Deadline: 18-Jun-21
The U.S. Embassy in Panama City announces a Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to promote democratic institutions, accountability, and good governance in Panama.
The focus for this funding opportunity is democracy, accountability, and governance. Successful proposals will develop projects aimed at:
- promoting transparency and anti-corruption;
- supporting efficient management of government resources;
- strengthening civic engagement among marginalized populations; and
- strengthening Panama’s institutions and civil service.
Funding awarded under this NOFO cannot be used for law enforcement, to train members of law enforcement, or to provide social services.
Objectives
Ideal projects will focus on one of the following objectives:
- Objective 1: Panamanian Executive and Judicial Branches each implement meaningful institutional reforms to decrease impunity.
- Impunity undermines the integrity of democratic governments and enables corruption. Strengthening the rule of law is necessary to increase accountability, ensure stability, and safeguard the public interest. Potential projects could include strengthening policies and mechanisms to ensure separation of powers, whistleblower protections, press freedoms/access, and/or public access to government data
- Objective 2: Panama manages public revenues transparently and is accountable for investing public resources responsibly.
- Ensuring public revenue data, services, and processes are easily accessible to citizens promotes efficiency and accountability within the government while mitigating the risk of corruption. Potential projects could include generating buy-in from the Government of Panama to increase publicly available budget and procurement data, building government capacity to publish data that is easily accessible to citizens, and/or supporting the use of public data for projects that promote transparency, anti-corruption, and responsibility.
- Objective 3: Panamanian civil society demands government accountability and is able to influence policy outcomes. The government of Panama upholds the values and practices of liberal democracy; citizens hold their government accountable for these actions.
- A healthy democracy needs well established civil society organizations that represent diverse groups of stakeholders, as well as formal avenues through which those organizations can provide input on government policies. Projects that support civic engagement, advocacy skills training, and/or mentorship of leaders and civil society organizations that serve marginalized groups (i.e. indigenous, women, Afro-Panamanians, LGBTQ+, and at-risk youth) are encouraged. Illustrative examples of projects include, but are not limited to: supporting the development or strengthening of civic engagement/dialogue mechanisms within the government, and/or building the capacity of marginalized groups to affect government policies/practices that impact their communities.
- Objective 4: Panama creates a competent civil service that provides nonpartisan continuity and services to all residents of Panama.
- A strong professional civil service is vital for the effective functioning of a democracy. This workforce allows the government to provide continuity of services and processes, while preserving institutional knowledge and technical expertise.
Funding Information
- U.S. Embassy Panama expects to award up to four grant agreements based on this NOFO.
- The anticipated total federal funding amount is $750,000.00.
- The period of performance for each award is between 18-24 months with an anticipated start date of September 30, 2021.
- Award Ceiling: $750,000
- Award Floor: $100,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants who are eligible to apply are:
- U.S. and overseas-based Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs),
- Public International Organizations (PIOs),
- Educational Institutions and
- Other qualified organizations that are able to respond to the NOFO and be able to mobilize in a short period of time.
- To be eligible for a grant award, in addition to other conditions of this NOFO, organizations must have a commitment to non-discrimination with respect to beneficiaries and adherence to equal opportunity employment practices. Non-discrimination includes equal treatment without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and political affiliation.
- Note: U.S. Embassy Panama encourages applications from potential new partners.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=332849