The Government of Canada, through Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) and in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, today launched a call for proposals for the African Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships Fund. The creation of the Scholarships Fund was announced by Prime Minister Harper in December 2013 in honour of the late Nelson Mandela.
The call for proposals is open to eligible Canadian organizations with experience in managing scholarship programs. The African Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships Fund aims to provide promising young sub-Saharan African professionals between 22 and 35 years with Masters-level scholarships to study governance, public policy or administration in Canada for one to two years, in French or English, . Special consideration will be given to female students to encourage the advancement of women leaders in Africa.
One Canadian organization or one consortium will be selected through this call for proposals to implement, manage and promote the Scholarships Fund in its entirety.
DFATD and The MasterCard Foundation are each contributing $5 million to the African Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships Fund for a total value of $10 million over five years (2014-2019).
The African Leaders of Tomorrow Scholarships Fund call for proposals is open to Canadian charitable organizations legally incorporated in Canada with a minimum of three years of experience managing scholarship programs.
Canadian organizations that do not meet the eligibility requirements may form a consortium with another organization meeting all required eligibility criteria. Each organization may submit only one application to this call for proposals either on their own or as the lead in a consortium.
Preference will be given to proposals that include innovative elements. Innovation is defined as improved solutions to international development challenges. This could include the creation or implementation of new or improved tools, approaches, technologies, services, practices or processes that accelerate development results in a more effective and efficient way.
All proposals must be aligned with DFATD's Sustainable Economic Growth Strategy, as well as Canada's International Education Strategy, which promotes Canada as a global leader in higher education and a country of choice for international students.
Proposals must also integrate DFATD's three cross-cutting themes:
- Increasing environmental sustainability;
- Advancing equality between women and men; and
- Strengthening governance.
The deadline for proposal submissions is July 8, 2014 at 3 p.m.
Partners and those interested in this and future calls for proposals are encouraged to consult the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada website and subscribe to the RSS feeds to get the most up-to-date information.
