Democracy Commission Small Grants Program

Description

1) Objective

The U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section (PAS) in Ashgabat is soliciting proposals for grants from Turkmen civil society and independent media organizations that focus on one of the priority areas/themes specified below. Applicants should pay close attention to the Public Affairs Section’s goals, priority program areas, and target audiences when developing their proposals.

Theme: Advancing Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship

Deteriorating socioeconomic conditions in Turkmenistan have led to increased cases of poverty and a higher percentage of low-income individuals. Cities outside of the capital, in particular, have seen an increased number of people living below the poverty line. Despite laws set in place by the Turkmen government to promote small business development, the lack of business expertise, corruption, and limited financial support from the government remain significant challenges to bolstering civil society and small businesses efforts to support women, and disadvantaged groups.

This funding opportunity seeks to address the following challenges: (1) lack of capacity of local entrepreneurs in small business management; insufficient support for women’s economic empowerment. Proposed projects should seek to address one of two challenges above by leveraging local, state, and civil society stakeholders to strengthen and/or establish strategies to advance economic empowerment and promote entrepreneurship for low-income families.

2) Eligibility

Only Turkmenistan-based Turkmen nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and associations, nonprofit civil society organizations (CSOs), and independent local media organizations are eligible to apply.The organisation status should be registered with the Turkmen Ministry of Justice.

3) Location

Actions must take place in Turkmenistan.

4) Budget

Maximum award amount is $20,000 and Minimum award amount is $3,000. Anticipated period of performance is 6-12 months. Expected Number of Awards: 3.

5) Application

All applications must be received by June 7, 2021. For the purposes of determining if an award is submitted on time, PAS will utilize the time-stamp provided by Grants.gov. This deadline is firm and is not a rolling deadline. If organizations fail to meet the deadline noted above their application will be considered ineligible and will not be considered for funding.