U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

U.S. EMBASSY SARAJEVO, OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

                  NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Funding Opportunity Title:              COMPREHENSIVE IN SCHOOL DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION PROGRAM  

Funding Opportunity Number:        010-FY2022

Deadline for Application:                  Friday, April 22, 2022

CFDA Number:                                 19.900

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION – COMPREHENSIVE IN-SCHOOL CIVIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

The United States Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, through the Public Diplomacy Section (PDS), is pleased to announce a Notice of Funding Opportunity for the COMPREHENSIVE IN-SCHOOL CIVIC EDUCATION PROGRAM

We welcome proposals for implementation of a country-wide, in-school civic education program as part of the official school curriculum throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in all 10 Cantons in the Federation of BiH, in Republika Srpska and Brcko District.  This year-long program will help educate young BiH students in kindergartens, elementary schools and secondary schools, and some universities about the basic concepts of democratic society, justice, human rights, tolerance, the BiH constitution, and the various levels of government in the country.  The budget of project proposals should not exceed $450,000, and the timeframe for this program is July/August 2022- July/August 2023. 

Proposals should include a plan to implement the following mandatory components:

• Interdisciplinary civic education curriculum for grades K-4, with a sample curriculum, student workbooks, and teacher guides in the three official languages of the country.
• Kindergarten Democracy Project:  Implemented in partnership with local schools and communities, to provide early education to vulnerable populations (e.g., Roma, returnees) who otherwise lack access.  Proposal should include a sample curriculum, student workbooks, and teacher guides in the three official languages of the country.
• Civic education curriculum for elementary schools, with a sample curriculum and student textbooks, and teacher guides in the three official languages of the country, in accordance with the official BiH Common Core Curriculum.
• Civic education curriculum for secondary schools, with a sample curriculum, student textbooks, and teacher guides in the three official languages of the country, in accordance with the official BiH Common Core Curriculum.
• Country-Wide Student Competition:  A civic education exercise involving classes and teams from across the country, toteach students to identify issues in their community and to advocate for solutions.  The competition should include teams of students and be organized at school, municipality, district/regional/ cantonal, and state levels.
• Civic Education Teacher Certification Institute:  Supports interdisciplinary teacher training based on educational standards, university syllabus development, and the inclusion of civics and human rights curricula (including specially developed textbooks on the subject) in kindergartens, schools, and universities across the country, including madrasas and Catholic school centers.
• Summer Democracy Camp:  A five-day large-scale camp on interethnic tolerance and peace building, which gathers together winners of the Country-Wide Student Competition (including students and teachers) representing all cantons/regions/districts/entities. 
• Annual Strategic Planning Conference:  Will bring together all major stakeholders (representatives of ministries of education, pedagogical institutes, education agencies, teachers, school principals, students, and alumni from all parts of the country) to discuss priorities and plans for the next fiscal year.
• Night in the Museum: Proposals should include a series of events, activities at three or more major museums in the country, and overnight stays for youth at those museums.  Applicants should include in the program at a minimum the National Museum of BiH, the Fojnica Franciscan Monastery Museum, and one of the major museums in Republika Srpska, for no less than 400 students from different ethnic groups across the country.
• Alumni Teacher and Student Networks:  Applicant demonstrates viable and active engagement of alumni teachers and students, has accurate databases of civic education teachers from kindergarten to university level, as well as that of students who participated in the Project Citizen Finals, the Brcko camp, the internship program and other direct contact programs.
• Social Media Dissemination Plan:  Applicant will develop a firm social media expansion plan to reach student and teacher audiences in and out of the classroom and improving on areas where the curriculum is not correctly or effectively applied.

In addition to the core components listed above, applicants are encouraged to include creative and innovative additional activities in support of the advancement and sustainability of civic education in BiH and community service projects.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of Performance Period:            12 months

Number of Awards Anticipated:          One or more depending on the submitted proposals

Award Amount                                    Awards may range from USD 200,000 to USD 450,000

Total Available Funding:                     USD 450,000

Type of Funding                                  FY21/2022 Assistance to Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia (AEECA) under the Foreign Assistance Act

Anticipated Award Date:                     July/August 2022

Funding Instrument Type:                   Grant, Fixed Amount Award, Cooperative Agreement

Cost Sharing Requirement:                  Cost sharing is encouraged in either direct cost contributions and/or in-kind contributions

B.1.  Funding decisions are contingent on the availability of funds.  Budget may not exceed 450,000 USD, to be disbursed in one grant/cooperative agreement, disbursed in eight equal instalments.  The U.S. Embassy reserves the right to cancel this Notice of Funding Opportunity at any time without any commitment to any applicant. Awarding of non-competitive continuation in FY 2023 is contingent on the availability of funding and successful performance.

