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BPB call for project proposals from Kazakhstan

The British Embassy Astana calls for bidding for projects aimed at the economic development and welfare of Kazakhstan

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Countries

Kazakhstan

Who may bid

In order to be eligible, your organisation or agency must be a non-profit legal entity or a registered non-governmental organisation, and must demonstrate that it has:

  • experience in project management
  • previous experience working with international agencies / organisations - preferably
  • proof of NGO registration and profile
  • sufficient technical, financial, human and logistical capacity

All projects must support Overseas Development Assistance, i.e. they must be administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of Kazakhstan as a main overarching objective.

Projects must focus on the following thematic areas

An increasingly positive, stable and business friendly investment climate in Kazakhstan, including more investment-friendly legislation. For example:

  • voluntary principles on Security and Human Rights
  • UN Business and Human Rights

Support for international Human Rights commitments and Kazakhstan’s own political, social and economic development targets under its 2050 vision through improved governance systems and effective civil society engagement:

  • Kazakhstan’s National Human Rights Action Plan and supporting work
  • promotion and protection of freedom of expression
  • upholding freedom of religion and belief
  • combating discrimination against women
  • democratic processes: democratic participation and civil society

Legal and judicial development:

  • global torture prevention and public monitoring commissions
  • criminal justice and prison reform: probation services, rehabilitation and resocialisation of ex-prisoners, law-enforcement reform
  • abolition of the death penalty
  • police reform

Increased effectiveness against organised crime, and drug and people trafficking. Support to continue progress on counter-proliferation and nuclear issues.

Criteria

  • value for money
  • evidence of local demand/need
  • project viability, including capacity of implementing organisation
  • project design, including clear, achievable objectives/outputs
  • sustainability
  • good risk and stakeholder management
  • projects should be realistic in the results they aim to deliver and how these contribute to the long term achievement of the targets.
  • proposals must be supported by a realistic detailed activity based budget (i.e. your budget should be based not on general subheads such as transportation, rent of venue for an even, etc. but on activities. For example, activity 1.1. Working group: transportation of participants, rent of a venue, printing of handouts, etc.), set out with as much detail as possible. This is a key requirement in evaluating the project proposal and lack of a detailed budget was among the top reasons why projects were rejected in 2012.
  • be open to external audit.

Timing

Projects should begin in June 2013 (from 15 June onward) and must be completed by the end of February 2014.

Co-funding

We welcome projects jointly funded with other donors as a way of increasing impact and enhancing co-ordination. All projects must demonstrate how they complement the efforts of other donors and bring added value. We strongly encourage projects that seek to secure future funding from other bodies (e.g. EU, UN) for follow-on work.

We cannot fund:

  • capital purchases, e.g. purchase of buildings, vehicles, office machinery
  • certain publicity materials
  • flight costs above economy class
  • external consultants to evaluate project work
  • participation in academic courses or academic research

We fund various costs associated with implementation/delivery of activities, but we cannot fund all general office costs and salaries. These can only be covered up to 10% of the total cost of the project. Note that honoraria for experts should be included into an activity where an expert is contributing.

Submission

Proposals must be submitted electronically to ukinkz@fco.gov.uk indicating “BPB Bid” in the subject field. Please write to us to request forms, separate for projects under £5,000, above £5,000 but under £10,000, and above £10,000, and guidance how to complete them.

Deadline

Wednesday 29 May at 5.30pm (Astana local time).

Please note that the bidding is competitive and only selected projects will receive funding. The FCO reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids without incurring any obligation to inform the affected applicant/s of the grounds of such acceptance or rejection. Due to the volume of bids expected we will not be able to provide feedback on unsuccessful bids.

Published 16 May 2013