USAID’s Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund Program

Small Grants and Ambassador’s Fund (SGAFP) is a five year program which was launched in September 2010 and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). With the key objective of providing an accessible framework of support for community-based and non-governmental organisations across Pakistan, SGAFP aims to empowering grassroots organisations and community groups working to strengthen the fabric of civil society in Pakistan.

National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) is the prime contractor of USAID for this countrywide project while the Rural Support Programs Network (RSPN) and KPMG TaseerHadi & Co Chartered Accountants are the sub-partners of NRSP. The project has two major components: the Small Grants Program and Ambassador’s Fund Program.

The U.S. Ambassador’s Fund supports small scale, high impact projects to improve communities throughout Pakistan. The size of each grant can be up to $75,000 to support activities for up to one year in duration. Communities and civil society groups should ensure significant local contribution in cash, labor or material.

Grants under the USAID’s Small Grants Program (for projects of one to three years’ time duration) support promising proposals and pilot initiatives consistent with USAID’s strategic priorities. These grants may vary from $25,000 to $150,000.

In line with the USAID’s development objectives for Pakistan, the SGAFP provides funding to community based organisations and NGOs in the following priority sectors

Wildlife Conservation: Activities that lead to both tangible and intangible benefits for the communities; enhanced wildlife conservation and biodiversity by providing venues for education, research, and by providing habitat for threatened species in Pakistan.

Women Issues: The projects in rule of law or women’s economic empowerment that will help improve the status of disadvantaged women.

Cultural Preservation: Projects that intend to preserve key elements of Pakistan’s rich customs and heritage. Desirable projects include preservation of languages & dialects, cuisine, aesthetics (art, music, dances, fashion), architecture (including renovation of buildings declared as heritage sites by Government of Pakistan), and recreational activities (festivals, holidays and sports).

Entrepreneurship: The projects that promote the development of entrepreneurship in Pakistan.

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene: Community-based projects that combine water system improvements with public education aimed at improving hygiene practices.

Key Achievements as of December 2013

SGAFP, in its three years of operation (September 2010- September 2013) has undertaken an immense range of activities in extremely diverse domains including wildlife conservation, cultural preservation, education, health, women issues, entrepreneurship, water sanitation & hygiene, economic growth, energy, stabilization in KP and Fata and governance.

The program has provided over $19.9 million in assistance (September 2010 – December 2013) by funding and implementing 140 projects all across Pakistan benefitting 4, 06,791 households (296,403 men, 489,683 women and 409,385 children).

Gender equality and the empowerment of women has been an urgent need in the country, and an urgent priority for our program. So far, SGAFP has engaged and funded over 700,000 women through 140 projects awarded to NGO’s and civil society groups across a range of sectors throughout Pakistan. SGAFP has focused various women specific interventions including: capacity building of women farmers, entrepreneurship opportunities for economic uplift of women, non-formal education for out of school girls, adult literacy for women, capacity building of school teachers, and access to better mother and child health care facilities.

Snapshot of region-wise applications received, projects approved, funds awarded and coverage