A “Request for Proposals” for occupational health and safety trainings and technical projects have just been issued by the Developing World Outreach Initiative in northern California and the Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network. Available are $500 (USD) grants for grassroots-level OHS trainings with workers, affected communities and health and safety personnel; and $1,000 to $2,000 (USD) grants for OHS technical projects to investigate and document workplace exposures leading to adverse health effects.

Countries: “low” and “middle” income countries in the language of the World Bank and United Nations

Application language: English

Deadline: 15 October 2017

ELIGIBILITY

Non-governmental organizations (such as unions, workers’ centers, women’s and human rights and community-based organizations) and universities in the developing world. No individuals are eligible to apply without authorization from your organization. 

A. Request For Technical Project Proposals for Occupational Health and Safety Capacity Building 

Grant size: $ 1,000 - $ 2,000 USD

In addition, DWOI will provide selected grant recipients with ongoing technical advice during the project period. Projects must be completed by December 2018. 

Note: Requests for general operational funding, travel (other than that directly related to local project execution) or capital improvements will not be considered. 

DESCRIPTION

The Developing World Outreach Initiative (DWOI) is seeking international partners for technical projects to promote and advance occupational health and safety in economically developing countries. This Request for Proposals invites non---governmental organizations (NGOs) and Universities to respond. The submitter(s) of the best proposal(s) will be awarded a monetary grant and technical advice. 

Eligible proposals must have an investigative technical focus. Proposals should address each of the proposal criteria listed below: 

• Potential for completion of project independently within specified time frame; 
• Consistency with the mission of DWOI;
• Qualifications and/or past achievements of the organization;
• Feasibility and practicality of the proposal;
• Project’s ability to achieve primary prevention of work---related disease and illness that can impact many people (public health impact);
• Demonstrated need for technical assistance or collaboration beyond funding only;
• Development and promotion of the occupational hygiene profession; and
• Addressing a known or potential worker health issue with an occupational exposure

Proposals shall be brief (not more than 2 pages) and written in English. Submit by email attachment and all text must be in a single pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file. The text must include your full contact information including email, mobile phone number, and the complete address for the institution or organization you are affiliated with. The name of the pdf file must start with the name of your country and your organization’s abbreviation or name. In addition, proposals should contain the following: 

1. Descriptive title of the proposal. 
2. Proposal and project description
3. Time---frame of when the project would take place (assume a November 15, 2017, start date).
4. What is needed to make the project viable and successful (e.g., partnerships and/or expertise) and what type of technical assistance you would seek from DWOI. Please note any other sources of proposal funding (if any).
5. An addendum to the proposal may be attached to provide information on the number of staff and volunteers, annual budget, the background of the organization, and names and titles of the principal people who would be involved in the project (not included in the page count).
6. Curricula vitae (CVs) for one or two key individuals involved in the project must be included in the proposal addendum.

Proposals must be sent in a single file in pdf format with the file name starting with your country and then the abbreviation or name of submitting organization. Submit proposals via email to: developingworldoi@gmail.com 

B. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Training Workshops 

The Developing World Outreach Initiative (DWOI) of the Northern California Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network (MHSSN) are seeking proposals to support occupational health and safety training workshops to be conducted with workers and health and safety personnel in the developing world. Non-governmental organizations, such as unions, worker rights, women’s and community-based organizations, and universities are encouraged to submit proposals. 

Training Components: The training workshops can be on any topic related to workplace health and safety in either the formal and informal economic sector, in workplaces linked to global supply chains, or national production facilities, or informal and household workers. 

Training participants can include workers in a specific industry or facility, staff members of unions or worker centers, worker rights activists, or grassroots-level workers. A key goal of the training workshops should be to increase the knowledge and skills of the participants and their organizations through a “train-the-trainer” approach that will spread OHS information to other workers in their country. The training workshops must be held by December 2018. 

Grant size: $ 500 USD (5 grants will be awarded)

DESCRIPTION

The proposal in English should include a 1 to 2 page description of curricula topics the workshop will cover, the target audience (both number and type of participants), and a description of the goal of the workshop and what participants are expected to learn and be able to apply to their work setting after the event. The proposal can include a preliminary agenda. 

We also need a simple one-page budget for the costs of the training. All parts of the proposal should be submitted in a single PDF file.  Proposals should be submitted to < garrettdbrown@comcast.net > 

For more information:

The Northern California Section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association launched the Developing World Outreach initiative in March 2006 to address the lack of adequate industrial hygiene resources for workers and workplace health and safety professionals in developing countries. The all---volunteer group has worked successfully to connect the technical resources within the U.S. with those who need occupational hygiene assistance in the developing world. For additional information on DWOI and its programs, see http://aiha- ncs.org/content.php?page=Developing_World_Outreach_Initiative 

The Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network was founded in 1993 and consists of 300 occupational health professionals who have volunteered to provide occupational health and safety information, training and technical assistance for worker and community organizations. The Network’s goal has been to increase the OHS capacity of these organizations so that workers in the developing world are able to protect themselves on the job and exercise their rights under the law. For additional information on the MHSSN and its projects, see http://mhssn.igc.org