CRAF'd is the first and only multi-partner instrument designed to finance, connect, and reimagine data to save lives.

CRAF'd aims to unlock the full potential of data for people and the planet - when and where it matters most.

The CRAF'd ecosystem strengthens the collective capabilities of its partners to better anticipate, prevent, and respond to complex risks in crisis-affected and fragile settings.

While CRAF'd provides funding to data and analytics partners, it does not act as a data distributor.

Inspired by the Secretary-General’s Data Strategy, CRAF’d is the result of a joint design process championed by Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Nations family.

CRAF'd is managed by the UN-hosted CRAF’d Secretariat and the Fund's Steering Committee.

The total funding available for the Open Call for Proposals is $3 million. The minimum grant size is $500,000.

Each organization can submit up to two concept notes through this Open Call, including joint applications with other organizations. Only the first two submissions will be considered if an organization submits more than two concept notes.

REQUIREMENTS FOR UN ORGANIZATIONS

• All UN organizations that have signed the CRAF’d Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) are eligible to receive funding from CRAF’d.  

• UN organizations may submit a concept note without signing the CRAF'd MoU, but will need to sign it if their project is shortlisted. The signing process can usually be completed within 1-2 weeks, depending on the internal procedures of the UN organization.

REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-UN ORGANIZATIONS  

• Eligible non-UN organizations are not-for-profit, civilian organizations, including but not limited to, NGOs, academic institutions, research organizations, think tanks, other international organizations.

• Non-UN organizations can access CRAF’d through a direct and indirect modality. Directly: After a due diligence process outlined in the CRAF’d Terms of Reference. Indirectly: As a sub-grantee of a UN organization that has signed the CRAF'd MoU or a current non-UN CRAF'd project partners.   

• Non-UN organizations that chose the direct access modality may submit a concept in the first stage of the application process without undergoing the due diligence process. The CRAF'd Secretariat will only initiate the due diligence process and request supporting documents (registration as non-profit/proof as not-for-profit organization, financial audit reports of the past two years, proof of successfully managed grants, UN or donor reference letter) if the proposal is shortlisted in the second stage of the application process.

The application process for this Open Call is structured in two stages:  

STAGE 1 – CONCEPT NOTES

• Eligible organizations can submit up to two concept notes through this online form. If an organization submits more than two concept notes, only the first two concepts will be selected for review.

• The concept notes serve as an initial screening process to evaluate the alignment of proposed projects with the open call’s objectives and criteria.

STAGE 2 – PROJECT PROPOSALS

• Shortlisted applicants will be invited to the second stage of the application process to develop full-fledged project proposals. The proposals should provide detailed information about the project objectives, methodology, timeline, budget, and expected outcomes.

Grants are expected to be disbursed starting in January 2024

CRAF'd encourages the provision of both real-time and historical data.

Projects should demonstrate a reliable long-term provision of their outputs with regular release cycles.

Datasets can include primary and secondary data, and must at a minimum:

• Ensure informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, fairness, and risk mitigation. 

• Be free and accessible to CRAF'd partners and the wider ecosystem, with open access whenever feasible.  While the general principle is to ensure datasets are freely accessible, exceptions are made for privacy and security concerns, restricting access to authorized organizations and personnel.

• Use non-proprietary, open-standard, machine-readable formats, and preferably include an API for data exchange. 

• Adhere to high data quality standards with transparent validation and verification processes, and include peer review documentation. 

• Be accompanied by metadata detailing data collection methods, sources, formats, and any processing or transformations. 

For more information. please refer to the guidance document.

• Each organization can submit a maximum of two concept notes in total. This includes joint applications.

• CRAF'd will only consider the first two concept notes received by an organization.

• Sub-contractors/implementing partners can be involved in more than two concept notes. The primary restriction applies to the number of concept notes an organization can submit directly.. 

The concept note template is available here.

You need to provide general information on your organization and the proposed project as well as information on your project’s budget and more detailed information on all evaluation criteria outlined in the guidance document.

• Projects can have other sources of funding, but it is not mandatory at the onset of the project.

• To ensure the provision of data beyond the initial project run time,

• Applicants are encouraged to note any financial and in-kind contributions from other parties, demonstrating economical use of resources.

The final allocation of grants will be decided by the CRAF'd Steering Committee on the basis of the project proposals submitted and evaluated against the evaluation criteria set out in the guidance documents.

The CRAF'd project portfolio is available here.

Proposals need to be submitted in English.​

You can contact the CRAF’d Secretariat via email at crafd@un.org.