Education

EU-Eritrea: Strengthening the Capacities of Civil Society Organisations & Local Authorities

Deadline: 30 May 2016

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for its thematic programme “Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities” to strengthen civil society organisations’ and local authorities’ contribution to governance and development processes.

The programme is divided into two lots:

LOT 1 – CSOs (EUR 950 000): To support and strengthen CSOs’ capacity to perform their roles as development actors, services providers and agents in policy processes, in coordination with the country’s relevant stakeholders, in the areas of:
- support to children, women, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups
- gender equality
- education
- health
- food security and sustainable natural resources management
- water and sanitation
- culture, media and information
- cultural and natural heritage
- interfaith dialogue and prevention of radicalisation
- youth empowerment;
- economic empowerment for disadvantaged groups and populations segments out of mainstream services
- decent work and rights at work;
- migration and fight to trafficking and smuggling.
To foster CSOs’ cooperation with similar entities (eg with other Eritrean, African and European CSOs) and with LAs in-country and abroad and/or to strengthen CSOs’ cooperation with international and regional intergovernmental organisations.

LOT 2 – LAs (EUR 300 000): To support LAas’ capacity to perform their roles as development actors, service and welfare providers, and promoters of inclusive and sustainable growth at the local level (according to their institutional mandate) in the areas of:
- support to children, women, people with disability and other vulnerable groups
- gender equality
- education
- health
- food security and sustainable natural resources management
- water and sanitation
- culture, media and information
- cultural and natural heritage
- interfaith dialogue and prevention of radicalisations
- youth empowerment
- economic empowerment for disadvantaged groups and populations segments out of mainstream services
- decent work and rights at work
- migration and fight to trafficking and smuggling
To foster LAs’ cooperation with similar entities (eg with other Eritrean, African and European LAs) and with CSOs in-country and abroad and/or to strengthen LAs’ cooperation with international and regional intergovernmental organisations.

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

LOT 1 – CSOs
- minimum amount: EUR 150 000
- maximum amount: EUR 500 000
LOT 2 – LAs
- minimum amount: EUR 150 000
- maximum amount: EUR 300 000

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person or an entity without legal personality
- be non-profit-making
- be a specific type of organisation such as: non-governmental organisation, , local authority
- be established in a Member State of the European Union or in the State of Eritrea or in another EU partner countries, as follows:
  - developing countries that are included in the list of recipients of ODA established by the OECD/DAC including countries and territories falling within the scope of Council Decision 2013/755/EU on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union (‘Overseas Association Decision’)
  - countries that are signatories to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, including South Africa
  - countries eligible for the European Development Fund
  - countries eligible for Union funding under the European Neighbourhood Instrument established by Regulation (EU) No 232/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the ‘European Neighbourhood Instrument’) including the Russian Federation.
  - be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary.
- Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations

How to Apply

The application procedure consists of two phases:
- Concept notes
- Full applications
In the first instance, only concept notes must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.

EACEA Call for Proposals: Supporting Social Inclusion through Education, Training & Youth

Deadline: 30 May 2016

The European Commision in cooperation with the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) is seeking proposals will support projects in the fields of education, training and youth, which aim at upscaling and disseminating innovative good practices falling under the scope of the Declaration on Promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education.

The programme is divided into two lots

Lot 1: Education and training (EUR 10 000 000)
Lot 2: Youth (EUR 3 000 000)

Objectives

Preventing violent radicalisation and promoting democratic values, fundamental rights, intercultural understanding and active citizenship.
Fostering the inclusion of disadvantaged learners, including persons with a migrant background, while preventing and combating discriminatory practices.

Size of Grant

The maximum grant per project will be EUR 500 000.

Eligible Countries

28 Member States of the European Union
EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
EU candidate countries: Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants are public and private organisations active in the fields of education, training and youth in the areas covered by the Paris Declaration:

educational institutions and other learning providers
public authorities at national/regional/local level responsible for education, training and youth;
non-profit organisations (NGOs)
research institutions
trade organisations and social partners
guidance and recognition centres
international organisations
private companies
networks of the organisations listed above are also eligible as long as they have legal personality
Erasmus+ National Agencies in the field of youth

How to Apply

Applicants must apply online via given website.

