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British Embassy launches call for project bids for FY 2018/19

The call for bids for the British Embassy in Cuba Programme Fund for financial year 2018/2019 is now open.

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government
British Embassy in Havana

British Embassy in Havana

Overview

The British Embassy in Havana has been allocated project funds for UK financial year 2018/19 (April 2018 to March 2019) by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London to support technical assistance work between the UK and Cuba in a number of priority areas through small-scale, high-impact project interventions (up to £10,000).

The British Embassy will now run a competitive bidding process in order to ensure we use our allocation for projects that are of high quality and deliver value for money.

Guidance on how to bid is set out below.

Who may bid? Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible, your organization or agency must be a legal entity, not-for-profit or commercial company, a registered non-governmental (NGO) or governmental organization, an academic or research institution, and must demonstrate that it has:

• previous experience in delivering and managing projects

• preferably previous experience working with international agencies/organizations

• proof of legal registration

• sufficient technical, financial, human and logistical capacity to deliver the project being proposed

• the capacity to deliver at least 85% of the proposed project activity by mid-December 2018

How to bid?

The bidding process should include the followings forms:

  1. Project Proposal Form for projects under £10,000

  2. A fully developed Activity-Based Budget (financial breakdown)

Each institution may present up to a maximum of 5 proposals which can be completed in English or Spanish.

The Embassy Programme Fund does not authorize the purchase of capital goods, flight costs above economy class, nor can it fund purely academic research projects.

Only bids approved by the Embassy Programme Board will be considered for delivery. Bidders will be advised if a concept bid has been accepted and approved for implementation. If provisionally approved, bidders will be asked for further due diligence information, and finally asked to sign a contract or grant agreement with the British Embassy, Havana.

Please send all project documents to the dedicated projects email address for the Embassy: UKinCubaProjects@fco.gov.uk

If you have any queries, then you should address them to maria.sosa@fco.gov.uk

In the subject line of the email please indicate “Project Proposal Form” and please include in the body of the message a brief reference to the organization and the project title.

The deadline for submission of project concept bids is Wednesday 13 June 2018.

The budget

Project proposals must show in outline how budgets are to be spent using the Activity Based Budget Form (ABB). Value for money must be demonstrated.

The full bid document must be accompanied by a fully completed activity based budget. FCO Project Management Procedures require the delivery of the budget using the ABB form.

This must be completed – the project proposal will not be considered without a detailed ABB. Break down all activity costs into components so it is clear how they are made up and which month particular payments are due. Provide as much detail as possible, (i.e. do not state just the figure for a workshop, but break that down into venue, catering, travel costs etc.).

Cuba Priorities for UK Financial Year April 2018 – March 2019 (delivery must be complete at 85% by mid December 2018).

The Embassy is looking for innovative projects, with concrete objectives and measurable policy outcomes. We remind bidders that we cannot fund academic research projects, or research collaboration projects.

Your proposal must be related to one of the following policy areas:

• Financial and Professional Services, Central Banking

• Global Health threats, Biotech and Life Sciences

• Higher Education and English Language

• Renewable Energy, strategy and technology

• Public Procurement

• Public Policy, Administration and Governance

• Cuban economic model, challenges and solutions

Indicative Timetable

Bidding Round Timeline FY 2018/19:

Date: Activities
18 May 2018 This call for bids announcement made
By 13 June 2018 Deadline for Implementers to submit Project Proposal Forms to the British Embassy Havana Programme Team
13 June to 29 June 2018 Project Proposal Forms reviewed by Havana-London Programme Board at the British Embassy in Havana
2 July 2018 Outcome of full bids notified to implementers/bidders

Documents for downloading:

  1. Project Proposal Form under £10,000 (MS Word Document, 289 KB)

  2. Activity Based Budget Form (ABB) (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 30.2 KB)

Updates to this page

Published 10 March 2017
Last updated 18 May 2018 + show all updates
  1. Call for projects bids FY 2018/19

  2. Added translation