Grant and Funding Programs Offered by CODE (CODE)

CODE is a Canadian registered charity and international development agency that has focused on education and literacy since 1959. Originating from a small “books for the developing world” project, it now works with locally based organizations, ministries of education and other education stakeholders to advance every child’s right to read, with a particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.

CODE primarily operates literacy and education programs delivered through partnerships with African organizations, teacher training institutions and school systems. It improves learning outcomes by strengthening teacher effectiveness, promoting gender equality, and ensuring the availability of high-quality, locally relevant reading and learning materials. Alongside its program delivery role, CODE also acts as a grant provider within specific initiatives, most notably through research-focused calls for proposals.

Under its Teaching and Learning in Fragile Contexts (TLFC) research initiative, CODE issues competitive calls for research proposals that address education challenges in refugee and displacement settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The TLFC program supports applied and transferable research on quality teaching and culturally relevant learning materials, and includes a structured application process, guidelines and budget templates. As part of this initiative, CODE offers multiple research grants of up to a defined maximum amount per project to eligible researchers, academics and educators based in African countries.

CODE’s broader portfolio is organized around three main families of activities: literacy programs, research initiatives and literary awards. Together with its partners, it has helped more than 10 million children access better quality, inclusive education. CODE collaborates closely with ministries, teacher training colleges, publishers, community groups and girls’ clubs to design locally appropriate solutions and to scale up successful approaches to the national level.

The organization’s support is focused on children and youth, especially girls, in low-resource and fragile contexts, and on the teachers, researchers and institutions that serve them. Its funding and programming mainly benefit countries in sub-Saharan Africa, while also engaging Canadian supporters, institutional donors and foundations that co-finance its initiatives.

CODE publishes annual reports and audited financial statements and is accredited under Imagine Canada’s Standards Program. It is repeatedly recognized by independent evaluators as a top-performing international charity, reflecting its commitment to accountability, transparent use of funds and measurable impact in education and literacy.