Grant

Funding within the framework of the ESF Plus federal program "MY TURN – Women with Migration Experience Take Off"

Nationwide ESF Plus program to promote labor market integration of formally low-qualified women with their own migration experience. Focus on sustainable qualification, empowerment, and individual support. First funding phase: 03.05.2022–28.05.2025, second phase from 01.01.2026.

Discover your potential with AI support

  • Find out if this grant matches your project
  • Develop your application together with AI
  • Get matched with many more suitable grants

Grant criteria

Application Deadline:
01.01. - 31.12.2028
Application level: Advanced
Region: Germany (nationwide)
Funding amount: up to €5,000,000 per project
Funding rate: 40% - 60%
Project start from: 03.05.2022

Funding objective

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs supports measures that provide formally low-qualified women with migration backgrounds and increased support needs better access to qualification programs, thereby enabling sustainable employment subject to social insurance contributions, self-employment, or vocational training. Core elements include target group-specific outreach, empowerment activities, family-oriented counseling, networking with companies, and continuous individual support.

Eligible expenses

  • Direct personnel costs
  • Material costs
  • Travel expenses
  • Public relations
  • Honorarium costs

Non-eligible expenses

  • Acquisition of real estate
  • Retroactive costs
  • Debt settlement
  • Fines and reminder fees
  • General administrative expenses

Eligible to apply

  • Interest Groups and Other Associations
  • Non-profit Organizations
  • Educational Institutions
  • Public Institutions
  • Companies

Funding requirements

  • Legal entities under private and public law with registered office and place of business in Germany
  • Compliance with the ESF Plus funding principles
  • Proof of professional-substantive and administrative suitability
  • No simultaneous application as a participant project and networking office
  • Submission of a De-minimis declaration

Documents required for application

  1. Project description
  2. Financing plan
  3. De-minimis declaration
  4. Co-financing confirmation
  5. Qualification certificates of project staff
  6. Form "Confirmation of personnel deployment"
  7. Bank details
  8. Proof of payment flow for personnel expenses

Evaluation criteria

  • Target group-specific approach
  • Innovative content of the qualification measures
  • Sustainability aspects of the support
  • Regional networking and cooperation

Description

The nationwide ESF Plus program promotes the labor market integration of formally low-qualified women with their own migration experience. It particularly targets migrants since 2015 who have so far not been sufficiently reached due to cultural, gender, or family-specific barriers, possess limited German language skills or lack basic competencies, and require intensive support to reconcile qualification and family responsibilities. Core components include target group-specific outreach, empowerment activities, family-oriented counseling, networking with companies, and continuous individual support. In this way, dropouts are to be avoided, and the transition into social security-obligated employment, self-employment, or vocational training is to be sustainably enabled. The first funding phase runs until May 28, 2025; extension applications are possible until then. From January 1, 2026, the second funding call will start and remain open until December 31, 2028.

Project applications can be submitted by legal entities under private and public law with headquarters and place of work in Germany, including associations, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, public institutions, and companies. A prerequisite is proof of professional-content and administrative suitability, compliance with the ESF Plus funding principles, and submission of a De-minimis declaration. Eligible costs include personnel costs, material and travel expenses, public relations, and fee costs. The funding rate ranges from 40% to 60% depending on the region, nationally co-financed with 30% to 50%; own funds or third-party funds must amount to at least 10%. Up to 5 million euros can be approved per project. Funding decisions are made in a single-stage procedure via the digital funding portal Z-EU-S; a renewed application for the second phase is planned from the beginning of 2026.

Start application →