For more information, please visit Initiatives for policy innovation.

CODESRIA/CASB Summer School in African Studies and Area Studies in Africa

Deadline: 31 May 2016

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and The Centre for African Studies Basel (CASB) call for applications for the 2nd CODESRIA/CASB Summer School in African Studies and Area Studies in Africa.

The Summer School sets out to stimulate and consolidate interdisciplinary approaches in research on Africa, but also in other regions of the world undertaken from within the African continent. It focuses on African Studies as an instance of area studies and seeks to identify themes that are theoretically, conceptually and methodologically relevant to the reflection on the intellectual challenge of Africa as an object of knowledge and its contribution to general scholarship while inquiring into the relevance of the findings to African approaches to other regions.

The forthcoming CODESRIA/CASB Summer School in African Studies and Area Studies in Africa will address the prevalent demand – implicit or explicit – that knowledge produced in Africa (as in other regions in the so-called developing world) should be practically based, solution-oriented, relevant for development. It will focus on conceptual challenges this may entail.

Objectives

The goals of the Summer School can be broadly defined in the following manner:

The Summer School allows PhD and MA students, under the guidance of senior scholars, to engage critically with new theoretical, conceptual and methodological developments in African Studies and Area Studies in Africa in general and make them relevant to their work;
The Summer School stimulates PhD students to reflect on the potential relevance of knowledge on Africa to the task of improving our theoretical, conceptual and methodological tools both for the disciplines as well as for interdisciplinary work;
The Summer School fosters among PhD students a sense of belonging to a community of scholars in pursuit of knowledge and scholarship;
The Summer School encourages junior scholars to work towards carving a space for African Studies or Area Studies in Africa in general in the broader field of scholarship and in this way helping to place Africa right at the centre of knowledge production.
The Summer School serves to identify young scholars who wish to develop or finalise a PhD-project in the field of African Studies and Area Studies in general and to further support them in their pursuit of their career goals.

Programme Structure

The main elements of the learning event are five one-day workshops that will address these challenges along the following lines:

Research design: Conceptual problems vs. practical problems
- This unit introduces participants to fundamental epistemological issues around the production of knowledge by making a distinction between basic research (conceptual problems) and applied research (practical problems).
Analytical design: Formulating problems
- This unit elaborates on the nature of basic research by exploring the ways in which it can be understood as research which helps to formulate problems for which there may already be solutions or, at any rate, which require solutions to be worked out.
Practical design: Formulating solutions
- This unit is the counterpart to the previous one (formulating problems) and focuses on the process of identifying problems for which solutions can be worked out.
Policy design: How solutions work in the real world
- The focus of this unit is on the political, economic and social conditions which must be met for a solution to be effective.
Evaluation design: Checking the relevance of research
- This unit introduces participants to the important task of drawing up criteria to ascertain the extent to which the implementation of research results can be used to improve research design.

Eligibility Criteria

The summer school is open for PhD students enrolled at an Institute of Higher Education in any country.
The application of PhD students enrolled in African and Swiss institutions is encouraged.

How to Apply

Participants will be selected on the strength and merits of:

One duly completed application form;
A cover letter;
A five-page application in which they explain:
- what they are working on, and
- how their work relates to the topic of the Summer School;

In addition, applications must be supported by a CV and two letters of recommendation.

All application documents must be submitted via email.

For more information, please visit CODESRIA.

European Union RE-INTEG: Creating a Conductive Environment for Economic & Social Development

Deadline: 15 July 2016

The European Union Emergency Trust Fund is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for “Enhancing Somalia’s responsiveness to the management and reintegration of mixed migration flows” with an aim to contribute to Somalia’s transition out of fragility by strengthening stability and security and by creating a favorable environment for the economic and social development.

