Smaller projects invited to share in overseas funding pot

SCOTTISH international development organisations have been invited to apply for a share of half a million pounds worth of funding for projects overseas.

The Scottish Government’s small grants programme for such organisations opens for applications – for groups from churches to developed charities – today.

National Group Organisations (NGOs) can apply for one of three types of funding each year under the headings of Project, Feasibility and Capacity Building. Project funding is for specific activity, feasibility funding is used to research or pilot a new approach and the capacity building grants are used to reinforce or expand existing projects.

The programme is now in its third year, and successful applicants in the past have ranged from a scheme to develop a phone-based emergency response system to the training of 900 nurses.

International Development Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “During our grant rounds, funds are usually given to large-scale NGOs, where the projects are on a different level and are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“What we do not want to do is send out a signal that we are not interested in the work Scots have been doing across the country, and this fund is being made available to a whole range of small projects.”

He added: “These projects have made a real difference in people’s lives, often in some of the most difficult areas of the developing world.”

Awards are available to a maximum of £60,000 for project grants over a three-year period, or a maximum of £10,000 for feasibility and capacity building grants that run over one year.

The programme is specifically intended to accommodate smaller requests for funding to contribute to the current Scottish Government International Development policies and goals.

Projects must focus on Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Indian States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa to be eligible.

Gillian Wilson, chief executive of the Network of International Development Organisations in Scotland, said: “This programme... is an innovative channel for partnership between communities overseas and in Scotland and has already shown great value over the last two years.”