By STUART LISULO
The US Embassy in Zambia has awarded US $152,000 (K2.9 million) to nine Zambian community-based organizations in six provinces.
Public Affairs Officer Phil Dimon said the grants awarded this year would support nine community organizations and projects in Central, Copperbelt, Lusaka, Muchinga, Southern, and Western provinces.
The embassy, through the Public Affairs Small Grants Programme, released the grants for the organizations to expand economic opportunity, improve health and education, and fight corruption in the communities.
Among some of the organizations was the Empowerment Initiative for Rural Women and Adolescents, which empowers rural adolescent girls with life, literacy, and digital skills for better health and education outcomes. Another was Funzeleo, which would conduct a teacher training programme to expose educators to techniques for integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) practical skills into their classroom teaching.
“The US Embassy is proud to provide these meaningful funding opportunities to organizations developing their own solutions to address inadequacies within their communities. Grants were selected through a merit-based review process that assessed their projects’ objectives, organizational capacity, and focus areas,” said Dimon in a statement.
The Public Affairs Small Grants Programme provides financial support from the American people directly to Zambian community organizations improving the lives of communities through sustainable projects that bolster economic development, democracy and governance, health, and education in traditionally underserved areas or groups.
The U.S. Embassy will announce the application season for the next round of funding in 2024.
Small Grants Programme guidelines, project criteria, and application forms are accessible at: https://zm.usembassy.gov/public-affairs-section-small-grants/.
