The Ambassador’s Special Self-Help (SSH) program started in 1964 in Togo and quickly spread across the continent as a grass-roots assistance program that allows U. S. embassies to respond quickly to local requests for small community-based development projects.

The SSH program across Africa

credit: From Wikimedia

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received $2 million in 2019 through the Africa Regional Economic Support Fund.

The Ambassador’s Special Self-Help (SSH) Program started in Tanzania in 196 5. It is distinct from the larger-scale assistance carried out locally by the U. S. government.

This program focuses on providing targeted grants to assist small-scale ($2,000-$10,000), short-term (less than 12 months), community-driven development projects that improve economic and social conditions at the local level.

Each project is expected to:
· Improve basic economic or social conditions at the community or village level; · Support high-impact, quick-implementation activities that benefit a large number of people within one year without requiring further SSH assistance; · Involve a significant local contribution in cash, labor, or material, and be within the ability of the local community to operate and maintain; · Be in direct response to the initiative and aspirations of the local community (the local sponsors of the project, who will also be its prime beneficiaries); and · Not initiate, continue, or supplement technical assistance programs.