American Schools and Hospitals Abroad Program Conference Call Minutes Friday, April 10, 2009 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Speakers:
Mauricio Vera, Acting Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at USAID
George Like, Division Chief, American Schools & Hospitals Abroad (ASHA), Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance at USAID
Mauricio Vera
I'd like to welcome you all to our call today. I am Mauricio Vera and am the acting director for the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at USAID. We have an interesting program for you today, but before we get started I want to tell you all a bit about what has been going on with our office first. The White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (WH OFBNP) held a briefing on April 6th and 7th for the 25 members of the WH OFBNP Advisory Council and some other groups. Much discussion centered on the new vision for the office. There was quite a list of speakers. Gayle Smith from the National Security Council was there and spoke about the future of foreign assistance. I also spoke regarding what our office has been working on. We had a very good exchange with the various council members. We'll have more information in our newsletter about that event.
It's my pleasure to introduce Mr. George Like, Division Chief of the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program, to discuss the particulars of his program.
George Like
Thank you and good afternoon. I am the director of the ASHA program which is, I believe the oldest program at USAID. Our records go back for about 50 years. During that time, ASHA has helped over 200 institutions in a number of countries. We've funded projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean etc. The program is unusual in that we do have activities in countries where there may be no USAID mission. For example, we have funded activities in China, Turkey, Greece, and Costa Rica to name a few. The program goal is to support institutions that best demonstrate U.S. ideas and practices in education and medicine abroad. The recipients of our monies must be U.S. non-profit organizations; however one of the requirements is that they are also either a founder or sponsor of an overseas institution. We require that the U.S. NGO applicants demonstrate a continuing/established relationship with the overseas institution. We need to see functioning, established organizations with successful track records. School projects must be secondary schools or higher, we don't fund primary schools. Additionally, we want to see that funded hospitals conduct medical research and are involved in educational efforts. We fund proposals for capital improvements (the construction or renovation of buildings or the purchase of equipment).
It is a very flexible program in that we have funded proposals to build or renovate buildings and to install such systems as plumbing and sewage. We have a track record of funding things that may not be traditional donor responsibilities. There is a range of things that can be purchased or constructed and we look at the particular need and proposal. For example, we've funded proposals which have funded sophisticated pieces of medical equipment and some that have included window screening.
There are of course certain restrictions that proposals must abide by. Federal regulations state we can not fund, among other things, any type of military equipment, gambling equipment, the purchase of luxury goods, etc. Regulations also state that that equipment or materials for construction and renovation be purchased either from the U.S. or from the country where the project is taking place. ASHA practice is that we don't normally support training costs, travel, salary, per diem, over-head, curriculum development, or buy land. To view a full list of restricted commodities, click here.
The ASHA grant process is very competitive. To give you an idea, in 2008 we received about 90 applications and were able to fund 41 projects either partially or completely. Larger requests of $1-2 million are usually only partially funded and $500,000 is the average size of an ASHA grant. An organization can apply each year. ASHA only receives applications once a year with the next deadline for submission of applications is June 30, 2009. All applications must be postmarked from U.S. by that date. We only accept hard copy applications and are not currently equipped to handle electronic submissions. The selection process is quite lengthy. For example, those applications received in June 2009 will not be signed and awarded until September 2010. There are a lot of steps that we take during the selection process. We contact the local U.S. Embassy or USAID office overseas to ask if they are familiar with your overseas institution. We bring in outside reviewers to score and provide comments on each application and use this review process to rank each application. The ASHA grants awarded each year are also dependent on our funding levels for that year. For additional information about the program and application criteria please visit the website at www.usaid.gov/asha.
Q&A
Where is the majority of the assistance being provided regionally?
Actually there is a pretty even break out among geographic regions. We have no set criteria in terms of what we spend in each region. We take all applications together and make selection based on global group of applications.
What are the criteria for a "formal" relationship between the U.S. institution and the overseas institution?
We need to see an established tie. It could be money, but it could also be exchange of staff, students, etc. There is a very broad definition of what medical education could mean. It could be as basic as personal hygiene, outreach to the community, or HIV/AIDS education, university research etc. We want the proposed project to reflect the local situation. The U.S. partner organization does not need to be registered as a Private Voluntary Organization, but should be a nonprofit U.S. organization. For more information regarding the registration process, click here. The international institution can not be under the control of the local government. They can receive funds from the local government, however we look at ratio. If they are receiving more than 50 percent of their funding from the local government we consider them under the control of that government. This would also be the case if their faculty members are also government employees. We can not assist anything that is under the control or another government.
