Young Pacific Leaders Regional Workshop on Security | PDS NEWZEALAND 2024 05

Opportunity Information: Apply for PDS NEWZEALAND 2024 05

The Young Pacific Leaders Regional Workshop on Security is a U.S. Department of State grant opportunity, administered through the U.S. Embassy New Zealand Public Diplomacy Section, to fund one organization to design and deliver a regional security workshop for emerging Pacific leaders. The workshop is planned for a window between July and October 2025, contingent on funding availability, and is intended to strengthen practical security leadership skills across the Pacific by combining training, practitioner exchange, and collaborative planning.

A key preference is for the workshop to be held in Vanuatu, ideally timed to coincide with or run alongside the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Conference that Vanuatu is expected to host in 2025. While Vanuatu is the preferred location, the opportunity allows for alternative Pacific venues if logistics, costs, or other constraints make a different site more feasible.

Programmatically, the workshop is aimed at building local and regional capacity in areas that directly support public safety, resilience, and sovereignty. Priority content areas include developing intelligence capabilities that can better inform decision makers, improving the ability to plan for and manage large events, strengthening preparedness and response for natural disasters, and enhancing investigative capabilities focused on the region's highest crime priorities. Beyond these core themes, the workshop is expected to promote peace, security, and Pacific regionalism by introducing and helping participants apply best practices in areas such as maritime security, cybersecurity, and health security, with an emphasis on moving from discussion to operational steps that participants can take back to their institutions and communities.

The convening is also framed as a multi-stakeholder forum rather than a narrow technical training. The solicitation highlights bringing together practitioners and contributors from across society and governance, including government representatives, civil society, and subject-matter experts, to identify shared challenges, develop action plans, and build relationships that support ongoing regional collaboration and real-world implementation of improved security practices.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary award using a cooperative agreement, meaning the U.S. government typically expects an active partnership role during implementation compared to a standard grant. The funding activity category is listed as community development, with CFDA number 19.040. The opportunity anticipates a single award with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $250,000.

Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in the latter category). The funding opportunity number is PDS NEWZEALAND 2024 05. The application closing date listed is July 31, 2024, and the opportunity was created on June 13, 2024, under the U.S. Mission to New Zealand.

• The U.S. Mission to New Zealand in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Young Pacific Leaders Regional Workshop on Security" 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 2024-06-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-07-31. (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.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for PDS NEWZEALAND 2024 05

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