U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan announces Annual Program Statement for Cultural Affairs

Deadline: 15-Apr-21

The U.S. Embassy Nur-Sultan and U.S. Consulate General Almaty Public Affairs Sections (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State are pleased to announce funding is available through the Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Grants Program.

Purpose of Public Diplomacy Grants

PAS invites proposals for programs that strengthen cultural ties between the United States and Kazakhstan and support a priority program area in order to highlight shared values and promote bilateral cooperation. All proposed programs must include an American cultural element or connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in order to promote increased understanding of U.S. policy and perspectives.

Competitive proposals will promote continued/sustainable cooperation between the people of the United States and Kazakhstan even after the project concludes. Examples of programs could include, but are not limited to:

Academic and professional lectures, seminars, and speaker programs;
Artistic and cultural workshops, joint performances, and exhibitions;
Cultural heritage conservation and preservation programs; and
Professional and academic exchanges and programs.

Priority Program Areas

Effectively Harnessing Social Media, Digital Media, and Promoting Media Literacy
- Project Objectives: Increase social media literacy skills, especially for youth and the general public so that they can better identify and critically analyze disinformation.
  - Train social entrepreneurs and/or young professionals on how to design and manage an online campaign.
  - Support media professionals in further developing their media skills, including digital and media skills, data journalism, and effective informational campaigns.
- Project Audiences
  - Kazakh-speaking public
  - Youth, especially in regions of Kazakhstan outside of Almaty and Nur-Sultan
  - Social entrepreneurs, young professionals
  - Media professionals, including journalists, bloggers, and editors.
Civil Society Capacity Building
- Project Objectives
  - Train civil society organizations on constituency outreach and effective messaging, including identifying and knowing your target audience, determining what motivates them, and creating effective messaging, especially social media marketing.
  - Increase the capacity of individuals and civil society organizations to better analyze government policies, budgets, and procurement in order to advocate for policies, budgets, and increased government transparency and accountability.
  - Increase civil society organization (CSO) awareness of various funding streams to promote self-sustainability through fundraising, selling merchandise, partnering with companies engaged in Corporate Social Responsibility, etc.
- Project Audiences: Civil society organizations that promote the following:
  - Good governance and rule of law
  - Human Rights and social justice, especially working with individuals from underserved communities
  - Youth empowerment
  - Air quality and environmental issues.
Sharing America with Kazakhstan
- Project Objectives
  - Conduct educational or cultural programming to increase exposure to and understanding of the United States, demonstrating the strong mutual values held by each culture.
  - Develop projects celebrating the 30^th anniversary of U.S.-Kazakhstan bilateral relations (established on December 25, 1991).
- Project Audiences
  - - Kazakh-speaking public
    - Rural or underserved communities
    - Youth, especially in regions of Kazakhstan outside of Almaty and Nur-Sultan
    - Social entrepreneurs
    - University staff, educators, students
    - Artists/artisans
    - Athletes.

Funding Information

Length of performance period: 9-12 months
Number of awards anticipated: 10 awards (dependent on amounts)
Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $50,000.

Funding Instrument Type

Grant or Cooperative Agreement.
Cooperative Agreements are different from grants in that PAS staff are more actively involved in the project execution and anticipate having moderate to substantial involvement once the award has been made.

Eligibility Criteria

The following Kazakhstani and U.S. organizations are eligible to apply: