FY 2009 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO programs benefiting Tibetan refugees in South Asia

Funding Opportunity Announcement

Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

April 22, 2009

Announcement issuance date: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Proposal submission deadline: Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

ADVISORY: Grants.gov is expected to experience higher than normal volume of activity in the near future. PRM strongly recommends submitting your proposal early to allow time to address issues that may arise due to system delays.

Proposed Program Start Dates: July 1, 2009 – September 1, 2009

Duration of Activity: No more than 12 months.

Applicants with multi-year programs must continue to re-compete for PRM funding each year. In funding a project one year, PRM makes no representations that it will continue to fund the project in successive years and encourages applicants to seek a wide array of donors to ensure long-term funding possibilities.

Current Funding Priorities for: Tibetan Refugees in South Asia

Context

More than 125,000 Tibetans continue to live in exile in South Asia (in Nepal, India and Bhutan) and another 500 to 3,000 transit from Tibet through Nepal to India each year. Without full citizenship in India and Nepal, Tibetans living in exile in these countries are limited in their ability to access education, health care, and gainful employment. Both new arrivals and long-term Tibetan exiles rely, in part, on the Central Tibetan Authority (CTA)—the Tibetan government in exile—to provide them with reception facilities, health care, education, and, to a lesser extent, livelihoods.

Through regional contributions to UNHCR, PRM supports UNHCR’s efforts to prevent the refoulement of new Tibetan arrivals in Nepal and advocate for long-staying Tibetans in Nepal to have access to identity documentation and birth registration. USAID currently provides funding for Tibetan refugees under the Tibetan Torture Victim Assistance program funded through the Victims of Torture assistance fund, which provides medical and psychological support as well as financial support for housing and emergency needs. USAID is also providing support for feeding Tibetan children in Tibetan schools in India through the PL 480 Title II School Feeding Program.

Funding priorities

PRM will prioritize currently available funding for proposed NGO activities that best meet the Bureau’s priorities in for Tibetan refugees as identified below:

(a) Proposed activities should primarily support Tibetan refugees in India, Nepal, and, to a lesser extent, Bhutan.

(b) Proposals may include work in one or more the following sectors: protection; reception facilities; health care and technical assistance; nutrition; water and sanitation; shelter; education; vocational training; and livelihoods development.

(c) PRM will accept proposals from any NGO working within the above mentioned sectors that meets the PRM and Grants.gov requirements, although, given budgetary constraints, priority will be given to proposals from organizations that respond to the points below.

• PRM is particularly interested in proposals that address priority public health issues such as tuberculosis and create new livelihood opportunities in the Tibetan community.
  
  
  • Health care proposals should seek to (1) assist the CTA and its partners in the development and implementation of a sustainable and effective health information system; (2) build the capacity of the CTA and its partners to prevent, detect, and treat infectious diseases including tuberculosis and drug resistant tuberculosis; and (3) develop the skill sets of health care providers, including awareness and implementation of treatment protocols, throughout the settlements.
    
  • Livelihood development proposals should aim to work with the CTA or another appropriate Tibetan entity to identify market opportunities, develop a relevant business plan, link with markets and sources of capital, produce quality products or services, and, ultimately, employ Tibetans and provide them with a sustainable livelihood. (Note: Development of sustainable livelihoods for the targeted group is a long-term goal and is not necessarily expected to be achieved within the twelve month timeframe of this award.) This livelihoods development project may be executed as a pilot project in one or more settlements or it may draw on the production potential of multiple settlements—in a cooperative structure—as a means of attaining economies of scale.
    
• To be considered, NGOs must have proven track records in implementing refugee assistance or other humanitarian assistance programs. Higher consideration will be given to organizations that already have well-established operations serving Tibetan populations in South Asia.
  
• Programs must be implemented in coordination with UNHCR and appropriate agencies of host governments as well as the CTA. NGOs are encouraged to submit proposals that complement existing protection and assistance activities for Tibetans in South Asia.
  
• The proposal must reflect appropriate targeting of beneficiaries in coordination with UNHCR and other relevant organizations.

International Organizations (IOs) that are engaged in programs relevant to the assistance addressed by this PRM funding announcement should ensure that these programs are made known to PRM on or before the closing date of this funding announcement so that PRM can evaluate all IO and NGO programs for funding consideration.

Funding Limits:
PRM will consider projects submitted with PRM-requested budgets totaling no more than $3,400,000. PRM anticipates making only one award this funding round. As stated in the FY 2009 General PRM NGO Guidelines, PRM looks favorably on cost-sharing efforts and seeks to support projects with a diverse donor base and/or resources from the submitting organization.

