Call for projects Sport for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality – Decathlon Foundation x La Guilde

Through the program “Sport for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality”, the Decathlon Foundation And La Guilde join forces to empower women and girls and promote gender equality. This call for projects aims to support concrete initiatives that enable women and girls to benefit from equitable access to health and well-being, develop essential life skills, and strengthen awareness of their rights. 

It also aims to encourage the active participation of women in leadership and governance, to facilitate their professional integration, as well as to promote access to entrepreneurship. Overall, these actions aim to strengthen women's capacity to be agents of change. 

Open from November 7, 2024 to February 27, 2025

Funding

The program “Sport for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality” can finance between €5,000 and €20,000 including tax each winning project. Any application submitted outside this bracket will be considered ineligible.  

The program selection process takes place after a single open application phase from November 7, 2024 to February 27, 2025.
Each candidate structure can only submit one file and one funding request.  
The list of selected projects will be communicated the week of May 19, 2025.

Eligible countries

We invite you to consult the details in the full regulations.

• Africa: South Africa, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia 

• North America: Canada, United States (San Francisco) 

• Latin America: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico 

• Asia: China, South Korea, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, Vietnam 

• Europe: Germany, Austria, Belgium (and Luxembourg), Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania and Baltic States, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Romania, Czech Republic, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland 

• Oceania: Australia 

Other eligibility criteria

The associations 

Non-profit associations can register and complete their funding application. 

These associations must:  

• Be registered in the country where the project is carried out (and have administrative proof of this); 

• Have the ability to provide the statutes, proof of declaration of creation of the association, the annual financial statement N-1 (and income statement), the annual activity report N-1; 

• Be legally independent and autonomous, and not have been convicted of a practice prohibited by local authorities or of corruption;  

• Have properly prepared financial statements, for example by an external audit body; 

• Be in contact with a Decathlon employee involved in the creation and/or implementation of the project. 

The regulation does not set a maximum threshold in terms of annual resources. 

The collaborators 

The Decathlon Foundation enables its employees to engage and get involved on a human level and regularly with people in vulnerable situations, over the long term, by playing sports with them, supporting them in their social and professional integration, etc. 

Employees are understood to mean active employees, alumni, retirees or spouses. 

They must also be: 

• Involved in the project: concrete involvement with the association and/or the submitted project (advice, project management, organization of activities, discovery of the professions and the Decathlon universe, organization of events, etc.); 

• Geographically close to the activities of the association and the project, or failing that, provide proof of a very specific link (such as family) with one or more members of the association. 

The projects

Each project must

• Be held in one of the eligible countries mentioned in Article 1 of these regulations. Areas classified as red by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs are eligible (https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/) ;  

• Target women and girls as a priority, without neglecting the importance of men and boys in accessing women's empowerment and gender equality.  

• Using sport or physical activity as a tool for women's empowerment and gender equality;  

• The total amount of project expenses and resources must not exceed €150,000(excluding valuations)¹ ; 

• Take place between June 2025 and June 2026, with an approximate duration of 12 months. 

It is strongly encouraged to think about the viability of the project beyond these 12 months, and therefore the continuity of the actions. 

• Target a collective, a group, and cannot be focused on a single individual or a limited number of individuals 

NThe following projects are not eligible: 

• Microfinance, microcredit, microsavings, and cascading financing projects; 

• Relating solely to the transport of materials (local purchasing and the development of local trade are favored unless impossible); 

• Relating solely to field assessments; 

• Whose main activity corresponds solely to the organization of an event;  

• Having only a sporting purpose;  

Projects must use sport as a means to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and more specifically as a key lever to combat identified vulnerabilities faced by women and girls.  

For any questions related to the writing of your project and the content of the file, you can write to: alexia.vanlaere@decathlon.com.