B.2.  Project performance period. All activities should last for a maximum of 12 months and take place between July/August 2022 and July/August 2023.

Please note, however, that the precise timeframe in which grant money will be received cannot be guaranteed.  Applicants should design projects that can be   implemented whenever money is received, which could be as late as August 2022.

B.3. A Cooperative Agreement (CA) may be issued, particularly in the case that the selected applicant is a first-time recipient of Federal Funding.  Elements of substantial involvement include:

1. Participating in the design or direction of activities, design of conference agendas, and training delivery models
2. Participating in the selection of key project staff and trainers
3. Participating in the presentation of results
4. Assisting in the selection and/or analyses of data
5. Review and approve each press release and other public statements and publications before releasing it in public

C.ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

C.1. Who can apply:  All U.S. and BiH non-profit organizations, educational institutions and independent media are eligible to apply.  Proof of past performance in the development of civic education curricula, textbooks, and teacher professional development programs is required.  All applicants must demonstrate an ability to work in all parts of BiH, whether independently or in cooperation with an in-country partner, by presenting past approvals from relevant ministries of education. Grants are awarded only to organizations. 

C.2. Other eligibility requirements:  Cost sharing is encouraged, either in participation of costs or by in-kind contributions.  When applicant furnishes the services of an employee, these services must be valued at the employee’s regular rate of pay plus an amount of fringe benefits that is reasonable, necessary, allocable, and otherwise allowable.

     Volunteer services furnished by applicant’s professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor may be counted as cost sharing or matching if the service is an integral and necessary part of an approved project or program. Rates for third-party volunteer services must be consistent with those paid for similar work in the labor market in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Paid fringe benefits that are reasonable, necessary, allocable, and otherwise allowable may be included in the valuation.  The costs specified as cost sharing should meet the following criteria:

(1)  Costs are verifiable from the applicant’s records;

(2)  Costs are not included as contributions for any other United States Government award;

(3)  Costs are necessary and reasonable for accomplishment of project or program objectives;

(4)  Costs are allowable under Subpart D—Budget Guidelines of this NOFO;

C.3. All organizations must have DUNS unique entity identifier and a valid registration on www.SAM.gov before their projects proposals can be funded. Organization must obtain a DUNS number and SAM registration in order to receive funding. Please see Section E for information on how to obtain these registrations. 

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

D.1.  Mandatory application forms:  Your application cannot be reviewed without all of the below elements.  All forms and instructions are available at https://ba.usembassy.gov/   under Grants and under Application package. 

• SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – organizations).  Please make sure to include your DUNS number in the application.
• SF424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs) 
• Project Proposal (6 pages maximum): The proposal should contain sufficient information that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do.

D.2. General Guidelines: Please read all instructions carefully – proposals that do not meet the requirements listed here will not be considered for funding.

• All proposals must be written and submitted in English.
• Proposals may not exceed 6 pages in length (including budget and checklist) in Times New Roman Size 12 font. 
• The period of performance will be for one year.  Pending successful completion of the project and availability of funding, a second year of funding may be added for an additional year of work.
• All fields in the grant application form and checklist must be completed and sent via email as one document.
• The deadline for submission of  DHRE proposals is April 22, 2022 by 17:00 p.m.  Please submit your application with all mandatory fields as specified in section D.4 to the following e-mail address: SarajevoHomestayBiH@state.gov

Upon submission, please request a confirmation of the receipt of your application.

D3. Budget Guidelines:  Any application not meeting the budget requirements below will not be considered for funding.

• Detailed budget should be written in USD and not exceed amount of USD 450,000. 
• Local organizations should NOT include VAT expenses; they will be able to be reimbursed VAT money.
• Budget costs should be grouped into the following categories:
  • Personnel costs (salaries for staff who already work for your organization, fees for project manager, project coordinator/assistant, and or accountant)
  • Fringe (social and pension insurance contributions)
  • Travel (transportation costs, lodging, meals, and incidentals)
  • Supplies (office supplies and other materials for project implementation)
  • Contractual (fees for trainers, moderators, experts, and educators, who do NOT normally work for your organization but who are engaged to implement certain project activities, printing of promotional materials, renting of space/equipment, broadcasting of TV and radio shows, web site development, and other contractual services needed for project implementation.)
  • Other direct costs: (office rent, utilities, phone/fax/internet, office supplies, bank charges, etc.)
• Alcohol, entertainment, or “miscellaneous” expenses are not allowed.
• Costs incurred before the grant period start date will not be reimbursed. 

