15 CSOs eye 375m/- in seed grants to expand initiatives for children, adolescents and women

DAR ES SALAAM: FIFTEEN youth-led and women-led civil society organisations (CSOs) are set to receive a combined 375m/- in seed grants to expand initiatives targeting children, adolescents and women in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Songwe.

Each organisation will receive a total of 25m/- after emerging from a competitive selection process under a three-month capacity-building programme implemented by the Foundation for Civil Society (FCS) in partnership with UNICEF Tanzania.

The programme, launched in April this year, brought together 30 youth-led and girl/women-led CSOs represented by about 90 participants, with training focused on project management, strategic communication and advocacy, financial and grant management, safeguarding, resource mobilisation, partnerships, leadership and governance.

Speaking at the seed grand awarding ceremony in Dar es Salaam today, August 24, 2026, FCS Deputy Executive Director and Head of Programmes Quality and Learning, Cynthia Bavo, said the grants were not a reward for completing training, but an investment in organisations already working closely with communities.

“Today marks the transition from learning to action,” Ms Bavo said, stressing that the funding came with responsibility to ensure children and adolescents participating in the organisations’ programmes are protected and that every shilling is properly accounted for.

Elaborating, Ms Bravo stated that the 15 beneficiaries were selected through a transparent and competitive process, with proposals assessed against criteria including relevance to UNICEF priorities, focus on vulnerable children and adolescents, quality of interventions, gender responsiveness, monitoring, budget realism, value for money and risk management.

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Additionally, she urged the beneficiaries to use the grants to demonstrate measurable changes in the communities they serve, while encouraging the 15 organisations that were not selected to continue applying the skills and networks gained through the programme.

“We expect the children and adolescents participating in your programmes to be safe. We expect safeguarding to be something you practise every day, not simply a policy sitting on a shelf. We expect every shilling to be properly accounted for. And we expect that, when this grant period ends, you will be able to clearly demonstrate what has changed because of your work,” she stated.

UNICEF Tanzania Adolescent Development Specialist Jaya Burathoki said strengthening CSOs was critical because organisations working closest to communities were best positioned to reach children and adolescents who are often left behind.

“By investing in the capacity of youth-led and women-led CSOs, and then trusting them with resources, this partnership helps build a civil society that can keep delivering for children well beyond a single funding cycle,” she said.

Ms Burathoki said the programme had also highlighted the importance of partnerships and diversified financing, noting that CSOs needed stronger systems and capabilities to sustain their work beyond individual projects and funding cycles.

Representing Vodacom Tanzania Foundation, Sandra Oswald urged CSOs to move beyond traditional donor funding by exploring private-sector partnerships, community support, social enterprise models and other sustainable financing options.

She said partnerships should not be viewed merely as another avenue for raising funds, but as a means of building organisational resilience and enabling CSOs to plan and deliver programmes over the long term.

The 15 selected organisations will now undergo a four-day orientation on grant management, including use of the Grants Portal, financial and programme reporting, monitoring and evaluation, project coordination and implementation.

The fifteen selected organizations are as follows, the Popular Inspiring and Relief Organisation (PIRO)            Zanzibar (Pemba), Youth Empowerment and Skills Development Organization (YESDO)        Zanzibar, Gender and Social Reform Organization (GSRO            Songwe, Kupunguza Umasikini na Kuboresha Hali za Wananchi (KUKHAWA)    Zanzibar (Pemba), Barefoot College Zanzibar Zanzibar (Unguja Kaskazini) and Wakina Mama na Watoto Foundation (Songwe)

Others are, Women and Standard Changes Organization (WSCO)         Songwe, Community Initiative for Development Organization (C.I.D.O) Songwe, Ruge Mutahaba Foundation (Dar es Salaam), Theatre Arts Feminists (TAF) Dar es Salaam, Ella Foundation (Dar es Salaam), Madina Climatic Organisation (Dar es Salaam), Young and Alive Initiative           (Dar es Salaam), Jumuiya ya Vijana na Elimu Kaskazini ‘A’ (JUVIEKA) Zanzibar (Unguja Kaskazini) and Elisha Fashion Youth Support Foundation (EFAD)       Songwe.