The British Council continue to be active in delivering international development projects worldwide. In the last three months, we signed contracts on over 20 projects – below is a brief description of a selection of them.
Key to acronyms
CSO – Civil Society Organisation
EES – English for Education System
FCO – Foreign and Commonwealth Office
HEC – Higher Education Commission
ICT - Information and Communication Technology
SOUTH ASIA
Title: Pak-UK Gateway
Country: Pakistan
Client: Higher Education Commission Pakistan (HEC)
Sector: Higher Education
Value: GBP 6 million (co-funded by British Council and HEC)
Length: 36 months
Description: The UK-PAK Higher Education Gateway will support collaboration between institutions and organisations from both countries, help deliver reform and change for Higher Education in Pakistan and increase opportunities for young people to benefit from a world class education which the British system provides. The Gateway has been developed by British Council and the HEC, building on years of co-operation between the two organisations. Education is at the heart of the UK’s relationship with Pakistan. The British Council is helping HEC to deliver its Vision 2025 which will improve enrolment by 15 per cent to 7.1million, increase PhD faculty by 40 per cent and grow the number of universities to 300. International co-operation is central to the HEC’s vision and the UK is partner of choice.
Title: EU Supporting Effective Dispute Resolution (SEDR)
Country: Sri Lanka
Client: EU
Sector: Justice
Value: GBP 5,982,906
Length: 48 months
Description: The overall objective of SEDR is to strengthen dialogue between the people and the state, thereby contributing to the resolution of critical underlying causes of conflict and preventing the escalation of local disputes, with a specific objective to improve dispute resolution services for both individual and community level grievances.
Title: Promoting Knowledge for Accountable Systems (PROKAS) Extension
Country: Bangladesh
Client: Department for International Development
Sector: Governance and Civil Society
Value: GBP 6,500,000
Length: 24 months
Description: The objective of this contract is to leverage investments to-date to achieve effective sustainable outcomes for the PROKAS programme through funding and support to networks and coalitions of civil society organisations to increase civic space, create change on issues of common interest and support government to improve its own transparency and accountability. The overall purpose of the programme is to increase transparency and accountability in Bangladesh.
EAST ASIA
Title: MyJustice 2
Country: Myanmar
Client: EU
Sector: Justice
Value: GBP 17,094,017
Length: 60 months
Description: To improve access to justice and legal aid for the poor and vulnerable, develop legal capacity of justice sector professionals and strengthen selected rule of law institutions to better fulfil their mandates. The overall objective is to improve access to justice for women, the poor and people living in vulnerable situations, in Myanmar. The specific objectives are: 1. Legal empowerment of women, poor and vulnerable groups, including those affected by conflict, to use knowledge of legal rights and justice options and claim rights. 2. Community justice services, both formal and informal are more inclusive, transparent, accountable, equitable and the system will protect and promote fundamental rights.
WIDER EUROPE
Title: EU Scheme for Young Professionals
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Client: EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sector: Governance and Civil Society
Value: GBP 1,281,156
Length: 24 months
Description: The European Commission, as well as the UK Government and the Governments of Western Balkans Countries, are seeking to increase stability and security in the region, by reducing the risks of inter-ethnic conflict and delivering governance and values which embed stability. The project aims to also support delivery of the UK’s Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS). To be able to achieve this, civil servants require training that will equip them with a set of skills and knowledge, as well as common experience and working culture.
Title: Strengthening Cross-Sectoral Collaboration for Social Cohesion (SC3)
Country: Ukraine
Client: EU Delegation to Ukraine
Sector: Governance and Civil Society
Value: GBP 792,000
Length: 36 months
Description: To enable Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to engage as actors of governance and development at country level. Lot 2 of the call is aimed at enhancement of the capacity of civil society and local authorities through networking and innovation. The priorities of this Lot are:
•to develop CSOs regional thematic networks through specific sectoral initiatives;
•to support the introduction and expansion of innovative methodologies, techniques and practices of public outreach and engagement, including cultural actions and ICT;
to support joint and mutually re-enforcing initiatives of local authorities and CSOs for local development.
Title: Europe House (formerly House of Europe)
Country: Ukraine
Client: EU Delegation to Ukraine
Sector: Arts - Creative Economy
Value: GBP 1,263,386
Length: 48 months
Description: The House of Europe programme's objective is to create the right conditions to boost people-to-people contacts between the EU and Ukrainian society to share best practices and encourage mutual understanding, thus supporting societal change.
The programme will facilitate and increase Ukraine's participation in existing EU (ERASMUS +, Creative Europe, etc.) and Member States Programmes. It will also ensure synergies between them and organise specific exchange, cooperation and mobility schemes between Ukraine and the EU for different target groups such as in culture, education, youth and health sectors.
Title: Atyrau Youth Enterprise Project phase II - I-SEED
Country: Kazakhstan
Client: Chevron
Sector: Social Enterprise
Value: GBP 703,390
Length: 19 months
Description: This extension and expansion of our existing Chevron-funded work in Atyrau will focus on the integration of the existing programmes Chevron funds in Atyrau and continued strategic development and implementation of programmes to ensure Chevron's planned youth centre in Atyrau becomes a vibrant, demand-driven, dynamic environment that meets the needs of youth and communities in Atyrau, supporting them to become more economically productive and socially engaged.
Title: Support to the Supreme Court of Cassation - extension
Country: Serbia
Client: European Commission
Sector: Justice
Value: GBP 683,761
Length: 3 months
Description: To contribute to the advancement of Serbia's judicial system and Rule of Law in line with the EU Accession Requirements. The purpose of this contract is to strengthen the capacities of the Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) and courts in ensuring efficient functioning of courts, in particular with reference to backlog reduction, Alternative Dispute Resolution system and case law harmonisation.
MENA
Title: Civil Society support programme in Libya
Country: Libya
Client: EU
Sector: Governance and Civil Society
Value: GBP 4,273,504
Length: 36 months
Description: The project’s key objective is to provide opportunities for young people to embark upon a creative journey as a means of experiential learning and community-building and engage with existing local governance structures to support social cohesion development efforts based on problems and solutions identified by local communities and young people. We hope to focus on the restoration of control and agency by young people in their communities in a context where their powerlessness may be a common theme.
Title: Teaching for Success II
Country: Tunisia
Client: FCO
Sector: EES
Value: GBP 520,271
Length: 5 months
Description: Teaching for Success, Tunisia focusses on addressing this skills gap through education in order to enhance the employability of young Tunisians as a means of contributing a more successful transition from education to employment for young Tunisians, which – in turn – will be a factor in reducing unemployment, increasing prosperity and ultimately growing stability and security in Tunisia.