such as gender strategies and action plans, may influence entire basin governance systems. 

Implementing partners

Launched in 2011, the Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) initiative aims to build water governance capacities through learning, demonstration, leadership, and consensus-building, in transboundary river basins. BRIDGE is made possible through the Water Diplomacy Programme of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC).