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INCREASING WOMEN'S POLITICAL PARTICIPATION USAID/HAITI OFFICE OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND GOVERNANCE BROAD AGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT (BAA) This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeks opportunities to co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate in basic and applied research and development for increasing women's political participation in Haiti. The United States Agency for International Development Haiti's Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (USAID/Haiti/DRG) invites organizations and companies to participate with USAID/Haiti, as described below, to create innovations and technologies that increase women's political participation in Haiti. Cost Sharing, Matching, or Leveraging. Whether cost share, match, and/or leverage are required will be determined by the final award type, and/or the mutual agreement of the parties. Applicants/offerors are encouraged to suggest creative approaches to resourcing projects.

Purpose of Small Grants: Public Affairs Section Dakar invites proposals for programs that advance strategic objectives and strengthen the ties between the United States and Senegal or between the United States and Guinea-Bissau. All programs must include an U.S. element, or a connection with U.S. expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s in a specific field that will promote increased understanding of U.S. policy and perspectives. This can also include the involvement of Senegalese or Bissau-Guinean alumni of U.S. government exchange programs. Priority Program Areas: Suggested project topics include: - Promoting democratic values and good governance - Countering violent extremism - Countering trafficking in persons/forced child begging - Increasing opportunities for youth - Promoting women's empowerment

The U.S. Embassy Manila Political Section (POL) of the U.S. Department of State is pleased to announce that funding is available through its Global Equality Fund. This is an Annual Program Statement, outlining our funding priorities, the strategic themes we focus on, and the procedures for submitting requests for funding. POL Manila invites proposals for projects that seek to provide assistance to local government units (LGUs) that have already passed local anti-discrimination ordinances, which include protections based on sexual orientation or gender identity, to move toward effective implementation. This project would also provide program opportunities that contribute to strengthening legal protections for LGBTI persons, a primary goal of the Embassy's Strategy to Reduce Violence Targeting LGBTI Persons. Activities contemplated under this grant would complement past and present efforts to protect the human rights of LGBTI individuals. The proposed program aligns with Embassy Manila's strategic goals of advancing democratic values, transforming governance, and protecting human rights while engaging the Philippine public and building networks to advance shared foreign policy interests.

This award will support efforts in at two or three of five target countries (select among: Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Armenia, and Montenegro) to identify priority substantive anti-corruption measures and assist in implementation of related reform actions. The substantive measures will be determined in reference to the countries' commitments in the context of relevant international standards, and to the recommendations of the peer review bodies associated with those standards. Several anti-corruption mechanisms and fora promote action on these standards by facilitating peer reviews, resulting in recommendations for reform, or by generating country commitments. Exemplar mechanisms and fora include UNCAC and GRECO (primary) and the Anti-Bribery Convention, Istanbul Action Plan, Open Government Partnership, and related policy (secondary). Each of the target countries has engaged in at least one of these entities and has received recommendations or made commitments to address corruption in various ways. INL intends for this project to initiate a multi-stakeholder process in each country selected for this project to prioritize two to three peer review body recommendations addressed to - or political commitments made by -- the country. The project should then support the development of action plans and targeted follow-up action (i.e. technical assistance, advocacy, and coordination) to help governments implement the action plans. Suggested focus areas in which to develop priorities, action plans, and follow-up measures could include judicial integrity/independence, criminalizing and enforcing foreign bribery, transparency of party funding and electoral campaigns, law enforcement reforms, and public procurement fraud and corruption. Supporting action in these areas would aid the criminal justice sector and civil society in making tangible steps to adopt laws, policies, or procedures that either prevent or combat corruption.

The Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program makes available Federal funds to State, Local and Tribal Governments to implement and sustain cost-effective measures designed to reduce the risk to individuals and property from natural hazards, while also reducing reliance on Federal funding from future disasters. FEMA will provide allocations of $575,000 as required by the Stafford Act to states and territories; and a tribal set aside of $20 million for allocations up to $575,000 for Native American Indian tribal governments to support overall mitigation planning and projects. The remaining PDM funds will be awarded on a competitive basis with a focus on multi-state/tribal mitigation initiatives. Applicants must submit applications via the Mitigation eGrants system on the FEMA Grants Portal: https://portal.fema.gov. Applicants may submit a maximum of 9 project sub-applications notwithstanding any project(s) submitted for the state/territory allocation or tribal set aside. In addition, any state or tribe willing to serve as the applicant for a multi-state or tribal activity may submit one additional plan or project sub application.

