Central Asia Design Hub | STATE BISHKEK PAS 21 0003

Opportunity Information: Apply for STATE BISHKEK PAS 21 0003

The Central Asia Design Hub grant opportunity is a U.S. Mission to Kyrgyzstan initiative that builds on an ongoing regional media project launched in 2018. The project is centered on a physical hub in Bishkek that functions as a training and production support center for media organizations and creators from across Central Asia, including the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Through this hub model, the program provides space, equipment and production assistance, hosts regional participants working on media projects, and creates a practical environment where media professionals can learn by doing while producing real content.

A major existing component of the project is the licensing arrangement that allows 10 television broadcasters in Central Asia to air American educational entertainment programming, paired with dubbing and subtitling to make the content accessible in local languages. Examples cited include well-known childrens programs like Dora the Explorer and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. By expanding access to professionally produced educational content and adapting it linguistically for local audiences, the hub has helped diversify what viewers see on television across the region. It also gives the program flexibility to respond to demand for English-language content as well as locally adapted versions, depending on what audiences and broadcasters need.

The new funding opportunity is designed to strengthen the professionalism and resilience of Central Asias media ecosystem in both traditional media (like TV and radio) and newer digital formats (including social media and online publishing). It emphasizes increasing the amount and quality of local-language media, improving the overall production of locally made content across the region, and supporting efforts to counter disinformation. Another key focus is building the communications capacity of civil society organizations so they can use traditional outlets and social platforms more effectively to advance their missions, reach communities, and tell their stories with clearer messaging and stronger production quality.

The program also explicitly calls for collaboration with a wider range of regional media professionals beyond newsroom staff, including bloggers and influencers. The intent is to develop and promote locally produced content that highlights shared values between the United States and Central Asia and that supports positive narratives about U.S. engagement and partnership in the region. In practice, that means the grantee is expected not only to train people and provide tools, but to actively help generate content and distribution strategies that can reach real audiences and compete in crowded information environments.

The overall goal is to support a diverse, high-quality Central Asian media environment that elevates local voices while staying connected to global media standards and networks. The primary audiences include journalists, media professionals, civic-minded youth, and civil society organizations. The opportunity lays out four main objectives: first, to increase the technical capacity of local creators to use licensed American content effectively and to produce media that is high-quality and culturally resonant; second, to strengthen networking and collaboration among media professionals across Central Asia, including promotion of the GoViral regional network; third, to expand the availability of licensed American and local-language content that presents positive, engaging information about the United States; and fourth, to build CSO media production and messaging strategy skills while encouraging regional networking among organizations working on similar issues.

Administratively, this is a discretionary opportunity offered under Funding Opportunity Number STATE BISHKEK PAS 21 0003 through a cooperative agreement, categorized under CFDA 19.900, and administered by the U.S. Mission to Kyrgyzstan. Eligible applicants are broad and include not-for-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, civil society and non-governmental organizations, public international organizations, and governmental institutions. The listed award ceiling is $1,000,000, with an original closing date of May 17, 2021, and a creation date of April 7, 2021.

• The U.S. Mission to Kyrgyzstan in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Central Asia Design Hub" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.900.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-04-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-17. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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