U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation in South Africa

Deadline: 3-Dec-21

The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in South Africa is pleased to announce U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) 2021 funding opportunity to support projects that strengthen civil society, encourage good governance, and promote political and economic stability.

Objectives

• The U.S. Department of State established the AFCP in 2000 at the request of Congress.  At the time, the Senate noted that the preservation of cultural heritage “offers an opportunity to show a different American face to other countries, one that is non-commercial, non-political, and non-military.”
• The projects recommended for funding advance U.S. foreign policy goals and show respect for other cultures.  Cultural preservation is effective public diplomacy that resonates deeply with opinion leaders and local communities, even in countries where ties may be otherwise limited.

Funding Areas

The AFCP Grants Program supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts.  Appropriate project activities may include:

• Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts)
• Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site)
• Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site)
• Documentation (recording in analog or digital format the condition and salient features of an object, site, or tradition)
• Inventory (listing of objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristic or state)
• Preventive Conservation (addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition)
• Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings)
• Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site)

Categories

Options for Project Category and Focus Area: (select only ONE category, and ONE focus area within this category.):

• Cultural Objects and Collections
  • Archaeological Collections
  • Ethnographic Objects
  • General Museum Conservation
  • Manuscripts
  • Paintings and Sculpture
• Cultural Sites
  • Archaeological Sites
  • Historic Buildings and Sites
• Forms of Traditional Cultural Expression
  • Craft
  • Dance
  • Drama
  • Language
  • Music
  • Ceremony
  • Traditional Knowledge

Funding Priorities

In FY 2022, projects that do one or more of the following will be prioritized:

• Directly support U.S. treaty or bilateral agreement obligations.
• Directly support U.S. policies, strategies and objectives in a country as stated in the Integrated Country Strategy or other U.S. government planning documents.
• Support disaster risk reduction for cultural heritage in disaster-prone areas or post-disaster cultural heritage recovery.
• Support conflict resolution and help communities bridge differences.
• Partner, connect with, or feed into other ECA or public diplomacy programs

Funding Information

• Length of performance period:  12 to 60 months
• Number of awards anticipated:  Potential for multiple awards depending on funds availability
• Award amounts:  Awards may range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $500,000
• Total expected funding:  $500,000

Eligible Project Implementers

• They invite interested non-profit organizations, public international organizations, and private, public, or state institutions of higher education in South Africa and the United States to submit concept notes for AFCP projects.
• Eligible project implementers are reputable and accountable non-commercial entities that can demonstrate they have the requisite capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage.
• Eligible implementers may include foreign institutions of higher education, foreign public entities (governments), non-governmental organizations, non-profit museums, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.-based higher education institutions and organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.
• The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous awards.
• Applicants are allowed to submit up to two applications per organization.
• Implementers must be registered and active in the U.S. government’s System for Award Management (SAM) to receive U.S. federal assistance.
• The Mission will vet potential implementers for eligibility, suitability, and reputable performance in cultural preservation or similar activities and ensure that they can receive U.S. federal assistance.  The Mission will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous AFCP awards.

Note: Applications from for-profit organizations will not be considered by the Grants Review Committee.  No exceptions can be made.

For more information, visit https://za.usembassy.gov/ambassadors-fund-for-cultural-preservation/