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FY 2009 PRM Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs in Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Funding Announcement

March 26, 2009

FY 2009 PRM Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs in Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Announcement issuance date: Thursday, March 26, 2009

Proposal submission deadline: Wednesday, May 13, 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 ensure that it is received by the deadline.

Proposed Program Start Dates: July 1, 2009—September 15, 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: Tanzania, Burundi and the DRC
PRM will prioritize currently available funding for Tanzania, Burundi and the DRC as identified below:

Country Specific Instructions:

(1) Tanzania

• Proposals should focus exclusively on life-saving basic assistance in the remaining refugee camps in western Tanzania. While PRM does not discourage activities that include the local host population, NGOs should concentrate on care/maintenance activities for refugees. At least 80% of beneficiaries must be refugees. Proposals should focus on health, water and sanitation, and gender based violence (GBV).

(2) Burundi and the DRC

• Proposed activities should support the repatriation and reintegration of Burundi and DRC refugees. Priority sectors include: shelter, health/mental health, water/sanitation, livelihood promotion, primary education, and gender-based violence prevention and response.

• Proposals should focus on areas of high refugee return where new refugee returnees (those who have returned in 2008 and 2009) make up at least 50% of targeted beneficiaries. Proposals should specify refugee returnee population numbers and/or projections for 2009 in proposed locations.

• Proposals should target priority sectors as identified in collaboration with UNHCR, local authorities, and returnees themselves.

General Instructions:

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

• a working relationship with UNHCR in-country and UNHCR funding and/or support for the proposed activities;
• a proven track record in providing proposed refugee assistance in-country and in the sector(s) outlined in the proposal;
• evidence of coordination with international organizations and other NGOS working in the same area or sector and if applicable—local authorities;
• a concrete implementation plan with well-conceived objectives and indicators that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and reliable, time-bound and trackable (SMART), have established baselines, and at least one impact indicator per objective. Note that we will not fund baseline studies;
• A budget that is appropriate for meeting the objectives and demonstrates co-funding by non-US Government sources;
• Appropriate targeting of beneficiaries in coordination with UNHCR and other relevant organizations.
• A clear timeline for implementation of proposed activities as well a handover strategy. Please note that PRM is not in a position to fund reintegration projects over the long term.

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 does not expect to be able to maintain recent year funding levels for care and maintenance or return and reintegration activities. Therefore, PRM will consider projects with funding requested from PRM in the range of $250,000 to $1,500,000; any submissions over this amount will automatically be disqualified. If additional funding becomes available later in the fiscal year, we will fund rank-ordered prioritized submissions from this opportunity announcement that our committee has set aside pending potential future availability of funds.

Current partners should not presume that follow on funds will be available. 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 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/g/prm/115597.htm. 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 PRMNGOCoordinator@state.gov. 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 African refugees is 19.517.

• Proposals must be submitted via Grants.gov. Organizations not registered with Grants.gov should sign up well in advance of the May 4, 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 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 Wendy Henning at (202) 663-1030 or henningwl@state.gov immediately 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. Having proposals submitted by agency headquarters helps to avoid possible technical problems.

• Budgets must include a specific breakdown of funds (where applicable) being provided by UNHCR, other USG agencies, other donors, and your own organization. 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.

• Budgets must be broken down by objective.

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

• 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.

• 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.

Programs will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1) To what extent does the proposal meet the priorities as stated in the guidelines?
2) Does the organization have a proven track record (capacity, past performance, and experience) in the country and region for which they are submitting the proposal?
3) Does the applicant’s implementation plan appear likely to accomplish the objectives stated in the proposal within the given time period – e.g., clear, measurable, and achievable objectives and indicators; well-conceived monitoring/troubleshooting plan; etc.
4) Is the budget appropriate for meeting the objectives listed and does it accurately reflect activities and capacity – e .g., appropriate staffing levels, appropriate balance between costs of running/monitoring the program vs. direct assistance to beneficiaries; cost-sharing.
5) Is the project well coordinated with the host government, other NGO implementing partners, UNHCR, and/or other IOs involved? Does the program have a clear strategy for handover or sustainable continuation?

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

- Program Officer Wendy Henning (henningwl@state.gov or 202-663-1030) in Washington, DC
- Great Lakes Regional Refugee Coordinator Megan Larson-Koné (LarsonkoneME@state.gov) in Kampala, Uganda
- Deputy Office Director Mary Lange (LangeMM@state.gov or 202-663-1041) in Washington, DC