U.S. Mission to Uzbekistan: Democracy Commission Small Grants Program

Deadline: 31-Mar-21

The U.S. Embassy Tashkent Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce funding is available through the Embassy’s Democracy Commission (DemCom) Small Grants Program.

This program supports the development of Uzbekistan’s democratic institutions and civil society by competitively awarding small grants to Uzbekistan’s non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and associations, to non-profit civil society organizations (CSOs), and to independent local media organizations.

Program Topics

Topic 1: Strengthening Civil Society, Promoting Human Rights and the Rule of Law
- Project Goal: Increase the capacity of Uzbekistan’s civil society to respond to the unmet social needs of the country’s women, youth, migrants, and other vulnerable groups.
- Project Audience(s): Women and youth (14-25 years old) in the regions, potential and current Uzbekistani migrant workers, other civil society organizations.
- Project objectives
  - Increase public awareness of legal rights and resources, and improve access to information for vulnerable populations, such as:
    - Current and potential Uzbekistani labor migrants at risk of falling victim to human trafficking schemes or religious extremism;
    - Victims of domestic violence;
    - Persons with disabilities;
  - Increase the capacity of civil society organizations in Uzbekistan to:
    - Respond to humanitarian crises and emergency situations;
    - Monitor corruption in various sectors including education, business, and the health care system
    - Monitor mechanisms for human rights and conventions on torture in accordance with UN conventions.
Topic 2: Supporting Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment
- Project goal: Improve the social and economic situation of women from low-income families and disadvantaged groups.
- Project audience(s): New and current small-scale business owners; women, particularly in rural areas; rural and/or marginalized communities; and people with disabilities.
- Project objectives:
  - Strengthen the development of business training modules and increase awareness of rights for property and business for disadvantaged groups;
  - Encourage civil society organizations in Uzbekistan to develop impactful programs to help women and members of disadvantaged groups gain employment and start their own businesses.
  - Establish partnerships and support mechanisms with other civil society organizations working to help women gain in-demand vocational skills
Topic 3. Strengthening Independent Media
- Project goal: Support media outlets and media training organizations to train journalists and/or journalism students on basic reporting skills, investigative journalism, and specialized reporting skills on political and economic topics.
- Project audience(s): Independent media outlets and organizations that support training and provide resources for journalists.
- Project objectives:
  - Facilitate connections between civil society organizations and local media in order to support the creation of informative and timely coverage of political, economic, and social issues
  - Enhance the capacity of local media to monitor and report on actions of the government and large businesses in Uzbekistan for the benefit of the population.
  - Train journalists and journalism students in media literacy, basic reporting skills and investigative journalism techniques.

Funding Information

Estimated Award Ceiling: $50,000
Estimated Award Floor: $10,000
Length of Project Period: 9-12 months

Eligibility Criteria

The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Not-for-profit organizations
- Civil society/non-governmental organizations
- Independent media organizations
For this announcement, only Uzbekistan-based organizations are eligible to apply.
Organizations may sub-contract with other entities, but only one, non-profit, nongovernmental entity can be the prime recipient of the award. When sub-contracting with other entities, the responsibilities of each entity must be clearly defined in the proposal.
In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a unique entity identifier (Data Universal Numbering System/DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet), as well as a valid registration on SAM.gov.
Cost sharing or matching is not required for this funding opportunity.
Pre-award costs are not an allowable expense for this funding opportunity.
This award does not allow:
- Projects relating to partisan political activity;
- Conferences abroad or individual trips abroad;
- Charitable or development activities including direct social services;
- Construction projects;
- Projects that support specific religious activities;
- Fund-raising campaigns;
- Lobbying for specific legislation or programs
- Medical, scientific research or surveys;
- Art or cultural projects;
- Commercial projects; or
- Projects that duplicate existing projects.