GIF-backed StrongMinds awarded grant to improve women’s mental health.

We’re pleased to announce that StrongMinds, one of our investee organisations, was recently awarded a grant by Action for Women’s Health, a global initiative advancing women’s health. Launched by Melinda French Gates in 2024 as part of a $1 billion commitment to empower women worldwide, Action for Women’s Health awarded 80 organisations grants ranging from $1 million to $5 million, supporting efforts to improve women’s physical and mental health globally.

StrongMinds provides mental health support to low-income African women and adolescents experiencing depression through facilitator- and peer-led group therapy. Founded in 2014, GIF supported StrongMinds’ development between 2019 and 2024. In just over a decade, the organisation has adapted its therapeutic model across diverse cultural contexts and literacy levels, earning endorsement from the World Health Organisation as a recommended first-line treatment for depression in resource-limited settings.

The $1.6M grant from GIF enabled StrongMinds to deepen engagement with civil society organisations and government departments in Zambia and Uganda, expanding access to their therapeutic programs for more low-income women and adolescent girls. They were able to increase the number of people, largely women, treated for depression from 22,943 in 2019 to 239,672 in 2023. Their therapeutic model has been delivered by over 1000 government community health workers in Uganda and the project was also able to drive down the cost per patient from $109 in 2019 to $40 in 2023, a 63% price reduction. Additionally, our support helped StrongMinds embed and strengthen a gender-focused approach throughout the organisation.

Explore our gender-focused work here.