Through the “Sport for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality” programme the Decathlon Foundation and La Guilde are joining forces to help encourage the empowerment of women and young girls as well as promoting greater gender equality. This call for project submissions is intended to support concrete initiatives to allow women and young girls to benefit from equal access to health and welfare services, to develop essential life skills and to further consolidate understanding of their rights.  

It also aims at encouraging the active involvement of women in leadership and governance, to help facilitate professional insertion and promote access to entrepreneurship. On the whole, these initiatives strive to further consolidate women’s ability to become drivers for change.  

The call for projects is open from 7 November 2024 to 27 February 2025.

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Funding

The “Sport for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality” programme can fund between €5,000 and €22,000 for each selected project. Any application made outside this range will be considered ineligible.

The programme selection process will follow a single application phase open from 07 November 2024 to 27 February 2025.

Each applicant organisation may submit only one application and one funding request.

The list of selected projects will be announced in the week of 19 May 2025.

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Eligible countries

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

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

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

• Latin America: Brzil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico 

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

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

• Oceania: Australia 

Other eligibility criteria

Associations

Not-for-profit charity associations may register and file a funding application. 

These associations must:  

• Be registered in the country where the project is to be conducted (and provide administrative evidence); 

• Have the ability to provide articles of association, proof of declaration of incorporation of an association, the annual financial statements for the previous financial year (and the profit and loss account) and business report for the previous financial year;  

• Be legally independent and autonomous, and not have been the object of any conviction for any illegal practices by the local authorities or for any act of corruption;  

• Have financial statements which are properly drawn up, for instance by a certified external auditor;  

• Uphold relations with a Decathlon employee, involved in the creation and/or implementation of the project. 

The Regulations do not set any maximum threshold in terms of annual resources. 

Decathlon teammates

The Decathlon Foundation allows its employees to be engaged and involved, in person and a regular manner, with people in vulnerable situations, over the long-term, by partaking in sports activities with said persons, supporting them in their social and professional insertion, etc.  

The term employees shall be used to refer to active employees, Alumni, retirees or spouses and partners.  

They must also meet the following criteria: 

• Be involved in the project: concrete involvement with the association and/or project submitted (advisory role, project management, organisation of activities, discovery of Decathlon professions and the setting, events organisation, etc.);  

• Be in close geographical proximity to the association and project activities, or failing this, justify a specific link (such as a family tie) to one or more of the association members.  

Projects

Each project should:

• Be held in one of the eligible countries as indicated under article 1 of these Regulations. Zones classed in red by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs are eligible (https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/dossiers-pays/);  

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

• Use sport or physical activity as a tool to encourage women’s empowerment and gender equality;  

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

• Take place between June 2025 and June 2026, with an approximate term of 12 months. It is strongly encouraged to consider the project viability beyond the 12-month period, and consequently the continuation of initiatives.  

• Target a team or group and may not solely focus on a single individual or limited number of individuals.  

The following projects are ineligible: 

• Micro-finance, micro-credit, micro-savings and sub-granting projects;  

• Projects dealing solely with material transportation (local purchasing and development of local trade are favoured where possible);  

• Projects dealing solely with in-field assessments; 

• Projects of which the primary activity corresponds solely of organisation of an event;  

• Projects dealing solely with a sporting outcome;  

Projects should use sport as a means of achieving the Sustainability Goals, and more specifically as a fundamental lever to help fight against identified vulnerabilities encountered by women and young girls.