U.S. Embassy Kyiv's Office of Assistance Coordinator announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications for the seventh round of the EDCP to continue building U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 emerging donor governments (EDGs) in Central and Eastern Europe to share their transition and EU integration experiences with Ukraine. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Program Objectives: The U.S. Department of State Office of the Assistance Coordinator for Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE) has launched the seventh round of the EDCP to continue building U.S. foreign assistance partnerships with 11 emerging donor governments in Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Through the EDCP initiative, the United States builds partnerships with these new donor countries by co-financing joint foreign assistance activities aimed at sharing the EDGs' transition and EU integration experiences with Ukraine.

A free and open Indo-Pacific is crucial for global stability in the 21st century. This vision for the Indo-Pacific is not unique to the United States, but is shared by Japan and many other nations in the region. However, there are many challenges to realizing this vision, including territorial and maritime disputes, differing economic approaches, historical concerns, and various types of governance. Therefore, multilateral cooperation is needed to address these challenges and ensure economic prosperity, good governance, and peace and security become a reality for all in the Indo-Pacific. The Embassy welcomes proposals that address these issues and is particularly interested in supporting the following priority areas: maritime security, economic prosperity, civil society, disaster relief, health assistance, and rule of law. The program needs to be designed to strengthen ties between U.S. and Japanese institutions through the inclusion of U.S. experts. The program should also include participants from other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

The program will support efforts to promote constitutional reforms; accountability and oversight, including work with Parliament and around electoral and governance processes; human rights; civic engagement and citizen action; and social cohesion in the expectation that this will lead to improved accountable, democratic governance that serves an engaged citizenry.

CTR will prioritize proposals that efficiently meet NOFO and programmatic goals at the lowest technically acceptable cost. ISN/CTR sponsors foreign assistance activities funded by the Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR) account, and focuses on mitigating proliferation risk from state and non-state actors in North-East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The United States government seeks to use all available tools to exert pressure on the DPRK to curtail its proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related delivery systems and induce the DPRK to denuclearize. Specifically, the DPRK uses external procurement and trade networks to acquire nuclear and missile materials and technology and to finance its WMD program. While several United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) obligate states to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and their means of delivery, and establish appropriate domestic controls over related materials, some countries lack the capacity and resources to fully comply with the UNSCRs. ISN/CTR will contribute to United States government efforts to pressure the DPRK by building capacity in partner countries to counter-DPRK proliferation activities and enforce the relevant UNSCRs.

The Acquisition Research Program (ARP) (www.acquisitionresearch.net) conducts and supports research in academic disciplines that bear on public procurement policy and management. These include economics, finance, financial management, information systems, organization theory, operations management, human resources management, risk management, and marketing, as well as the traditional public procurement areas such as contracting, program/project management, logistics, test and evaluation and systems engineering management. The ARP is interested in innovative proposals that will provide unclassified and non-proprietary findings suitable for publication in open scholarly literature. Studies of government processes, systems, or policies should also expand the body of knowledge and theory of processes, systems, or policies outside the government. The following research areas are of special interest: Leading-edge techniques in data collection, management, visual analytics and decision-making; Robust risk modeling techniques; Performance metrics and methodologies; Collaboration and cross-functional teams; and, Model-Based Acquisition. Offerors bear prime responsibility for the design, management, direction and conduct of research. Researchers should exercise judgment and original thought toward attaining the goals within broad parameters of the research areas proposed and the resources provided. Offerors are encouraged to be creative in the selection of the technical and management processes and approaches and consider the greatest and broadest impact possible.

