USAID Niger is pleased to announce that the 2013 Development Grants Program has initiated the Request for Applications, and that Niger is one of the countries for which applications can be submitted.

The Development Grants Program provides opportunities for U.S. PVOs and local NGOs that have limited or no experience managing direct USAID grants. The DGP was designed to expand the number of direct partnerships USAID has with U.S. PVOs and indigenous, local NGOs and to build the capacity of these organizations to better meet the needs of their constituents

Applications for Niger must target the Democracy and Governanace sector, with particular focus being "Support Community Governance and People to People Resilience through Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship".

To apply for the DGP, U.S. PVOs must have 501(c)(3) status and must have submitted a complete registration packet to the USAID PVO Registration Database.  Instructions on registration can be found here. In most instances, the organization should have been in existence for more than one year.  While completed registration is not required, we encourage interested U.S. PVO applicants to register before the RFA is released.

Local NGO applicants do not need to register with USAID to apply.  However, they must be recognized under the laws of the country in which they are domiciled and must provide proof at the time of .  Local NGOs that are selected by USAID Missions to submit full proposals, must also acquire a DUNS number (if they do not have one already) in order to submit the full proposal to USAID. 

The complete Request for Applications can be found on www.grants.gov or by clicking here. The closing date for applications is August 15, 2013.