The programme is divided into five lots:

Lot 1: Mogadishu – 12 M€
Lot 2: Somaliland (with a special focus on Hargeysa and Burao) – 4 M€
Lot 3: Puntland and Galmadug (with a special focus on Bosasso, Galkayo, Dhusamareb and Cadaado – 9M€
Lot 4: Jubaland (with a special focus on Baardhere, Ceel Waaq, Bu aale, Kismayo and Afmadoye) – 4M€
Lot 5: South-West (with a special focus on Afgoye, Merka and Baidoa) – 4 M€

Focus Sectors

Education
Health (including psychosocial support)
WASH
Social protection
Sustainable job
livelihood

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

Lot 1: Mogadishu
- minimum amount: EUR 8 000 000
- maximum amount: EUR 12 000 000
Lot 2: Somaliland
- minimum amount: EUR 3 500 000
- maximum amount: EUR 4 000 000
Lot 3: Puntland and Galmadug
- minimum amount: EUR 7 000 000
- maximum amount: EUR 9 000 000
Lot 4: Jubaland
- minimum amount: EUR 3 500 000
- maximum amount: EUR 4 000 000
Lot 5: South-West
- minimum amount: EUR 3 500 000
- maximum amount: EUR 4 000 000

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person
- be non-profit-making
- be a specific type of organisation such as non-governmental organisation or international (inter-governmental) organisation of the EU Financial Regulation
- be established in a Member State of the European Union or in a member states of the European Economic Area (EEA), an ACP State or a least developed country as defined by the UN. This obligation does not apply to international organisations
- be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the action with the co-applicant(s) and affiliated entity(ies), not acting as an intermediary
- have at least two years of experience in Somalia/Somaliland and have a legal valid registration in the area of intervention (where applicable)
- Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations.
The lead applicant must act with co-applicant(s) as specified hereafter.

How to Apply

Applicants have to register themselves in PADOR, an on-line database via given website.

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.

ESRC-NRF Newton Call for Collaborative Research: Higher Education in Africa

Deadline: 3 May 2016

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and National Research Foundation (NRF) invite Collaborative Research between the UK and South Africa, offering additional value to existing programmes of education research, and contribute to the economic development and welfare of South Africa and Africa more broadly.

Thematic Areas

Proposals addressing the following themes are invited:

Organisation of higher education systems, higher education institutions (HEIs) and alternative providers
Equity in higher education access and participation
Curriculum, pedagogy and modes and levels of provision
Higher education for the public good
Higher education and the labour market

Funding Information

The ESRC has allocated up to £2.5 million and NRF has allocated RAND 10 million;
Proposals are invited for joint UK and South African projects; each proposal may request £415,000 – £630,000 at 100 per cent fEC from the ESRC and R1.67m to R2.5m from NRF over 30 months in duration.

Eligibility Criteria

UK applicants must meet the ESRC eligibility.
Full-time employees at an NRF-recognised research institution in South Africa, who are eligible to apply according to the general NRF regulations and conditions, are invited to apply.
Part-time employees on contract at an NRF-recognised research institution (as defined above) in South Africa are invited to apply, but on condition that their appointment at the South African institution is for (at least) the duration of the project applied for in the submission. The length of the contract should be stated in the proposal form. Salaries must be paid by the research institution, and the primary employment of the individual concerned must be at that institution. A contract researcher appointed at a research institution on behalf of a third party to fulfill a very specific function for the latter does not qualify for support.
Retired academics/researchers are invited to apply, provided that they meet all set criteria as stipulated below:
- Are resident in South Africa
- Are formally affiliated to a South African higher education institution (eg appointed as an emeritus professor, honorary research associate/professor, supernumerary/contract employee).

How to Apply

Applicants must submit identical proposals via respective websites.

For more information, please visit ESRC-NRF.

Call for EOIs: Financial Inclusion Program at Innovations for Poverty Action

Deadline: 29 April 2016

The Financial Inclusion Program at Innovations for Poverty Action is currently accepting Expressions of Interest (EOI) from teams of researchers and financial service providers to conduct rigorous research on financial product innovations for low-income households in developing countries.

Supporting Areas

Designing financial and non-financial services linked to digital finance channels, including payments for health and education services.
Increasing women’s use of (and empowerment through) digital financial services.
Testing cash transfers and graduations programs which connect people to digital channels.
Addressing the specific needs and cash-flow challenges of farmers and micro-entrepreneurs.
Improving take-up and usage of formal financial services by the poor through product design, regulation, or other policy levers.
Incorporating behavioral insights into financial product design.

