Call For Proposals
January 20, 2010
To support the political, economic and social advancement of Somalia’s women, the Somalia Affairs Unit at U.S. Embassy Nairobi would like to announce a new grants initiative. We are soliciting project proposals geared toward improving women's leadership capacity and enhanced economic opportunities for women. The U.S. Department of State has made funds available for programs for women in developing countries and we would like to see a winning proposal from Somalia. Funded proposals will creatively identify and address priority issues facing women and promote women's political, economic and social advancement in developing countries. Projects may include but not limited to such themes as: - Economic opportunity: programs to provide training in business and management through mentoring, and support for women's artisan groups for product design, marketing, and related needs; - Democracy and political empowerment: political and policy reform and leadership training initiatives; - Education: women's literacy and innovative ways to keep girls in school and help ensure safety while attending school; also, health education initiatives; - Food security: supporting small holder female farmers through women's leadership and property rights training and land tenure reform advocacy initiatives; - Climate change: support to women's community groups for training in adaptation and mitigation, and enhanced participation of women in climate change problem solving; - Gender-based violence (GBV) support to NGOs or community-based resource centers in combating GBV manifesting in practices ranging from honor killings to indentured servitude; support for victims of domestic violence as well as rape as a tool of war - Legal reform: judicial and law enforcement training initiatives; promoting women's property rights; and equal access to justice. Proposals should not exceed six pages in length and must include the following: a statement clearly identifying the problem to be addressed; a summary of the proposed program; a project description, including specific activities, desired outcomes and performance measures; a detailed budget of no more than $100,000; and a description of the recipient organization, including their technical and management capacity. The project should not exceed eighteen months in duration. Proposals will be evaluated based on how effectively the proposal addresses the issue(s) described in the problem statement, the sustainability of program accomplishments, the capacity of the recipient organization to account for the funds and ensure that funds are spent for the intended purposes, and the expected results. Priority will be given to proposals that describe a project that, if successful, would have the potential to be expanded to reach a broader community. However, no additional funding commitments can be made, so the proposals should be stand alone, discrete activities that can be fully funded and completed with the resources requested through this program. Project proposals are due to the U.S. embassy, to the attention of Jessica Davis Ba, by February 9, 2010. The address follows: Jessica Davis Ba Somalia Affairs Unit Embassy of the United States of America United Nations Avenue, Gigiri Nairobi, Kenya