Deadline: 29-Jun-2020
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Workforce Development and Greater Market Access (WHAM) has issued a public call for project proposals to support training centers training SMEs in the metal, wood, textile / footwear or ICT sectors oriented towards expanding production capacity, reaching new markets and creating new jobs.
WHAM is a USAID-funded activity designed to stimulate job creation by advancing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) trade integration with and expansion into European Union (EU) and regional markets. This will be accomplished via a grant program open to eligible individual organizations, or a number of organizations working together.
Grants will prioritize organizations that provide workforce trainings, aiming to support SMEs to expand capacity, reach more markets, and generate greater employment.
Activity efforts will focus on organizations working with SMEs, or linked to, four main sectors: wood processing, metal processing, textile/footwear and ICT (information and communication technologies).
Areas
- WHAM will improve the capacity of high-growth, exporting, and export-ready small and medium enterprises from the wood, metal, textile/footwear and ICT sectors via grants focused on improving workforce in targeted sectors.
- Grants should aim to address workforce development needs as a whole, by supporting private and/or public institutions, sector associations and training institutions that demonstrate clear engagement and response to targeted-sector enterprises’ labor demand.
Funding Information
- Total potential award: USD 350,000
- Estimated number of awarded contracts: 10
- Maximum amount per contract: USD 70,000
Eligibility Criteria
- The focus of this RFA will be on training centers and will involve both public and private technical/vocational institutions. In some cases, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) may have a training center within their organization that could be eligible for assistance if it reaches workforce beneficiaries for the greater sector, not just individual enterprises.) SME applicants must come from the following four sectors, metal, wood, textile/footwear and ICT industries. They must be aiming to expand capacity, reach broader markets, and generate greater employment. All organizations must be legally registered under the laws of BiH.
- Grantees may include the following types of organizations:
- Public or private training organizations, vocational training centers, technical secondary and post- secondary schools;
- Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are operating in metal, wood, textile/footwear and ICT sectors with a core business that isn’t training, but provide trainings for the benefit of the entire sector not just their own company;
- Educational institutions, such as schools, universities, and adult education centers;
- For-profit organizations, training institutes, and private educational entities (second and third level);
- Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), business associations, chambers of commerce and development agencies that organize trainings for their member SME in target sectors.
For more information, visit https://www.whambih.org/