In September, Miami received notice from the government that our new F&A rates are: 44.5% for On Campus Organized Research 44.0% On Campus Sponsored Instruction 39.0% On Campus Other Sponsored Activities 26.0% Off Campus All Programs These rates are effective beginning September 1, 2014. Awards received beginning in September and all proposal submissions going forward will be required to use the new rates.

he State Department Bureau of Near East Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC) seeks single-country or regional project proposals for its Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) program in the North Africa/Maghreb region; proposals focusing on Tunisia are particularly encouraged. Proposals designed to support Libya cannot be considered at this time. The TSCTP is the U.S. Government's primary vehicle to support the long-term capacities of countries in West and North Africa to address the threat from violent extremist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Da'esh). TSCTP aims to take a comprehensive approach to counterterrorism by undertaking development, civil society and community-related activities to reduce radicalization and recruitment into violent extremism and as related to foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). This solicitation is focused on TSCTP's countering violent extremism efforts. NEA/AC will consider proposals that promote the below countering violent extremism (CVE) objectives in the Maghreb: 1. Building community resilience and providing positive alternatives to communities, particularly youth, vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment by violent extremists to become FTFs and/or local fighters; 2. Strengthening partner government and civil society will and capacity to counter violent extremism including the radicalization and recruitment of FTF at local, sub-regional, and regional levels; 3. Countering violent extremist messaging and narratives, especially messaging targeting FTFs.

he State Department Bureau of Near East Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC) seeks single-country or regional project proposals for its Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) program in the North Africa/Maghreb region; proposals focusing on Tunisia are particularly encouraged. Proposals designed to support Libya cannot be considered at this time. The TSCTP is the U.S. Government's primary vehicle to support the long-term capacities of countries in West and North Africa to address the threat from violent extremist groups, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Da'esh). TSCTP aims to take a comprehensive approach to counterterrorism by undertaking development, civil society and community-related activities to reduce radicalization and recruitment into violent extremism and as related to foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs). This solicitation is focused on TSCTP's countering violent extremism efforts. NEA/AC will consider proposals that promote the below countering violent extremism (CVE) objectives in the Maghreb: 1. Building community resilience and providing positive alternatives to communities, particularly youth, vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment by violent extremists to become FTFs and/or local fighters; 2. Strengthening partner government and civil society will and capacity to counter violent extremism including the radicalization and recruitment of FTF at local, sub-regional, and regional levels; 3. Countering violent extremist messaging and narratives, especially messaging targeting FTFs.

We welcome proposals for implementation of a country-wide, in-school civic education program as part of the official school curriculum throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). This year-long program will help educate young BiH students about the basic concepts of democratic society, justice, human rights, tolerance, the BiH constitution, and the various levels of government in the country. The budget of project proposals should not exceed $400,000 and the timeframe for this program is from early May, 2016, to October, 2017. Project proposals will be evaluated by the U.S. Embassy based on compliance with proposal guidelines and mandatory components, evidence of clearly formulated goals and target groups, low project implementation costs, project sustainability, and capacity to carry out the project throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.Deadline for submission of proposal/supporting documentation is March 31, 2016.

We welcome proposals for implementation of a country-wide, in-school civic education program as part of the official school curriculum throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). This year-long program will help educate young BiH students about the basic concepts of democratic society, justice, human rights, tolerance, the BiH constitution, and the various levels of government in the country. The budget of project proposals should not exceed $400,000 and the timeframe for this program is from early May, 2016, to October, 2017. Project proposals will be evaluated by the U.S. Embassy based on compliance with proposal guidelines and mandatory components, evidence of clearly formulated goals and target groups, low project implementation costs, project sustainability, and capacity to carry out the project throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.Deadline for submission of proposal/supporting documentation is March 31, 2016.

The Chemical Security Program (CSP) partners with government, security, academic, and industrial communities in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, to strengthen their ability to thwart chemical attacks. CSP accomplishes this aim by sponsoring projects designed to identify and address chemical security vulnerabilities and identify and investigate early warning signs of chemical attacks in preparation.

The Chemical Security Program (CSP) partners with government, security, academic, and industrial communities in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, to strengthen their ability to thwart chemical attacks. CSP accomplishes this aim by sponsoring projects designed to identify and address chemical security vulnerabilities and identify and investigate early warning signs of chemical attacks in preparation.

INL is part of the Department of State's multi-faceted response to transnational criminal activity. Dedicated to strengthening criminal justice systems, countering the flow of illegal narcotics, and minimizing transnational crime, INL plays a key role in leading the development and synchronization of U.S. international drug and crime assistance. INL's technical support is tailored to support partner countries through multilateral, regional, and country-specific programs and prevent victimization of vulnerable populations. To support further progress in Costa Rica, INL has allocated funds for a program to increase police, local governments and community security by creating a Capacity Enhancement Program on Domestic Violence prevention, increasing vulnerable populations' awareness, and victim's assistance in the 15 cantons in Costa Rica.

