Deadline: 14-Jul-25
The Direct Aid Program (DAP) is a small grants program funded from Australia’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget to provide funding for locally led projects that deliver practical and tangible development outcomes in ODA-eligible countries consistent with Australia’s development priorities.
Thematic Areas
- Priority thematic areas for the 2025-26 DAP year include:
- gender equality, empowerment of women and social inclusion;
- climate change and environmental protection;
- disability equity and rights;
- water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH);
- poverty alleviation and rural development;
- healthcare;
- education;
- human rights and governance.
Funding Information
- All applications must be accompanied by a fully costed project budget. A detailed budget is required and must be supported by two quotations for any budget line item between USD700 and USD7,000 and three quotations for amounts above USD7,000.
Eligible Costs
- Projects should be self-contained with finite timelines. Consideration will also be given to activities in which the beneficiary community makes a significant contribution in terms of:
- labor
- materials or funds, act as a catalyst for additional development of the community or a model for similar development
- activities elsewhere and/or have direct links with Australia will also be welcomed.
- There is no minimum amount a single DAP project can receive but the maximum is AUD80,000 (or the USD equivalent)
- Activities may run up to a maximum of two years of the grant agreement.
Ineligible Costs
- Generally, they cannot fund the following expenses and costs through the DAP:
- operating, overhead and administrative costs (staff salaries, allowances, office rent, utilities, etc.);
- workshops and associated expenses (e.g., venue hire, food/drinks, audio/video, etc.);
- cash grants or micro-credit schemes or projects that involve the return of money;
- commercial ventures or private for-profit business activities;
- purchase of major assets, e.g. vehicles or land;
- Australian or overseas study tours;
- international travel;
- sponsorship of major sporting tournaments or cultural displays that do not have a clear development benefit;
- consulting fees;
- construction projects that use asbestos or other materials that are hazardous to human health;
- direct support for governments;
- sponsorship of advocacy/fund-raising/commemoration events;
- landscaping and other cosmetic work around town squares and other public buildings;
- projects run by multilateral organisations such as UN agencies; and
- small/discrete components within a larger project managed by a multilateral organisation.
Eligibility Criteria
- Funding is available on a not-for-profit basis to community groups, non-government organisations and other organisations engaging in development activities in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo.
For more information, visit Australian Embassy Zimbabwe.