The 2019 Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Micro-Grant Program

Deadline: 28 July 2019

The U.S. Embassy Hanoi is inviting YSEALI members in Vietnam to submit proposals for the 2019 Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Micro-Grant Program.

This competitive program offers grants of up to $1,000 (or more in exceptional cases) to individuals and not-for-profit groups of Vietnamese young people aged between 18 and 35 to conduct programs and activities on topics of Civic Engagement, Education, Economic Development, and Environment.

The projects must be implemented in provinces between Quang Tri and further north of Vietnam.

Launched in 2013, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) is the U.S. government’s signature program to strengthen leadership development and networking in Southeast Asia, deepen engagement with young leaders on key regional and global challenges, and advance people-to-people ties between the United States and young emerging Southeast Asian leaders. Recognizing that over 65 percent of ASEAN’s population is under the age of 35, YSEALI is an effort to harness the extraordinary potential of youth in the region to address critical challenges and expand opportunities.

Topics of Advancement

In 2019, they would like to encourage projects that support the following themes:

Civic Engagement in ASEAN
- For example:
  - Trafficking in persons
  - Women’s Empowerment
  - Religious tolerance and diversity
  - Enhancing knowledge of ASEAN and Vietnam’s role in ASEAN
Education
- For example:
  - Access to Education
  - English Language
  - Science and Technology
Economic Development
- For example:
  - Youth employment
  - Entrepreneurship/social entrepreneurship
  - Green economic growth
Environment
- For example:
  - Environmental protection/Climate change
  - Disaster preparedness/Humanitarian Assistance
  - Food Security

Eligibility Criteria

Grants may be made to individuals, non-governmental organizations, not-for-profit groups whose implementing persons are YSEALI members in Vietnam. The projects must be implemented in provinces between Quang Tri and further north of Vietnam.
To become a YSEALI member, applicants must:
- be between the ages of 18 and 35,
- have interest in either Education, Economic Development, Environment and Civic Engagement in ASEAN
- register (easy and free of charge) as a YSEALI member via given website

Selection Criteria and Review Process

A panel of U.S. Embassy in Hanoi personnel will review and select finalists.
Eligible projects are evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Advancing YSEALI goals or improving knowledge of ASEAN and Vietnam’s role as a regional leader in preparation for Vietnam’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2020.
- Feasibility, coherent implementation plan, clearly itemized budget, etc.
- Project’s impact and achievability of defined goals.
- Special consideration will be made for projects in underserved provinces.
Purely humanitarian assistance proposals are not suitable for this YSEALI micro-grant program.
Proposals must include a description of how the grant will be monitored and evaluated.
Grants may not be used for partisan political activity. Proposals for non-partisan election education and public information activities, however, are eligible for consideration.
Proposals may include modest administrative expenses, including honoraria/partial salaries of grant implementers, but only when they are directly linked to the conduct of the specific grant program. General operating expenses, long-term infrastructure costs and undefined miscellaneous or “overhead” expenses are not acceptable. High costs to produce materials are also not a good use of the micro-grant program.

Grant funds can be used to:

Train trainers, but they may not be used to provide direct social services
Initiate seminars and workshops, but the proposals must describe the expected audience, content, and timeframe and justify the activity in terms of outcome and benefits
Develop and publish materials, but the proposals must describe the audience, content and means of distribution
Conduct YSEALI networking events

How to Apply

Applicants should submit their proposals and budget form online via given website.

For more information, please visit https://vn.usembassy.gov/education-culture/grants-and-scholarship-opportunities/