Groups, organisations to access funding from Australian Gov’t for sustainable development projects
Georgetown, GINA, August 9, 2016
Several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), community groups and individuals, today, participated in a Direct Aid Information session on the Direct Aid Programme (DAP), facilitated by the Australian High Commission stationed in Trinidad and Tobago.
The session was designed to provide interested persons with the necessary information on accessing funds through the DAP which is financed by the Australian Government aid budget, aimed at supporting small-scale development projects with tangible outcomes.
Persons can access funding of up to AUD $5, 000 to AUD$30, 000 per approval project, and an upper limit of up to AUD$60,000 which meet certain criteria including projects spanning two financial years in partnership with reputable entities, conducted in multiple countries, and with strong project designs with risk management strategies.
A section of those who participated in the Information Session at the Foreign Service Institute at Shiv Chanderpaul Drive
During an invited comment at the Foreign Service Institute, DAP Officer; Lucrecia Birch explained that the funding is being provided for persons looking to implement sustainable development projects in their community.
She said that the small grant project will be available to individuals, community groups, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), local government organisations and organisations whose activities are on a not-for-profit basis.
The DAP finances projects in areas such as environment, agriculture, food security, community health, schools and education, small scale infrastructure, alleviating poverty and basic humanitarian hardship, rural development, human rights, gender equality and women’s development, disability inclusiveness, capacity building and youth intervention and disaster relief.
“…even though we encourage individuals to apply, the individuals must apply on behalf of a group because these projects are not for profit or start-up enterprises, even though we would like the projects to generate some sort of economic activity. It’s basically for groups to alleviate poverty and so on,” Birch told the Government Information Agency (GINA).
Guyana is one of nine countries in the Caribbean region, eligible for DAP funding. The other beneficiaries are Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.
Interested persons can submit their applications to the Commission’s website, www.trinidadandtobago.embassy,gov.au.