U.S. Mission to Malaysia: YSEALI Regional Workshop- Transparency and Anti-Corruption

Deadline: 30 June 2019

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has announced an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to implement a five-day workshop (two travel days and three full workshop days) in Malaysia to promote transparency and anti-corruption in Southeast Asia, pending availability of funding.

Program Objectives

The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) is the U.S. government’s signature initiative to engage emerging leaders in Southeast Asia. The program aims to create a network of young Southeast Asian leaders who work across national borders to solve common problems. This program will be one of a number of regional workshops hosted by U.S. embassies around the region and will involve participants from the 10 ASEAN countries and East Timor.

The workshop’s aim is to build capacity among lawmakers, government staffers and public advocates who make or encourage policy that is transparent, democratic, and in keeping with rule of law. The workshop should assist participants to become more effective, particularly in how they work with government, including techniques and methods for influencing policy. The workshop should develop a networking platform, such as a regional working group, for passionate change makers around the region to collaborate and promote ongoing discourse on political issues that go well beyond the five-day program.

Funding Information

Award Ceiling: $250,000
Award Floor: $100,000

Specific Requirements

Design and implement a five-day workshop (two travel days and three full workshop days) to be held in Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia’s administrative capital, Putrajaya, to take place in October 2020. They anticipate 100 total participants.

In addition to providing training and skills needed to create, promote and drive transparent agendas and anti-corruption efforts, the workshop should:

Build upon prior public, private, and civil society activities around the topic of transparency and anti-corruption in Southeast Asia.
Bring together experts to make a case for how best to empower change makers and promote better, more transparent governance in Southeast Asia, including in the areas of policy, program management and fundraising. The workshop should engage respective lawmakers, youth advocates and political activists who fought the battle against corrupt leaders and for a transparent political system.
Delineate what technical, policy, program management, fundraising and communications skills and knowledge will be taught to participants;
Describe daily activities to show how and where learning will take place and how each activity connects to the overall objective of teaching the knowledge and skills needed to create solutions. Course content should be flexible enough to be relevant to participants from different countries;
Include the elements of community service, mentoring sessions and site visits to prominent locations to create a wholesome program content that is not restricted to classroom settings.
Include workshop speakers, facilitators and/or mentors that represent both the United States and Southeast Asia;
Promote the unity of ASEAN and the United States as a partner in ASEAN’s efforts to promote sustainable economic growth. As such, the workshop should include a cultural component, such as a Southeast Asian or Malaysian cultural appreciation event or excursion, or a local community service activity.

The selected organization will also be responsible for:

Managing the recruitment, application and selection process to include an online application form. Participants must come from all ASEAN member countries plus Timor-Leste, and will be YSEALI members with whom embassies in all 11 nations have direct contact.
Create and implement a logistics plan that includes airfare, lodging, and food for all participants, presenters and staff.
Organize and implement collaborative follow-on projects to be implemented by teams of participants after the workshop is completed.
Create and implement a plan for monitoring and evaluation of participants during and after completion of the workshop and describe how the program’s outcomes will achieve the specific objectives described in this narrative.
Design a digital engagement strategy for workshop participants, including but not limited to social media outreach that enhances the in-person training. Digital engagement should tie into existing YSEALI social media properties.
Design and implement a method of sharing key aspects of the workshop with the thousands of youth who have signed up as YSEALI members, but are unable to attend the actual workshop. Examples include offering online versions of workshop materials including videos of presentations and shareable digital versions of hand-outs or similar materials.

Participants and Audiences

Participants will be ages 18-35 from 10 ASEAN nations: Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, plus Timor-Leste. Participants will be registered YSEALI members, who have demonstrable interest in issues relating to governance, particularly on transparency and anti-corruption, whether through paid employment, volunteer work, unpaid internships, or coursework and who show promise in becoming socially active in effecting positive change in their communities. They may have attended YSEALI events, activities, exchanges, workshops and other related YSEALI programs.

Eligibility Criteria

The following organizations are eligible to apply: