FY 2009 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Burmese Refugees in Thailand

Funding Opportunity Announcement

Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

March 12, 2009

Announcement issuance date: Thursday, March 12, 2009

Proposal submission deadline: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. (EDT).
Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

Proposed Program Start Date: June 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. Furthermore, 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: Burmese Refugees in Thailand
PRM will prioritize currently available funding for proposed NGO activities that best meet the Bureau’s priorities in Thailand as identified below:

(1) Proposed activities should support Burmese refugees in the following three camps: Umpiem Mai, Nu Po, and Ban Don Yang, and focus on all of the following:

1. Improving or maintaining access to quality health care services, with a particular emphasis on the health and nutritional needs of children under 5 and pregnant and lactating women;
2. Maintaining or improving camp water and sanitation and other infrastructure;
3. Improving the quality of life of refugee populations by addressing their psychosocial needs and developing income-generating activities, with an emphasis on the development of skills and vocational training to achieve a measure of self-sufficiency and a reasonable livelihood; and
4. Strengthening the community’s capacity to respond to the health, psychosocial, safety and justice needs of survivors of gender-based violence (GBV).

(2) PRM will accept proposals from any NGO working within the above mentioned sectors although, given our budgetary constraints, priority will be given to proposals from organizations that can demonstrate:

• a working relationship with UNHCR and 2008/2009 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 sector and specified location) to refugees in Thailand;
• evidence of coordination with international organizations and other NGOs working in the same area or sector as well as – if applicable – local authorities; and
• 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.

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 at http://www.state.gov/j/prm/115597.htm. PRM strongly encourages organizations applying for PRM funding 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 Burmese refugees is 19.511.

• Proposals must be submitted via Grants.gov. Organizations not registered with Grants.gov should sign up well in advance of the April 15, 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).

• 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 your 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 Hoa Tran at (202) 663-3104 or TranHT3@state.gov immediately to determine whether an alternative method of submission is appropriate. Please note that e-mail submissions will not be accepted in lieu of submission via Grants.gov.

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

• 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 PRMNGOCoordinator@state.gov.

• Organizations that received PRM funding in FY 2008 for activities that are being proposed for funding again in response to this funding announcement 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 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 under IRS 501 (c)(3), 3) a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, and 4) an Employer ID (EIN)/Federal Tax Identification number.

• This announcement is designed to accompany PRM’s General NGO Guidelines for Overseas Assistance, which contain additional administrative information and explain in detail PRM’s NGO funding strategy and priorities. Please use both the General 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 on the Bureau’s website.

Proposal review process: PRM’s Regional Assistance Offices conduct formal competitive reviews of all submitted proposals by convening review teams. These teams 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 Points of Contact:
All applicants for new and follow-on funding are encouraged to contact the PRM staff listed below before submitting proposals:

• PRM Program Officer Hoa Tran (TranHT3@state.gov; 202-663-3104), Washington, D.C.
• Southeast Asia Regional Refugee Coordinator Tim Scherer (SchererTM@state.gov), U.S. Embassy, Refugee and Migration Affairs, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Deputy Refugee Coordinator Adam Zerbinopoulos (ZerbinopoulosA@state.gov), U.S. Embassy, Refugee and Migration Affairs, Bangkok, Thailand.
• Assistant Refugee Coordinator, Chie Opie (OpieC@state.gov), U.S. Embassy, Refugee and Migration Affairs, Bangkok, Thailand.
• (Note: Informal feedback from PRM does not indicate a commitment to fund the program discussed.)