Deadline: 30-Jun-25
The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) has announced an open competition for the Youth Ambassadors Africa program.
U.S. non-profit organizations may submit proposals to provide youth and adult mentors from countries in sub-Saharan Africa with a three-week exchange program in the United States focused on the primary themes of civic engagement and leadership development.
Purpose
- Youth Ambassadors programs offer youth (typically between the ages of 15-18) and adult mentors the opportunity to examine civic engagement and leadership development through short-term exchanges in the United States. YA-AF should offer participants from countries in sub Saharan Africa the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities such as, but not limited to, workshops on civic education, community site visits related to the program themes, and homestays with American families. Upon return home, participants should apply what they have learned to implement projects that serve their communities. Multiple opportunities for participants to interact meaningfully with their U.S. peers must be included.
Objectives
- The objectives of the program are for participants to:
- Demonstrate a better understanding of the elements of participatory democracy in action;
- Deepen critical thinking, problem-solving, and empathetic leadership skills; and
- Develop program planning and implementation skills to strengthen local communities.
Goals
- The program goals are to:
- Prepare youth leaders to become responsible citizens and contributing members of their communities;
- Empower participants to be actively engaged in addressing issues of concern in their communities upon their return home;
- Build mutual understanding, tolerance, and respect between U.S. citizens and the citizens of other countries;
- Foster relationships among youth from across sub-Saharan Africa and their U.S. counterparts.
Themes
- The primary program themes are:
- Civic Engagement (such as citizen participation, community service, participatory democracy, rule of law, volunteerism, etc.); and
- Leadership Development (such as ethical leadership, team building, public speaking, negotiation, goal setting, and project planning).
Funding Information
- Total funding for the project is $1,000,000, pending the availability of funds.
Eligibility Criteria
- The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- U.S. not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations
- U.S. public and private educational institutions
- Other Eligibility Requirements.
- All organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) issued via SAM.gov as well as a valid registration in SAM.gov.
- ECA’s Grant Guidelines require that organizations demonstrate at least four years of experience in conducting international exchanges to be eligible for awards exceeding $130,000 in ECA funding. issuing one award, for approximately $1,000,000, pending availability of funds. Therefore, organizations must demonstrate four years of experience in conducting international exchanges in your proposal to be eligible to apply under this competition.
- All proposals must comply with the requirements stated in the NOFO, Project Objectives, Goals, and Instructions (POGI) document, and the PSI; not doing so may result in your proposal being declared technically ineligible and given no further consideration in the review process.
- All proposals must contain a SF-424, executive summary, proposal narrative, budget (SF 424A), detailed line-item budget, and budget narrative.
- Only one proposal will be considered by ECA from each applicant organization. In cases where more than one submission from an applicant appears in grants.gov, ECA will only consider the submission made closest in time to the NOFO deadline; that submission would constitute the one and only proposal ECA would review from that applicant.
- Participating countries may include: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.