Where we work

The high priority region includes Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua and Peru.

These countries have been identified by the IAF’s strategic plan — and by U.S. foreign policy and development assistance agencies — as funding priorities. They face poor social and economic conditions in numerous regions that could be significantly improved through our bottom-up approach to community development. Additionally, these countries have motivated but incipient civil society and community groups seeking catalytic funding and feature engaged bilateral donors and private sector entities (philanthropic and corporate) increasingly interested in supporting social responsibility at home.

Proposals from these countries will receive the majority of the IAF’s annual grant funding.

Targeted engagement countries include Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and the Eastern Caribbean.

While not the highest priorities for the U.S. from a development perspective, these countries warrant continued IAF investment. Persistently high poverty and inequality rates, limited economic opportunities, significant “informal” economies and weak governance mean that many communities in these countries are good candidates for our model of community-led development. They also feature a mix of incipient and sophisticated grassroots and civil society groups seeking to lead their own development and contain philanthropic and business sectors with partnership potential.

Limited programming countries include Argentina, Belize, Uruguay, and Chile.

These countries are not U.S. foreign policy or development assistance priorities. Several countries are characterized by higher levels of development relative to the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, a mature and dynamic civil society, and sophisticated philanthropic sector and business community. Others have limited absorptive capacity for IAF support due to high operating costs and the small size of civil society and business sectors. We will accept proposals from these countries and look for promising grassroots development innovations, replication potential (especially through multi-country grants), and high private sector leverage.

Funding will be awarded to those proposals determined to be of exceptional merit.