Latin America Prosperity fund regional strategy 2014/15
The Latin America Prosperity Fund aims to create the conditions for global growth
Contents
- Prosperity Fund description
- Criteria of thematic areas
- Eligibility
- How to apply for funding
Latin America Prosperity Fund
- The Latin America Prosperity Fund aims to create the conditions for global growth, focussing on four thematic areas listed below, the majority of project funding will focus on the two areas of Openness and Sustainability:
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Openness: Promoting transparency; national structural economic reform; and a strong, rules-based international economic system. Promoting British companies in Latin America by reducing trade barriers and bureaucracy and improving the business environment.
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Sustainability: Promoting low carbon energy and resilient energy markets; use of science and innovation as solutions to global challenges; and solutions to more sustainable urban development.
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Opportunity: Creating opportunities through international partnerships in education, science and research; and promoting innovation as a driver of growth.
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Reputation: Promoting the UK as a creative and trustworthy partner; and a world-class destination for business and study.
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The Latin America Prosperity Fund has supported projects across Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Panama and Costa Rica. Typical projects range in value from £30,000 to £50,000 and the fund has worked well with organisations from the government (both national and sub-national), civil societies, international organisations and the private sector. Concept note forms can be found here:
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Given the strategic importance of the region to deliver our prosperity objectives, the FCO will dedicate funds for FY2014/15 for Latin America. The Fund will not cover Brazil or Mexico. (There are separate allocations for these two countries. For further details about the Brazil and Mexico Prosperity Fund, please contact our Embassies in Brasilia and Mexico City.)
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Chile, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Costa Rica will be eligible for submitting national projects that cover the spectrum of the Prosperity Fund aims. Regional/ multi-country applications for funding will also be accepted. But these should not be artificially created. These five countries will be eligible for submitting projects that promote Openness, Sustainability, Opportunity and Reputation. For non eligible Lat Am Prosperity Fund (PF) countries there may be opportunity for self-funded participation at a PF funded conferences, but please contact the relevant Embassy for further information.
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Argentina may also be eligible for submitting projects but please contact our Embassy in Buenos Aires for further information on qualifying criteria.
Criteria of thematic areas
General Guidance Notes
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We are looking for practical and high-impact interventions that will lead to a real and timely difference to decision making. Proposals must clearly be a catalyst to transformational changes in policy and practice in target countries and/or their behaviour in global fora. Proposals focussing purely on research, analysis, seminars or workshops will not be relevant unless they lead to specific and measurable action or behavioural change. Prosperity Funds cannot be used to fund one-off visits.
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The Latin America Prosperity Fund is looking for project proposals that focus specifically on the following areas. The Embassies reserve the right to slightly amend the thematic areas, if this is the case changes will be communicated:
Openness
- Many Latin American countries have already subscribed to open markets and international trade free of barriers and are taking steps regionally with this objective. It is in the UK’s interest as a key international interlocutor in this process to influence such strategy development that benefits given the global benefits. We are looking for projects that help promote ambitious trade agreements and help develop business by improving the overseas business environment. We want to promote transparency to combat protectionism, bribery and corruption, including through the Open Government Partnerships and OECD. We are keen to support this through sharing UK expertise and experience and by helping to build institutional capacity. We are keen to fund projects that lead to:
| Objective | Target Areas |
| Openness | Technical assistance to promote the implementation of effective public private partnership (PPP) e.g infrastructure (hard and social infrastructure) |
| Promoting integrated infrastructure/transport systems to improve the business environment | |
| Improved effectiveness and transparency of economic policy making, including in extractive industries | |
| Implementing policies to improve the business environment in Latin America | |
| Implementing economic policies to promote an open and competitive business environment, including trade facilitation. |
Example:
Sustainability
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With their natural resources (e.g. hydro, marine, wind, solar, forestry) and increasingly strong high-level political will to tackle climate change, Latin American countries have a real opportunity to make the transition to a low-carbon, green economy a reality and potentially play a lead role in the race to a green economy. The growing middle class in the region offers not just a market for UK goods and services, but also places increasing demands on energy / the environment. We want our projects to accelerate the economic and political conditions for a secure and affordable transition to a low carbon economy.
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The Prosperity Fund can complement the International Climate Fund in financing small projects that would complement or help steer larger ICF interventions. We can use science to reduce long term risks to energy and resource insecurity (Foresight). We are looking for projects that engage with energy producers and improve the conditions for investment in transitional oil and gas, transparent and stable markets. We want to help improve governance, management and access to natural and material resources. We are keen to fund projects that lead to:
| Objective | Target Areas |
| Sustainability | Developing low-carbon sectors in sustainable construction, transport and urban planning |
| Increased deployment of energy efficiency initiatives in sectors with significant potential for emissions reductions | |
| Increased deployment of lower carbon energy production, particularly through renewable and clean energy technology | |
| The creation of political conditions necessary to achieve an ambitious, legally binding, global climate change agreement, including national climate change legislation | |
| Support the development of mechanisms that help the private sector reduce emissions | |
| Improved meteorological systems (data collection, analysis) |
Opportunity
- Latin American countries are at a crossroads in terms of how they power their economies. Although all are relatively small emitters, over the next five years, Latin American countries will take long-term decisions on how to power their economies to maintain their burgeoning economic growth. We are looking for projects which help British business through advice, networking and finding relevant opportunities abroad. We want to create opportunities for UK institutions and businesses through supporting international partnerships in education, science and research and by using innovation as a driver of growth. We are keen to fund projects that lead to:
| Objective | Target Areas |
| Opportunity | Capacity-building and developing policies to promote innovation and the commercialisation of science. |
| Increased deployment of lower carbon energy production, particularly through renewable and clean energy technology |
Example:
Reputation
- British Companies have an excellent reputation across South America with governments and businesses due to their reliability and integrity. We want to further promote Britain as an international partner of choice and world class destination for business, tourism and study. We are looking for projects which will promote the UK as a creative and trustworthy partner. We use the GREAT campaign (a separate £3m fund) and its private sector partnerships to build international awareness of UK strengths and values, and to increase the impact of British companies abroad. We are keen to fund projects that lead to:
| Objective | Target Areas |
| Reputation | Promote and highlight the UK strength in Private Public Partnerships. |
| Promote and highlight the UK capabilities in export finance. | |
| Promoting UK corporate social responsibility. | |
| Promote and highlight the UK capabilities in Education and English |
Eligibility
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All projects must be in support of at least one of the above objectives for the Latin America Prosperity Fund and demonstrate how if possible they can use UK expertise.
