Grants / Department of State / U.S. Mission to Malawi

DOS-MWI-ASSHF-FY20: U.S. Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Fund, U.S. Embassy Lilongwe

Closed Closed May 31, 2021 Opportunity DOS-MWI-ASSHF-FY20 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of U.S. Mission to Malawi notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$8,000
• Award floor$3,000
• Total funding$60,000
• Expected awards250
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to any type of organization.

• Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"

All citizens of Malawi representing a civilian, religious, social, community development, special interest, disability, or advocacy group or organization may request funding for a community activity. To qualify, an applicant must be an organized, motivated group with a real need, and the proposed project must be feasible and based on the socio-economic context of the local community. In addition, an applicant must demonstrate that it has adequate internal controls and financial monitoring procedures in place, and strong ties to and support from the local community and local governmental bodies.

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses, individuals.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past General Department of State Assistance awards averaged $810,812; this notice allows up to $8,000 per award.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The U.S. Embassy Lilongwe at the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announces this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the U.S. Ambassador’s Special Self-Help (SSH) Fund. The SSH fund was established in Malawi in 1966 to help improve the basic economic and social conditions of Malawians at the local community and village level. Grants for up to $8,000 U.S. Dollars (USD) each of Financial Year (FY) 2020 Economic Support Funds (ESF) will be awarded to projects that increase fundamental education and marketable skills in the Malawian people or that expand entrepreneurial knowledge and opportunity, pending availability of funds. Projects that address needs within disadvantaged or marginalized populations are encouraged. The period of performance is twelve (12) months. Funding authority rests in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. The goal of U.S. assistance is to help create a peaceful, prosperous, and secure future for the people of Malawi. Economic growth is essential to that goal and Malawi can reach its potential through entrepreneurship and the creation of opportunities for investment and trade. This program seeks to fund small but important projects that will expand education opportunity for education and marketable job skills. It will also support the creation or expansion of community business endeavors. The program is structured to encourage communities to be self-reliant and undertake similar activities on their own in the future. All projects are community-based, initiated locally, administered at the local level, and include significant community contributions in cash, labor, or materials. Over the past 50 years, the SSH fund has disbursed over $6 million to 1,463 projects covering all 28 Districts in Malawi. Projects funded have included classroom blocks, under-five clinics, pregnant mothers waiting shelters, school libraries, girls’ hostels, installation of biogas digesters, eco-stove production, and provision of clean and safe drinking water through boreholes and shallow wells.

Category: Community Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

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