You mentioned that you only fund existing locations? Can you clarify? What if we have several locations within a country but are looking to build new facilities in a different part of town? Do you fund new constructions?
Yes, you would need to show that they are under the management of the established organization.
Do you support trade and/or technical schools?
Yes, we have funded some trade and technical schools in Central America and Europe.
Our organization works with overseas organizations in both Uganda and Liberia. Can we apply for ASHA grants for programs with both of those NGOs? Can a proposal cross-cut two African countries?
In short, yes, you can. There is nothing in ASHA regulations that would prohibit you from doing so; however I would recommend not doing it. In the past organizations that have done so did not fair well during the review process and were frequently not funded. I believe you would do best to pick a country and program and focus.
If we focused on the program with the Liberia NGO, they have schools, libraries and medical centers? Could a grant proposal cross cut those areas?
Yes, but please keep in mind that the average grant size is $500,000.
The international NGO that we partner with has 18 existing schools. We are currently looking at a technology integration program within those schools. Would you consider a technology project (i.e. internet conferencing)?
Yes, we have funded programs like that before.
I see almost no programs in Francophone Central Africa? Is there a reason for that?
There is no reason that I am aware of. Our goal is that everyone who applies is on equal footing. We have no bias against any specific region or country.
We are working in the Congo with some rural hospitals. We do not have full time staff, but instead have a regular specialist going out there for short periods of time. Would that eliminate us from applying for the program?
No, not at all. We recognize that it is difficult to compare organizations. We try to take a look at the whole situation.
Do USAID and the CFBCI abide by the same guidelines for partnering with faith-based and community organizations that were set up during the previous administration?
Yes. USAID has a very clear guideline for partnering with religious organizations. To view the "Rule" for partnership with USAID by religious organizations, click here. Scroll to the bottom of the minutes to view a short summary of the "Rule".
Our organization works with overseas organizations in a number of countries. Is there a specific country or region that you are focused on?
As a new applicant we would encourage you to focus on one country and one program and submit an application for only that one program. We have no particular interest or dis-interest in any specific area. Just keep in mind the criteria. The majority of individuals that will benefit from the project must be international users, i.e., non-U.S. citizens. For example, in some education institutions overseas the percentage of U.S. students enrolled is over 50 percent. We wouldn't be able to support such an institution.
If we are a new non-profit, but the organization that we want to help is well-established can we still apply? How should we indicate on our application?
If it's a new U.S. NGO then it would hard to show that you have an established or continuing relationship with the overseas institution. If they have close ties to other U.S. NGOs then we would recommend that they submit the application.
Is there a provision in the program for several organizations in the U.S. to partner together?
In short, the answer is no. The application needs to come from one U.S. organization. The U.S. organization can indicate that they are collaborating with other organizations, but the final grant will be awarded to one U.S. NGO and that NGO should be the one that has the established relationship with the overseas institution.
If an application was submitted before and not accepted because of a specific weaknesses, if that weakness is addressed can that organization resubmit their application?
Yes, absolutely. There is nothing that would keep an organization from resubmitting with revisions. However, there are no guarantees that a grant would be awarded. We have different reviewers each year and there is different competition and different funding each year. We take into account the entire picture during the grant proposal review process.
Are there are any restrictions on where materials are purchased?
USAID regulations state that the source, origin and nationality for procurement of all goods and services under these grants is the United States and the local country. There may be some examples where this is not possible and these would be discussed during the negotiation period.
Close - Mauricio Vera
As always, please send any questions we did not have time to address to fbci@usaid.gov and we will provide answers. Minutes from this call will be posted on the USAID CFBCI website and included in the weekly email newsletter. Our next call will be with members of USAID's Microenterprise Team and will be held on Tuesday, April 21st at 11am. Additional details will be in our upcoming newsletter, as well as posted on our website.
![View current issue - [MS Word, 360kb]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090508215851im_/http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_partnerships/fbci/images/current_off.jpg)
