The Elsie Initiative Fund’s first programming round was launched on the 9th of July 2019, with calls for Letters of Interest (LOI) due to the EIF Secretariat by 1 October 2019.
The response to the EIF’s first call for LOIs was overwhelmingly positive with a total of 41 LOIs received from:
- 19 Troop and/or Police Contributing Countries (T/PCC)
- 11 African T/PCCs, 3 Asian T/PCCs, 4 Latin American T/PCCs, and 1 Middle Eastern T/PCC, with several countries submitting more than one LOI
- 4 UN organizations including the UN DPO, UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and two United Nations peacekeeping missions
- 16 Military and 19 Police.
On the 27th of November, the EIF Steering Committee invited 6 T/PCCs and 1 UN organisation to submit a detailed proposal:
- Bangladesh Armed Forces
- Bangladesh Police
- Jordan Gendarmerie
- Nepal Army
- Niger Security and Defence Forces
- Senegal Gendarmerie
- Senegal Police
- Togo Armed Forces
- UNITAR
Bangladesh Police, Nepal Army, and UNITAR LOIs were unable to be completed in the first programming round.
The Steering Committee agreed a total allocation of US $8-12 M for the first programming round, with:
- US $4-6 M allocated for detailed proposals, and
- US $4-6 M for the remaining applicants to conduct a Barrier Assessment.
The following three T/PCCs submitted a proposal to undergo a Barrier Assessment using the DCAF – the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governances Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace Operations (MOWIP) methodology:
- Liberia Armed Forces
- Mexico Armed Forces – an assessment on each of the (i) Army and Airforce, (ii) Navy and (iii) Police
- Sierra Leone Armed Forces
- Sierra Leone Police
Further information on EIF approved projects, results and impact can be found on the EIF Funded Project Page.