Southeast Asia

Guidelines  |  Grantee List

OSI makes grants in Southeast Asia through two programs: the Southeast Asia (SEA) Initiative and the Southeast Asia: Beyond Borders Program.

The SEA Initiative supports programs concentrating on human rights advocacy, access to justice, media, and access to information. The SEA: Beyond Borders Program supports international exchanges that bring civil society actors and organizations together beyond borders to build and/or strengthen resources and expertise; share best practices/lessons learned in social transformation; collaborate on innovative solutions to common challenges; and create and/or strengthen international advocacy coalitions.

The SEA Initiative and SEA: Beyond Borders Program also work collaboratively with OSI’s thematic initiatives, combining expertise and resources to inform grantmaking in the Southeast Asia region. SEA currently operates and cofunds programs with the following OSI initiatives: Information Program, Media Program, Open Society Justice Initiative, and Public Health Program.

The SEA Initiative and SEA: Beyond Borders Program fund regional projects and, occasionally, country-specific projects in countries other than Burma and Indonesia. To date, SEA has supported projects in Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Grantmaking Priorities

• Alternative media development
• Access to justice for vulnerable groups
• Citizen education on rights and responsibilities
• Monitoring governments' records on human rights and democracy and advocacy for the rights of citizens to participate in government decision-making processes

The Southeast Asia Initiative values programs which target or include: women, youth, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized populations.

To Apply

Begin by reading the frequently asked questions about Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative grants.

To submit an application for funds, please visit OSI’s Online Application System at http://oas.soros.org/oas. Please note that if proposals or concept papers are emailed Directly to Maureen Aung-Thwin, director of the Burma Project/Southeast Asia Initiative, there is no guarantee that she will be able to respond.

All proposals must include:

• a narrative describing the organization and the specific activities for which it seeks funding;
• an itemized budget.

Please see the suggested narrative and budget proposal templates attached below.

The Southeast Asia Initiative does not make multi-year or supplemental grants. Applicants who seek funding for a multi-year project must re-apply from year to year. Applicants who require additional funds for a project that OSI has previously funded must submit a new application.

Deadlines

The Southeast Asia Initiative proposal application deadlines are January 15 and July 15.

The online application system begins accepting proposals about one month prior to each deadline and closes at midnight the day of the deadline. The online system allows applicants to set up an account and save and edit their applications in various stages before they are completed. OSI cannot view applications until the applicant hits the “submit” button. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to up an OAS account in advance in case there are any computing problems.

A single entity may only submit one application per grant cycle. Applicants seeking funding for more than one project should include all funding requests in one proposal.

Funding Decisions

The Southeast Asia Initiative announces its funding decisions approximately two months after each deadline. Payments take an additional one to two months.