In a historic move by the US authorities, a direct funding for the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan Government in Exile has been initiated. The President of CTA, Dr. Lobsang Sangay made the announcement by a live public briefing from Dharamshala in India last week, calling the development as a result of many years effort.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded a sum of around $1 million to the Social and Resource Development Fund, Department of Finance, CTA in Dharamshala on June 23. This is the first such direct funding awarded to CTA by any funding agency affiliated with the United States government.
“The awarding of direct funding to the CTA fulfils a long desired aspiration and represents the culmination of many years of effort since my first term. I want to thank the USAID and hope this award paves the way for a more substantial funding relationship between the USAID and the CTA,” said President Sangay told in the live briefing on Thursday.
The award from USAID will support the Tibetan Resilience Project (TRP) where funds will initially go towards Tibetan language revitalization and capacity building of Gangjong Development Finance (GDF). The language program will be implemented by the Department of Education and the GDF component will be managed by SARD, according to the report by Tibet.net.
The program will be implemented over a two-year period. Key activities under language revitalization includes production of Tibetan animation and audio books; publication of children’s literature for students in classes VI to XII; development of a language learning portal; and an annual summer language and cultural immersion program targeting Tibetan youth in the ages 18-30 and primarily residing outside South Asia.
Key activities under GDF include development of a strategic business plan; purchase and customization of an appropriate MIS; technical assistance for implementation of action plan developed by Dalberg; and training, added the report.
CTA’s SARD Director, Mr. Aukatsang has also explained that the direct funding sends a strong message of confidence in SARD and CTA’s ability to handle development assistance from foreign governments. Primarily USAID has been supporting the Tibetan Government in Exile through third party non-profit organization such as The Tibet Fund.
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