Partnerships for Recovery – Alumni Support Grants

Many Australia Awards alumni are actively helping Bangladesh to address the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. To support alumni to have greater impact, Australia Awards – Bangladesh is pleased to launch the Partnerships for Recovery – Alumni Support Grants.

The Alumni Support Grants will provide financial resources to alumni to implement innovative activities that will assist vulnerable groups and sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the grants, alumni will be able to demonstrate their expertise and leadership, as well as have access to mentors (individual or organisations) who can help them to enhance their ideas or assist with implementation issues.

The grants aim to further encourage Australia Awards alumni to provide leadership in Bangladesh during COVID-19 and in the initial period of recovery.

Objectives

The Partnerships for Recovery – Alumni Support Grants have the following objectives:

  • To contribute to the overall Australian Government response to COVID-19 in Bangladesh
  • To contribute to the achievement of Australia Awards Program outcomes
  • To support alumni initiatives for vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19
  • To provide an opportunity for alumni/alumni groups to be leaders for development in their sectors/communities/organisations
  • To provide a learning opportunity for alumni (through the mentoring component).

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting almost every country in the world and has resulted in health, economic, and humanitarian crises. In Bangladesh, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research reported the first three cases of COVID-19 in March 2020. As of 7 February 2021, 538,062 cases and 8,205 COVID-19 related-deaths have been reported in Bangladesh. Almost all sectors in Bangladesh are affected, either directly or indirectly, by the pandemic.

In October 2020, the Government of Australia released the Bangladesh COVID-19 Development Response Plan with a focus on long-term economic growth, underpinned by inclusive education, skills development, and private sector engagement. The Plan highlighted Australia’s response to COVID-19 in Bangladesh and identified health security, stability, and economic recovery as the priority areas of support.

The Partnerships for Recovery – Alumni Support Grants are open to:

  • All Australia Awards alumni currently residing in Bangladesh
  • All Australia Awards alumni groups, both formal and informal, in Bangladesh.

Only activities that meet the following criteria will be considered:

  • Must result in direct social and economic benefits for the poor, women, children, ethnic minority communities, or people with disability;
  • Must demonstrate the leadership and innovation of the alumni/proponents;
  • Must be implemented in Bangladesh between May to December 2021; and
  • Must focus on at least one of the following areas
Broad Field Specific Areas
Health security
  • Community health
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Water, sanitation and hygiene
  • Mental health
Economic recovery
  • Promoting private sector participation
  • Facilitating responsible business models and low-carbon development
  • Skills, livelihood, and entrepreneurship  training
  • E-commerce
Stability
  • Food security and nutrition
  • Climate-resilient agriculture
  • Supporting civil society participation
  • Basic education activities in rural areas and/or for vulnerable groups
  • The maximum grant amount that can be provided for each activity is AUD5,000. Co-funding is allowed, but the proponents must specify activities/outputs where the alumni grant money will be used.
  • It is anticipated that a maximum of 15 alumni proposals will be supported through this activity.
  • Implementation must be completed by 31 December 2021.
  • Successful proponents can request mentoring support, which can be facilitated/provided by the Australia Awards – Bangladesh office. This support can be used to refine the concept or to assist, manage or address issues during implementation.
  • Successful proponents must sign a grant agreement with Scope Global/Australia Awards – Bangladesh. The grant agreement will specify reporting and other requirements.
  • Successful proponents must undertake required training/briefing sessions (child protection; preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment; fraud control) before the grant money can be disbursed.
  • The Partnerships for Recovery – Alumni Support Grant will be announced via email on 25 March 2021.
  • Alumni will have until 8 April 2021 to submit the completed application form and supporting documents through the online application portal. Please register or log in to access the form.
  • The successful applicants will be informed by 25 April 2021.

Proposals will be assessed and ranked using the following criteria.

Criteria Weight Elements
Alignment 30
  • The extent to which the activity is aligned with Partnerships for Recovery
  • Relevance to the needs in Bangladesh
Innovation and Learning 20
  • Value for money
  • Ways by which the activity addresses constraints (for example, no face-to-face events as a result of COVID-19; location of the grant activity
  • Proof of concept (basis as to why the proposal will work) and how existing good practices have been used to inform the proposal
Technical Feasibility and Political Acceptability 20
  • Clear activity logic (link of outputs to activities/inputs) and a practical implementation plan
  • Ways the activity will address resistance to change and issues relating to political economy
  • Potential of the activity to be scaled up if additional (external) investments/funds are available
Link to Australia/Australia Awards 30
  • The extent to which the activities are using the expertise of the alumni from their Australia Awards experience
  • The extent to which the proposals are using/strengthening Australia-Bangladesh relations
  • The extent to which the activity demonstrates the leadership of the proponents.
Total 100

 

The final decision will be made by the Australian High Commission Bangladesh.

Date Milestone
25 March 2021 Issue call for proposals
8 April 2021 Deadline for submissions for proposals
25 April 2021 Announcement of results
25 – 29 April 2021 Finalise grant agreements, including Fraud Control and PSEAH/Child Protection Training
May 2021 Start of implementation of grant activities
31 September 2021 Deadline for submission of mid-term reports and acquittals
31 December 2021 Last day of implementation of grant activities
31 January 2022 Deadline for submission of final acquittal reports

 

Bangladesh COVID-19 Development Response Plan

Partnerships for Recovery: Australia’s COVID-19 Development Response

For further information, contact the Australia Awards office in Bangladesh:
+880 9611 699 934
alumni@australiaawardsbangladesh.org