FY 2014 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Burmese and Other Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia, Thailand and Region

Current Funding Priorities for Assistance to Burmese and Other Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia:(1) Healthcare:a. Improve primary healthcare (including reproductive health), medical services, mental health, and psychosocial support to the urban refugee and asylum seeker populations in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley, including the implementation of mobile health clinics; b. Provision of nursing facilities and caretakers for refugee patients requiring recuperation and post-hospitalization nursing care; andc. Health-based training and education focusing on general health care, communicable disease prevention, treatment adherence, reproductive health, and nutrition.(2) Gender-Based Violence (GBV):a. Improve knowledge of and changes in attitudes toward GBV within refugee and host communities;b. Improve capacity of target communities to identify and effectively respond to GBV through healthcare (including reproductive health), psychosocial, safety, justice, and other services that involve refugee and host community members in their design and implementation; andc. Improve capacity of service providers to implement GBV prevention and response activities, including multi-sectoral referral services.Current Funding Priorities for Assistance to Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand:(1) Healthcare: a. Improve access to primary healthcare (including reproductive health), medical services, mental health, and psychosocial support to vulnerable urban refugee and asylum seeker populations in Bangkok, including to facilitate access to public clinics and hospitals.(2) Education: a. Facilitate access to schools, including working with local school administrators to overcome barriers for refugee children and promote student enrollment; b. Teach Thai language courses to facilitate refugees’ and asylum seekers’ ability to pursue formal education in Thai schools; andc. Promote official certification of their schooling applicable to when they decide on voluntary return or are resettled to a third country.(3) Protection: Proposal should bear in mind existing refugee protection mechanisms as well as informal community-based protection efforts. Proposals should be designed to support and strengthen existing protection mechanisms rather than develop parallel systems that may not be sustainable over time. Key components of protection programs may include: a. legal assistance and counseling, b. prevention and response to gender-based violence, c. child protection, andd. dissemination of information to promote enhanced refugee access to protection mechanisms and programs.