Funding Information

This call for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) marks the second competitive funding round of a four-year, $4.1 million

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants: Each application must be presented by a team consisting of:
- one or more researchers involved in the design of the intervention and responsible for carrying out a rigorous evaluation of the program.
- one or more practitioner institutions from the financial sector who will partner with the research team on the proposed intervention.
- Researchers must be affiliated with a research institution or a university and either hold a PhD or be currently pursuing a PhD in a relevant social science or engineering discipline. They must demonstrate experience in field research and randomized evaluations.
Geographic Focus: The fund encourages research projects in developing countries.
- Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, as well as applications from research teams with one or more researchers working full time in these regions, are particularly encouraged.
Research: All submissions must present a rigorous study design for a randomized evaluation and a clear set of hypotheses.
Submissions proposing to conduct field-based data collection should specify the research implementing partner organization that will assist the research team with the management and implementation of the randomized evaluation.
The organization must demonstrate experience implementing randomized evaluations and have a presence in the country.

How to Apply

Applicants must complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) application form via given website and submit the completed application and other required attachment via email.

For more information, please visit Call for EOIs.

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Seeking Proposals for Youth Engagement, Education and Employment Programs

Deadline: 21 May 2016

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS or Service) National Youth Development Program is seeking proposals from non-profit, state and local government youth-serving organizations with the interest and capacity to work cooperatively with the USFWS to develop and administer projects focused on providing employment, educational and public-service opportunities for U.S. citizens and legal residents.

Projects are developed based on needs identified by USFWS offices at the national, regional and local levels that will lead to the development of project scopes of work in consultation with the youth serving organizations selected as program partners

Focused Areas

Employment: Projects that provide participants with job skills training, education and professional development. These projects will engage youth crews, small teams and individuals
Education and Public Service: Projects that provide participants an opportunity to be exposed to civic engagement and collaborative, community-based stewardship of natural and cultural resources.

Funding Information: Contingent upon the availability of funds, the USFWS estimates having available a maximum of $10,000,000 this fiscal year nationwide for projects under this program

Eligibility Criteria

The opportunity is open to non-profit, state, county, city or township and special district government youth-serving organizations with the interest and capacity to work cooperatively with the USFWS to develop and administer projects focused on providing employment, educational, and public-service opportunities for U.S. citizens and legal residents between 15 and 25 years of age and veterans up to 35 years of age.
No other entities are eligible to respond.
All responding non-profit entities must provide a copy of their Section 501(c)(3) status determination letter received from the Internal Revenue Service.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit Youth Engagement, Education, and Employment Programs.

European Union: Skills and Technical Education Programme in Malawi

Deadline: 26 May 2016

The European Union (EU) is currently accepting proposals from eligible organisations for its Skills and Technical Education Programme (STEP) in Malawi in order to increase the informal and formal TEVET training and to facilitate innovative research on TEVET training and financing.

The programme is divided into two lots:

Lot 1: Increasing access to formal and informal training EUR 4.000.000
Lot 2: Innovative research aimed at improving TEVET training and financing of the sector EUR 500.000

Objectives

Deliver relevant quality TEVET training
Ensure skills training and economic empowerment of women and vulnerable groups
Provide supportive skills such as basic literacy and entrepreneurial skills
Provide adequate support to business creation
Improve TEVET system through applied research and analysis of current system components

Size of Grants

Any grant requested under this call for proposals must fall between the following minimum and maximum amounts:

Lot 1
- minimum amount: EUR300.000
- maximum amount: EUR 1.500.000
Lot 2
- minimum amount: EUR200.000
- maximum amount: EUR 500.000

Eligibility Criteria

In order to be eligible for a grant, the lead applicant must:
- be a legal person
- be a specific type of organization such as: a Civil Society Organisation, or an accredited private training provider, or a Private sector company, or a National or International (inter-governmental) organization ,or a national and international NGO, or a Grant aided technical college.
- be established in a Member State of the European Union or in a country of the European Economic Area or an ACP State or Member State of the OECD or developing countries and territories, as included in the OECD-DAC list of ODA Recipients, which are not members of the G20 group, without prejudice to the status of the Republic of South Africa or the partnership Agreement or Malawi. This obligation does not apply to international organizations.
Potential applicants may not participate in calls for proposals or be awarded grants if they are in any of the situations.
The lead applicant may act individually or with co-applicant(s).For an applicant not established in Malawi, the involvement in the action of at least one co-applicant established in Malawi is obligatory.
Co-applicants participate in designing and implementing the action, and the costs they incur are eligible in the same way as those incurred by the lead applicant.

