At a glance
The program funds small public diplomacy projects that support U.S.-Cook Islands and U.S.-Niue ties, with a focus on economic linkages, natural resource management, and reducing threats through cooperation in areas like maritime, digital media, IT, emergency preparedness, AI, and health. Eligible applicants include U.S. and foreign nonprofits, educational institutions, individuals, and public international organizations or government institutions; for-profit entities are not eligible. Awards are expected to be 5 grants of about $10,000 to $50,000 each, with $350,000 total available, and projects must last 12 to 24 months. Cost sharing is encouraged but not required, and projects must be for the Cook Islands and Niue; the announcement excludes partisan political activity, direct social services, construction, religious activities, fundraising, lobbying, research or surveys, commercial projects, organizational growth projects, duplicate projects, and illegal activities.
What it funds
Official description from grants.gov
The U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Mission New Zealand announces an open competition to implement a program to advance U.S.-Cook Islands and U.S.-Niue maritime cooperation, economic and cultural ties. The program is intended to support local solutions and build local capacity to: 1. Increase economic linkages with the United States 2. Promote long-term economic prosperity through natural resource management 3. Reduce threats against the United States and the Pacific region. Projects are encouraged to include a plan to build capacity and technical expertise among local communities and organizations. Projects may address one or more of the following areas, but are not strictly limited to the following topics: · Increasing economic linkages with the United States through exchange, education, work, and trade promotion programs; · Promoting long-term prosperity by incorporating best practices for natural resource management; · Advancing U.S.-Cook Islands and U.S.-Niue cooperation to enhance safety, especially in digital media, information technology, emergency preparedness, artificial intelligence, maritime, health, and other related sectors. Projects may propose activities targeted through this solicitation in the following countries: Cook Islands and Niue.
Who can apply
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education)
- Private institutions of higher education
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education