Small Grants & Ambassador’s Fund Program: Fortnightly Report Dec 28, 2015 – Jan 08, 2016

This brings the total number of applications received since the resumption of the program on November 18, 2014, to 384. Province-wise and sector-wise details of received applications show that Punjab received 6 applications, Sindh received 3, Balochistan received 0, KPK/FATA received 3, and Nationwide/ICT received 1. Out of the 384 applications received, 375 were shared with USAID for initial review, while 9 applications were found to be non-compliant due to missing basic information. The Small Grants Program returned 6 applications during the reporting period, with details of the returned applications and reasons provided in Annex-I. USAID reviewed 3 applications during the reporting period, bringing the total number of applications reviewed since the resumption of the program to 314. There are currently 61 applications in-process at USAID, with 22 in Punjab, 13 in Sindh, 5 in Balochistan, 17 in KPK/FATA, and 4 in Nationwide/ICT. Against the 70 cases cleared for further processing, the Small Grants Program has submitted 59 fully processed grant summaries, with 39 recommended for award and 20 recommended not for award. USAID has approved 36 grants and declined 16 applications since the resumption of the program, with 7 cases currently in-process at USAID. The program has cumulatively approved 84 grants under the SGP component. The Small Grants Program has formally closed 46 grants upon completion of their grant projects, with stipulated outputs and milestones. There are currently 31 projects under implementation at various stages, with 7 grant agreements in preparation. Province-wise details show that AJK has 2 approved grants, GB has 4, ICT has 3, Balochistan has 14, Sindh has 18, KP/FATA has 25, and Punjab has 18. The program has disbursed US $11 million, which is 59% of the approved grant funds of US $18.28 million. A province and sector-wise update on projects and funds approved and disbursed is provided in Annex IV. During the reporting period, the Small Grants Program's field teams and project office staff conducted field monitoring support visits to 6 grantees' organizations, including Women Development Community Organization (WDCO) in Balochistan, Mountain and Glacier Protection Organization (MGPO) in Islamabad, and Roshni Organization in Punjab. A consolidated summary of the Small Grants Program's overall achievements since the start of the program in September 2010 is presented in Annex-V.