Middle East Partnership Initiative: Empowering Women through Entrepreneurship in Tunisia

Deadline: 30 June 2016

The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) program in the Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC) is seeking applications from eligible organisations to fund a program entitled “Empowering Women through Entrepreneurship in Tunisia” with an aim to increase the inclusion of women in social, political and economic life in Tunisia through the empowerment of female entrepreneurs and the promotion of women owned-businesses.

This program is designed to support aspiring and experienced female entrepreneurs – at various levels of the entrepreneurial cycle – in order to start and expand women-owned businesses in Tunisia.

Program Priorities

• Applications submitted must include activities that enable women across Tunisia to start, grow, and sustain businesses through training, coaching, mentorship, expert assistance, and access to financing.
• Program activities must focus on governorates and communities outside of Tunis, addressing the economic development issues of marginalized communities.
• Applicants must have a decentralized organizational model to ensure regional inclusion and encourage the sustainable delivery of services to women.

Funding Information

• Contingent on the availability of funds, approximately $1,500,000 in Economic Support Funds for approximately one cooperative agreement will be awarded
• Subject to the availability of funding, additional support in future years may be available to continue the project to empower a greater number of female entrepreneurs and women owned-businesses.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible applicants include U.S. or foreign non-profit organizations; for-profit organizations; private institutions of higher education, public or state institutions of higher education; public international organizations; and small businesses with function and regional experience in the areas of civil society strengthening, women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship, or economic advocacy in the MENA region.
• NEA/AC strongly encourages applications from organizations head-quartered in the Middle East and North Africa region.
• International non-governmental organizations with principal bases of operations outside the Middle East and North Africa are also encouraged to apply, but the percentage of total budget actually spent in the region through local partners will be among the elements of evaluation for this competition.
• NEA/AC is committed to an anti-discrimination policy in all of its programs and activities.
• NEA/AC welcomes applications irrespective of an applicants’ race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. They encourage applications from organizations working with underserved communities, including women, people with disabilities and youth.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply via given website.

Eligible Countries

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, the Republic of China,   Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia , Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania,  Luxembourg, Republic of Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, United Republic of Tanzania, Thailand , Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga,  Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

For more information, please visit Empowering Women through Entrepreneurship in Tunisia.