The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan is pleased to announce an open competition for eligible organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to improve access to information for journalists and civil society in accordance with Afghanistan's Access to Information Law. Based on funding availability, this grant intends to develop and provide training for journalists and members of civil society on access to information procedures under Afghan law. The recipient will demonstrate a thorough understanding of the current legal framework surrounding access to information in Afghanistan, and create a strategic plan that will increase awareness of the law and how to use it. Participants will become more aware of the law, how it works, and how to make access to information requests. A successful proposal will include a detailed plan for recruiting a diverse group of journalists from a variety of outlets and employees from a cross-section of civil society organizations working on democracy and governance issues to take part in these trainings. Training activities should take place in Kabul and in no less than five provincial capitals.

The Law & Social Sciences Program considers proposals that address social scientific studies of law and law-like systems of rules.  The program is inherently interdisciplinary and multi-methodological.  Successful proposals describe research that advances scientific theory and understanding of the connections between law or legal processes and human behavior.  Social scientific studies of law often approach law as dynamic, made in multiple arenas, with the participation of multiple actors.  Fields of study include many disciplines, and often address problems including though not limited to: Crime, Violence and Punishment Economic Issues Governance Legal Decisionmaking Legal Mobilization and Conceptions of Justice Litigation and the Legal Profession LSS provides the following modes of support: Standard Research Grants and Grants for Collaborative Research Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowships Workshop and Conference Proposals

The U.S. State Department, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), Office of Outreach, invites organizations with substantial and wide-reaching experience in administration of research and training programs to apply for funding to conduct nationwide competitive programs supporting U.S. scholars, students, and institutions in advanced research and language training on the countries of Eastern Europe and the independent states of the former Soviet Union. U.S.-based nonprofit organizations and educational institutions may submit proposals for the Program for Research and Training on Eastern Europe and the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (Title VIII) that 1) support and sustain American expertise on the countries of Eastern Europe and the independent states of the former Soviet Union, 2) bring American expertise to the service of the U.S. government, and 3) further U.S. foreign policy goals. All proposals must make an explicit connection to U.S. foreign or national security policy, and demonstrate how the proposed program will contribute to U.S. knowledge, expertise, and national capability. The program also aims to support outreach and build relationships with the U.S. academic and nonprofit communities. Intelligence Community analysts and State Department policy makers benefit from engagement with those communities to explore new ideas and perspectives and create new knowledge and research.

The U.S. Diplomacy Center (USDC) announces a Notice of Funding Opportunity for up to $198,000 for an implementer (simulations coordination team) to work on the Diplomatic Simulations Program. In this unique educational program, students role play diplomatic representatives of different sides negotiating a solution to an international dispute. The focus will mainly be on international students. Students learn to use the tools of diplomacy to engage constructively with foreign governments and international groups on global issues. The project will require, but is not limited to, curriculum design and simulation writing, as well as filming and editing video clips that introduce the program and support the content of the simulations. The simulations coordination team will also develop online resources geared to both U.S. and international audiences, for teachers to use with students.

MOVO will be a five-year regional messaging and communication effort that leverages both traditional and new media to counter violent extremism and promote democracy, human rights and governance. MOVO will aim to form lasting partnerships to amplify moderate voices in communities as well as national and regional networks and institutions. MOVO will use a strategic information campaigns to tackle difficult, long-standing issues critical to VE vulnerability as well as to respond directly to events and hot topics. MOVO will integrate with other USG CVE and messaging efforts, such as State and USAID-funded programs, Public Affairs Sections and Military Information Support Teams (MIST) in the region. With regard to mediums of information exchange, MOVO will strengthen and expand existing PDev II radio networks and programming, continuing to invest in the medium most easily accessible to rural communities at-risk. However, MOVO will also produce targeted video content in targeted countries that is easily sharable and of most interest to target demographics. Mobile platforms that leverage feature phones have proved wildly popular and are useful in engaging rural audiences. Social media offers exciting new opportunities to connect with target audiences. However, poor internet penetration in target areas and among target demographics may limit the applicability of the medium. MOVO will expand its emphasis on social media in a measured, iterative manner that builds on effective, cost-efficient approaches. To the extent possible, all content will be cross-promoted across radio, video, mobile and social media to increase dissemination and build audiences across demographics and platforms.