Deadline: 20-Sep-21
The U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Public Diplomacy Small Grants Program.
PAS Kuala Lumpur invites proposals for programs that further U.S. government objectives and promote bilateral cooperation and mutual understanding between the U.S. and Malaysia. All programs must include a substantive American element, such as connections with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in a specific field that will result in increased understanding of U.S. policies and perspectives.
Examples of PAS Small Grants Program programs include, but are not limited to:
- Subject-matter experts, academic lectures, seminars and speaker programs;
- Education and cultural programs, workshops, exhibitions and clinics;
- Professional and academic exchanges and programs;
Priority Program Areas
- Promotion of regional security cooperation, including countering violent extremism, cybersecurity, and transnational threats.
- Fostering shared interests in good governance and rule of law, including strengthening civil society media freedom, human rights, and media literacy.
- Advancing U.S. and Malaysian prosperity through advancing and deepening our bilateral economic and commercial partnership. The program could focus on topics such as trade and investment issues, women/youth empowerment and technology/innovation.
- Programs that advance mutual understanding of policies, values and perspectives.
Funding Information
- Number of awards anticipated: 30 awards (dependent on amounts);
- Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $125,000;
- Total available funding: $600,000.
Funding Ineligibility
- Requests with no connection to Malaysia;
- Programs that do not contain a U.S. component;
- Programs relating to partisan political activity;
- Charitable or development activities;
- Construction projects or programs;
- Programs that support specific religious activities;
- Fund-raising campaigns;
- Individual’s academic or scientific research;
- Programs intended primarily for the growth or institutional development of the organization; or-
- Programs for individual personal enrichment.
Eligible Applicants
The Public Affairs Section encourages applications from U.S. and Malaysia:
- Registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations with programming experience;
- Non-profit or governmental educational institutions;
- Governmental institutions;
- Individuals For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply.
Review Criteria
Each application will be evaluated and rated on the basis of the evaluation criteria outlined below. The criteria listed are closely related and are considered as a whole in judging the overall quality of an application.
- Organizational capacity and record on previous grants: The organization has expertise in its stated field and PAS is confident of its ability to undertake the program. This includes a financial management system and a bank account.
- Quality and Feasibility of the Program Idea: The program idea is well developed, with detail about how program activities will be carried out. The proposal includes a reasonable implementation timeline.
- Goals and objectives: Goals and objectives are clearly stated and program approach is likely to provide maximum impact in achieving the proposed results.
- Embassy priorities: Applicant has clearly described how stated goals are related to and support U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur’s priority areas or target audiences.
- Budget: The budget justification is detailed. Costs are reasonable in relation to the proposed activities and anticipated results. The budget is realistic, accounting for all necessary expenses to achieve proposed activities.
- Monitoring and evaluation plan: Applicant demonstrates it is able to measure program success against key indicators and provide milestones to indicate progress toward goals outlined in the proposal. The program includes output and outcome indicators and shows how and when those will be measured.
- Sustainability: Program activities will continue to have a positive impact after the end of the program.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/35DLuG4