NOFO: How To Apply and Qualify For Community Solutions Program 2023

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The Office of Citizen Exchanges within the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is currently accepting proposal submissions for the Community Solutions Program (CSP) for the fiscal year 2023. This programme will be available in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, as well as the Western Hemisphere.

Community Solutions is a worldwide initiative that was established in 2010 with the goal of providing support to engaged community leaders between the ages of 26 and 39 who are working to address economic, environmental, political, and social challenges that are confronting their local communities.

Community Solutions Fellows will participate in a fellowship programme that will last between four and six months and will be based in the United States. During this time, they will work with seasoned community leaders on pre-defined substantive issues that are of mutual interest.

The programme will assist participants in the creation and implementation of post-fellowship projects in their respective countries, as well as include a robust component for leadership training that will be delivered both online and in a blended format. In addition, the programme will provide financial assistance for approximately eight to ten American hosts and programme alumni to travel worldwide to collaborate on community engagement projects with participants of the Community Solutions programme.

topics: The particular topics for the professional fellowships that are available through this programme are as follows: democracy and human rights; environmental issues; peace and conflict resolution; and women and gender issues.

Purpose

The economic, environmental, political, and social difficulties that seem to confront communities that are completely different from one another actually link those communities together because we live in an increasingly interconnected world. When supported by collaborative and ethical leaders who are able and ready to adapt solutions to a local context, innovative approaches to creating healthy and resilient communities have universal application.

Creating local solutions to complicated global problems is the first step, and doing so successfully requires multisector engagement strategies. In order to address these challenges, the world needs a new kind of global leader – one who is able to collaborate across national, professional, and demographic boundaries in order to form the multi-dimensional solutions that are required in a world that is becoming increasingly complicated.

Community Solutions was founded on the principle that the challenges that they, as residents of the world, face are not unique to any one country and do not end at international boundaries. Communities will not be able to overcome the most challenging issues facing the world today unless they collaborate with one another across borders, continents, and centuries.

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Community Solutions is working to improve the capabilities of approximately 76 civic and community leaders hailing from 109 different countries so that they can more effectively resolve the current economic, environmental, political, and social challenges that exist in their respective communities.

Community Solutions offers eligible individuals the chance to participate in a fellowship that lasts between four and six months, during which they will learn effective models of civil discourse and community engagement and develop concrete strategies for better addressing complex issues in their home communities. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to experience innovative practises that support healthy and inclusive communities.

Community Solutions should be developed to provide the means for organisations in the United States to increase their capacity, bolster their programs, and interact with the communities they serve. Investing in Community Solutions is like making an investment in world harmony, prosperity, and security.

CSP aims to: facilitate and strengthen participants’ ability to lead collaboratively, address complex community challenges, and assume greater leadership roles in their institutions and communities; enhance participants‘ leadership and technical skills by providing concrete tools and resources to facilitate collaborative, cross-sector leadership development, community engagement, civil discourse, and effective communication; and serve as a global exchange to address community-based challenges.

Information Regarding Funding

Approximate Total Funding: $2,500,000
Approximately one award will be given out.
Approximately $2,500,000 is the Average Amount of the Award.
None of the awards must meet a minimum “Floor.”
The “Ceiling” of the Award is a Maximum of $2,500,000.
The expected date of the award is September 1, 2023.

Date of completion of the project is expected to be December 30, 2025.
Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Western Hemisphere are all considered eligible regions.

Countries in Africa that are eligible to participate include Botswana, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Other countries in Africa include South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen are included in the list of countries that make up the Middle East and North Africa.

Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Turkiye are the countries that make up Europe and Eurasia.

Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Vietnam are the countries that make up East Asia and the Pacific.

South and Central Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
Western Hemisphere: Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela

The Criteria for Eligibility

Applications for this competition can be submitted by public and private academic and cultural institutions in the United States, exchange-of-persons organizations, and other not-for-profit organisations that fulfil the requirements outlined in section 26 USC 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. At the time of registration, applicants need to demonstrate to the IRS that they qualify as a nonprofit organisation.

The following are some additional prerequisites for eligibility that are associated with this NOFO announcement: In accordance with the ECA’s grant guidelines, organisations that have less than four years of experience in managing international exchanges are only eligible for a maximum of $130,000 in financing from the ECA.

The ECA plans to enter into one cooperative agreement with a total value of $2,500,000 in order to support all of the expenses that are necessary to implement this exchange programme. Because of this, organisations that have less than four years of experience in managing international partnerships are not permitted to submit an application for consideration in this competition.

Your proposal will be deemed technically ineligible if it does not conform with the requirements outlined in the NOFO, POGI (if applicable), and the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI); if your proposal does not comply, it will not be given any further consideration in the review process.The ECA will only take into consideration a single proposition presented by each applicant organisation.

Please contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs if you require any additional information. (ECA).

Deadline: 15th May 2023

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