Official Development Assistance funds of the British Government for projects in Cuba

The British Embassy in Havana invites interested organisations to submit project proposals to be implemented during the British financial year 2021-22 (April 2021 to March 2022) to support cooperation between the United Kingdom and Cuba in priority areas for both countries.

This support is channelled through small-scale project interventions (up to £10,000/ 343,707CUP/ USD15,452), but with potential for greater impact. It is important to consider that the project funds will be allocated depending on their availability and according to high quality activities that deliver good value for money.

Priorities in Cuba

The British Embassy in Havana is interested in financing innovative projects, with tangible objectives and measurable policy outcomes. We remind applicants that it is not possible to finance pure academic research projects.

Proposals should be related to at least one of the following policy areas:

• COVID-19, vaccine recovery and global health security
• Food security
• Economic recovery
• Climate and Biodiversity
• Open Societies

The Embassy might consider other proposals that do not fully fit into these priority policy areas if related to the general objectives of the Embassy’s work. These will be assessed case by case.

What to consider

• Project activities must be fully implemented before the end of the financial year in March 2022
• 85% of the total Embassy allocation must be implemented by mid-December 2021. Therefore, capacity to deliver before that date would be an asset
• Payments will be made quarterly. It should be made clear in the project proposals in the case that the implementer does not have the financial capacity to deliver the project, in full or in part. Exceptions related to advance payments are not guaranteed
• Administration costs must not exceed the 10% of the total project budget
• Proposals that are co-financed by other donors are welcome. This information must also be specified at the time of submitting the proposal

Funds for capital purchases; this includes infrastructure, cars, furniture, computer equipment, amongst others, are not suggested but will be assessed case by case. The funding cannot be used for flight tickets above economy class.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, your organization or agency must be a legal entity, a not-for-profit commercial company, a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) or government, or an academic or research institution, while proving:

• previous experience in project management and administration
• previous experience working with international agencies or organizations would be considered an asset
• proof of legal registration
• sufficient technical, financial, human, and logistical capacity to complete the project proposal

How to bid

The application process must include the following forms: * A project proposal form under £10,000 * A detailed budget breakdown (Activity Based Budget, ABB spreadsheet) of the specific activities to be developed by the project (financial breakdown), monthly

Project proposals will not be considered if they are not submitted together with the detailed ABB supporting how the budget will be spent and demonstrating an efficient use of financial resources.

The ABB should include as much detail as possible and it should be reflected on the currency that the implementer is going to receive the funding.

All required documents should be sent to the email address: [email protected] ; [email protected] with the subject ‘Project proposal form’ and including, in the email’s body, a brief reference to the organization and the project title.

Only the proposals approved by the Embassy Programme Board will be considered for implementation.

Timetable

If approved, additional information will be requested to ensure the due diligence process, and finally a contract or financing agreement will be signed with the British Embassy in Havana.

Documents for downloading

1. Proposal Form – under £10k (MS Word Document, 288KB) – Project Proposal Form under £10,000 (MS Word Document, 289KB) (MS Word Document, 61.6KB)
2. Activity Based Budget template (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 29.6KB) – Activity Based Budget Form (ABB) (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 30.2KB) (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 27.2KB)