Four critical service grants have been awarded to project partners in Karen and Mon States as part of the USAID-supported Advancing Community Empowerment in Southeastern Myanmar project, according to a statement. Grantees include the Karen Department of Health and Welfare and the Karen Ethnic Health Organization Consortium, Global Neighbors Thailand Foundation, Mae Tao Clinic, and Mon National Health Committee (MNHC). The Advancing Community Empowerment project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
These critical service grants focus on essential healthcare needs in vulnerable communities as well as internally displaced persons, pregnant women, and children under 5 years of age along the Thai-Burma border and in hard-to-reach communities.
These grants follow February's signing of four initial grant awardees in Loikaw, Kayah / Karenni State to support organizations addressing community development priorities in southeastern Myanmar. A total of eight critical service grants have been awarded, with an estimated 500,000 people expected to benefit from interventions in the areas of health, education, livelihoods, and gender and youth.
The next Request for Applications under the project is expected to be released by July. This grant opportunity will support the provision of health and education services in ethnic-administered and mixed-authority areas in southeastern Myanmar. In addition to providing services, successful applicants will work with project consortium members to support increased responsiveness and accountability to communities, improve the inclusion of marginalized individuals / groups, and pursue options to ensure the continuity of education and health services.
The Advancing Community Empowerment project is a five-year, $ 48-million project funded by USAID and implemented by Pact in partnership with Community Partners International, Mercy Corps, and Save the Children International. The project will also partner with a wide range of local and regional organizations, service providers, and others to address community development priorities. The projected geographical reach of the project includes Kayah / Karenni, Kayin / Karen, Mon, Southern Shan, Eastern Bago, and Northern Tanintharyi Regions and States.