Grant funds may not be used for the following:

• Long-term infrastructure needs
• Provision of direct social services to a population
• Vocational training, for example teaching participants to sew, raise bees, knit, etc.
• Partisan political activity (Note: non-partisan election education and public information activities are allowable.)
• Funding of charitable activity and humanitarian aid, commercial projects, or fund-raising campaigns

D4.  Application Instructions: Please read carefully and complete each question as instructed. Applicants can use the application form which contains all the requested information and is available in the grant package for your convenience. Should applicants choose to submit a different format, make sure to read carefully and complete each question as instructed below.  Omitting any of the requested information may result in it being eliminated from consideration.

1. Applicant’s Contact Information

1. Implementing organization:  Specify the officially registered name of the organization.

• Contact person and title:  Name and the title of the Project Coordinator, or the person who is authorized to sign official documents, if different from the Project Coordinator.   
• Address/Postal Code and City        
• Phone number      
• E-mail:  Please include both the general email address for your organization and the email address of the project coordinator.

2. Basic Information about the Proposal

a. Project title:

b. Amount requested (USD)/Amount of cost share (USD)/Total cost (USD):

Please list the amount of funding requested from the Embassy.  If there is a cost share (another organization covering part of the total cost of the project), please list the amount here.  Please list the total cost of the project.

c. Project locations:

Please list all relevant locations, for example “kindergarten program will be implemented in cantons 2-8, Brcko district and Republika Srpska  etc…” 

3.  Scope of the Program

Please provide all relevant information about the scope of the program.  For each of the education levels: a. Kindergarten, b. Elementary school, c. Secondary School and c. University provide information about number of direct and indirect participants, including students, teachers, and others. Briefly explain how you derived those numbers.

4. Elevator pitch:

In 50 words or less, describe what your project is about and why it should receive support from the U.S. Embassy. 

5. Describe your organization’s previous success implementing similar programs

Briefly explain previous success in implementing similar programs, and include dates, number of participants from different entities/cantons/ethnic groups, locations, and point of references.

6. Implementation plans:

For each of the 11 mandatory components explained in Section A above, plus any of the additional innovations, provide an implementation plan with relevant numbers/locations of official education institutions the program will be implemented in as a part of the official curriculum and how you plan to obtain approvals from relevant education authorities. When applicable, requested items as a curriculum, textbooks in three local languages and/or teacher guides should be sent in a sealed envelope to: US Embassy Sarajevo, Public Diplomacy Section, NOFO 010-FY2022, Comprehensive civic education, Proposals. All materials should arrive no later than April 22, 2022.

7. Project goals and objectives:

Please elaborate on the goals and objectives of your project and explain methodology you plan to use to address issues of civic engagement, youth cooperation and development of tolerance and empathy among different groups. 

8. Project schedule and timeline:

Develop a step-by-step project timeline with major outcomes, and indicators of progress, deliverables, and benchmarks throughout the duration of the project.  If you have a specific timeframe, please list the dates, and explain why your project must take place within that timeframe.  Please note that grant money could be received any time between April and August 2022, depending on the U.S. budget cycle.

9. Project partners:

Applicants are encouraged to create cooperation with other groups addressing priority themes and/or engaging priority areas.  If you are implementing yourproject jointly with any other organizations, please list the names and type of involvement of those partner organizations.  A partner organization is an organization with which you work to develop and implement the project and share funds. Partner organizations also need to obtain DUNS UEI numbers.  Please note: contractors you engage to deliver goods or services such as trainers, web developers or suppliers are NOT partner organizations.

10. Key personnel:

List the names, titles and roles of key personnel involved in the project, including organization staff and any experts or trainers you will engage to implement the project.  Give a brief overview (1-2 sentences) of their experience/qualifications.  Please specify the total number of employees.

11. Monitoring and evaluation plan

A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan describes how the whole M&E system for the project works.  This includes the indicators, who is responsible for collecting them; and when, what forms and tools will be used, and how the data will be used to inform future steps in project realization. Major risks and mitigation strategies should be included.

12. Project sustainability:

Please explain your plans for follow-on activities after the grant period to ensure project impact continues.  Example: “After the project ends, the participants will continue to meet through school activities, community facilitated programs, and youth leadership opportunities, serving as a support network to each other, as well as peer educators with continued support from our organization.”

13. Background of implementing organization:

Briefly explain the mission of theorganization, examples of pastand current programs implemented, as well as its technical and management capacity.   It is very important to enter the number of volunteers who are engaged on a regular basis in your activities, and how the records of such engagement are kept.

14. Previous U.S. Government funding:

Indicate whether the implementing organization has received previous funding from the U.S. Government.  If so, please state the name of the project, the year, and the amount of funding for each project.

15. Detailed budget:                          

Present the budget in the form of a spreadsheet, in USD amounts, dividing the budget into the categories delineated in the application.  Cost sharing is encouraged.   If the Recipient includes cost sharing in the project proposal, then the Recipient is accountable for providing additional funds and justifying the costs.

16. Budget narrative:

Please explain your budget in narrative form, detail personnel duties, list names of trainers/moderators/experts and project staff and break down travel and lodging costs (i.e., how many people, how many overnights, cost per person per day).

E. HOW TO APPLY FOR REQUIRED REGISTRATIONS

Required Registration:

Any applicant listed on the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) in the System for Award Management (SAM) is not eligible to apply for an assistance award in accordance with the OMB guidelines at 2 CFR 180 that implement Executive Orders 12549 (3 CFR, 1986 Comp., p. 189) and 12689 (3 CFR, 1989 Comp., p. 235), “Debarment and Suspension.” Additionally, no entity listed on the EPLS can participate in any activities under an award.  All applicants are strongly encouraged to review the EPLS in SAM to ensure that no ineligible entity is included.

E.1. Who must apply?  All organizations applying for grants (except individuals) must obtain these registrations.  All are free of charge:

• Unique Entity Identifier from Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS number)
• NCAGE/CAGE code
• www.SAM.gov registration

E.2.  First, get your DUNS Number

Please use the link to obtain your DUNS number. The system is set up to be user-friendly and we encourage you to use it to obtain your DUNS number for yourself. However, if you experience problems, you may seek further assistance from:

To get a DUNS number please contact:

Bisnode BH, Vrazova 8, 71000 Sarajevo

info.ba@bisnode.com

Tel:  +387 33 215 454

        +387 33 215 452

www.bisnode.ba

E.3.  Next, get your NCAGE/CAGE code

• To apply, go to CAGE/NCAGE Code Request page
• Instructions for the NCAGE application process are available here.
• For NCAGE help from outside the U.S., call 1-269-961-7766
• Email: ncage@nato.nspa.int for any problems in getting an NCAGE code.

E.4.  After you receive your NCAGE code, complete your SAM.gov registration

• To register in the SAM system, go to their web site.
• Please read the Quick Guide for International Entity Registration which is the part of the Application Package you can find on the top of this page.
• SAM registration must be renewed annually, so even if you are already registered in SAM from a previous grant, please check to see if your registration is still valid.
• Entities registering in SAM must submit a letter appointing their authorized Entity Administrator. Please check the template of the letter which is the part of the application package.

However, if you experience any problem in registering in SAM.gov use the following link to register for live chat, so the SAM administrators can answer your questions. Working hours for this service are from Monday through Friday after 14:00.

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

Please be informed that DUNS is going away in April 2022. It will be replaced by UEI which will be assigned by sam.gov. UEIs are being given to organizations who register/renew this year. As a reminder sam.gov needs to be renewed yearly.

All organizations need an identifier for federal awards processes. On April 4, 2022, that identifier is changing from the DUNS Number to the Unique Entity ID (SAM), issued by SAM.gov.

•         March 29 is the last day for organizations to obtain a new DUNS Number from Dun & Bradstreet for registering an entity or getting a Unique Entity ID (SAM).

•         April 1 is the last day organizations can use a DUNS Number to get a Unique Entity ID (SAM) or register an entity in SAM.gov.

•         After April 4, 2022, organizations will go to SAM.gov, not Dun & Bradstreet, to obtain their Unique Entity ID (SAM).

The site to obtain a UEI is the same for registrations, but when the organization answers the questions, they can select UEI only.https://sam.gov/content/home

We recommend you start asking for your UEIs and NCAGE/CAGE in addition to DUNS. This way you start socialize the change. After April 2022 DUNS will not show in SAM.gov and the DUNS site for SAM.gov,   https://fedgov.dnb.com/webform/ will go away. While you can search on names in sam.gov, it is much easier to search using the NAGE/CAGE, also this number will be needed if you want to see the status of progress in sam.gov. Found here: https://sam.gov/content/status-tracker

For instructions on UEI transition, please check the following link: https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=gsafsd_kb_articles&sys_id=e31c534f1b40c1103565ed3ce54bcbce

F. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

All proposals will be evaluated by the Interethnic, Reconciliation and Youth Review Panel on the below criteria.

