The Bilateral Fund is a grant facility provided by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and managed by the British Embassy, Doha, to provide strategic support to Qatar in priority areas and improve bilateral links between Qatar and the UK.

In the last year, projects supported by the Bilateral fund have included:

• Qatari women in public life (2007): in partnership with the Permanent Elections Committee, the Embassy supported a week-long workshop in leadership skills training for young professional Qatari women with ambitions to play leading and high-profile roles in Qatari public life.
• Migration (2007): the Embassy supported the participation of the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Doha in a Wilton Park conference on migration and diasporas, lecturing on the history of Asian migration in this region.
• Government communication (2008): in partnership with the Qatar News Agency, three Qatari Government communicators participated in a week-long course in Government communication and image in London in October 2008.
• Training in broadcast skills (2008): in partnership with the Al Jazeera satellite network, two young Arab journalists undertook 3 months training in advanced broadcast skills provided by the Thomson Foundation in Cardiff, UK.

What projects can be funded?

The Bilateral Fund will only consider projects that contribute to the UK foreign policy goals and assist the development of Qatar. Ideally, the project should be completed within 9 months from the receipt of funds. The fund cannot support private businesses or individuals, recurrent costs (salaries, rent, utility bills or consumables), or loans.

If you have a project that you would like us to consider funding, please email embassy.qatar@fco.gov.uk giving your email the title 'Bilateral Fund', providing a short (no more than 500 words) synopsis of the project's aims, activities and outcomes, as well as full contact details for the project organisers.

Please note: the Bilateral Fund does not fund scholarships/sponsorships. The British Government and Foreign & Commonwealth office funds scholarships through its Chevening Scholarship Scheme.