Carpentry at Fundacion Aliñambi

The Special Development Activity offers direct assistance to the communities that are developing socio-economic projects to solve their immediate needs, thus, responding quickly to expressed and felt needs of low-income groups in urban and rural areas.  These projects are generally outside of the normal government-to-government channels and represent a substantial input of local community self-help.

These small projects are generally $5,000 to be invested in equipment and/or working tools, and are subject to availability of funds in a yearly basis.  In order to be eligible, activities should benefit the majority of community members; must have a direct civic, social, environmental or economic impact, consistent with the Mission’s strategic objective framework, and usually should be capable of completion in less than one year.

In addition, these funds can help a given community only once and should not be used to finance land, major construction, technical assistance, training or recurrent costs.  The requesting organization must demonstrate its legal status and adequate management capabilities to execute the activity, and provisions should be made for the maintenance and efficient operation of the activity once it is completed.

Although the SDAA projects require minimum levels of financing, they had great impact for improving the lives of low-income people around the country. The beneficiary communities should have great compromise for the success of project activities and to optimize the use of funds.

There is a regular application form that is available at USAID/Ecuador