• Innovation, quality, and feasibility of the project idea. The proposal is new, innovative, well developed, and offers creative solutions with all necessary details about the scope of the project and how project activities will be carried out (location, number and location of participants, events to organize, media coverage etc.) (15 points)
• Project goals and objectives, reconciliation methods. Project clearly identifies goals, and objectives of the project, and the reconciliation methodology used, and is likely to provide maximum impact in achieving proposed results. (15 points)
• Project scope. The proposal which includes a greater number of students, from more diverse communities and from different entities, cantons/Brcko District will have priority. (15 points)
• Organizational capacity and record on previous grants.  The organization has sufficient number of employees and volunteers; demonstrates past performance in organizing education programs of a similar size with participants from both entities, all ethnic groups, and BiH minorities; and has existing expertise and the ability to perform the proposed activities. All former grants completed without major setbacks. (15) points)
• Budget and narrative justification are cost effective, completed, and reasonable in relation to the proposed activities and anticipated results. (20 points)
• Monitoring and evaluation. The proposal outlines in detail indicators of how project success and impact will be determined and provides details of formative monitoring and evaluation.  The applicant demonstrated its ability to measure project impact and provides milestones to indicate project progress towards goals/ objectives outlined in the proposal. Major risks and mitigation strategies should be included (10 points)
• Sustainability. The proposal needs to contain information about sustainability of the project. Project activities should continue to have a positive impact after the end of the project. Proposals should explain this future impact and/or sustainability of the project. (10 points)

G. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

G.1. Federal Award Notices

The grant award will be written, signed, awarded, and administered by the Grants Officer and the grants management team. The Recipient may only start incurring project expenses beginning on the start date shown on the grant award document signed by the Grant Officer. The assistance award agreement is the authorizing document, and it will be provided to the recipient for review and signature by email.

Funding decisions are contingent on the availability of funds.  Total amount for all grants in this program may not exceed 450,000 USD.  The U.S. Embassy reserves the right to cancel this Notice of Funding Opportunity at any time without any commitment to any applicant.

If a proposal is selected for funding, the Department of State has no obligation to provide any additional future funding.  Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the discretion of the Department of State.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S. government, nor does it commit the U.S. government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the U.S. government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

Payment Method: The payment of the award amount will occur in no less than 8 instalments.  Certain percentage of the total award amount up to 20 % of the total award amount will be paid immediately after signing the grant and submission of the valid bank account by Recipient.  However, if the project implementation requires a higher percentage of advance payment than 20 %, the Office of Public Affairs will make a payment based on the Recipient’s justification.  The rest will be paid upon submission of the interim and final program and financial reports by Recipient.  Each award document will contain detailed payment information.  The USG holds the right to retain the last payment up to 10 % of the award amount until all project activities are completed and the final program and financial reports submitted by the Recipient and approved by the Grant Officer and the Grant Officer Representative.

G.2. Terms and Conditions

Before submitting an application, applicants may wish to review all the terms and conditions and required certifications which will apply to this award, to ensure that they will be able to comply. These include:

• 2 CFR 25 – UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER AND SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT
• 2 CFR 170 – REPORTING SUBAWARD AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION INFORMATION
• 2 CFR 175 – AWARD TERM FOR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
• 2 CFR 182 – GOVERNMENTWIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE)
• 2 CFR 183 – NEVER CONTRACT WITH THE ENEMY
• 2 CFR 600 – DEPARTMENT OF STATE REQUIREMENTS
• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget’s guidance located at 2 CFR part 200, all applicable Federal laws, and relevant Executive guidance, the Department of State will review and consider applications for funding, as applicable to specific programs, pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity in accordance with the following:  NOTE:

• Guidance for Grants and Agreements in Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR), as updated in the Federal Register’s 85 FR 49506 on August 13, 2020, particularly on:
  • Selecting recipients most likely to be successful in delivering results based on the program objectives through an objective process of evaluating Federal award applications (2 CFR part 200.205),
  • Prohibiting the purchase of certain telecommunication and video surveillance services or equipment in alignment with section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (Pub. L. No. 115—232) (2 CFR part 200.216),
  • Promoting the freedom of speech and religious liberty in alignment with Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty (E.O. 13798) and Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities (E.O. 13864) (§§ 200.300, 200.303, 200.339, and 200.341),

Providing a preference, to the extent permitted by law, to maximize use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States (2 CFR part 200.

Terminating agreements in whole or in part to the greatest extent authorized by law, if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities (2 CFR part 200.340

G.3. Reporting Requirements

Recipients will be required to submit financial reports and program reports.  The award document will specify the forms and how often these reports must be submitted.

H.  FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

For more information, please contact us by phone: + 387 33 704-285,704-344, fax:  + 387 33 704-432 or e-mail at  SarajevoHomestayBiH@state.gov