Applications roll in for Australia’s Pacific Sport for Development Program

The new phase of Australia’s sport for development program in the Pacific – the Australian Sports Partnerships Program (ASPP) – has begun, with sporting and other organisations submitting applications for funding to commence programs in July 2020.

ASPP is funded by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). It will be delivered in six Pacific countries – Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu – as well as in up to four Asian countries – India, Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Representatives from the ASPP program management team and partners Women Win recently conducted a series of workshops in the six ASPP Pacific program countries, plus Australia, to share information about the new program and help organisations prepare to submit an application.

More than 200 people from organisations across the sport and development sectors attended the workshops, with many saying it had encouraged them to apply for the program.

The goal of ASPP is that Australia Indo-Pacific sport partnerships support all people to realise their full potential through sport. Partnerships will achieve this goal by working towards three mutually reinforcing end-of-program outcomes:

  1. Sport programs attract and retain women and girls and people with a disability, as well as boys and men.
  2. Sport organisations are safe, inclusive and accessible.
  3. Australia and its partners in the Indo-Pacific use sport to strengthen relationships and build closer collaborations.

ASPP will fund two types of partnerships:

  • Sport for development partnerships that attract and retain women, girls and people living with a disability, address barriers to participation, promote gender equality and social inclusion, and seek to promote and build a culture of diversity among sports people and within sporting organisations.
  • Strategic partnerships that come together around key thematic areas (e.g. safeguarding, communications, leadership) and that contribute to institutional strengthening in areas that are relevant to creating safe, inclusive, and accessible organisations.

Applications for ASPP sport for development partnerships (Pacific) close on Monday 2 March, 2020. For more details on these and future application rounds, email ASPP@ghd.com.