17 July 2017

The Investment Design Document for a proposed new program, the Water for Women Fund, is provided for the information of the market and prospective tenderers.

The Australian Government will deliver the Water for Women Fund under Australia's aid program. Subject to final delegate approval, the Fund will invest $110.6 million over five years to improve the health, gender equality and well-being of Asian and Pacific communities through inclusive, sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs. The Fund is part of Australia's commitment to the High Level Panel on Water.

The Water for Women Fund will work with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on innovative ways to improve water, sanitation and hygiene, focusing on women, girls and people with disabilities in the poorest human settlements. The Fund will build on the learning and knowledge generated by the current Civil Society WASH Fund, which has an explicit focus on advancing gender equality and disability inclusion.

A commercial opportunity will exist for the provision of Fund Coordinator services for the Water for Women Fund. The proposed procurement will be listed on DFAT's business notifications page when the invitation to tender is released to the market in the second half of 2017. Organisations are reminded that any reference to proposed staffing of the project in the design is indicative only, may change, and will be left to the market to decide what is the optimal approach as part of Tenderer's submissions to the proposed tender.

DFAT also proposes to invite grant applications in the second half of 2017 for the Water for Women Fund. Two separate calls for proposals will be issued: one to eligible CSOs to submit program proposals and another to research organisations to submit research proposals. Both calls for proposals will be listed on DFAT's business notifications page when they are released to the market.

Investment Design Document

• Volume 1 - Water for Women Investment Design Document [PDF 1.5 MB]
• Volume 1 - Water for Women Investment Design Document [Word 535 KB]
• Volume 2 - Water for Women Investment Design Document [PDF 2 MB]
• Volume 2 - Water for Women Investment Design Document [Word 610 KB]