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

Proposal Content, Formatting and Template: Please refer to the “Proposal Submission and Review Process” section in the FY 2009 General PRM NGO Guidelines. PRM strongly encourages organizations applying for PRM funding to use the PRM recommended proposal and budget templates. Templates can be requested by sending an email to PRM's NGO Coordinator. Please include “PRM NGO Templates” in the subject line.

PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS OUTLINED IN THE GENERAL PRM NGO GUIDELINES:

• PRM’s CFDA number for Refugee Assistance Programs for Tibetan refugees is 19.519 - Overseas Refugee Assistance Programs for Near East and South Asia.
  
• Proposals must be submitted via Grants.gov. Organizations not registered with Grants.gov should sign up well in advance of the May 28, 2009 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).
  
• 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. Please note: Grants.gov is expected to experience higher than normal volume of activity in the near future. PRM strongly recommends submitting your proposal early to avoid submission delays. We recommend that organizations, particularly first-time applicants, submit applications via Grants.gov no later than one week before the deadline to avoid last-minute technical difficulties that could result in an application not being considered.
  
• If you encounter technical difficulties with Grants.gov please contact the Grants.gov Help Desk at support@grants.gov or by calling 1-800-518-4726. Applicants who are unable to submit applications via Grants.gov due to Grants.gov technical difficulties and who have reported the problem(s) to the Grants.gov help desk and received a case number and had a service request opened to research the problem(s), should contact PRM Program Officer Rebecca Kinsey at (202) 663-1950 or kinseyrt@state.gov to determine whether an alternative method of submission is appropriate.
  
• Applications must be submitted under the authority of the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) at the applicant organization. Submission of proposals should be closely coordinated between agency’s local, regional and headquarter offices. Having proposals submitted by agency headquarters helps to avoid possible technical problems.
  
• NGOs that have not received PRM funding prior to the U.S. Government fiscal year ending September 30, 2004 must be prepared to demonstrate that they meet the financial and accounting requirements of the U.S. Government by submitting copies of 1) the most recent external financial audit, 2) non-profit tax status including under IRS 501 (c)(3), as applicable, 3) a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, and 4) an Employer ID (EIN)/Federal Tax Identification number.
  
• Focus on impact indicators as much as possible. At a minimum, each objective should have one impact indicator.
  
  
• 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. As noted above to receive copies of PRM's recommended templates please send an email with "PRM NGO Templates" in the subject line to PRM's NGO Coordinator.

Reports and Reporting Requirements:

• Program reporting: PRM requires quarterly and final program reports describing and analyzing the results of activities undertaken during the validity period of the agreement. It is highly suggested that NGOs receiving PRM funding use the PRM recommended program report template. To request the PRM-recommended program report template, send an email with the phrase “PRM NGO templates” in the subject line to PRM's NGO Coordinator.
  
• Financial Reports: Financial reports are required within thirty (30) days following the end of each calendar year quarter during the validity period of the agreement; a final financial report covering the entire period of the agreement is required within ninety (90) days after the expiration date of the agreement.

For more details regarding PRM’s reporting requirements please see FY 2009 General PRM NGO Guidelines.

• Organizations that received PRM funding in FY 2008 for activities that are being proposed for funding again must include the most recent quarterly progress report against indicators outlined in the cooperative agreement. If an organization’s last quarterly report was submitted more than six weeks prior to the submission of a proposal in response to this funding announcement, the organization must include, with its most recent quarterly report, updates that show any significant progress made on objectives since the last report.
  
• This announcement is designed to accompany the FY 2009 General PRM NGO Guidelines, which contain additional administrative information and explain in detail PRM’s NGO funding strategy and priorities. Please use both the FY 2009 General PRM NGO Guidelines and this announcement 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. PRM recommends using the proposal and budget templates that are available upon email request from PRM's NGO Coordinator. Please send an email, with the phrase “PRM NGO templates” in the subject line, to PRM's NGO Coordinator.
  
  Proposal Review Process: PRM will conduct a formal competitive review of all proposals submitted in response to this funding announcement. A review panel will evaluate submissions based on the above-referenced proposal evaluation criteria and PRM priorities in the context of available funding.
  

In order to provide NGOs with timely feedback, PRM will inform applicants of the 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 Point of Contact:

Should NGOs have technical questions related to this announcement, they should contact the PRM staff listed below prior to proposal submission. (Note: Answers to technical questions from PRM do not indicate a commitment to fund the program discussed.):

• PRM Program Officer Rebecca Kinsey (kinseyrt@state.gov; 202-663-1950), Washington, D.C.