World development

About the programme

TWF aims to support organisations which help the economically disadvantaged build the basis of sustainable prosperity.

TWF believes that improving an individual’s ability to access a high-quality education; supporting communities to have access to clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene; and providing support for successful enterprise development are all key to achieving this objective.  These form TWF’s three main themes of interest in our World Development programme, and each is described in more detail below.

TWF is committed to providing support to developing countries which will be used in a sustainable way with lasting impact, and which avoids promoting a culture of aid-dependency. All applicants should be able to demonstrate the impact of their programmes, and show how they meet the Foundation’s objectives. 

Funding Priorities

1) Education

TWF believes that educating children is key to ensuring a country’s long-term development, prosperity and independence.  An educated population will help bring about a more vibrant civil society, as well as increase the numbers of people available to offer their skills, knowledge and expertise to support the development of their communities.  Education also has a particularly significant impact for women.  Evidence suggests that girls who complete primary and secondary education have smaller families, improved health outcomes and earn significantly higher wages.

TWF aims to support programmes which will:

• Improve the quality of secondary education or primary education
• Increase the enrolment to secondary-level education, especially for young women
• Increase the retention of pupils at both primary and secondary level, especially for girls and young women.

TWF recognises that there are a large number of approaches that can be taken to meet these aims.  Our priority is to fund programmes which can demonstrate that they meet these aims in a highly effective manner with long-term impact.  You must give us evidence from previous projects which you have undertaken, or other relevant research, to indicate the effectiveness of your programme’s approach.  Relevant evidence could include:

• indicators of improved student or school performance
• data related to an increase in school enrolment, or reduction in absenteeism/ school drop-out rates
• any other facts or data which demonstrate the likely effectiveness of your project in comparison to similar programmes.

In exceptional circumstances TWF will also consider providing support for other stages of education if you can demonstrate that these approaches are particularly effective.

Examples of organisations which the Foundation has previously supported under our Education programme can be found here.

2) Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

TWF believes that access to clean drinking water, sanitation and improved hygiene is one of the core requirements to support the sustainable development of a community.  Without access to these basic resources people can spend a huge amount of time every day collecting water, whilst water-borne diseases will remain prevalent.  This can significantly restrict an individual’s ability to gain an education or contribute towards household income-generation.  This has a particularly damaging impact on women and girls because of their traditional household role in many cultures.

TWF believes that access to improved sanitation is of equal importance to access to an improved water source.  The Foundation is keen to support programmes which take an integrated approach to addressing both sanitation and access to clean drinking water.

Our priority is to fund programmes which can demonstrate that they deliver these aims in a highly effective manner with long-term impact.  You must therefore make reference to the following in your application:

• evidence from previous work undertaken to indicate that your organisation has a history of delivering successful integrated water and sanitation programmes
• evidence that your improved water sources have remained operational a number of years after your original programme was completed
• evidence that improvements in sanitation practices have been sustained since your original programme was completed.

In exceptional circumstances TWF will also consider providing support for the development of the technical capacity of the water and sanitation sector, where this is demonstrated to be particularly effective.

Examples of organisations which TWF has previously supported under our Water, Sanitation and Hygiene programme can be found here.

3) Enterprise Development

TWF believes that development of commercial activity is at the heart of ensuring a country’s prosperity and independence.  TWF is keen to support organisations which encourage economically disadvantaged individuals or communities to develop enterprise and business growth.  This could be achieved through a variety of interventions.  The Foundation is particularly interested in the following:

• Developing improved agriculture, apiculture (bee-keeping) or small-scale aquaculture farming
• Improving access to domestic or international markets for individuals or businesses
• Increasing access to financial services for individuals or businesses (which could include microfinance, although we also support this through our investments).

Support to increase access to financial services will only be provided by TWF if:

• the proposed enterprise aims to achieve financial sustainability
• our support is not creating unfair competition for other local commercial financial institutions or businesses
• you have considered whether the financial support you require could be given in the form of a loan rather than as a grant.

In all cases, applicants must provide evidence that their programme will significantly increase individual or household income above subsistence level.  This could include evidence from previous programmes or projections of future business growth based on a clear business plan.

Examples of organisations which TWF has previously supported under our Enterprise Development programme can be found here.

FUNDING PROGRAMME

TWF understands that different sizes of organisation have different funding needs.  Our Main Grants programme is principally intended to support large charities (for example, those with an annual income of over £1 million) which have the capacity to deliver substantial development programmes.  TWF recognises that development work often takes a reasonable period of time before achievements are evident, and we will therefore consider providing multi-annual grants (usually for up to three years).  The majority of our grants in this programme will be for a total of over £50,000, although it is unlikely that TWF will provide grants of over £100,000 per year.

TWF also recognises the benefits of unrestricted funding to charities.  TWF is willing to consider providing grants which are not entirely restricted to the direct costs of project-delivery.  However, these grants will only be open to organisations which are invited to apply for this type of funding support and which TWF has previously supported with a grant.

TWF will prioritise providing funding support to UK-based charities, many of whom work in close partnership with indigenous NGOs based in the countries in which they operate.  We are happy to consider providing some support towards the capacity-building of local NGOs, as part of a grant to support project delivery.

In exceptional circumstances the Foundation will be able to provide funding support towards projects which fit within our three broad funding priorities, but which are working at a much smaller scale than described above.  Support will be prioritised for small charities led by committed social entrepreneurs, especially those based in Wales, which are working to deliver projects in developing countries.  Organisations should be able to demonstrate that they have raised other funding in addition to any support which TWF is able to provide, and that the project involves a significant direct contribution from the beneficiary community.  These grants are usually provided as a one-off donation.

GEOGRAPHICAL PRIORITIES

The principle focus of the World Development programme is to provide support for the most disadvantaged developing countries in the world.  TWF therefore prioritises support towards these countries, for example as determined by the UNDP’s Human Development Index rankings.  It is unlikely that TWF will provide support to an organisation working outside a country ranked as either ‘low human development’ or towards the bottom of the ‘medium human development’ list.

TWF is committed to the principle that development work should have long-term impact, and believes that stable national and local government plays an important role in achieving this.  TWF will therefore prioritise support towards organisations which operate in these contexts, and is unlikely to provide support to conflict-affected regions.

TWF supports the twinning of Wales and Lesotho, and the long-standing exchange of ideas and benefits to the civil societies of both countries which has resulted.  TWF is keen to support this special relationship between Wales and Lesotho, and will prioritise support for organisations working in Lesotho in our three funding priority areas.  TWF will also prioritise support for organisations operating in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), as a reflection of this country’s importance as the location of one of the key rainforest areas of the world (see our Environment Fund).

WHAT WE WILL NOT FUND

It is not our intention to fund projects with a principle aim to deliver increased access to improved health care.  Whilst TWF recognises the importance of improving health outcomes in developing countries, we believe that there are already a number of very large trusts and foundations which have made this a priority of their work.

It is also not our intention to provide financial support to organisations seeking to alleviate the suffering resulting from high-profile natural or man-made disasters, including the delivery of food aid or shelter.