The US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) $45 million Citizens’ Voice Project (CVP) was launched by US Consul General William Martin on Friday.
The project, funded under the Kerry Luger Bill, aims to increase citizen involvement in policy advocacy and governance in the energy, economic growth, agriculture, education and health sectors.
Martin said it was the single largest investment in civic and social organisations in USAID’s 50-year history in Pakistan.
The project, being implemented by the Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability, will issue 500 grants over the next three years.
CVP Director Mukhtar Ahmed Ali said 40 grants, ranging from $50,000 to $250,000, will be issued each quarter of the year.
The deadline for the first cycle of applications from the NGOs is Friday, December 2.
The project will cover three provinces - Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh, including the Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpur Khas divisions of Sindh.
Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed also attended the event and objected to the exclusion of Karachi and Hyderabad from the project.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2011.
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