USAID announces new Annual Program Statement to mark the second year of MEPPA implementation

USAID has announced the new Annual Program Statement (APS) for the second year of MEPPA. In its first year, USAID issued nine grants for people-to-people civil society programs in the region, six of which went to ALLMEP members. ALLMEP is proud to work with high-impact organizations working everyday to create a more peaceful and just reality for Palestinians and Israelis, and is pleased that another round of MEPPA funding will be allocated this year to support important peacebuilding work

The new APS will accept applications under two award categories: (1) small awards ($100,000-$500,000) and (2) large awards (up to $5 million each), opening MEPPA up to a wider cross-section of peacebuilding organizations of varying sizes in this second year.

According to the USAID, “In line with the overall goal of MEPPA to build the foundation for peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians and enable a sustainable two-state solution, activities funded by the People-to-People Partnership for Peace Fund will strengthen people-to-people grassroots linkages to address common challenges and enhance peacebuilding momentum to affect institutional and policy change. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives:

• Increase partnership between Palestinians and Israelis, and Arab and Jewish Israelis, to address issues of common interest or concern.
• Bolster efforts by Palestinians and Israelis to address internal divisions that must be overcome to foster peaceful coexistence.
• Improve partnerships between Palestinian and Israeli key actors to address issues of common concern. 
• Improve the enabling environment for cross-border partnership, particularly in development sectors, such that policies, procedures, and structures allow Palestinians and Israelis to engage in meaningful interactions across sectors without any barriers and fear of intimidation. 
• Strengthen the resilience of peacebuilding constituencies and institutions.”

The application format will remain the same, requiring an initial seven page concept paper, though this year there will be two windows for submission. The first closes on April 27th, and the second on October 19th.

ALLMEP will continue to support their efforts to submit strong concept papers for this funding opportunity and others as they arise. . Simultaneously, we are working with our members to build capacities, opportunities for collaboration and joint peacebuilding initiatives, and more. We recently convened two affinity groups: one focused on our tech-focused members with partner and comanager, Adnan Jaber, and another with youth-focused organizations working on crossborder peacebuilding initiatives. We will also continue to conduct research and thought leadership on both the need and impact of peacebuilding, while working with the donor community to ensure that these projects are as effective and well-resourced as possible. 

Our members are among some of the most transformative peacebuilding organizations in the field. We are honored to work with them and with key grantmakers like USAID to create the trust and bottom-up constituencies and movements that peace and equality requires.