YSEALI Regional Workshop: "Enhancing ASEAN Human Capital in Health" | 20 VNM NOFO 02

Opportunity Information: Apply for 20 VNM NOFO 02

The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi invited eligible organizations to compete for a cooperative agreement to design, plan, and deliver a three-day Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) regional workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam (with travel handled separately from the three workshop days), planned for May 2021 and contingent on available funding. The workshop theme, "Enhancing ASEAN Human Capital in Health," is framed as a regional leadership and development effort that uses health as a foundation for stronger economic growth, resilience, and inclusive development across Southeast Asia. The program is meant to reinforce YSEALI's broader mission of strengthening U.S.-ASEAN ties and building a network of emerging leaders who collaborate across borders on shared regional challenges.

The workshop is designed for roughly 50 to 80 participants ages 20 to 30 from all ten ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) plus Timor-Leste. Participants must be registered YSEALI members, proficient in spoken and written English, and drawn from diverse professional and academic backgrounds connected to health and human capital, including healthcare delivery, public health, nutrition and food safety, water and sanitation, health economics, education and training of health professionals, and health-focused NGOs or community service organizations. Diversity is a central expectation: proposals are asked to prioritize racial, ethnic, religious, experiential, gender, and geographic representation, with special emphasis on including participants from provinces and non-capital areas.

Substantively, the opportunity emphasizes "human capital" as a driver of economic empowerment, with healthcare positioned as essential for a productive labor force and stronger communities. A key goal is building practical bridges among health institutions and policy communities across ASEAN and Timor-Leste so countries can cooperate not only during crises like COVID-19, but also on long-running public health issues such as chronic disease, tobacco use, occupational health, nutrition, food safety, and access to clean water. The workshop also highlights inclusive distribution of health services as a prerequisite for higher living standards, inclusive growth, and greater self-reliance. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate examples of U.S. government and U.S. private sector approaches to healthcare improvement and human capital investment in the region, strengthening people-to-people ties and professional connections between U.S. and Southeast Asian health and health policy communities.

Program content is expected to be interactive and action-oriented. Suggested components include improving healthcare systems in routine conditions and emergencies; addressing infectious and non-communicable diseases to support a healthy workforce; combating malnutrition and strengthening food safety; improving affordability and accessibility of quality essential services; ensuring clean water; promoting healthy workplaces; encouraging social entrepreneurship in health services; and examining how public and private sector regulation can support crisis response while maintaining sustainable economic activity. The workshop format is expected to blend informational sessions and inspirational talks (including best practices from U.S. government alumni and U.S./ASEAN business and civic leaders), hands-on group work that pushes participants to design social solutions, structured networking with speakers/facilitators/mentors, workplace skill-building training, site visits to ground learning in real-world practice, cultural programming and a reception, and a small grants competition to help launch participant-led initiatives.

A major feature of this grant opportunity is the requirement for follow-on engagement beyond the in-person workshop. Proposals are expected to include a plan for continued collaboration through virtual work, seed funding for selected projects, and/or ongoing mentorship, and to integrate these activities into a monitoring and evaluation approach. The opportunity explicitly calls for pre- and post-workshop surveys to measure changes in participant knowledge and to assess overall program effectiveness. The program design is also expected to weave in leadership development, reinvestment in one's community, and the building of a shared ASEAN identity anchored in tackling regional problems. Speakers, facilitators, and mentors may come from the United States, ASEAN member states, and/or Timor-Leste.

Operationally, the implementing organization would coordinate closely with the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and U.S. embassies across ASEAN and Timor-Leste on participant recruitment and selection. The recipient must create and manage an online application process and coordinate regional outreach, while final selection is made by the implementer in consultation with U.S. missions to ensure balanced representation by country, age, gender, field, and location. Applicants to the workshop are expected to describe a human capital development problem facing their community and the barriers to progress; by the end of the workshop, participants must use what they learned to propose a multi-pronged solution to the problem they identified.

The awardee is also expected to manage the full range of logistical and communications deliverables. That includes developing a tailored syllabus and event program with participant and speaker biographies; designing, printing, and placing banners, backdrops, and other materials; and running a strategic digital engagement campaign using live video and/or live online interactions to reach both participants and broader social media audiences during the program. The announcement specifically notes that no new event-specific website should be created, and that domain/hosting/design costs for a new site will not be supported.

Travel and participant support are a core budget responsibility under the cooperative agreement. The recipient is expected to arrange and pay for participant and staff travel and related costs, including international and domestic airfare, visa fees, airport transfers, lodging, per diem, insurance, and meals and incidentals during the program. The funding opportunity (20-VNM-NOFO-02) is administered by the U.S. Mission to Vietnam, listed under CFDA 19.040, with an award ceiling of $250,000. Eligible applicants include U.S. and foreign public or nonprofit educational institutions and U.S. and foreign nonprofit organizations (including think tanks). The original application closing date was July 13, 2020, and application materials were made available via Grants.gov and the U.S. Mission to Vietnam website.

• The U.S. Mission to Vietnam in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "YSEALI Regional Workshop: "Enhancing ASEAN Human Capital in Health"" 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 2020-05-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-07-13. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 20 VNM NOFO 02

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