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Projects must trigger further incremental action and gain leverage out of proportion to the money the FCO spends e.g. by leveraging co-funding from co-donors. Projects with strong co-funding will be particularly welcome.
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Proposals must make clear that they are adding value to, and not duplicating, existing activity of other bilateral / multilateral agencies or Latin American Governments. FCO funding however may be used to leverage co-funding from other donors.
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Project designs must include strong engagement process with stakeholders and beneficiaries (e.g. governments, business). Host governments must have been consulted and are supportive (if not, the bid must explain how the project has sufficient buy-in from the necessary stakeholders to deliver the expected outcomes). Projects developed in direct consultation with beneficiaries at the concept stage and arising out of strong demand-driven process will be preferred.
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All proposals must include publicity, dissemination and outreach activities in the budget from the outset. All projects must have a strong communications strategy to disseminate the results of the project. All media work should be directly related to the project proposal. Administrative costs should be no more than 10% of the overall budget.
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Projects may cover one or several of the above programme themes. For example, a project that promotes energy efficiency would score against both the climate change and low carbon objectives.
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Proposals may be single-year or multi-year although funding for the programme is likely to decrease in future years. We would suggest that multi-year projects ideally be prepared on a modular (annual) format so that they will yield clear deliverables even if funding for future years is not available. Please discuss the length of your project with the relevant post before submitting a bid. Approved projects can start from April 2014 and need to be completed by 31 March 2014.
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Prospective bidders may also want to check the terms and conditions in the programme fund contract, which can also be downloaded from the British Embassy Bogota’s website and other participating countries websites.
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At least 90% of Prosperity Fund activity in developing countries (OECD DAC list) should be designed to be eligible for classification as development assistance by the DAC. http://www.oecd.org/investment/aidstatistics/officialdevelopmentassistancedefinitionandcoverage.htm. Implementers need to specify whether their projects are ODA-eligible or not.
How to apply for funding
Time Frames
- The Latin America Prosperity Fund is managed by the British Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. They will co-ordinate bids for submission to the Latin America Prosperity Fund Board, a virtual Board, which evaluates and approves project bids. It includes members from the FCO, HM-Treasury, DFID, UKTI and Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
- The bidding process is in two stages, a concept and full bid stage. Concept bids should be submitted via the relevant Embassy in the principal country of your project proposal and include evidence of support from Host Government, supporting letter, cash or in-kind support.
- The deadline for submission of concept bids is Friday 14 Feb
What to Include In Bid Form
- Overview of project
- Strategic fit to the Latin America Prosperity Fund Objectives
- How the project will lead to transformational change
- Rationale for project – Including why the project should take place now
- How this project will profile UK expertise
- Support from Host Government
- Communication Strategy
- Sustainability once the Prosperity Fund project has been completed
Regional bids
Regional/ multi-country bids will be accepted as follows: * A regional bid must be run from one of the target markets and have the support of all the relevant embassies. * A regional bid must have an impact potential in all of the countries involved and explain how this will be realised.
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Those bids agreed by the Board at the Concept stage will be invited to submit a full bid. Deadline for submission of full bids with detailed activity based budgets will be Friday 21 March ;
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The FCO will sign a standard agreement with all successful bidders. For businesses this will take the form of a contract; and for others, a standard grant agreement. The terms of the contract and standard grant agreement are not negotiable. The Grant form and other documents can be found here: and
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The Programme Teams in each of the eligible countries are seeking project proposals for the Prosperity Fund – Latin America Programme.
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Please read all guidance and ensure that project proposals are designed and submitted in accordance with it. Please check Embassy’s website or contact the Embassies to get information about the priority or thematic areas for that country. Proposals that do not meet the criteria and guidance will be rejected. The following documents are: * *
Bidding Process
- The bidding process is run in two stages: concept and full bid.
- Only bids approved through the concept stage will be considered for full bids. Implementers will be advised.
- Deadline to submit concept bids to the Programme Team: 14th February.
Contacts
The project proposal in the bid form should be submitted in English with the title “Prosperity Fund 2014: XXX name of the implementer – XXX Country”, to both the appropriate Embassy contact listed below for where the project will take place, and cc’d to PMO Bogota: pmobogota@fco.gov.uk
| Lat Am Programme Officer | gemma.kingsfordsmith@fco.gov.uk |
| Argentina | Simon.Chater2@fco.gov.uk; Holly.tett@fco.gov.uk |
| Colombia | Peter.bainbridge@fco.gov.uk or gemma.kingsfordsmith@fco.gov.uk |
| Costa Rica | Ben.myers@fco.gov.uk |
| Peru | BEProjectsPeru@fco.gov.uk |
| Panama | Ben.myers@fco.gov.uk |