U.S. Department of State

(Issued February 13, 2008)

Deadline: Friday, March 14, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. (EST).

Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

• Proposals should be submitted via Grants.gov. Organizations not registered with Grants.gov should sign up well in advance of the March 14, 2008 deadline as it can take up to two weeks for a registration to be finalized (and sometimes longer for non-U.S. based NGOs to get the required registration numbers).

PRM’s CFDA number for Refugee Assistance Programs for African refugees is 19.517.

• Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your application on Grants.gov. Applicants who have done so in the past and experienced technical difficulties were not able to meet the deadline. We recommend that organizations, particularly first-time applicants, submit applications via Grants.gov at least one week before the deadline to avoid last-minute technical difficulties that could result in the application not being considered.

• Applicants who are unable to submit via Grants.gov due to technical difficulties should contact the Grants.gov Help Desk at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov at least one week prior to submission to secure a trouble ticket. Applicants may then contact PRM West Africa Program Officer Nnenna Ofobike at 202-663-1073 or OfobikeNN@state.gov in order to determine whether an alternative method of submission is appropriate. Please note that e-mail submissions will NOT be accepted.

• Applications must be submitted under the authority of the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) at the applicant organization. Having proposals submitted by agency headquarters helps avoid possible technical problems.

Proposed Start Dates: April 1, 2008 – August 18, 2008

Duration of Activity: No more than 12 months

• Applicants with multi-year programs must continue to re-compete for PRM funding each year. Furthermore, in funding a project one year, PRM makes no representations that it will continue to fund the project in successive years.

Current PRM Funding Priorities for Liberia:

(1) Liberian return communities still face a critical need for funding in social services to allow emergency relief programs to transition into development programs. In response, PRM is currently accepting NGO proposals that support Liberian refugee reintegration via programs in the health sector (including both physical and mental health).

(2) Proposals should target areas of high refugee return (e.g., Lofa County) where refugee returnees make up at least 50% of targeted beneficiaries. Proposals should specify refugee returnee population numbers in proposed locations.

(3) Evidence of a well-developed transition/exit strategy from the project activity will be especially important.

 

(4) PRM will accept proposals from any NGO that is able to satisfy these guidelines although, given our budgetary constraints, priority will be given to proposals from organizations that can demonstrate:

- a working relationship with UNHCR and 2008 UNHCR funding and/or support for the proposed activities and/or overall country program;

- a proven track record in providing proposed assistance (both in the health sector and specified location) to Liberian refugee returnees;

- evidence of coordination with development organizations and/or host government entities that could take on support of any ongoing efforts, and

- appropriate targeting of beneficiaries in coordination with UNHCR and other relevant organizations.

NGOs that have never received PRM funding must be prepared to demonstrate that they meet the financial and accounting requirements of the U.S. Government including submission of an audit report performed by independent public accountants in accordance with U.S. Government Auditing Standards before they will be eligible to receive PRM funding.

Proposal Submission Requirements: See “Application” section on Grants.gov for complete details on requirements, and note the following highlights below:

(1) Proposal formatting and content: Please refer to the “Submitting Proposals” section in the FY 2008 General PRM NGO guidelines available at http://www.state.gov/j/prm/fund/.  These general PRM NGO guidelines are also available on grants.gov in the “How to Apply” section.

Please take special note of the following requirements as outlined in the general PRM NGO guidelines:

• Budget must include a specific breakdown of funds being provided by UNHCR, other USG agencies, other donors, and your own organization (where applicable). PRM places great value on multi-lateral support for humanitarian programs.

• Organizations that received PRM funding in FY 2007 for proposed activities should include an up-to-date, cumulative progress report against indicators as outlined in the cooperative agreement.

• Focus on impact indicators as much as possible. At a minimum, each objective should have one impact indicator.

• NGOs that have never received PRM funding must demonstrate that they meet the financial and accounting requirements of the U.S. Government including submission of an audit report performed by independent public accountants in accordance with the U.S. Government Auditing Standards before they will be eligible to receive PRM funding.

(2) Pre-submission consultation: This announcement is designed to coordinate with the FY 2008 General PRM NGO guidelines, which explain in detail PRM’s NGO funding strategy and priorities. Please read both sets of guidance carefully to ensure that the proposed activities are in line with PRM’s priorities and that your proposal submission is in full compliance with PRM requirements. Proposal submissions that do not meet all of the requirements outlined in these guidelines will not be considered.

Should NGOs have technical questions related to this announcement, they should contact the PRM staff listed below prior to proposal submission.

Applicants for new and follow-on funding may contact PRM West Africa Program Officer Nnenna Ofobike (OfobikeNN@state.gov or 202-663-1073) in Washington or West Africa Regional Refugee Coordinator Perlita Muiruri (MuiruriPW@state.gov) in Abidjan before submitting proposals.

Proposal review process: PRM’s Office of Assistance for Africa conducts formal competitive reviews of all proposal submissions by convening proposal review teams to evaluate proposals based on the above-referenced proposal evaluation criteria and PRM’s priorities in the context of available funding.

In order to provide NGOs with timely feedback, PRM will inform applicants of a panel’s decision to recommend or not recommend funding proposed activities, and may request revised proposals and/or budgets based on feedback from the panel. PRM will follow up with formal notifications to NGOs of final decisions taken by Bureau management.

PRM funding opportunities for proposed activities in Chad (beginning February 1 - May 31, 2008) and the Great Lakes/Central Africa (beginning April 1 – May 31, 2008) are also currently posted on Grants.gov.