World news story

Call for Bids in Bangladesh: International Programme Funds 2019-2020

The British High Commission in Dhaka is pleased to announce a call for bids for its Programme Funds.

Media training session for Bangladeshi journalists funded by FCO's Programme Fund.

Media training session for Bangladeshi journalists funded by FCO's Programme Fund.

The British High Commission in Dhaka manages programme funds on behalf of the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The programme funds small, targeted projects which support UK priorities.

2019/20 Programme

The bidding round for prospective projects for the financial year 2019-20 is now open. We are pleased to invite NGO’s/Civil Society, think-tanks, private sector, academic institutions, research bodies and development partners to submit small project proposals for this funding stream. We are looking for innovative and creative interventions that will make a difference.

Projects will need to demonstrate clear measureable outcomes, and should contribute to bringing about change at a policy level in order to maximise the impact that a small amount of funding can deliver. Co-funded projects are particularly welcomed. Proposals should be strategically aligned with at least one of the following categories:

  • Strengthened democracy with effective, accountable and responsive governance and an empowered civil society;
  • Protection and promotion of human rights including the most marginalized sections of the society;
  • Support to secure international agreements on human trafficking or to increase Bangladesh’s resilience and capacity to respond to human trafficking issues; freedom of religion or belief;
  • Promote freedom of expression and freedom of media. Share knowledge and raise awareness of rights under current laws. Undertake advocacy with government authorities to promote and protect FOE and safety of those who exercise this right.

While we are happy to accept research based projects, the Programme Board would need to be convinced that such a project would actually have an impact on the issue in the timeframe available. Such projects should clearly explain how the research will be used or disseminated to create impact. Programme funds should not be used to purchase equipment, such as laptops, vehicles etc.

Our contribution towards each project will be limited to approximately £40k and all projects need to be completed by the 21st of March 2020.

Selection Criteria

Project proposals must clearly demonstrate how they will support the FCO’s strategy in at least one of the categories mentioned above. All projects are assessed by the Programme Board at the British High Commission, Dhaka, subject to the availability of funds.

Bids will be assessed against the following criteria:

  • Value for money;
  • Alignment with the strategic priorities
  • Evidence of local demand or need;
  • Creativity and innovation;
  • Project viability, including capacity of the implementing organisation;
  • Project design (clear and achievable impact);
  • Risk and stakeholder management;
  • Sustainability.

Key Documents

You can see the full proposal forms and activity based budget template below:

Application Deadline

The deadline for submission of project bids is 20th of May 2019. Please note that only projects submitted on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s project bidding form will be considered for review.

Contact

Please do not contact us with enquiries about the status of your application, we will provide feedback to applicants in due course. Please submit all project proposals and enquiries about funding to Dhaka.Projects@fco.gov.uk.

Published 10 May 2016
Last updated 1 May 2019 + show all updates
  1. Updated call for Bids in Bangladesh: Programme Funds 2019-2020

  2. Call bids for 2018/19

  3. Removed links from the document.

  4. Added two releated documents

  5. First published.