Call for proposals - International Aboriginal Youth Internships Initiative

The total amount of funding available under the International Aboriginal Youth Internships (IAYI) initiative call for proposals is valued at up to ten million five-hundred thousand Canadian dollars (C$10,500,000) over five (5) years. Global Affairs Canada may fund any number of proposals, up to the maximum funding available.

You must submit your proposal to this call before the deadline. Global Affairs Canada will not accept any late submissions. Before beginning your application, be sure to read the instructions "Apply through a call for proposals" and the instructions available on the application form.

Objective

The International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative call for proposals is intended to:

• provide valuable work experience for Canadian Aboriginal youth, raising their employability and/or empowering them to further their formal education post-internship;
• provide opportunities for Aboriginal youth to increase their awareness of and contribution to Canada’s international development efforts through participation in youth internships with local partner organizations;
• build the capacity of Aboriginal youth to promote Canada’s international development efforts both in Canada and abroad; and
• contribute to the advancement of Global Affairs Canada’s mandate to reduce poverty and inequality, promote human rights and increase sustainable development, and to meet Global Affairs Canada’s priorities for official development assistance.

Under this call, your project proposal must contribute to the achievement of this ultimate outcome, exactly as indicated:

• increased empowerment of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) to engage as global citizens in Canada and abroad, including within their communities.

Your project proposal must also contribute to all of the following intermediate outcomes, exactly as indicated:

• increased participation of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) in their communities, in the labour market or in the higher education sector in Canada and abroad, including in the field of international development; and
• increased engagement of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) as global citizens who support international development efforts in Canada and abroad, including within their communities.

Your project proposal must also contribute to all of the following immediate outcomes, exactly as indicated:

• improved transferable skills among Aboriginal youth interns (female and male);
• increased awareness by Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) of their communities’ needs as well as employment or education opportunities in Canada and abroad, including in the field of international development;
• increased understanding and knowledge by Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) of international development issues, including environmental sustainability, governance and gender equality;
• increased capacity of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) to promote international development efforts in Canada and abroad, including within their communities; and
• increased capacity of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) to work together with local stakeholders to address international and/or domestic development issues.

You must not alter any of the above outcome statements.

Your application must include all of the following indicators, exactly as indicated, at the ultimate level in the Preliminary Performance Management Framework:

• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) reporting that they are empowered and confident to participate as global citizens in Canada and abroad, including within their communities; and
• the number of communities reporting that past interns had a positive impact on their development.

Your application must include all of the following indicators, exactly as indicated, at the intermediate level in the Preliminary Performance Management Framework:

• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) employed or actively seeking employment opportunities in Canada or abroad, including in the field of international development, post-internship;
• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) enrolled and/or actively pursuing higher education opportunities, including in the field of international development, post-internship;
• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) supporting and contributing to the development of their communities in Canada, post-internship;
• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) reporting that they are using skills developed during their internships to pursue/gain further educational and employment opportunities, or to support their communities in Canada;
• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) who continue to support Canada's international development efforts, post-internship;
• the number and percentage of Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) who continue to raise awareness of Canada’s international development efforts in Canada, including within their communities, post-internship; and
• the type of public engagement activities conducted by Aboriginal youth interns (female and male) in Canada, including within their communities, post-internship.

Organization eligibility

Global Affairs Canada will not pre-assess or comment on the eligibility of specific potential applicants. Carefully review the following eligibility screening requirements that Global Affairs Canada will use on submitted application packages for this particular call. To be eligible, you must be able to respond to each requirement and, where stipulated, provide supporting documentation.

To be eligible:

• the applicant or consortium lead (hereinafter referred to as the "applicant") has been legally incorporated or otherwise created under the provincial, territorial or federal laws of Canada for at least two (2) years;
• the applicant is a Canadian Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal organization and can provide a Canada Revenue Agency business number;
• the applicant has at least two (2) years’ experience working in the area of international development and can demonstrate appropriate experience by providing examples of past projects managed in Section 9.3 of the application form, "Relevant applicant experience"; and
• the applicant has a local partner for which a letter of agreement can be provided.

If you are unable to respond to any of the above requirements, your organization is not eligible to apply under this particular call.

Project idea conformity

Carefully review the parameters of this call and judge whether your project idea will fit. You must be able to answer "yes" to all of the following statements in order for your application to be considered for funding under this call:

• You are requesting Global Affairs Canada funding of no more than C$16,000 in direct costs plus 12 percent (12%) overhead per intern (an average of up to C$17,920 per intern).
• In addition to the C$16,000 in direct costs per internship, the applicant must allocate up to 10 percent (10%) of total direct costs per internship (a maximum of C$1,792 per internship) to: 1) develop additional innovative strategies to recruit Aboriginal interns; and 2) provide innovative activities post-internship.
• Your proposed project will last at least one (1) year and no more than five (5) years.
• Your proposed activities will be completed by March 31 of the last year of your project.
• The geographic focus of your project is in one (1) or more of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible countries, excluding the countries that are in the top 10 list of global economies, as per the World Bank rankings.
• The thematic focus of your proposed project aligns with Global Affairs Canada’s thematic priorities and its cross-cutting themes.
• The theory of change and logic model for the proposed project use the exact wording of the outcome statements provided in the "Objective" section above.
• The Preliminary Performance Management Framework for the proposed project includes the exact indicators listed in the "Objective" section above.
• Your application package documents are complete and presented in English or French, or a combination of both official languages.
• The applicant will provide at least five percent (5%) of the total eligible direct project costs over the life of the project in cash and/or in kind.

If your proposed project does not conform to the above parameters, it will not be assessed or considered for funding under this call.

Available resources

There are a number of resources available online to help you develop your application package. Global Affairs Canada strongly encourages you to read all of the following tools and guidance documents before beginning your application process. Failure to meet the mandatory requirements, minimum standards and deadlines set out in the application process will result in your application not being considered for funding.

• International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative Assessment Criteria (Application Form)
• Funding tools
• Apply through a call for proposals
• Questions and answers about applying for funding
• Best Practices for Canadian Organizations – International Aboriginal Youth Internships (IAYI) initiative

How to submit your application package

In order to be considered for this call, you must submit your complete application to Partners@International by March 28, 2017 before 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4).

Your application package must include all of the following documents:

• Anti-Corruption Declaration Form (completed and signed);
• Country Annex Form;
• Declaration regarding outstanding debts due to Her Majesty Form (completed and signed);
• Financial statements from the two (2) most recent completed fiscal years (signed);
• Local Partner Letter of Agreement;
• International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative Application Form (completed, with "validated" label showing on first page);
• Internship Annex;
• Proof of legal status;
• Local Partner Information Form; and
• Security Response Measures Annex Form.

Questions

If you have questions about this call for proposals, please send them to correspondence.pdi@international.gc.ca by February 28, 2017 before 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5). Global Affairs Canada will not respond to questions on specific organizational circumstances or on specific project proposals. Answers will appear on the Questions and Answers web page of the International Aboriginal Youth Internships initiative site.