Project TRANScend – Socioeconomic Inclusion of Transgender Community (Pakistan)

Deadline: 28-Feb-22

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Mission to Pakistan is pleased to announce an open competition for grant proposals to connect transgender Pakistanis between the ages of 18 and 40 with American experts to assist the participants in:

developing vocational skills and knowledge to help them to improve their economic opportunities; and
learning best practices to promote broader social inclusion of transgender people.

Project Goal: Increase socioeconomic inclusion of Pakistan’s transgender community through a two-year program that builds vocational skills through American examples of mentoring, training, and social integration.

Project Objectives

This funding opportunity seeks to recruit up to two implementing partners with 7-10 years of expertise working on transgender issues in Pakistan to implement a two-year project focused on promoting the economic mobility and social inclusion of transgender people.

For the objective of economic mobility, implementing partner(s) will:
- Create an inclusive and safe space for transgender people with the support of local CSOs. Each CSO will identify and recruit a small cohort of transgender people, with an aim of recruiting a total of at least 100 direct beneficiaries. The CSOs will be responsible for imparting a one year-long vocational skills training program, based on American models of skills development for the American transgender community, to include the basic understanding of how to establish and manage small-scale businesses. After the capacity-building program, beneficiaries may receive small seed funding (up to $600) to set up independent small-scale businesses. This objective could also include networking opportunities and site visits to complement the lessons learned.
For the objective of social inclusion, the implementing partner(s) will:
- Engage with a U.S.-based nonprofit organization to learn best practices and existing models of success in the Unites States related to transgender social inclusion. Together, by the end of the first year of the project, they will develop a comprehensive roadmap to promote transgender rights in Pakistan.
- Share knowledge with and enhance capacity of the CSOs to implement the proposed roadmap. The grantee will reach out to relevant stakeholders including, but not limited to, the social welfare department, ministry of human rights, and transgender and human rights activists to create awareness of issues faced by the transgender members.
- Devise and execute a comprehensive communication strategy to promote acceptance of the transgender community in Pakistan, decrease gender-based prejudices, and highlight the rights offered by the 2018 Transgender Persons Act. The strategy should include social media campaigns amongst other communication mediums, in collaboration with other consortium partners.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Project Funding: $150,000
Estimated Award Ceiling: $150,000
Estimated Award Floor: $100,000
Estimated Number of Awards: One to two
Length of Project Period: 24 months

Project Audience(s): Pakistani transgender people between the ages of 18 and 40, with a focus on those with low incomes. The mode of content delivery will be in both Urdu and English languages. Projects can be nationwide or focused on specific geographic areas with an explanation of why the specific geographic region is relevant to the strategy.