Through this Addendum to the Locally Led Development Annual Program Statement (APS) No. 7200AA19APS00007, USAID/Pakistan is making a special call to local actors for the submission of concepts focused on strengthening community cohesion and mitigating social intolerance in Pakistan. The deadline for concept submissions is June 17, 2022. USAID will hold an online information session for all interested potential applicants to provide an overview and answer questions on May 18, 2022, 15:00 to 17:00 Pakistan Standard Time. The session will be recorded and the recording will be posted online after the event. All interested organizations must provide their name and participants email for registration purposes to the
[email protected] by May 12, 2022. A separate meeting invite for the information session will be shared to the interested organization later. USAID will work with formal and informal local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to strengthen community cohesion and mitigate social intolerance with the aim to reduce violence and conflict across diverse faiths/sects and communities in volatile areas in Pakistan, including southern Punjab and Karachi. USAID will support locally led efforts to promote resilience and address and counter the pervasiveness of hate speech, violent extremist narratives, and barriers between diverse communities that propagate intolerance, violence, and conflict by working with local actors such as youth leaders, multi-faith clerics, and other key individuals and building stronger local leadership. USAID also will strengthen and expand fragile local alliances that build bridges between different identity groups and resolve conflict through peaceful and traditional means.