Deadline: 26-Jan-24
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) from organizations interested in submitting Statements of Interest (SOI) for programs that support the policy objective to advance human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Categories
- Fostering accountability for egregious human rights abuses, including transnational repression
- The long-term goal under this category is that North Koreans have improved human rights and fundamental freedoms and the DPRK government is held accountable for egregious human rights violations, including transnational repression. Program objectives under this category include: the North Korean human rights community collectively and collaboratively engages stakeholders to increase momentum towards implementation of survivor-driven international and domestic judicial and non-judicial accountability actions; governments and multilateral institutions take concrete steps and actions that expand opportunities for human rights monitoring and accountability in the DPRK; and governments and multilateral institutions increasingly incorporate human rights abuses and crimes against humanity as concluded by the UN Commission of Inquiry within broader DPRK policy development and diplomatic engagements.
- Additional illustrative activities of projects proposed under this area could include:
- Strengthen the North Korean human rights community’s ability to collectively promote regional and/or international awareness, accountability, and advocacy. Proposed activities must implement safe and ethical approaches to engage North Korean individuals. This could include training documenters in current best practices to minimize re-traumatization and meet the investigatory standards necessary for accountability processes.
- Advocate to reinvigorate international attention and commitment to promoting human rights improvements in the DPRK. Advocacy efforts must demonstrate engagement with actors and governments beyond the traditional stakeholders of the North Korean human rights community.
- Conduct documentation, investigations, and/or research that leverages open-source information to uncover perpetrators, expose the command structure and detail systems that perpetuate the egregious abuses committed by the DPRK government at home and abroad. This could include research that identifies perpetrators tied to human rights abuses and/or perpetrators that support the DPRK’s illicit activities.
- Work with the North Korean defector community to use documentation of human rights abuses to identify and implement survivor-centric and/or survivor-led approaches to truth telling, memorialization, and reparation, that are complementary to on-going and future international accountability efforts.
- Advancing the rights of women and girls
- The long-term goal of programs under this category is that North Korean women and girls in all their diversity fully enjoy their human rights. Objectives of programs under this category include: governments and multilateral institutions take concerted actions to influence the DPRK government to meet its obligations under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and human rights treaties; and governments and multilateral institutions promote accountability of DPRK officials for violations against women and girls. Illustrative examples of projects proposed under this category include:
- Document abuses against North Korean women and girls to raise international awareness and advance advocacy and accountability efforts. Abuses could have occurred within North Korea, overseas (e.g., during their time as overseas laborers), or during the defection process.
- Promote gender equity and equality by supporting women’s leadership, participation, empowerment, and rights within targeted segments of the population in the DPRK, such as among women entrepreneurs.
- The long-term goal of programs under this category is that North Korean women and girls in all their diversity fully enjoy their human rights. Objectives of programs under this category include: governments and multilateral institutions take concerted actions to influence the DPRK government to meet its obligations under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and human rights treaties; and governments and multilateral institutions promote accountability of DPRK officials for violations against women and girls. Illustrative examples of projects proposed under this category include:
- Strengthening Labor Rights and Protections
- The long-term goal of programs under this category is to foster increased methods for reporting North Korean labor rights violations and for human rights advocates to have enhanced ability to support efforts to increase protections of labor rights. Objectives under this category include: governments and multilateral institutions taking concerted actions to influence the DPRK government to pursue International Labour Organization (ILO) membership and/or take other concrete actions to improve labor rights; and labor advocacy and human rights organizations elevate issues of forced labor to international businesses, including those currently operating within the DPRK’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and encourage adherence to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Illustrative examples of projects proposed under this category include:
- Document human rights abuses and poor conditions faced by workers within North Korea and overseas for the purposes of accountability efforts. Documentation may also be used to increase knowledge of abuses and inform international advocacy and engagement with the private sector, governments, and multilateral institutions.
- Support coordination among labor advocacy and human rights organizations to effectively leverage information on forced labor to encourage international businesses to adhere to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
- Support opportunities to encourage consideration of ILO membership and foster awareness raising and dialogue on improved conditions for workers and the abolishment of child labor.
- The long-term goal of programs under this category is to foster increased methods for reporting North Korean labor rights violations and for human rights advocates to have enhanced ability to support efforts to increase protections of labor rights. Objectives under this category include: governments and multilateral institutions taking concerted actions to influence the DPRK government to pursue International Labour Organization (ILO) membership and/or take other concrete actions to improve labor rights; and labor advocacy and human rights organizations elevate issues of forced labor to international businesses, including those currently operating within the DPRK’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and encourage adherence to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Illustrative examples of projects proposed under this category include:
- Promoting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- The long-term goal of programs under this category is that North Korean persons with disabilities have increased access to rights and services as enshrined in domestic and/or international laws. The objective of programs under this category is that governments and multilateral institutions take concerted actions to influence the DPRK government to implement recommendations accepted during the DPRKs Universal Periodic Review and to meet its obligations under human rights treaties. Illustrative activities of projects proposed under this area could include:
- Document cases of human rights violations against persons with disabilities for the purposes of accountability and to elevate disability rights in international advocacy and engagement with governments and multilateral institutions to encourage the inclusion of persons with disabilities within diplomatic efforts. Proposed activities should provide technical support to persons with disabilities to increase their abilities to conduct documentation.
- Provide technical and financial assistance to defectors with disabilities to conduct advocacy activities on North Korean human rights domestically, regionally, and internationally.
- Connect defectors with disabilities to regional disability rights communities to exchange lessons learned and best practices so advocates can press for increased rights of persons with disabilities in the North Korea context.
- Include persons with disabilities in trainings on developing shadow reporting, a method for civil society to present alternative information to reports governments are required to submit under human rights treaties, and assist in networking these individuals among other human rights advocacy spaces focused on the DPRK.
- The long-term goal of programs under this category is that North Korean persons with disabilities have increased access to rights and services as enshrined in domestic and/or international laws. The objective of programs under this category is that governments and multilateral institutions take concerted actions to influence the DPRK government to implement recommendations accepted during the DPRKs Universal Periodic Review and to meet its obligations under human rights treaties. Illustrative activities of projects proposed under this area could include:
Funding Information
- SOIs that request less than $100,000 or more than $1,250,000 may be deemed technically ineligible.
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 (noting there are restrictions on payment of fees and/or profits under grants and cooperative agreements, including those outlined in 48 CFR 30, “Cost Accounting Standards Administration”, and 48 CFR 31, “Contract Cost Principles and Procedures”);
- 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 DRL.