News story: New call for bids for the Cuba Programme Fund for the FY 2019-20.

The project funds are aimed at supporting 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.

Further information and guidance on how to bid is set out below.

Cuba Priorities for UK FY 2019-20 (expenditure must be complete at 85% by mid December 2019).

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 Teaching
  • Energy (including renewable energy) strategy and technology
  • Public Procurement
  • Public Policy, Administration and Governance
  • Cuban economy, challenges and solutions.

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 2019.

How to bid?

Your proposal 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 submit 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 Cuba Programme Board will be considered for delivery. Bidders will be advised if their proposals are accepted for implementation. When approved, implementers will be asked for further due diligence information, and finally asked to sign a contract or grant agreement with the British Embassy in Havana.

Please send all project documents to UKinCubaProjects@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 proposals is Monday March 25, 2019

The budget

Project proposals must 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. Implementers will need to break down all activity costs into components so it is clear how they are made up and which month each payment is 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.).

Indicative Timetable Bidding Round Timeline FY 2019-20

Dates Activity
27 February 2019 This call for bids announcement made
25 March 2019 Deadline for Implementers to submit Project Proposal Forms and ABB, via email, to the British Embassy Havana Projects Team
25 March-19 April 2019 Project Proposal Forms reviewed by Cuba Programme Board at the British Embassy in Havana
22 April 2019 Outcome of successful bids notified to implementers/bidders

Documents for Downloading:

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 30KB

If you have any queries, then you should contact to Maria Sosa, Projects and Prosperity Assistant at the British Embassy in Havana: 72142231 / 52115372 / maria.sosa@fco.gov.uk

You will also find this Call for Bids at the Website of the British Embassy in Havana