Deadline: 4-May-22
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) from organizations interested in submitting concepts for programs that support the policy objective to foster civil, political, religious, and labor rights in Cuba.
Specifically, DRL programs in Cuba aim to strengthen the capabilities of on-island, independent civil society to advance the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all individuals in Cuba, and to overcome the limitations imposed by the Cuban government on the exercise of these civil, political, labor, and religious rights. DRL strives to ensure its projects also advance principles of non-discrimination with respect to race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other individual characteristics.
DRL encourages applicants to foster collaborative partnerships with each other and submit a combined SOI in which one organization is designated as the lead applicant. The applicant should also demonstrate experience programming effectively within Cuba and/or within other closed society environments. Most importantly, the applicant should clearly demonstrate that the proposed activities emanate directly from needs expressed by independent Cuban civil society.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
- Award Floor: $500,000
Eligible Activities
Activities that typically are NOT considered competitive include, but are not limited, to:
- The provision of large amounts of humanitarian assistance;
- English language instruction;
- Development of high-tech computer or communications software and/or hardware;
- Purely academic research, exchanges, or fellowships;
- External exchanges or fellowships lasting longer than three months;
- Off-island activities that are not clearly linked to in-country initiatives and impact or are not necessary due to security concerns;
- Theoretical explorations of human rights or democracy issues, including projects aimed primarily at research and evaluation for publication that do not incorporate training or capacity-building for local civil society;
- Activities that go beyond an organization’s demonstrated competence, or fail to provide clear evidence that activities will achieve the stated impact;
- Activities that are a duplication of other ongoing USG-funded projects in Cuba.
Eligibility Criteria
Organizations submitting SOIs must meet the following criteria:
- Be a U.S.- or foreign-based non-profit/non-governmental organization (NGO), or a public international organization; or
- Be a private, public, or state institution of higher education; or
- Be a for-profit organization or business;
- Have existing, or the capacity to develop, active partnerships with thematic or in-country partners, entities, and relevant stakeholders including private sector partner and NGOs; and,
- Have demonstrable experience administering successful and preferably similar programs. DRL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering federal awards. These applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=339046