The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) is a small fund with a CDN $16.3 million budget that provides support for “small-scale, high-impact projects” by local organizations in 120 countries, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The average grant is about $25,000 and decisions are made by Canada’s embassy or High Commission. Theme areas include gender equality and empowerment, human rights, democracy and governance, peace and security, climate action, and economic growth. The fund can also support Covid-19, natural disaster and humanitarian emergency response.

The CFLI has funded projects in:

Bangladesh (2020)

Pakistan (2020, Covid-19 response) (2020)

Sri Lanka (2020) (2019)

While there are no current calls for projects, potential partner organizations and applicants can see past calls and get a better idea of the country program focus. This fund is one way to get innovative ideas off the ground. To get more information, contact your local embassy or High Commission.