U.S. Embassy Ethiopia Public Diplomacy Notice of Funding Opportunity: Supporting the Transition of Ethiopia’s Public Universities to Autonomous Governance | PDS 005 FY2024

Opportunity Information: Apply for PDS 005 FY2024

The U.S. Mission to Ethiopia, through its Public Diplomacy section (PD Ethiopia), is offering a discretionary funding opportunity focused on helping Ethiopia's ten leading public universities shift to more autonomous governance. This work is tied directly to Ethiopia's University Autonomy Proclamation No. 1294/2023, which sets expectations for universities to operate with greater independence from the Ministry of Education. The central aim is practical capacity-building that enables these institutions to meet their autonomy requirements while improving education quality, strengthening academic freedom, and deepening institutional relationships with U.S. higher education partners.

The opportunity is structured as a cooperative agreement, which usually signals that the U.S. government expects to be actively engaged during implementation rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back. PD Ethiopia is looking for proposals that include a clear American educational component, meaning the project must involve U.S. experts, U.S. organizations, and/or U.S. universities in a substantive way. That U.S. connection is not just a formality; the opportunity explicitly emphasizes that activities should promote greater understanding of U.S. policies, values, and perspectives while also building functional partnerships that can last beyond the project period.

A key feature of this notice is that it builds on PD Ethiopia's earlier work with Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia's flagship research university. Prior PD-supported interventions helped AAU develop several foundational policy and governance documents needed for autonomous operations. These include frameworks related to strategic planning, senate legislation, student admissions, internationalization, endowment-building, and resource mobilization. PD Ethiopia also notes that it has already conducted intensive engagements with the next nine leading universities, particularly around accreditation and internationalization. The new funding is meant to extend and deepen that momentum, moving from early-stage assistance into broader, more systematized governance and administrative reform across all ten universities.

The proposed initiatives are expected to deliver technical assistance to AAU and the other nine universities primarily through structured consultations and partnerships with U.S. universities and technical experts. In practical terms, this means applicants should design activities like policy-development workshops, governance and leadership training, peer-to-peer exchanges, mentoring arrangements, and technical advisory support that helps universities draft, adopt, and implement their own core framework policy documents. The goal is not only to produce documents, but also to strengthen the institutions' ability to operationalize reforms in ways that stand up over time.

PD Ethiopia highlights several priority reform areas that proposals should address. These include student admissions systems and policies, research administration capacity, faculty development systems, alumni engagement strategies, internationalization planning and partnerships, accreditation of key academic programs, and financial administration improvements. The framing suggests that universities need both governance tools (rules, policies, oversight models) and administrative infrastructure (procedures, trained staff, quality assurance mechanisms) to meet autonomy requirements by the stated 2025 deadline. Competitive proposals will likely show how technical assistance translates into measurable institutional changes, such as updated regulations, improved decision-making processes, stronger accountability, and improved academic and administrative standards.

In terms of who can apply, the opportunity is open to registered not-for-profit organizations (including think tanks and civil society or non-governmental organizations) as well as non-profit or governmental educational institutions. Both U.S. and Ethiopian entities are encouraged to apply. While not strictly required, having a local presence in Ethiopia (such as offices, staff, and/or registration) is strongly encouraged, which implies the program values implementers who can coordinate on the ground, maintain relationships with partner universities, and navigate local operational realities. For-profit or commercial entities, including for-profit media organizations, are explicitly ineligible.

The award details indicate a maximum funding amount (award ceiling) of USD 300,000, with an expectation of making two awards. The funding opportunity number is PDS 005 FY2024, and it falls under CFDA 19.040. The original closing date listed is August 12, 2024, and the opportunity was created on July 9, 2024. Overall, this is a targeted public diplomacy and higher education governance program designed to help Ethiopia's leading public universities meet a near-term legal and institutional transition requirement, while embedding U.S. collaboration as a core feature of the approach.

• The U.S. Mission to Ethiopia in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "U.S. Embassy Ethiopia Public Diplomacy Notice of Funding Opportunity: Supporting the Transition of Ethiopia’s Public Universities to Autonomous Governance" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-07-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for PDS 005 FY2024

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