Foreign Assistance to American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA)

The purpose of the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) program is to furnish assistance to schools and libraries outside the United States founded or sponsored by United States citizens and serving as study and demonstration centers for ideas and practices of the United States, and to hospital centers for medical education and research outside the United States, founded or sponsored by United States citizens. Within this context of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Program, the objectives of the ASHA program are to strengthen overseas schools and hospitals that best demonstrate American ideas and practices, and are likely to survive over a long term.

Pursuant to Section 214 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, grant assistance is made available to schools and libraries outside the United States founded or sponsored by United States citizens and serving as study and demonstration centers for ideas and practices of the United States, and to hospital centers for medical education and research outside the United States, founded or sponsored by United States citizens. Grants made under this program help such institutions demonstrate to people overseas the achievements of the United States in education and medicine.

The applicant must be a non-profit U.S. organization, which either founded or sponsors the institution for which assistance is sought. The applicant, for example, can be a nonprofit university or a tax exempt organization under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended.

The applicant must demonstrate a continuing supportive relationship with the overseas institution. Evidence of this would be the provision of financial and management support for the institution.

Other more detailed eligibility requirements are addressed in the published Request for Applications which appear on the USAID/ASHA web site and www.grants.gov.

Beneficiaries must be institutions located outside the U.S. and must not be under the control or management of a government or any other of its agencies. The majority of the users of these overseas institutions, e.g., students or patients, must be citizens of countries other than the U.S.

Applications are submitted in response to specific announcements (Requests for Applications) synopsized and published on the grants.gov web site. All applications must be submitted using the Standard Form 424. Each announcement provides specific instructions regarding the contents of the description of the activity, budget documentation and other required information.

Following selection for award, a successful applicant will receive an electronic copy of the notice of award signed by the Agreement Officer which serves as the authorizing document. USAID will issue the award to the contacts specified by the applicant in it application documents and /or the Authorized Individuals submitted by the application.

The range is from 7 to 9 months.