STARS Foundation’s Impact Awards 2012: grant funding to NGOs

The STARS Foundation is now open to accepting applications for the STARS Impact Awards 2012, which offer $100,000 of unrestricted funding in addition to providing tailored consultancy support and media training, content and access to NGOs across Africa, Middle East, Asia and the Pacific regions.

The STARS Impact Awards aim to identify and support local NGOs that achieve excellence in the provision of services to disadvantaged children and that demonstrate effective management practices.

There are six Impact Awards in total: three Awards for Africa-Middle East and three for Asia-Pacific, across the categories of Health, Education and Protection.

This year, thanks to their  partnership with the Ashmore Foundation, STARS is able to increase the number of Awards it intends to offer to 14. Of these, 6 Awards are made up of US$100,000 of unrestricted funding and additional consultancy support  and the other 8 Awards will range in value from US$15,000 to US$60,000.

In addition, a smaller Award may be made at the discretion of the STARS Board of Trustees to recognise the work of an organisation whose application demonstrates potential as a ‘Rising Star’.

The geographical focus of the STARS Imapct Awards is Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific regions. There are around 80 countries in these regions which can apply to these grants. The countries have been selected on the basis of their estimated under-five mortality rate (U5MR) which is a critical indicator of the well-being of children. STARS targets countries with the highest under-five mortality rates according to the UNICEF report and rankings of 2009.

Africa & Middle East: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Asia & Pacific: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

• US$100,000 of unrestricted funding – Giving recipient organisations the flexibility to respond more effectively to the challenges they face and to the needs of the children they serve
• Tailored consultancy support – Offering recipient organisations access to training or skills and helping them to maximise the benefits of their Award
• Media training, content and access – Providing recipient organisations with the tools and opportunities to use the Award to enhance their profile

Applications can be submitted online or by email or you can post it to the STARS Foundation office. The deadline for submission of proposals is 7 November 2011. For more information, visit this link.