Development Awareness Fund

The Development Awareness Fund (DAF) is now closed.

The DAF was the main funding mechanism through which DFID funded development awareness activities in the UK. It was a competitive fund and applicants could apply for grants of between £10-100,000 per year for a maximum of three years. Around 60% of the projects funded through the DAF addressed the inclusion of a global dimension in the schools sector, and DFID required that all proposals were consistent with and, where possible, linked with the Enabling Effective Support (EES) initiative.  

Eligible organisations

The DAF was open to any UK-based not-for-profit organisation or network committed to raising awareness and understanding of development issues.

DAF Programme Objectives

Projects allcoated funding had to promote public understanding of development issues, with a focus on one or more of the following objectives:

• Building knowledge and understanding of the major challenges and prospects for development, in particular the challenge of reducing poverty.
• Building understanding of our global interdependence, and that failure to reduce global poverty levels will have serious consequences for all of us.
• Generating understanding of and support for international efforts to reduce poverty and promote development including the Millennium Development Goals. Promoting recognition of the progress so far made, and that further progress is affordable, achievable, and most of all vital.
• Building understanding of the role that individuals can play; enabling them to make informed choices with the knowledge of how their actions impact on the world around them.

Funding available per activity

DFID contributed funding for up to 100% of project costs. Funding ranged from £10,000 to a maximum of £100,000 per year, for up to a maximum of three years. Funding was awarded on a competitive basis, following an annual funding round.