U.S. Mission to South Africa Public Affairs Section Annual Program Statement 2022 | PAS ZAF FY22 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for PAS ZAF FY22 01

The U.S. Mission to South Africa Public Affairs Section Annual Program Statement 2022 (Funding Opportunity Number PAS ZAF FY22 01) is a discretionary public diplomacy funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of State, issued through the U.S. Mission to South Africa. It provides support under a grant or cooperative agreement mechanism for small, focused projects that use cultural and exchange programming to strengthen ties between the United States and South Africa. The opportunity emphasizes programs that highlight shared values, encourage mutual understanding, and advance bilateral cooperation, while also helping South African audiences better understand U.S. policies and perspectives through direct engagement with American people, institutions, or ideas.

A central requirement is that every proposed program includes a clear American component. That can mean an American cultural element, U.S. subject matter, or a concrete connection to U.S.-based experts, organizations, or institutions in a relevant field. The announcement gives practical examples of eligible project types, including academic or professional speaker engagements featuring an American speaker (in-person, virtual, or hybrid), arts and culture collaborations such as joint performances or exhibitions involving American artists or American themes, educational exchanges that involve travel by South Africans to the United States or Americans to South Africa, activities that expand programming at PAS-supported American Corners and American Spaces, partnership-building efforts between U.S. and South African organizations and their audiences, and projects proposed by alumni of U.S. government-sponsored educational or professional exchange programs.

Eligibility is aimed at South African non-profit entities. In particular, the APS seeks applications from South African non-profit institutions, non-governmental organizations, and non-profit private or public academic institutions. Projects must align with at least one of the stated priority program areas. Those priorities include strengthening higher education linkages between the two countries, with special interest in connections involving South Africa's technical, vocational, and training sectors; advancing women and youth economic empowerment, including efforts that reduce barriers to economic participation for disadvantaged groups and initiatives that combat or prevent gender-based violence; promoting pluralism, social inclusion, and shared history, including programs that explore historical connections between the United States and South Africa; supporting U.S. principles and approaches that encourage free and fair media at the community level, including initiatives designed to counter misinformation; and supporting efforts to counter climate change or promote green technology.

The selection approach is explicitly outcome-oriented. Applicants are expected to name a specific, clearly defined target audience that the project intends to reach and influence. The announcement stresses that strong audiences are countable and realistically reachable through the proposed activities, not vague or overly broad populations. Proposals are also expected to spell out what changes the program intends to produce in participants' knowledge, understanding, attitudes, or behaviors, and to explain how those results will be measured. The Public Affairs Section also signals particular interest in programming that takes place outside major metropolitan areas, especially in rural communities and smaller cities.

The application process uses a two-round structure designed to reduce the burden on applicants at the first stage. In Round 1, organizations submit a short Statement of Interest (SOI) of no more than 1,500 words describing the project concept and objectives. PAS reviews those SOIs and invites only a limited number of applicants to advance. In Round 2, invited applicants develop and submit a full proposal for formal consideration. A key procedural detail is that submissions are not made through Grants.gov; instead, applications must be emailed to PretoriaGrants@state.gov, and applicants are instructed to read the full announcement in the related documents before applying.

From a funding standpoint, the APS lists an award ceiling of $25,000 per award and anticipates making about 12 awards. The opportunity was created on November 18, 2021, and the original closing date was April 30, 2022. Overall, the grant program is positioned as a small-grants platform for practical, measurable public diplomacy projects that connect South African communities with American partners and perspectives while advancing shared priorities in education, empowerment, inclusion, media integrity, and climate-focused innovation.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to South Africa in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "U.S. Mission to South Africa Public Affairs Section Annual Program Statement 2022" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.040.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 18, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 30, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $25,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for PAS ZAF FY22 01

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: