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The Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship Program seeks to attract and prepare outstanding youn people who have an interest in pursuing a career with the Department of State's Foreign Service. It encourages the application of members of minority groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign Service and those with financial need.

The Raechel & Jackie Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to inspire and enrich the lives of youth in Central America through recreation, the arts, and innovative educational experiences, is accepting grant applications for its 2013 funding cycle. Grant applications are invited from charitable organizations working to provide children in Central America with innovative educational experiences that align with the RJF mission. The foundation seeks to partner with community-based organizations and community-driven projects in Central America that provide resources to educate and provide opportunities that enable youth to address environmental concerns, foster personal growth, and encourage positive lasting change in their communities. Applicant organizations should provide services that meet the needs of children; provide holistic support for children's development that nurtures their voice, leadership capabilities, and active participation in decisions that affect their lives; have a history of effective actions spanning at least three years; demonstrate consistency in their mission, goals, and strategy; propose feasible and innovative projects that closely align with RJF's mission; and demonstrate community interest in implementing the project/program.

The purpose of this Request for Applications is to solicit applications from organizations or consortia of organizations with the qualifications and experience to partner with USAID, Pakistani counterparts and other donors to address the need to enhance the reading capacity of Pakistani Children to read. The objective of this program is 2.5 million additional primary school student reading at a level commensurate with standards at their grade level

Subject to the availability of funds, this competitively awarded five-year, Cooperative Agreement will focus on strengthening the independence, professionalism, production capacities, self-sustainability and regulatory framework of the media sector in South Sudan. Media assistance will build on the transition to self-sustainability of five currently USAID-supported local partner radio stations. Due to its unique potentials for communicating with virtually the entire population, media can enable a much needed national conversation to vitally contribute to the building of this new nation. The media, be it print, broadcast, internet, or other form, represent an integral part of accountability systems that, in turn, are critical to the effective functioning of democratic governance. USAID will advise applicants of project objectives and desired outcome; however, applicants must provide the methodology or approach for implementation of the project. Applicants will have the opportunity to propose a sound, cost effective approach for the Program. Additionally, Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider implementation through a consortium with other organizations including but not limited to PIOs and local organizations; however, principal responsibility for implementation of the program should rest with the applicant who should act as prime and have final responsibility for implementation and performance monitoring of the program.

The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for two distinct Youth Leadership Programs with Indonesia and Burma. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to conduct three- to four-week U.S.-based exchange programs for teenagers and adult educators. Participants will be high-school-aged youth and adult educators. The program with Indonesia is a two-way exchange; applicants must propose both an exchange for Indonesian participants in the United States and an exchange for American participants in Indonesia. Applicants should plan to recruit and select between 24 and 34 youth and adult participants total in Indonesia and in the United States. The new program with Burma is a one-way exchange; applicants should plan to provide U.S.-based programming for 16-20 youth and adult participants from Burma. The activities for each program will focus on civic education, leadership, diversity, and community engagement and prepare participants to conduct projects at home that serve a community need. Pending the availability of funds, it is the Bureau's intent to award two cooperative agreements: (1) $275,000 for Indonesia, and (2) $110,000 for Burma, each for one base year plus two option years for an estimated total amount of $1,155,000.

The program will have a direct and significant impact on understanding the stability of marine ice sheets and specifically the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in the vicinity of Thwaites Glacier, and will contribute to the ice-sheet modeling community capability to simulate ice sheets and to reduce the uncertainties in sea-level projections. In addition, the program will contribute to improving risk assessments that coastal communities need for decisions about adaptation and long-range planning.

This NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), supported by funds from the NIH Common Fund (Common Fund), invites applications to support bioinformatics research training programs at low or middle income (LMIC) African country institutions with significant genomics research capacity.  African applicants may propose graduate degree and long term postdoctoral bioinformatics research training in collaboration with other African or high income country (HIC) collaborators.  It is expected that these training programs will address the need for bioinformatics research expertise in the H3Africa Consortium and result in sustainable centers of bioinformatics research training relevant to global health research for the African continent.

The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for the Youth Leadership Program with Burma. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to conduct three- to four-week U.S.-based exchange programs for teenagers and adult educators. Participants will be high-school-aged youth and adult educators. Applicants should plan to provide U.S.-based programming for 17-18 youth and 2-3 adult participants from Burma. The activities for each program will focus on civic education, leadership, diversity, and community engagement and prepare participants to conduct projects at home that serve a community need.

he FETP graduates, staff and trainees are important assets and help build sustainable public health capacity in their countries. Through public health conferences they share field epidemiology experiences and present work investigations through oral and poster presentations. This collaboration reinforces best practices in applied epidemiology, training, surveillance, and response and introduces new tools, concepts, and training materials. However, the region’s FETPs can be more effective if their collaboration extends beyond scientific conferences. Network development can enhance surveillance, investigation and response capacity globally through regular communication and exchange of information and allow for more robust response to regional and national public health threats. In 2009, the FETPs in the East Mediterranean Region (EMRO) began to organize a network in the Middle East that partner with MOH FETP representatives, CDC and EMRO closely collaborate to strengthen existing national FETPs and regional disease surveillance. This close collaboration and networking among programs is critical as the globe faces new and re-emerging public health threats. The recent outbreaks of Ebola and Zika viruses clearly demonstrate the need for strong local and regional programs that can mobilize rapid response teams quickly and assist countries and global partners to control disease and strengthen public health infrastructure.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq invites eligible organizations to submit proposals to assist in the development and implementation of a business mentoring program in southern Iraq geared primarily toward female single heads of household who wish to start their own businesses or enter the job market. U.S. Consulate General Basrah seeks to engage southern Iraqi women who are in positions of increased financial responsibility due to the loss of a family member to armed conflict, violent extremism, and/or sectarian violence. The goal is to enable Iraqi women to meet their essential economic needs and those of their families. Grant objectives are to connect Iraqi women with mentors-preferably female-in the business community, who can teach skills and model strategies that will increase their participation in the local economy, including basic computer skills, resume building, and the use of social media and other online platforms. English training is a desirable, but not required component of the training. Training that facilitates direct contact between the Iraqi diaspora and local women is also desirable. Participants will receive training and access resources as part of a local network of mentors that can provide them real-time tailored feedback and offer ongoing support, advice, and resources to overcome the challenges businesswomen face in the context of southern Iraqi society. The program should also incorporate virtual mentoring sessions with American entrepreneurs - particularly women, and those fluent in Arabic - who can speak to their experiences, offer best practices, and promote linkages between Iraqi and American businesspeople.

The Neotropical Grassland Conservancy donates equipment and money to local scientists and direct conservation projects and educational programs. Our philosophy promotes cost-effective ways to impact conservation of grasslands, empowers local people and launches careers, and creates a valuable network of promising scientists and students. We are dedicated to: (1) conservation - promoting the conservation of savannas, gallery forests, wetlands, and associated ecosystems in Central and South America, and (2) collaboration - fostering mutually beneficial collaboration between North American and Central and South American scientists and institutions by providing shared scientific and educational opportunities. The Research Equipment Program provides basic science equipment to scientists and students in the American tropics to assist their research opportunities and education. Many outstanding researchers need essentials such as microscopes, GPS units, mist nets, video cameras, binoculars, and science textbooks. Equipment is either donated or purchased and sent to Latin America at relatively little expense. The intent of the program is that donated equipment and literature be of general use to a variety of projects, students and researchers. 

National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) of Japan have agreed to embark on a collaborative research program to address compelling research challenges that arise from networks supporting future demands of device proliferation and data objects. This NSF solicitation parallels an equivalent NICT solicitation. Proposals submitted under this solicitation must describe joint research with Japanese counterparts who are requesting funding separately under the NICT solicitation. This research and development program addresses three specific challenges that arise when environments with trillions of device and information objects are connected via networks. Trillions of network-connected objects are expected to emerge in the global network around 2020. This trend will require novel approaches for network design and modeling, new technologies to manage and control object mobility, and new and more flexible networks with the speed, capacity and environmental characteristics needed to accommodate communications among objects in the emerging world. This program seeks joint Japan-US research projects that leverage each nation's expertise and address these challenges via work in three areas: 1. Network Design and Modeling: Addressing the design, modeling and component interaction challenges associated with increasingly dynamic and heterogeneous network technologies and applications at scale. 2. Mobility: Addressing issues such as security, control, provisioning, naming, discovery, and fast mobility in a world in which mobility is driven by factors such as social networks, the Internet of things, and cyber-physical systems. 3. Optical Networking: Finding novel approaches for sustainable high‐speed, high‐capacity, and energy-efficient networks that will accommodate communications required in "beyond trillions of devices and information objects" situations.

The Kun-Po Soo Award was established in 1987 to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions toward understanding the impact and import of Asian cultural heritage in areas relevant to psychiatry. The award also seeks to encourage scholarship and research in culture-specific mental health issues and treatment needs of Asian populations and to stimulate scientific exchange on transcultural issues.

he U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Mexican Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) are soliciting proposals under the Wildlife Without Borders-Mexico Program for projects that address Mexico's capacity building for biodiversity conservation. Program Goal: Build human and institutional capacity for biodiversity conservation and management in Mexico through training. Of interest are projects that provide direct and significant training to Mexican personnel in terms of the number of individuals trained, the strategic or innovative nature of the training, and the impact of the training on the conservation of biodiversity. Program Objectives: * To address the training needs of Mexican natural resources managers for managing and conserving biodiversity; * To provide local communities access to training that links sound management practices in priority biodiversity areas with the creation of sustainable economic opportunities; * To involve key stakeholder groups to address biodiversity conservation challenges to enable the delivery and implementation of effective conservation actions.

An enormous appetite for professional training exists among Pakistan's journalists. The industry has expanded rapidly in the past decade with the privatization of television but the training opportunities have not kept pace. Journalism education emphasizes the theoretical over the practical. The majority of Pakistan's media companies do not offer training to their staff and salaries are low, so journalists struggle to pay for training themselves. Thus the proposal to create a Center of Journalism Excellence will fill a major gap in providing much needed journalism skills training. The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad announces an open competition for a cooperative agreement to establish a Center of Journalism Excellence (CJE) by a U.S. or foreign university housing a journalism school of international stature, or U.S. or foreign media development organization that offers in-service professional development training for journalists of the highest quality. Accredited U.S. four-year colleges and universities must meet the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3). Strong preference will be given to applications in which the primary grantee is explicitly linked with a Pakistani partner institution(s) and there is a clear path to sustainability. Additional preference will be given to proposals that include cost sharing by a foundation or non-governmental organization.

India is home to the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) in the world. There are an estimated 2.09 million people living with HIV. The Government of India (GoI) has undertaken a robust scale up of its antiretroviral treatment (ART) program, starting from eight ART centers in 2004 to over 420 centers now in 2014. Currently, over 750,000 PLWH are on ART out of 1.1 million eligible for treatment. Despite scale up success, several challenges remain for the ART program to achieve the expansion it envisages over the next five years. These include human capacity issues, loss of patients from detection to enrollment in HIV care, and late HIV detection and retention. At every stage, over 200,000 patients are lost from testing to enrollment in care, to retention in care and then to treatment. Although progress has been made in the implementation of the HIV-TB program, there are several gaps that need to be addressed. The linkages between HIV/AIDS and the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) are suboptimal, particularly in northern states due to limited capacity and infrastructure. Only 61% (2014) of TB patients were screened for HIV and knew their HIV status in the last one year. Of those identified as HIV positive, 85% were linked to ART. However, the concern is that the referral from HIV testing and care facilities to RNTCP is quite low.

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of Haiti (GOH) to effectively prevent HIV infections; improve care and treatment of HIV/AIDS and co-infections with emphasis on tuberculosis; build the capacity for the local and regional collection of strategic information and its use for program management and development; and increase the Government of Haiti's capacity to lead and manage a sustainable response to the HIV epidemic. The awardee will work directly with the GOH (and their local implementing partners) to identify the country's needs and priorities in managing a sustainable country-led response to the HIV epidemic. By the end of five years, the awardee will have provided sufficient technical assistance and capacity building in the identified priority areas to achieve an increased ability for the partner country to sustainably lead the activity. The recipient (grantee) of these funds is responsible for activities in multiple program areas designed to target underserved populations in Republic of Haiti. The grantee must show a measurable progressive reinforcement of the capacity of indigenous organizations and local communities to respond to the national HIV epidemic, as well as progress towards the sustainability of activities.

The purpose of this activity is to ensure that Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) services meet the accepted global standards for safety and quality by providing technical assistance (TA) and support to PEPFAR country programs, Ministries of Health (MOH) and Implementing Partners (IP) to strengthen the capacity and quality of VMMC services. This activity will develop, implement, and support quality assurance activities to ensure that VMMC services are provided according to best clinical practices and guided by standards of quality. This activity will also provide valuable information to national and local governments and individual VMMC sites regarding the quality of services being delivered, and interventions needed to improve the quality of services.

The main goal of this program is to strengthen the capacity of indigenous organizations to develop and deliver science-based HIV and STI risk reduction interventions for mobile (mostly Haitian) populations, improve linkages to HIV/STI/TB treatment and care, and increase their understanding about the benefits of early treatment. Key objectives are to increase the opportunity, capacity and motivation of mobile populations to adopt healthier sexual behaviors, increase the capacity of indigenous organizations to offer HIV prevention services to mobile populations, improve the availability and accessibility of high quality condoms, and increase access to friendly clinical and care services for HIV/STI/TB. This program will provide prevention services in 10 provinces and will target construction workers, market vendors, and agricultural workers. The implementation will be through indigenous organizations. The use of clinical mobile units will be needed to test individuals at their work site, over extended hours and multiple locations. Close coordination and collaboration with Ministry of Health (MOH) facilitates will be required.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Burma and the National Department of Health (NDOH) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) plan to rapidly expand high-quality antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage in the coming years by increasing capacity at existing delivery sites and decentralizing selected services to provincial, district and township levels. In order to accomplish this expansion, the MOH and NDOH need strong laboratory systems that ensure high-quality HIV diagnostic and clinical monitoring of patients at the existing and new service delivery sites. This will require strengthening the capacity of Burma's National Health Laboratory (NHL) and Papua New Guinea's Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), as well as building capacity of sub-national laboratories and improving the laboratory network in these countries.This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will be awarded to a technical assistance (TA) partner to provide support to NHL and CPHL in several key areas, including: (1) developing and helping implement standard operating procedures, policies, guidelines, and training materials related to management and operations of national and sub-national laboratories; (2) building capacity of NHL and CPHL staff to validate, conduct, and ensure strong (and often cross-cutting) quality assurance and monitoring systems for HIV-related diagnostic and clinical monitoring activities; (3) strengthening the overall laboratory network in Burma and PNG that may include specimen transport and right-sizing of various classes of laboratories; and (4) providing supporting mentoring of NHL and NDOH staff and opportunities for professional development.