Deadline: 25-Mar-22
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open-source competition for eligible organizations for the FY2021 Research and Evaluation Innovation Fund: Global Trends in Democratic Erosion and Autocracy.
Goal:
- Contribute to building a portfolio of evidence to further identify democracy and rights program strategies that are effective.
Objective
- Projects should support the following objective:
- Cultivate the use of sound evidence and generate findings and recommendations to counter global trends in democratic erosion and autocracy.
Project Aims
- The primary purpose of this project is to develop a partnership among a diverse set of Democracy, Rights, and Governance (DRG) stakeholders—academics, funders, policymakers, and practitioners—where data, theories, research questions, and practices can be tested, leading to the improvement of program strategies and activities to counter democratic erosion and autocratic events.
- The primary expected outcome of this project is the increased use of evidence in the development of program and policy strategies that counter democratic erosion and autocracy. To aid applicants, the following expected outcomes have been outlined; however, alternative outcomes and associated activities may be proposed with proper justification.
- Improve data access and use: Public event datasets can be used to track democratic erosion and autocratic events, allowing policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to explore and understand patterns across countries, regions, and regime types (e.g., liberal democracy, electoral autocracy).
- Foster discussion and learning: Partnerships, public convenings, and regular meetings among academics / researchers, policymakers, and practitioners present the opportunity to discuss the strengths and limitations of data, theories, and practices to improve quality and use.
- Increase demand for evidence: Improved relationships should lead to opportunities where policymakers and practitioners can request and obtain timely and high-quality evidence (e.g., literature reviews, policy briefs) from the consortium’s academic experts.
- Enable sustainable networks: Feedback should be integrated to improve academic practitioner partnerships, as well as curricula, pedagogical resources, and evidence (e.g., datasets, policy / program simulations) that identify trends and effective strategies.
Funding Information
- Funding Floor: $650,000
- Funding Ceiling: $975,000
- Anticipated Number of Awards: 1
- Type of Award: Cooperative Agreement
- Period of Performance: 12 – 24 months
- Anticipated Time to Award, Pending Availability of Funds: 3-6 months
Eligibility Criteria
- DRL welcomes applications from U.S.-based and foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernment organizations (NGO) and public international organizations; private, public, or state institutions of higher education; and for-profit organizations or businesses.
- DRL’s preference is to work with non-profit entities; however, there may be some occasions when a for-profit entity is best suited.
- Applications submitted by for-profit entities may be subject to additional review following the panel selection process.
- Additionally, the Department of State prohibits profit to for-profit or commercial organizations under its assistance awards.
- Profit is defined as any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs.
- The allow ability of costs incurred by commercial organizations is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=337521