Description
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement to develop and implement a Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) on Civic Education for Good Governance, pending the availability of funding. The six-day workshop (inclusive of travel days) will convene emerging leaders, ages 18-35, from all ten ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste to build competencies in developing and sustaining initiatives to promote good governance, transparency and accountability through youth civic participation and civic education. The workshop will be held in Manila, Philippines in the 2nd quarter of 2022. YSEALI is the U.S. government’s signature initiative to engage with emerging leaders in Southeast Asia. The program aims to create a network of young Southeast Asian leaders who work across national borders and the four pillars of YSEALI – environmental issues, economic growth and social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, and education – to solve common problems. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Priority Region: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste. Program Objectives: YSEALI (yseali.state.gov) is the U.S. government’s signature initiative to engage emerging leaders in Southeast Asia. The program aims to create a network of young Southeast Asian leaders who work across national borders to solve common problems. Through a variety of programs and engagements, YSEALI seeks to build the leadership capabilities of youth in the region, strengthen ties between the United States and Southeast Asia, and nurture a community of leaders who work across borders to solve shared issues. YSEALI is open to young leaders ages 18-35 who are both citizens and residents of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries (Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) or Timor-Leste. Responding to priorities from youth in the ASEAN region, YSEALI programs focus on four themes (Economic Growth and Social Entrepreneurship, Environmental Issues, Education, and Civic Engagement). One component of YSEALI are the annual regional workshops held across Southeast Asia on strategic topics. This regional workshop on civic education for good governance will advance the YSEALI theme of Civic Engagement and the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines’ priority to promote resilient and accountable democratic institutions at the local, regional, and national levels that engage civil society. The YSEALI Regional Workshop on Civic Education for Good Governance will bring together around 100 YSEALI members from ASEAN member nations and Timor-Leste who are currently working on civic education initiatives to promote civic participation, good governance, and transparency and accountability in government. The workshop will deepen participants’ knowledge and understanding of current challenges, including socio-economic and environmental (e.g.: climate change and biodiversity degradation), and opportunities for governments and civil society in Southeast Asia to effectuate positive change. The workshop will introduce methods and tools for civil society and government to promote youth civic participation, mobilize stakeholders, and implement effective projects or campaigns. The workshop should include in-depth discussions and experiential learning sessions led by experts from Southeast Asia and the United States. Participants should be encouraged to collaborate with fellow emerging leaders from across the region and coordinate with government agencies at all levels, business development institutions, community organizations, and youth groups in their respective countries to implement projects or campaigns. The workshop will also create and sustain a virtual network of emerging leaders. At the workshop’s finale, participants may compete for small grants to implement projects and/or campaigns to promote civic participation, transparency, and accountability in government. A follow-on activity may also be implemented after the program to report on project successes and challenges and produce a toolkit with best practices on cross-border collaboration. Participants and Audiences: Participants will be emerging leaders from ASEAN member nations and Timor-Leste who are lawmakers, government officials, educators, civil society leaders, journalists, and youth organization representatives with initiatives to promote civic participation, good governance, and transparency and accountability in government. Participants should demonstrate commitment to develop and sustain their projects. Participants should also be registered YSEALI members (before or during application via http://yseali.state.gov) The grant recipient will create an online application process and coordinate with the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines and other U.S. Embassies in the region to recruit and select participants from all ten ASEAN member countries and Timor-Leste. All participants must be proficient in written and spoken English. Participants must be citizens and residents of an ASEAN member country or Timor-Leste. The recipient will be responsible for arranging and using cooperative agreement funds to cover all elements related to participant and staff travel including international and domestic flights, visas, travel to and from airports, visas, accommodations, per diem, meals during the program, and insurance. The proposal should include workshop follow-on activities such as virtual collaborative work, projects funded through small seed grants, or ongoing mentorship. The follow-on activity should be included in the monitoring and evaluation plan. The proposal should include a pre and post workshop survey to measure the overall effectiveness of the workshop as well as any changes to the participants’ knowledge of the workshop topic. The concepts of leadership, giving back, and strengthening a Southeast Asian/ASEAN identity based on shared values and shared challenges should be integrated into the program. Workshop speakers/facilitators/mentors should be citizens of the United States, an ASEAN member country, or Timor-Leste. The recipient is expected to develop syllabus materials and an event program with participant and speaker biographies, as well as design banners, backdrops, and other printed materials. The recipient is expected to design a digital engagement strategy for workshop participants and social media audiences, including live video or live online engagement during the program. No new website specific to the event should be created or launched. Domain, hosting and build costs will not be covered.