Deadline: 19 April 2017
The Australia Awards South and West Asia Alumni Innovation Challenge is currently open for applications for its workshop & Small Grants program to connect, mobilise and celebrate development innovators amongst the Australia Awards alumni in the region.
The Program has partnered with BRAC’s Social Innovation Lab, and Ashoka Bangladesh, to arrange a mentor system in which each selected grantee will be linked with a mentor who can advise and support the grantee to pilot their development innovation. Mentors will also be selected from the Australia Awards global alumni and other Program partners.
Objectives
The Alumni Innovation Challenge and Regional Alumni Workshop 2017 is designed to:
- Enable the selected Australia Awards alumni to pilot their innovations by providing them financial, networking, and mentoring support;
- Foster linkages between development innovators amongst the Australia Awards alumni in the South and West Asia region;
- Provide a professional development opportunity for grantees to present their development innovations, and be exposed to other development innovations from the region;
- Provide an opportunity for Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Posts to examine and select development innovations for further funding and mentoring from the Australia Development Accelerator, managed by Innovation change for DFAT Posts;
- Form a Community of Practice for development innovators from South and West Asia.
Eligibility Criteria
Alumni may apply for a small grant either as individuals, or as groups consisting of two to five alumni. Applications from groups comprising alumni from different countries in the region will be viewed favourably. To be eligible for a small grant and to participate in the Regional Alumni Workshop, alumni must meet the following criteria:
- Be an Australia Awards alumnus, from either:
- the DFAT-funded Australia Awards Scholarships, Australia Awards Fellowships, or Short Course Awards;
- the former AusAID-funded Australian Development Scholarships, and/or Australian Leadership Awards programs, (or earlier programs like the Colombo Plan, John Crawford Scholarship Scheme, or Australian International Development Assistance Bureau (AIDAB) Scholarships);
- the Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships Program; or o the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research Scholarships Program.
- Be registered on the Australia Global Alumni Website at the time of registration
- Be residing in, and intend to use the grant to pilot an innovative activity in an Australian Government priority sector in one of the seven participating program countries;
- Agree to participate in a Fraud Management and Child Protection briefing prior to receiving the grant, and use and acquit the grant according to DFAT and Program guidelines provided during the briefing;
- Be available to travel to Bangladesh for the Regional Alumni Workshop and have a reasonable expectation that they will be released by their employer to attend the Workshop.
How to Apply
The value of a small grant for a single activity will be up to AUD 3,000. The grant will be formalised through a Grant Agreement with Scope Global, the Australian managing contractor for Australia Awards South and West Asia.
Eligible Countries: Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
For more information, please visit Alumni Innovation Challenge 2017.