Grants for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities from USAID under its Annual Program Statement

Under the Annual Program Statement (APS) for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation (CMM), a funding opportunity is available for NGOs, nonprofits and for-profit non-governmental organizations and international agencies to implement activities “…mitigate conflict and promote reconciliation by bringing together individuals of different ethnic, religious or political backgrounds from areas of civil conflict and war…” Only organizations from following countries can submit proposals for availing these USAID grants, mentioned as the second subject
solicitation under the fiscal year 2010 for global reconciliation
program only:

Africa: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Uganda (Restricted to Karamoja region), West Africa Regional and East Africa Regional.
Middle East: Yemen
Asia, Europe and Eurasia: Timor-Leste, Kyrgyzstan, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Regional Development Mission for Asia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Latin America and the Caribbean: Columbia, Ecuador,
Guatemala and Peru

APS intends to contribute towards the developmental objectives of the USAID in affected countries, but the overall objective is “to make significant strides in the overall goal of conflict mitigation, peace, and reconciliation in selected eligible conflict-affected countries.” The people-to-people approach has been adopted for this program and funding will be given for conflict mitigation projects that use this approach and also develop lessons learned and best practices that can be further used for future people-to-people programming. The APS states: “Successful applications under this solicitation will describe a people-to-people approach based on a context and conflict analysis that leads to a concrete program change hypothesis. Programs should be based on best practices, build capacity of local partners, and incorporate gender analysis into the proposed approach.”

USAID has allocated approximately US $16,000,000 under this APS for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities.
The minimum amount to be proposed for each project under this grant is US $100,000 and projects should not propose more than the maximum amount of US $1,200,000. The minimum period for which the project should be implemented is 12 months but no project activities will up supported for more than 36 months from
the date of the award of the grant.

USAID has explained the eligible organizations to apply for the grants under this opportunity as follows:

“Types and Nationalities of NGOs

1. U.S. and Non-U.S. Non-Profit Organizations

Qualified U.S. and non-U.S. private non-profit organizations may apply for USAID funding under this APS. Foreign government-owned parastatal organizations from countries that are ineligible for assistance under the FAA or related
appropriations acts are ineligible.

2. U.S. and Non-U.S. For-Profit Organizations

Potential for-profit applicants should note that, pursuant to 22 CFR 226.81, the payment of fee/profit to the prime recipient under grants and cooperative agreements is prohibited. Forgone profit does not qualify as cost-sharing or leveraging. However, if a prime recipient has a (sub)-contract with a for-profit organization for the acquisition of goods or services (i.e., if a buyer-seller relationship is created), fee/profit for the (sub)-contractor is authorized.

3. U.S. and Non-U.S. Colleges and Universities

Qualified U.S. and non-U.S. colleges and universities may apply for funding under this APS. USG and USAID regulations generally treat colleges and universities as NGOs, rather than governmental organizations; hence, both public and private colleges and universities are eligible. Non-U.S. colleges and universities in countries that are ineligible for assistance under the FAA or related appropriations acts are ineligible.

4. Registration as a Private Voluntary Organization (PVO)

A local or indigenous PVO, which by definition is a non-U.S. PVOs operating in the same foreign country in which it is organized, that is not already registered with USAID is eligible to receive funding. However, such organizations are encouraged to consider registration In accordance with
2 CFR 203., a U.S. PVOs and “International PVOs” which by definition is a non-U.S. PVO that performs development work in one or more countries other than the country in which it is domiciled, must be registered with USAID to be eligible to receive funding.”

Under this APS for Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities, USAID is encouraging new partners though this may involve their scrutiny, which can sometimes delay the release of the actual grants. USAID also expects that organizations “…must possess, or have the ability to obtain, the necessary management and technical competence to conduct the proposed program, and must agree to practice mutually agreed-upon methods of accountability for funds and other assets provided or funded by USAID.” Also, any ongoing program can also seek funding support from this opportunity provided that it demonstrates significant proposed change in direction or scope to respond against conflict.

The application for submitting the proposal should not be more than 17 pages, out of which 12 or less than 12 should be for the technical component while the rest of the 5 or less pages will be for presenting the budget. Additional attachments such as partnership agreements (if there are partners involved) and documentation of various proposed costs) can also be included but these attachments will not be provided to the technical evaluation committees.

Only applications written in English will be accepted. In-depth
information on how to effectively write and cover different aspects of the proposal from the cover page to the budget and various components that need to be carefully detailed out is given the APS FY 10 Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation Programs and Activities document (link given below). Applicants should go through the document carefully to develop their proposals. Proposals have to be submitted by email (given in the APS document). In addition to this, the copy of the application also needs to be submitted to the USAID mission or the local point of contact for APS in the country for which the project has been proposed. In cases where projects are implemented in more than one country, the proposal has to be submitted to that mission of the country where the most number of activities are to take place. The list of USAID missions with their contact information is also given in the APS document. Submitting applications through grants.gov is optional but applicants can still register at it and get their DUNS number.

The grant opportunity is open for next six months during which USAID will receive proposals in batches. However, the deadline for accepting proposals under the first batch is 5
March 2010. For more information, you can visit http://grants.gov
and search for this funding opportunity number:
M-OAA-DCHA-DOFDA-10-390-APS and download the document/s
therein.

http://www.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/grants-for-confli...