The support to local initiatives is a flexible instrument that helps the Embassy of Switzerland to supplement or accompany its long-term and larger-scale development interventions and contributes to the Swiss visibility in Uzbekistan

As the official representation of Switzerland in Uzbekistan, the Embassy maintains diplomatic relations between the two countries and also provides development assistance in line with the Swiss Cooperation Programme for Central Asia 2022–2025. The Cooperation Programme outlines specific priority areas for Uzbekistan with the aim to make an effective contribution to the country’s development pathway by focusing on three thematic domains:

• Water, Infrastructure and Climate Change (WICC)
• Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Development (ISED)
• Governance, Human Rights and Service Delivery (GHRSD)

In addition, Gender Equality and the principles of "Leave No One Behind" (LNOB) are also priority transversal themes.

Categories of projects eligible for funding:

• Support to systemic, transformative and/or larger projects where Switzerland can offer a clear added value in line with the thematic domain priorities, this can include the elaboration testing of adjacent innovative ideas or concepts.
• Stand-alone smaller projects with objectives that are directly linked to the Switzerland’s priority thematic domains (see above), including for piloting and testing of innovative approaches and/or knowledge generation and sharing (studies, awareness raising events, capacity building etc.).
• Ad-hoc flexible funds for unexpected / crisis response actions (as for example COVID-19 mitigation measures).

The following types of proposals and requests are not eligible for the support:

• Travel grants
• Study tours abroad
• Scholarships
• Charity events
• Running costs of the applying organization, constructions, equipment and materials, when presented without activities and clear relevance to an overall project design.

Eligible applicants:

• Non-governmental and non-profit organizations
• Professional associations and unions
• Local offices of international organizations
• Public institutions, unions, associations etc.
• Private Sector/Commercial entities
• Individual professionals /persons
• The applicants should be organizations located, registered and functioning in Uzbekistan

Financial and operational requirements:

• SDC funding may not exceed CHF 200’000; SAL project funds are used to finance one-time actions of limited duration (without commitments for subsequent phases).
• In the case of contract values exceeding the equivalent of CHF 100’000 (or if decided during the attribution process) an external financial audit is required.
• The budget currency for applications is UZS, converted into CHF in accordance with the National Bank of Uzbekistan (NBU) rate (except if applicant represents local offices of international organizations).
• Local initiatives can be financed through mandates or contributions
  • In the case of a mandate, the Embassy finances 100% of the project costs and it is considered an activity or project of the Embassy.
  • In the case of a contribution, the Embassy finances only a portion of the overall project costs while at least 20% of the total budget are secured through other donors co-financing, fundraising, or their own financial or in-kind resources.
• The applicant has appropriate organizational capacity (finance, accounting, administration, and personnel), allowing an efficient and transparent implementation and monitoring of the supported project.
• The project duration shall not exceed 18 months.
• Travel grants, study tours abroad, scholarships, charity events and running costs of the applying organization, equipment and materials, are ineligible costs when presented without clear relevance to an overall project design.

The following package of documents should be provided:

• Applicants shall submit a project proposal in English including an estimated budget. The proposal shall be structured in a clear manner, and include information covering: context, justification/relevance, objectives, activities, beneficiaries, expected results, budget, plan of financing and reporting (including operational and financial elements). Templates of proposal and budget are provided at the bottom of this page.
• The applicant provides information about the organization (i.e. copy of the legal registration documents: charter, certificate, bank account details and passport copy of the director and portfolio with successful experience or references) or the individual (i.e. copy of the passport, CV and reference/support letter).
• Documents shall be submitted with the subject line: "Swiss International Cooperation – Support to local Initiatives proposal" to tashkent@eda.admin.ch