The Ambassador’s Resilience Fund is here to support your efforts to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities in Benin.
If you’re working to promote climate-resilient agriculture, enhance disaster preparedness, or create economic opportunities for women and youth, this funding opportunity could be the boost you need to make a lasting impact.
The Ambassador’s Resilience Fund recognizes the vital role that local communities and organizations play in building a more resilient and sustainable future, and is committed to investing in their leadership and capacity.
The Overview of Ambassador’s Resilience Fund
The US Embassy in Cotonou is happy to announce an open competition for non-governmental groups to apply for the Ambassador’s Resilience Fund (ARF).
The ARF’s goal is to strengthen local actors’ ability to address cross-border security threats by promoting social cohesion, improving community engagement capabilities, and mitigating education, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities in the region, particularly in at-risk communities in Benin.
Objectives
To help achieve the stated goal, project objectives may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Help young entrepreneurs start modest enterprises.
- Provide farmers with equipment, seeds, irrigation kits, and technical assistance to help them increase their agricultural production.
- Support organizations that are creating local civil society networks, including women, youth, members of faith-based communities, and marginalized groups, so that they can actively participate in conflict prevention, governmental reform, and peacebuilding activities.
- Protect and promote the human and civil rights of marginalized groups, such as women and girls, religious and ethnic minorities, and other vulnerable communities.
- Support efforts that increase vulnerable groups’ engagement in local government.
- Encourage the building of agri-food processing facilities to improve the employability of grassroots development organizations/cooperatives (especially among groups most vulnerable to VEO recruitment).
- Build boreholes and water stations in vulnerable communities to increase access to drinkable water.
- Support the capacity building of institutions responsible for monitoring, combating, and minimizing the impact of disinformation and propaganda spread by actors threatening peace and stability.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the Ambassador’s Resilience Fund, applicants must be:
- Establish a bank account in the name of the organization.
- Possess a unique entity identifier (UEI).
- Other donors or the Benin government must not support or consider funding the same activities.
- Proposed projects should promote community self-reliance.
- The proposed initiative must attempt to improve the socioeconomic conditions of those living in local communities or villages.
- Proposed initiatives must be implemented within a year and have a significant impact on a large number of beneficiaries without requiring additional program assistance.
- Benin-based non-profit/non-governmental organization with a Registration Certificate (Récépissé de déclaration association or « Extrait du Journal Officiel »)
- Must involve significant participation from applicant groups in cash, labour, and/or material, and must be a project that the cooperative can implement and operate independently when the project time is completed.
- Applicants can only submit one proposal per organization/cooperative. If an entity submits more than one proposal, all of those bids are considered ineligible for financing.
- Must include electronic money transfer information for the destination entity (bank name, account name, account number, and account type). This cannot be any representative’s personal banking information. Banque de l’habitat, BSIC, and CLCAM accounts are not allowed.
- Must offer demonstrable results (e.g., demonstrate how efforts led to beneficial changes in the community).
- Before the US Embassy in Cotonou can offer you an award, you must first have an electronic bank account.
NOTE: The Application Deadline is Deadline: 12-Jun-24, for further information, please visit the US Embassy in Benin.
Ineligible Projects
- Advocacy and scientific research.
- Projects concerning partisan political action.
- Charitable activities.
- Projects that promote specific religious activity.
- Reproductive health and family planning programs.
- Projects that duplicate existing ones.
- Personal or single-family projects.
- Projects that would take more than a year to complete,
- Vehicle or property purchases, or anything else not specified in this fundraising opportunity.
- Projects that support military or paramilitary operations.
- Projects largely aimed to further the organization’s growth or institutional development.
The Funding Details
- Type of funding: Fiscal year 2024
- Duration of performance: 12 months.
- Number of awards expected: 2-5 awards (depending on sums)
- Award values might range from $15,000 to $25,000.
- Total available funding: $100,000 (pending fund availability).