How to Apply

The application procedure consists of two phases:
- Concept notes
- Full applications
In the first instance, only concept notes must be submitted for evaluation. Thereafter, lead applicants who have been pre-selected will be invited to submit a full application

For more information, please visit Europeaid and download the guidelines.

Apply for 2017 Mandela Rhodes Scholarship: Providing Exceptional Educational Opportunities!

Deadline: 2 May 2016

The Mandela Rhodes Foundation is currently accepting applications from young Africans for its 2017 Mandela Rhodes Scholarship, whose aim is to provide exceptional educational opportunities, develop a network of leaders, and thereby help to build leadership capacity in Africa.

Benefits

Tuition and registration fees as set by the institution.
A study materials allowance as set by the MRF.
Accommodation and meal allowances as set by the MRF.
A medical aid allowance as set by the MRF.
Economy-class travel allowance for international Scholars only from the Scholar’s home to their institution at the beginning and back home at the end of their degree programme.
Personal allowance.

Eligibility Criteria

The Scholarship is open to citizens of all African countries.
The Scholarship is for postgraduate study at South African universities or tertiary institutions.
Full funding is for Honours (maximum one year) or Masters (up to a maximum of two years) or their equivalents (MBA’s excluded).
Any individual who will be between the ages of 19 and 30 years at the time of taking up the Scholarship may apply.
Applicants must posess a first degree or its equivalent or must be in the process of completing one by 31 January 2017.
Applicants should have a history of well above average academic results.
Individuals that reflect in their character a commitment to the four principles of Education, Reconciliation, Leadership and Entrepreneurship.
The MRF leadership development activities sometimes include weekends. It is a condition of the Scholarship that attendance is compulsory.

How to Apply

Applicants must apply online via given website.

For more information, please visit Mandela Rhodes Scholarship.

Apply to Participate in DFID’s Developing Effective Private Education Programme in Nigeria

Deadline: 29 April 2016

Developing Effective Private Education Nigeria (DEEPEN), funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and managed by Cambridge Education, a member of the Mott MacDonald Group, is currently inviting applications for its five-year programme, seeking to improve the quality of education in private schools, especially those serving children from low-income households. It is a programme driven by the demand of parents and children for a better education.

DEEPEN aims to improve the learning outcomes of children attending private schools, in particular those from low-income families. DEEPEN will achieve this by facilitating a more enabling environment for private schools and a more effective market for them to offer an increased quality of education.

The project comprises the design and implementation of an initiative to use Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) to improve the quality of private education in Nigeria, with an initial focus on Lagos. Adopting a market systems approach to facilitate change in the education sector is highly innovative and the Lagos State Government has welcomed an intervention in this area.

Priority Areas

DEEPEN will focus its interventions in four key areas:

the rules and standards affecting private schools;
the information environment around private education;
access to finance for private schools and their users; and
the quality and availability of school improvement services.

Guiding Principles

Gender – DEEPEN will facilitate and monitor gender equity in learning outcomes.
Poverty – issues of poverty similarly cut across the programme and will influence all aspects of intervention.
Sustainability – long-term sustainability underpins the M4P approach to development.
Do no harm – the private school sector in Lagos has been born out of the inability of the public sector to cater to all children and continues to grow rapidly, enrolling more children each year.
Value for money – cost-effectiveness, efficiency and accountability will be built into each stage of the implementation.

Grant Information

DFID will invest up to £2.2 million over the next 2 years to ensure that girls and boys have access to improved education quality and that investments are monitored effectively.

Eligibility Criteria

DEEPEN will work with individuals and organisations which have a stake in the private education sector. These include the government, school proprietors/administrators, teachers, researchers, training providers, examination bodies, mass media, civil societies and development agencies.
The programme will also engage with financial services providers and other businesses that have an interest in educational reforms.

How to Apply

Applicants are required to register themselves to DFID Supplier Portal in order to apply.

For more information, please visit the following link:

https://supplierportal.dfid.gov.uk/selfservice/pages/public/supplier/publicbulletin/viewPublicNotice.cmd?bm90aWNlSWQ9NjYwNTA%3D