The Public Diplomacy Section (PDS) of the U.S. Embassy Bishkek is pleased to announce funding is available as specified below through the Embassy’s Public Diplomacy Grants program.  Statements of Interest may be submitted at any time for consideration on a rolling basis up until the deadline of April 30, 2023 at 11:59 PM Bishkek time.  Awards will be made pending the availability of funds.

Purpose of Public Diplomacy Grants:  The PDS invites proposals for programs that strengthen ties between the United States and the Kyrgyz Republic and support a priority program area (see below) in order to highlight shared values and promote bilateral cooperation.  All proposed programs must include an American element, either through a connection with American expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s, usage of American educational/informational resources, or any other activities that promote or contribute to increased mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of the Kyrgyz Republic.  Competitive proposals will promote continued/sustainable cooperation between the people of the United States and the Kyrgyz Republic even after the project concludes.

Special consideration will be given to proposals which include partnership with Kyrgyz governmental bodies, and to organizations that have a demonstrated track record of implementing these types of partnerships.

Support for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA): All programs should consider strategies for expanding the pool of individuals/organizations/beneficiaries to afford opportunities for as diverse and inclusive a population as is feasible to bring perspectives based on religion, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, national origin, and age to implementation of the program.

Applicants should pay close attention to the Public Diplomacy Section’s priorities and goals, and target audiences, when developing their proposals.

PDS invites proposals for programs that support one of the following U.S. Embassy priority program areas: 

1. Sustainable Economic Growth 

Proposals should promote inclusive economy built upon regional connectivity, enhanced human capital, clean energy, and sustainable development.

2. Accountable Governance and Stability

Proposals should advance more accountable, inclusive governance underpinning a stable Kyrgyz Republic using American informational, educational, or cultural resources.

3. Combating Transnational Threats

Proposals should strengthen regional security and stability and combat transnational threats through engagement with diverse, targeted stakeholders on key issues like violent extremism, human trafficking, and emergency preparedness, incorporating American informational, educational, or cultural resources.

Content and Form of Statement of Interest Submission

Please follow all instructions below carefully.  Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.

Applicants are recommended to use the APS Statement of Interest template to submit their application.

Please ensure:

1. The Statement of Interest clearly addresses the goals, audiences, and objectives of this notice.  Applicants may choose to use the attached Statement of Interest template (Attachment 1) to submit their concept paper application.
2. All documents are in English.
3. All budgets are in U.S. dollars.  Applicants may choose to use the Budget Proposal template in Attachment 1 to submit the short budget proposal.
4. All applicant authorized signatures are provided where indicated on the various, required forms.
5. Statements of Interest, including the short budget proposal, cannot exceed three pages. 

All Statements of Interest should address the following areas:

1. Explain the problem your project will address and why this project is needed.
2. Give a short summary that outlines your proposed project.
3. List your project goal and objectives.  The “goal” describes what the project is intended to achieve.  The “objectives” refer to the intermediate accomplishments on the way to the goals.  These should be achievable and measurable.
4. Describe a sample project activity and how it will help achieve the objectives.
5. Describe the expected results of the program.
6. Provide a short, but clear overview of expected costs/expenses associated with the project activities.

U.S. Embassy Bishkek will review all Statements of Interest and invite shortlisted projects to submit full grant applications as described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity, Section E: Technical Requirements for application submission: Second Round.

Shortlisted organizations and individuals are recommended to check the Applicant Checklist attachment to confirm their eligibility, required registrations and ensure that their applications contain all required forms.

Note:  any files over 10MB will be automatically rejected by the email system.

All required forms and recommended templates can be found on Grants.gov website. 

You can search the funding opportunity using STATE-BISHKEK-PDS-23-0001 funding opportunity number.