Deadline: 16 March 2020
The U.S. Embassy in Kosovo announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a program (or programs) to implement activities in the following themes: education and skills building; STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics); inclusion, and anti-corruption.
Program Objectives
The goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to solicit proposals that address and implement programs in any of the following themes.
- Education and skills building;
- STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics);
- Inclusion;
- Anti-corruption.
Proposals
- Proposals should clearly connect any of the themes above with the overall Public Affairs Office’s Strategic Message: “Kosovo is your home”. The “Kosovo is your home” concept encourages Kosovo citizens’ positive attachment to Kosovo at the individual, family, local, and national level;
- Proposals should include appropriate funds for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of program successes and challenges, and a detailed description of how M&E will be carried out and program success will be determined.
- Proposals should detail a robust media plan, and winning applicants should plan to share their online activities/posts with the Embassy’s Public Affairs Section (PAS).
Funding Information
Total available funding: $120,000.
Participants and Audiences
Through this NOFO, the Embassy would like to target the following audiences:
Under the theme of Education and Skills Building and STEAM, programs may target:
- Youth in Transition targeting 14-18 year-olds (high school students and students transitioning into higher / technical education), and 18-23 year-olds through informal education opportunities (graduate students and youth transition into the job market);
- Youth in Transition are fundamental to Kosovo’s economic development and prosperity. Proposals should address the needs of students and businesses for education that links directly into opportunities in the job market, better equipping youth with the skills they need to succeed in the fields of today and tomorrow.
Under the theme of Anti-Corruption and Inclusion, programs may target:
- Established Influencers
- Established Influencers will advocate on issues critical to the advancement of program objectives including, but not limited to, regional security and dialogue. Established Influencers may include public figures at the top of their industry (e.g. innovators, tech leaders, business owners, and politicians) who can exert a positive influence on society.
- Emerging Decision Makers
- Emerging Decision Makers are future leaders in business, technology, education, government, and public administration. They include entrepreneurs and social activists as well as civil servants with three to five years’ experience in a government position who have been identified as “rising stars.” This audience cares about the rule of law, accountability, and good governance.
Activities
Activities that are not typically funded include, but are not limited to:
- Travel to the United States for professional development;
- Paying to complete activities begun with other funds;
- Promotion of local artists and art collectives;
- Projects inherently political or partisan in nature or appearance;
- Fundraising campaigns;
- Commercial or trade activities;
- Individual travel to conferences and meetings ;
- Social welfare projects;
- Projects inherently religious in nature or appearance.
Eligibility Criteria
The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Local and U.S. not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations. Local not-for-profit organizations will be given preference;
- Other Eligibility Requirements
- In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a unique entity identifier (Data Universal Numbering System/DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet), as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Individuals are not required to have a unique entity identifier or be registered in SAM.gov.
- Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.
- Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.
How to Apply
- The proposal clearly addresses the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity;
- All documents are in English;
- All budgets are in U.S. dollars;
- All pages are numbered;
- All documents are formatted to A4 paper, and;
- All Microsoft Word documents are single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins;
- Application submitted in a zip format or through a cloud service will be rejected.
All application materials must be submitted by email.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=324012