Global Human Rights Defenders Emergency Fund

The summary for the Global Human Rights Defenders Emergency Fund grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.
Global Human Rights Defenders Emergency Fund: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Request for Statements of Interest: Global Human Rights Defenders Emergency Fund PLEASE NOTE: DRL strongly urges applicants to access immediately www.grants.gov in order to obtain a username and password. It may take up to a week to register with grants.gov. Please see the section entitled, "DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS" below for specific instructions. Global Human Rights Defenders Background: Defenders of Human Rights often risk their own and their families lives, safety, and jobs to advocate for universally recognized human rights. The State Department has made defending these individuals a priority by establishing an emergency fund within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) that draws upon the bureaus expertise protecting and assisting human rights defenders who promote human rights, democracy promotion, womens rights, fair labor, anti-corruption, independent media and journalism, rule of law and other issues where defense of such issues might result in the risk of safety and/or life. Summary: In an effort to limit the work of human rights and democracy advocates, authoritarian governments are increasingly targeting such activists for reprisal by adopting burdensome laws and regulations governing civil society organizations involved in human rights and democracy promotion, as well as harassing, arresting, and abusing such activists. Many human rights and democracy defenders find themselves in immediate need of modest amounts of emergency financial support to cover fees for their legal defense, medical costs, or the basic needs of family members. Supporting these courageous men and women goes to the heart of supporting global democracy and human rights. DRL seeks proposals for effective and immediate approaches to disburse emergency financial support to these individual human rights defenders and advocates of human rights globally when the repression or restriction of basic human rights, including freedom of expression, democracy promotion, women rights and, rule of law, etc. may be prevalent. Proposals that provide methods to achieving this objective will be welcome. The U.S.-based grantee will be responsible for managing funding for: legal representation; medical bills arising from abuse; trial monitoring; transportation costs for prison visitation; appeals; equipment damaged or confiscated by government authorities; day-to-day living expenses when the primary provider is detained, imprisoned or evicted; and other types of emergency needs. With strong justification and on an exceptional basis, funds may be provided to defenders to participate in international fora deemed essential to focus international attention on serious and ongoing repression, or to participate in training sessions outside a defenders country that will help the defender promote human rights more effectively in his/her country. DRL staff would be the focal point for receiving requests via the NGO partners, and would coordinate with posts, regional bureaus and other relevant USG officials. The emergency support funds would be distributed to recipients though the NGO partners. Receipts and/or reimbursement documentation shall be obtained by the grantee for all expenditures. Successful applicants are not guaranteed continued funding in future fiscal years. Target Regions and Organizational Expertise: Applicants are encouraged to select target countries and/or regions where they have requisite expertise and strong relationships with local NGOs and/or activists. DRL particularly seeks organizations that have a demonstrated track record of coordinating with other democracy and human rights organizations at the national and international levels in the particular region for which the organization seeks funding. Organization Vetting: Depending on the region/countries targeted, successful proposal applicants and/or sub-grantees may need to be vetted before final grant agreements are awarded. Failure to meet vetting requirements will result in proposal disqualification. Selecting Partner NGOs: Applicants should identify experienced, reliable indigenous partners in each region or country. DRL grantees should have an exceptionally strong, preferably long-term relationship with indigenous partner NGOs. Activist Funding Process: When an activist has a funding need, he or she would contact the local indigenous NGO that partners with the DRL grantee, (where there is on-the-ground presence), or the US Embassy, if the activists feels such contact is advisable. The indigenous NGO (or others) would then relay to the DRL grantee the need, justification, and level of funding. The DRL grantee would, in turn, transmit this information to the appropriate DRL officer who would then work with the local embassy, regional bureaus, or others to verify the legitimacy of the request. Based on this screening, the DRL officer would authorize the grantee to disburse funds to the individual. DRL would vet and, if warranted, approve emergency requests within 48 business hours. Additional Information The Bureau supports programs that uphold democratic principles, support and strengthen democratic institutions, promote human rights and internationally recognized worker rights, and build civil society globally. The Bureau funds projects that have the potential to have an immediate impact leading to long-term sustainable reforms. Projects should have potential for continued funding beyond Bureau resources. Projects must not duplicate or simply add to efforts by other entities. The Bureau anticipates awarding grants in late spring/early summer 2007. The bulk of funding activities should take place during a 1-2 year time frame. Projects that leverage resources from either funds internal to the organization or partnerships such as public-private partnerships will be highly considered. Projects that have a strong academic or research focus will not be highly considered. Cost sharing is strongly encouraged and cost sharing contributions should be outlined in the proposal budget and budget narrative. Pending availability of funds, up to USD $1,500,000 total is expected to be available for projects that address the parameters above. The Bureau anticipates granting up to 1 to 6 awards totaling up to USD $1,500,000 to support the program and administrative costs required to implement these programs. APPLICANT/ORGANIZATION CRITERIA Organizations submitting proposals must meet the following criteria: * Be a U.S. non-profit organization meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c) (3) or a comparable organization headquartered internationally. Universities are allowable. * Have demonstrated experience administering successful and preferably similar projects. DRL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering federal grant awards. These applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis. * Be a registered user of grants.gov. * Have existing, or the capacity to develop, active partnerships with in-country entities and relevant stakeholders including industry and non-government organizations. * Organizations may form consortia and submit a joint proposal. