Priority Grant Competition

The Grant Program increases the breadth and depth of the Institute's work by supporting peacebuilding projects managed by non-profit organizations including educational institutions, research institutions, and civil society organizations.

In over 20 years of grantmaking, the Grant Program's Annual Grant Competition and Priority Grant Competition have received nearly 10,000 applications and awarded more than 2,000 grants. The Institute has provided funding to grantees located in 46 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and in more than 81 foreign countries.

The Priority Grant Competitions for Colombia and Nigeria have been phased out. USIP will no longer be giving priority grants in these countries. For projects related to conflicts in Colombia and Nigeria, we encourage applicants to submit proposals to the Annual Grant Competition.

The Priority Grant Competition:

• Supports nonprofit organizations working in or on Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Sudan, and starting October 1, 2010 projects related to communication and peacebuilding.
• Supports innovative peacebuilding projects involving research, the identification of promising models and effective practices, the development of practitioner resources and tools, the development and delivery of education, training and dialogue programs, and the production of films, radio programs and other media.

Priority Grant Competition facts:

• Recent Priority Grant Competition Awards
• USIP has awarded 139 priority grants since 2006.
• The awards generally range from $45,000 to $140,000.

Application Process

The Priority Grant Competition funds activities that enhance mechanisms for advancing the knowledge and practice of conflict prevention, conflict management, and postconflict peacebuilding in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan,  and on the theme of communication and peaebuilding according to the priority areas identified below for each program.

• For Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Sudan, preference is given to applications submitted by nonprofit organizations based in these countries.
• For Iran, preference is given to proposals focusing on Iranian relations with its neighbors in the region; its relations with the West; and Iran’s role in regional and international affairs.
• The amount of all awards will be based on the proposed budget and work plan, and on negotiations with successful applicants.
• The Institute gives priority to high-quality projects that are likely to generate findings that are accessible to policymakers and practitioners and that demonstrate promise of having a substantial impact. Projects that result in findings made widely available to the public through published writings, manuals, curricular materials, web sites, documentary films, etc. are more likely to be funded than those that have limited impact. 

Eligibility

• American and foreign individuals and nonprofit organizations may apply. Individuals whose proposals are funded will be required to identify a nonprofit organization to receive and manage the grant monies.
• With the exception of Iran, applicants from outside a priority country must partner with a nonprofit organization located within the priority country. The project must be based in the priority country.
• Funding is unavailable for degree work (payment of tuition fees or support for M.A. or Ph.D.-related work). Requests for dissertation research support should be directed to USIP’s Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Program.
• Applications that list as participants, consultants, or project personnel members of USIP's Board of Directors or staff will not be accepted.
• Any application that lists USIP as a collaborator in the project will not be accepted for review.
• Individuals who are currently working as USIP contractors may not be eligible to apply for grant support. To determine eligibility, please contact the Grant Program.
• Current USIP grantees are not eligible for consideration until they have completed work on their grant and submitted all required reports and products. Prior work will be assessed before new proposals are considered.

Application Process - Stage One

• For the Sudan and Communication for Peacebuilding Programs, please submit a concept note
  as requested in the Calls for Proposals for each program. If there is an open Call for Proposals,
  it will be available to download below.
   
• For the Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran programs, please submit a short (3-5 pages) pre-
  proposal statement that includes a description of your organization (including a brief history, purpose, structure, and registered nonprofit status) and a description of the proposed project.
• Include an overview of the needs that the project will address, the goals or objectives that the project intends to achieve, and how it will contribute to USIP’s objective for the particular Priority Grant country, as described below.
• Provide a brief overview of the proposed activities, products, timeframe, and estimated costs (both project total and the amount you would like USIP to cover).
• E-mail this short pre-proposal to the individual designated as the contact person for the Priority Grant country in either PDF or .doc (Word, rich text) format, or send it by fax to 202-833-1018. If you are faxing the document, please be sure you add a cover page to the attention of the contact person.

Application Process – Stage Two

If your pre-proposal or concept note is considered to be of interest to the Institute, the Grant Program will send a letter of invitation to Stage Two of the application process. Along with comments on your Stage One pre-proposal, the Grant Program will send you an application form.

• Full proposals submitted to the Priority Grant competition will be reviewed by Grant Program staff. If the proposal receives a successful review, applications will be forwarded to experts outside of USIP for further review. During the review process, staff may contact applicants to request further information.
• Final approval of funded projects will be contingent upon review and approval by USIP's executive officers and Board of Directors. For previous grantees, independent assessments of their earlier grants will be conducted prior to final decision.

USIP does not take positions on policy issues pending before Congress, the executive branch, or other domestic or international bodies, and does not generally fund "Track 1" (official) mediation of international disputes. USIP will not fund grant proposals of a partisan political nature or proposals that would inject the grantee or USIP into the policy processes of the United States government or any foreign government or international organization. In addition, in accord with the United States Institute of Peace Act, Section 1709(b), USIP will not use political tests or political qualifications in selecting or monitoring any grantee. Projects that lead to policy recommendations for governments, international organizations, or nongovernmental organizations are welcome, even encouraged, although such recommendations will be those of the grantee and not USIP.

Afghanistan

Grantmaking in Afghanistan will support projects designed to promote public understanding of peaceful alternatives to the violent resolution of conflict, the rule of law, transitional justice, and to improve local capacities for dialogue and peacebuilding.

