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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), is responsible for providing Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education (including breastfeeding promotion and support) for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk. The legislative authority for this grant announcement is contained in the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 Section 17 (g) (5)[1] as amended and Section 1472 of the National Agriculture Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977, 7 U.S.C. 3318, codified at 7 CFR 2.19(a)(3)(x) in January 2009. This is an announcement of the availability of funds for one new cooperative agreement for FY 2017-2019 with a public or private Academic or Research Institution. In this funding cycle, the USDA anticipates awarding up to $1,000,000 in grant funding to support the creation of a Participant Research Innovation Laboratory for administering and awarding sub-grants for researcher-initiated projects that develop and test strategies to encourage retention of children in WIC. Developed strategies should focus on WIC service delivery sites or retail environments. Further, strategies must acknowledge the social and cultural diversity of WIC participants and those eligible for the Program.

n support of the Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP), the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor announces the availability of approximately $5,000,000 total costs (subject to the availability of Federal funds) for one cooperative to fund one technical assistance project in Colombia to economically empower vulnerable women and girls. The objective of the project is to reduce the risk of child labor, forced labor, and other violations of labor rights for vulnerable women and girls within the agricultural sector. The project will aim to achieve the following outcomes: Outcome 1: Improved economic participation in quality jobs within the agricultural sector by women and adolescent girls identified as vulnerable to child labor, forced labor, and/or other violations of labor rights. * Outcome 1.1: Vulnerable women and girls have an improved understanding of their rights and increased ability to access protections against child labor, forced labor, and other violations of labor rights. * Outcome 1.2: Vulnerable women and girls have enhanced skills. * Outcome 1.3: Vulnerable women and girls have increased opportunities for economic advancement.

This program supports research and extension projects that have robust collaborations to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields that are relevant to USDA priorities identified by the Secretary: (i) Promotion of a safe, sufficient, and nutritious food supply for all Americans and for people around the world; (ii) Sustainable agricultural policies that foster economic viability for small and mid-sized farms and rural businesses, protect natural resources, and promote value-added agriculture; (iii) National leadership in climate change mitigation and adaptation; (iv) Building a modern workplace with a modern workforce; and (v) Support for 21st century rural communities

The Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program supports research on the ecological, evolutionary, and socio-ecological principles and processes that influence the transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The central theme of submitted projects must be quantitative or computational understanding of pathogen transmission dynamics. The intent is discovery of principles of infectious disease transmission and testing mathematical or computational models that elucidate infectious disease systems. Projects should be broad, interdisciplinary efforts that go beyond the scope of typical studies. They should focus on the determinants and interactions of transmission among humans, non-human animals, and/or plants. This includes, for example, the spread of pathogens; the influence of environmental factors such as climate; the population dynamics and genetics of reservoir species or hosts; the cultural, social, behavioral, and economic dimensions of disease transmission. Research may be on zoonotic, environmentally-borne, vector-borne, or enteric diseases of either terrestrial or freshwater systems and organisms, including diseases of animals and plants, at any scale from specific pathogens to inclusive environmental systems. Proposals for research on disease systems of public health concern to developing countries are strongly encouraged, as are disease systems of concern in agricultural systems. Investigators are encouraged to develop the appropriate multidisciplinary team, including for example, modelers, bioinformaticians, genomics researchers, social scientists, economists, epidemiologists, entomologists, parasitologists, microbiologists, bacteriologists, virologists, pathologists or veterinarians, with the goal of integrating knowledge across disciplines to enhance our ability to predict and control infectious diseases.

The purpose of this program is to support research, education/teaching, and extension projects that increase participation by women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM. NIFA intends this program to address educational needs within broadly defined areas of food, agriculture, natural resources, and human (FANH) sciences. Applications recommended for funding must highlight and emphasize the development of a competent and qualified workforce in the FAHN sciences. WAMS-funded projects improve the economic health and viability of rural communities by developing research and extension initiatives that focus on new and emerging employment opportunities in STEM occupations. Projects that contribute to the economic viability of rural communities are also encouraged.