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant. * An OMB policy directive published in the Federal Register on Friday, June 27, 2003, requires that all organizations applying for Federal grants or cooperative agreements must provide a Dun and Bradstreet (D&B) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number when applying for all Federal grants or cooperative agreements on or after October 1, 2003. Please reference: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/062703_grant_identifier.pdf for the complete OMB policy directive. REVIEW PROCESS The Bureau will review all proposals for eligibility. Proposals will be deemed ineligible if they do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein and in the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI). Eligible proposals will be subject to compliance with Federal and Bureau regulations and guidelines and forwarded to Bureau grant panels for advisory review. Proposals may also be reviewed by the Office of the Legal Adviser or by other Department elements. Final technical authority for assistance awards resides with the Office of Acquisition Managements Grants Officer. The information contained in this solicitation is binding and may not be modified by any Bureau representative. Explanatory information provided by the Bureau that contradicts this language will not be binding. Issuance of the solicitation does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government. The Bureau reserves the right to reduce, revise, or increase proposal budgets in accordance with the needs of the program evaluation requirements. Proposals will be funded based on an evaluation of how the project meets the review criteria below, U.S. foreign policy objectives, and the priority needs of DRL. A State Department Review Committee will evaluate proposals submitted under this request. Review criteria will include: 1. Quality of program idea - proposals should be responsive to the solicitation and exhibit originality, substance, precision, and relevance to the Bureaus mission. 2. Program planning/ability to achieve objectives - work plan should demonstrate substantive activities and the organizations capacity and planning to undertake them. Objectives should be ambitious yet measurable and achievable. 3. Impact/multiplier effect - proposed program should address long-term institution building with an emphasis on moving towards sustainability, directly impact the situation in the target country(ies), and define and reach numerous audiences. 4. Program evaluation plan - proposals should demonstrate the capacity for engaging in impact assessments and providing measurable outputs, outcomes, and short and long-term goals. 5. Institutions record and capacity - proposals should demonstrate an institutional record of successful program management in repressive environments. The Bureau will consider the past performance of prior recipients and the demonstrated potential of new applicants. 6. Cost-effectiveness - the overhead and administrative components of the proposal, including salaries and honoraria, should be kept as low as possible. Cost-sharing is highly encouraged. DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Applicants must submit proposals using www.grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on April 23, 2007. DRL will not accept proposals submitted via email, the U.S. postal system, FedEx, UPS and similar delivery companies, or courier. Faxed documents will not be accepted at any time. Please note: In order to safeguard the security of applicants electronic information, www.grants.gov utilizes a credential provider. It is the process of determining, with certainty, that someone really is who they claim to be. The credential provider for www.grants.gov is Operational Research Consultants (ORC). Applicants MUST register with ORC to receive a username and password which you will need to register with www.grants.gov as an authorized organization representative (AOR). Once your organization's E-Business point of contact has assigned these rights, you will be authorized to submit grant applications through Grants.gov on behalf of your organization. Each organization will need to be registered with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) and you will need to have your organization's DUNS number available to complete this process. After your organization registers with the CCR, you must wait 3 business days before you can obtain a username and password. PLEASE be advised that completing all the necessary steps for obtaining a username and password from www.grants.gov can take up to 2 full weeks. DRL strongly urges applicants to begin this process on www.grants.gov well in advance of the submission deadline. No exceptions will be made for organizations that have not completed the necessary steps to post applications on www.grants.gov. Please access www.grants.gov for the all necessary information. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS Proposals should not exceed 10 single-spaced pages in length using 12-point Times New Roman font in Microsoft Word with at least one-inch margins. Budgets should be provided separately in Excel or compatible spreadsheets. A narrative budget that provides detail on budget line items MUST accompany the Excel spreadsheet. Please refer to the Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI) for more detail. Organizations may submit only one proposal. Proposals that do not meet the above requirements may not be considered. Organizations must also complete and submit SF-424 and SF-424B forms as directed on www.grants.gov. Please fill out the highlighted yellow fields and use the following specific information for the below fields: 1. Type of Submission: Application 2. Type of Application: New 5b. Federal Award Identifier: Please enter zeros or leave blank. 17. Please enter approximate start/end dates for the project. 18. Please enter the estimated amount from the SOI under "Federal" and any-cost share under "Applicant." Otherwise, use zeros. 19. Please enter "c" TECHNICAL ELIGIBILITY Technically eligible submissions are those which: 1) arrive electronically via www.grants.gov by the designated due date before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and 2) have heeded all instructions contained in the solicitation document and Proposal Submission Instructions (PSI), including length and completeness of submission. If there is a discrepancy between the PSI and this announcement, please note that this document takes precedence. DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS All proposals must be received at the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on April 23, 2007. Please refer to the PSI for specific delivery instructions. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Please specify Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, (202)-647-3904 and/or Ramiro Martinez, (202)-261-8008 on all inquiries and correspondence. Please read the complete announcement and PSI before sending inquiries or submitting proposals. Once the RFP deadline has passed, State Department officials - both in the Bureau and at embassies overseas - may not discuss this competition with applicants until the entire proposal review process is completed.
Federal Grant Title: Global Human Rights Defenders Emergency Fund
Federal Agency Name: Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor
Grant Categories: Other
Type of Opportunity: Discretionary
Funding Opportunity Number: DRL-07-GR-001-DDF-032607
Type of Funding: Grant
CFDA Numbers: Information not provided
CFDA Descriptions: Information not provided
Current Application Deadline: No deadline provided
Original Application Deadline: Apr 23, 2007
Posted Date: Mar 26, 2007
Creation Date: Mar 26, 2007
Archive Date: May 23, 2007
Total Program Funding:
Maximum Federal Grant Award: $1,500,000
Minimum Federal Grant Award: $250,000
Expected Number of Awards:
Cost Sharing or Matching: No
Category Explanation
Global Human Rights Defenders Emergency Fund
Applicants Eligible for this Grant
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Link to Full Grant Announcement
Information not provided
Grant Announcement Contact
Ramiro Martinez
Program Officer
202-261-8008 [email protected] [email protected]

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