Please complete the attached grant application (Download here)(Microsoft Word 46KB), answering all questions in full.
This is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity EAP07272018
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 19.124
Application Deadline: July 27, 2018
A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The U.S. Department of State Bureau of East Asia Pacific Affairs (EAP) announces an open competition for awards (from $15,000 up to $50,000) to support local and regional small-scale projects in eligible countries in Southeast Asia. Since fiscal year 2014, EAP has awarded and administered regional grants in the EAP region. These awards are funded through EAP Regional foreign assistance funds, and managed by the OES Regional Environment Officer (REO) posted in Bangkok.
Projects should address one or more of the following areas of focus of equitable, sustainable, and inclusive growth and trans-boundary policy and development challenges in the following sectors:
- Agriculture and Food Security
- Sustainable economic development
- Connectivity (infrastructure, institutional, or people-to-people)
- Education
- Energy Security
- Environment and Water
- Health
- Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment
- Water, Energy, Food, and the Environment Nexus (interdisciplinary)
- Human Development and Connectivity (interdisciplinary)
- ASEAN Regional Integration
Proposed project activities may take place only in the following countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam. The focus is on the mainland Southeast Asian countries, and EAP welcomes proposals in support of ASEAN integration as well.
Projects should seek to meet local or regional needs, involve local expertise and know-how in the design and implementation phases of the project, and should build monitoring and evaluation into the project – with explicit time-bound milestones for performance/results. Proposals for $50,001 or over will not be considered, unless the amount over $50,000 is an expression of cost-share that will be borne by the institution applying or a partner institution. Projects may serve to implement discrete phases of larger projects or programs (e.g., one country of a multi-country program, only the public education phase of an environmental law project, tree planting in only one region of a country-wide program, only a fish population study of a broader river quality program, etc.) Single country proposals will be accepted but preference will be given to proposals that are transboundary in nature.
The authority for this funding opportunity is found in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (FAA).
B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION
EAP anticipates having approximately $300,000 available to support successful applications submitted in response to this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), subject to the availability of funding.
EAP may issue one or more awards resulting from this NOFO to the applicant(s) whose application(s) conforming to this NOFO are the most responsive to the objectives set forth in this NOFO. The U.S. government may (a) reject any or all applications, (b) accept an application other than the lowest cost application, (c) accept more than one application, or (d) waive informalities and minor irregularities in applications received.
The U.S. government may make award(s) on the basis of initial applications received, without discussions or negotiations. Therefore, each initial application should contain the applicant’s best terms from a cost and technical standpoint. The U.S. government reserves the right (though it is not under obligation to do so) to enter into discussions with one or more applicants in order to obtain clarifications, additional detail, or to suggest refinements in the project description, budget, or other aspects of an application.
Applications should not request less than $15,000 and no more than $50,000. Applicants should include an anticipated start date between September 1, 2018 – October 1, 2018, and the period of performance should be between 12 months to 24 months.
EAP anticipates awarding either a grant or cooperative agreement depending on the application’s risk factor, or the needs of the program, which is determined by the grant officer for applications that are successful. If the grant officer decides to award a cooperative agreement, EAP expects to be substantially involved during the implementation of the cooperative agreement. Examples of substantial involvement can include:
1) Approval of the Recipient’s annual work plans, including: planned activities for the following year, travel plans, planned expenditures, event planning, and changes to any activity to be carried out under the cooperative agreement;
2) Approval of sub-award Recipients, concurrence on the substantive provisions of the sub-awards, and coordination with other cooperating agencies; and
3) Other approvals that will be included in the award agreement.
C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION
C.1 Eligible Applicants
EAP welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernmental organizations (NGO), public international organizations, private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses. EAP’s preference is to work with non-profit entities; however, there may be occasions when a for-profit entity is best suited.
For-profit entities should be aware that their applications may be subject to additional review following the panel selection.
Other items of note:
- Grants cannot be awarded for research projects.
- Conducting training is allowed.
- Grants can be awarded to universities and NGO/Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
- For-profit organizations may apply, but are subject to further review.
- All forms must be completed in English.
- All organizations applying to this notice will need a DUNS number and SAM.gov registration. This can be obtained online and is free. See Section D for more information. Please see: http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/pages/CCRSearch.jsp
C.2 Cost Sharing or Matching
Providing cost sharing, matching, or cost participation is not an eligibility requirement for this NOFO.
C.3 Other
Any applicant listed on the Excluded Parties List System in the System for Award Management (SAM at www.sam.gov) is not eligible to apply for an assistance award in accordance with the OMB guidelines at 2 CFR 180 that implement Executive Orders 12549 (3 CFR,1986 Comp., p. 189) and 12689 (3 CFR,1989 Comp., p. 235), “Debarment and Suspension.” Additionally no entity listed on the Excluded Parties List System in SAM can participate in any activities under an award. All applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Excluded Parties List System in SAM to ensure that no ineligible entity is included as a potential partner.
D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
D.1 Address to Request Application Package
Applicants can find application forms, kits, or other materials needed to apply on the U.S. Embassy Thailand website under the announcement title “LMI Embassy Regional Grants Program” funding opportunity number EAP07272018. Please contact the EAP point of contact listed in section G if requesting reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or for security reasons. Please note: reasonable accommodations do not include deadline extensions.
Download GRANT APPLICATION Form (Microsoft Word 46KB)
