Grants to Strengthen Existing US-Russian Partnerships

Below is a brief summary of a longer announcement. The entire announcement can be found at: http://www.irex.org/span

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
and
International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)

Announce Round II of a Grants Competition

Sustaining Partnerships into the Next Century (SPAN)

Date Issued: February 2, 1998
Closing Date: March 6, 1998
Closing Time: 6 PM (Moscow time)

Summary

USAID and IREX are pleased to announce Round II of a grants competition in support of strengthening existing partnerships between US and Russian organizations as part of the Sustaining Partnerships into the Next Century (SPAN) program.

Under Round II, applicants may request up to $180,000 in USAID funding for projects a minimum of six months and a maximum of 27 months long. Due to the highly competitive nature of this RFP, and in order to increase the number of grants, preference will also be given to those applications that request less than the maximum funding amounts.

The deadline for Round II submissions is 6 PM (Moscow time) March 6, 1998. Please note that proposals will be accepted at the IREX/SPAN office in Moscow. Successful applicants will be expected to begin their projects in late-April 1998, and all projects must complete their activities by July 31, 2000.

Span Goals

The goal of the SPAN project is to support, deepen, and expand partnerships between US and Russian organizations and institutions within key strategic sectors of the USAID program in Russia. The eight target sectors are: Civil Society, Rule of Law, Tax Reform, Financial Sector, Business Development, Energy, Environment, and Health. The applicants must clearly state in their proposals the target sector(s) under which they are applying for SPAN funding.

The SPAN program will fund small, targeted, and innovative activities that can contribute to the achievement of the following USAID/Russia strategic objectives:

Tax system reformed to correspond to a de-centralized market economy;
Accelerated development and growth of private enterprises;
A robust and market-supportive financial sector;
Increased, better-informed citizens' participation in political and economic decision making;
Legal system that better supports democratic processes and market reforms;
Improved effectiveness of selected social benefits and services; and
Increased capacity to deal with environmental pollution as a threat to public health.

Since the SPAN objective is not unilateral technical assistance to Russia, but support for mutually beneficial and existing relations between US and Russian organizations, the partners must present a joint project which would lead to the strengthening of existing cooperative activities in order to be eligible for funding. The proposal must demonstrate how these activities will benefit both the US and the Russian organizations.

Eligibility

US and Russian institutions and organizations, which can demonstrate that they have a successful existing partnership in the target sectors specified above, whether previously funded by USAID, other donors, or local resources, are encouraged to apply. It is important to note that prior USAID funding is not a prerequisite for applying. USAID and IREX particularly encourage applications from partnerships representing US minority organizations and/or Russian organizations from outside of Moscow and other large cities.

More Information:

If you are in Russia and would like more information on the SPAN program, please contact Ms. Natasha Savicheva at [email protected]. If you are in the US and would like more information, contact Mr. Eugene Shekhtman at [email protected].

More information and a complete application form can be found at: http://www.irex.org/span

The URL for this page is: http://www.friends-partners.org/~ccsi/announce/span2.htm
Last updated: February 3, 1998

Center for Civil Society International
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