U.S. Embassy Kinshasa Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Fund

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Project Objectives: SH funds are meant for activities that are community driven and serve the community at large where they are being funded. The most successful project proposals will target health, education, and development challenges and will: · Demonstrate a clear, ongoing benefit to the local community; · Include a significant contribution from the community in the form of labor, land, materials, or money; · Be within the local community’s ability to manage and maintain on a sustainable basis; · Have a net-positive impact on the local environment; · Respect human rights, including disability rights and gender equality. Below is a sample list of the types of projects the Department will consider funding: · Small construction projects (less than 10,000 sq. ft.) – school rooms, community centers, health facilities, foot bridges, housing for a government or community-paid nurse or teacher, workshops, community abattoir, grain storage, rural airstrip for a hospital, and school dormitory for distant students. · Water-related projects – wells, latrines, pumps, bore holes, shower stalls and sinks and fishponds. · School equipment and supplies – desks, chairs, laboratory equipment and library items. · Communal construction equipment such as a brick-making machine. · Income generating equipment – weaving looms, tools for furniture making, rice-milling machine. (Must be maintainable by local community). Funds may not be used for: · Operating or recurring costs (salaries, rent, administrative or maintenance costs, fuel); · Individual travel expenses (lodging, transportation, food, fuel); · Religious, police, law enforcement, prison, or military activities; · Projects that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship or support to an individual or party in electoral campaigns; · The purchase, operation, or maintenance of vehicles; · Activities with negative environmental consequences; · Activities which benefit any US government employee.