Priorities include:

• Improving public understanding of the costs of conflict and peaceful alternatives to the violent resolution of conflict;
• Reducing strife and insecurity through religious and inter-communal dialogue by supporting traditional approaches to non-violent conflict management;
• Promoting education and discussion about conflict resolution, rule of law and transitional justice;
• Improving the capacity of the Afghan civil society for dialogue and conflict resolution.

Other proposals on Afghanistan that respond to the broader mandate of USIP are also welcomed. Priority will be given to applications submitted by Afghan civil society organizations on the topics listed above.

USIP Staff Contact: Barmak Pazhwak, afghanistangrants@usip.org. Applications will be accepted only in English.

 
Iran

 Grantmaking related to Iran seeks to deepen understanding of the internal dynamics of Iran and critical issues at stake in Iran’s relations with the United States and other international actors; develop and advance confidence building measures and innovative, peaceful approaches to resolving conflicts with Iran; and promote bridge building initiatives involving Iranians, Americans, and others.

Priorities include:

• Supporting policy-oriented research that probes key issues in and the dynamics underlying relations between Iran and its neighbors and between Iran and other major actors;
• Promoting bilateral and multilateral Track II policy initiatives and people-to-people programs to advance mutual understanding and positive avenues of interaction; and
• Supporting education programs, including documentary films, radio and other media programming, and training or educational curricula that enhance U.S. public understanding of Iran.

The Grant Program is no longer accepting applications to the Iran Priority Grant competition.  

Applicants interested in submitting a proposal on Iran should apply to the Annual Grant Competition.
 

Iraq

Grantmaking in Iraq supports the capacity-building of civil society organizations, promotes peace-building and reconciliation, and strengthens the rule of law.

Priorities include:

• Promoting the rule of law;
• Empowering marginalized groups, especially women, youth, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and persons with disabilities, to contribute positively to conflict management and peacebuilding processes;
• Promoting inter-communal tolerance and conflict resolution through education and training initiatives;
• Strengthening institutions to advance knowledge and understanding of sources of conflict and enhance mechanisms for conflict prevention, conflict management, Peacebuilding, mediation, and related activities.

Proposals on Iraq that respond to the broader mandate of USIP are welcome. Priority will be given to grant proposals submitted by Iraqi civil society organizations on the topics above.

USIP Staff Contact: Raya Barazanji , iraqgrants@usip.org. Applications will be accepted in both English and Arabic.

Pakistan

Grantmaking in Pakistan will strengthen civil society capacities for conflict prevention and promote greater understanding of issues related to identity, tolerance, diversity, and sectarian extremism in Pakistan through education, training, research, and the media.

Priorities include:

• Promoting dialogue on and a deepened understanding of Pakistan’s diversity across key religious, cultural, and regional divides among relevant stakeholders, including clerics, civilian and military policy practitioners, and opinion shapers;
• Strengthening the capacity of Pakistani civil society for nonviolent conflict prevention and resolution;
• Encouraging the inclusion of marginalized populations in Pakistani civil society, including women, ethnic and religious minorities, the displaced and people with disability, in efforts to prevent and reduce conflict.

Other proposals on Pakistan that respond to the broader mandate of USIP are also welcomed. Priority will be given to applications submitted by Pakistani civil society organizations on the topics above.

USIP Staff Contact: Barmak Pazhwak, pakistangrants@usip.org. Applications will be accepted only in English.

Applications will be accepted only in English.

Communication for Peacebuilding 

Overview: The Communication for Peacebuilding (CfP)  priority grant program will support innovative practice and research designed to increase our understanding of how communication flows and technology can best be leveraged to improve the practice of peacebuilding. 

The CfP program is based on two premises. First, communication is fundamental to peacebuilding. Second, in conflict-affected areas, communication technologies are restructuring  the relationship between international organizations, local peacebuilders, and communities in ways that allow more people to communicate, more rapidly than ever before.  This has significant and perhaps transformational implications for how peacebuilding programs are implemented.

The CfP program does not have a geographic focus, and projects in all countries and regions are
eligible.

Workshop: To ensure that the new program was informed by the latest developments in the field, USIP contracted Search for Common Ground to convene and facilitate a two-day workshop, January 19-20, 2011, that brought together a wide variety of experts to reflect on three questions:

• What are the current practices (and key organizations) working in the field? 
• What are the key challenges within the field that must be overcome if the field is to advance?
• What are the key trends within the field and where the field heading?

Workshop Summary

Communication for Peacebuilding: State of the Field Report

Call for Proposals
 

There are no current calls for proposals. Future funding opportunities will be posted here.

Past Calls for Proposals

The application process for the first call for proposals entitled Information, Violence, and Peacebuilding, closed April 1, 2011.

USIP Staff Contact: Andrew Blum, cfp@usip.org.
 

Highlights

The USIP grant-funded film about inter-religious tension and dialogue in Nigeria titled The Imam and the Pastor won first prize in the Short Documentary section of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival, which was held in St. Louis, Missouri and Lagos, Nigeria in October and November 2007, respectively. | Read More

January 2011

With the support of a USIP grant, the Stimson Center's Congressional education briefing series, Security for a New Century (SNC), is convening a series of meetings on Capitol Hill that focus on issues critical to policymaking on Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.