Call for Applications

If your answer to these questions add up to a loud YES, then we invite you to apply to the EU Madad Innovation Lab III: Women Empowerment, organised by the Qudra Programme. Over the course of two months, together with Kurdish and IDPs as well as Syrian peers you will participate in sessions regarding design thinking, creative idea generation, entrepreneurship, business development, impact assessment and a range of social skills. Together with your team, you will be guided to develop solutions to the challenges you jointly identify in the context of the Iraqi and Syrian crises.

You will be exposed to a variety of experts in the field and will get to know and share ideas with your peers from Lebanon, Jordan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq/KRI virtually as the Qudra Programme is launching its 3rd Madad Lab dialogue round parallel in these countries.  

During the final event of the programme, the Pitching Day, a Jury (consisting of representatives of commissioning parties, political partners and other relevant stakeholders of the Qudra Programme) will select the most innovative ideas which will be provided EU Madad Innovation Fund - seed fund- to implement their projects.

Guiding questions for the Madad Lab III are:

How do we foster women empowerment within Syrian refugees, IDP’s and host communities through innovation and dialogue?

• How can we ensure women participation in labor Market and make their active presence permanent in business?
• How can we empower women in Syrian communities, IDP’s and host communities physically, socially and mentally healthy?
• How can we foster participation of women in Syrian communities, IDP’s and host communities in decision making processes?

• are open to apply innovative methods and tools in order to develop your project ideas,
• look forward to be part of a social innovation community working on women empowerment,
• are willing and able to attend the full series of sessions in Erbil:
  • Kick-off Event, April 28th, Erbil
  • Design Thinking workshops, April29th- May 12th, Erbil
  • Development of Pitching and Mentoring, mid-May, localities
  • Pitching Event and Allocation of EU Madad Innovation Fund, end of May, Erbil
  • Implementation of Prototypes, 12th June, Erbil
• have great motivation to make a positive contribution to your community, within the context of the Iraqi and Syrian crisis,
• are a team player and open to a diversity of opinions

Notes:

Translation

• Kurdish-Arabic translation will be provided during events and workshops.

Expenses

• All travel and accommodation expenses of participants coming from a city other than Erbil will be covered by the Qudra Programme.

Application

• We aim for a mix of participants from IDPs, refugees and host communities.
• Everyone (individual activist) is encouraged to apply, particularly women.
• Teams and network groups are also invited to apply.
• There is no restriction on legal entity for applications.

Seed Fund

• Teams eligible for seed funding will have to spend the total amount until 12th of June.
• Seed funds will be dispersed in line with the rules and regulations of GIZ.

* _{The Qudra Programme is a regional action financed by the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, the 'Madad' Fund and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) seeking to strengthen resilience for Syrian refugees, IDPs and host communities in response to the Syrian and Iraqi crises. The programme is jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Expertise France (EF), Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID) and Hungarian Interchurch Aid (Ökumenikus Segélyszervezet, HIA) in programme partner countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq/KRI.}