Deadline: 17-Aug-20
The Public Diplomacy Office of the U.S. Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU-PD) has announced an open competition for a cooperative agreement through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Not-for-profit non-governmental organizations are invited to submit proposals to implement a project that will promote Palestinian women as full participants in economic development, with the expected result of elevating the status of women in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza and their economic activity, while also advancing the PAU-PD mission goals:
- to advance peace and the development of a prosperous, stable, and transparent Palestinian society, economy and system of governance through substantive engagement with American people, institutions, ideas and ideals in order to improve American-Palestinian relations and create greater opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership and cooperation.
- modernization of sales platforms;
- improvement in quality of products and services; and
- establishment of sustained connections between participating Palestinian business women and experts and markets in the United States.
- Conduct a Needs Assessment that would address the most evident training and coaching needs of the participating Palestinian entrepreneurs and their businesses.
- Mentor and develop women micro-entrepreneurs to refine their product selection, improve select product quality, and streamline their supply chain and production process to allow scaling up for better sales.
- Equip women entrepreneurs with the training, resources, and expertise they need to successfully grow their businesses through online sales.
- Design and launch an online sales platform for Palestinian microenterprises, including previous and future participants in U.S. sponsored Women’s Micro-Enterprise Bazaars, to offer year-round development and sales opportunities and expand market reach for Palestinian businesses.
- Provide strategic planning for business growth including, but not limited to, virtual consulting for individual entrepreneurs, businesses, or groups at similar stages of growth on developing a business plan to improve resiliency of businesses to adapt to market disruptions, as well as coaching, training, and mentorship for entrepreneurs at various stages of success.
- Connect Palestinian entrepreneurs with potential American and international private sector investors and retailors to support long-term partnerships and develop export capabilities that lead to market expansion and business growth.
- Provide virtual and/or in-person exchanges between Palestinian women entrepreneurs and American entrepreneurs, businesses, and public and private sector organizations to share expertise and best practices; develop sustainable relationships and partnerships; encourage innovation; and open new business opportunities through exposure to new ideas, markets, and partnerships.
- Award amounts: $175,000 total available funding (awards may range from approximately $25,000 to $175,000)
- Length of performance period: up to 24 months
- Anticipated program start date: no earlier than September 30, 2020.
- Eligible primary applicants for funding must be U.S. Not-For-Profit Organizations or Palestinian Not-For-Profit Organizations.
- Proposals must be submitted in English; proposals submitted in Arabic or other languages will not be considered.
- Applicants wishing to submit proposals to the PAU Public Diplomacy Section should send a proposal detailing:
- what they intend to do to achieve the goals and objectives outlined in this call for proposals (specific activities of the project);
- the American and/or Palestinian institutions and entities with whom they plan to partner;
- a budget narrative providing specific details on how the budget line-items will be used and what they will fund.
- a clear monitoring, measurement and evaluation plan; stating specific, observable, and measurable indicators of success and the intended method(s) for measuring achievement of those indicators
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=327982