Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam—Municipal Waste Recycling Project (MWRP)

Client: U.S. Agency for International Development

Duration: 2016-2020

Country: Regional

Solutions: Governance

In 2015, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) received a Congressional Directive to support increased recycling of waste that threatens human health and the environment, and that, if recycled, could generate income, improve agriculture, and produce energy. As part of this objective, USAID has launched the Municipal Waste Recycling Project (MWRP), which will work in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam to provide grants and technical assistance to waste recycling programs, with a particular focus on improving waste management practices and reducing plastics pollution in marine environments. Successful pilot programs and lessons learned from MWRP will help guide USAID efforts to scale up municipal waste recycling programs in other countries around the world.

DAI will support Development Innovations Group in the implementation of MWRP by helping to create a grants program that will provide startup funding for promising new approaches to municipal waste management. The team will evaluate grantees throughout the project to collect insights for future USAID recycling initiatives, as well as facilitate international knowledge sharing on municipal waste management and recycling best practices.

Sample Activities

Support the development of a grants manual to communicate consistent application and evaluation criteria to project team and grant applicants.
Conduct a study on municipal solid waste in the three target countries to inform grant program design.
Identify promising potential grant recipients, evaluate grant proposals, and analyze effectiveness of grantee programs to collect lessons and insights for future waste recycling initiatives.

South Asia—EU Public Diplomacy and Outreach in India and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

There is a long history of engagement, and a great interest in taking forward cooperation, between the European Union and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.