Deadline: 22 October 2018

USAID’s Civic Engagement Project (CEP) is currently inviting civil societyorganizations (CSOs) in Macedonia to apply for Strategic Support Grants(SSGs). CEP is a five-year USAID-funded program that contributes to achieve two objectives:

• strengthening constructive engagement by CSOs on policies and issues of public concern; and
• increasing and sustaining youth engagement in public life in Macedonia.

CEP is implemented by East West Management Institute, Inc. (EWMI), in partnership with four local CSOs: Metamorphosis, Foundation for Internet and Society (Metamorphosis), the Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI), the Foundation for Open Society – Macedonia (FOSM), and the National Youth Council of Macedonia (NYCM). SSGs are managed by Metamorphosis.

Priority Areas

The aim of this round of SSGs is to support initiatives of CSOs, including think tanks, that address the following priority areas:

• Support for sustainable cities and communities. This includes initiatives that transform and make cities and communities more inclusive, safer, resilient and sustainable; addressing the link between quality of life in cities and how cities manage natural resources; providing solutions for accelerated demand for basic services, infrastructure, jobs, land, and affordable housing, without neglecting the urban poor communities living in informal settlements;
• Supporting the community resilience component of the Government of Macedonia’s National Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). This includes initiatives that strengthen social cohesion of communities at higher risk of experiencing religionand ethnic-based radicalization;
• Promoting and supporting social entrepreneurship and social enterprises. This includes initiatives that focus on addressing the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups by combining social innovation and social responsibility.

Grant Information

• The maximum grant award for each proposal is 90,000 USD covering activities that may last up to 27 (twenty-seven) months and not less than 24 months.
• CEP plans to award up to 7 (seven) grants under this RfA.

Eligibility Criteria

CSOs legally registered in Macedonia are eligible to submit proposals in response to this RfA. Applicant CSOs should meet the following criteria (please refer to the checklist):

• Be a Macedonian CSO, meaning that it is managed by a governing body the majority of who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of Macedonia;
• Have at least three years of operational experience in the priority areas of this RFA. The Project will not provide “start-up” funding;
• Must not be a debtor of the Government of Macedonia and must have cancelled any debt to the state or arranged for debt collection by the state prior to receiving the first disbursement of grant funds by the Project;
• Must operate as an independent non-politically affiliated organization;
• Must not be debarred, suspended, excluded or otherwise ineligible to receive US Federal funding;

How to Apply

Applicants must download the application form, and the Budget Template via given website.

Eligible Country: Macedonia

For more information, please visit Strategic Support Grants.