U.S. Department of State: Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) Grant Opportunity

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

U.S. EMBASSY ABUJA PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION (PAS)

Call for Statements of Interest (SOI)

Funding Opportunity Title: Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP)

Deadline for Applications: March 2, 2020

CFDA Number: 19.222

Contact: U.S. Embassy Abuja, Public Affairs Section

E-mail: NigeriaTSCTP@state.gov 

A. FUNDING DESCRIPTION

The Public Affairs Section (PAS), U.S. Embassy Abuja, is pleased to issue this call for Statements of Interest (SOI) for the FY2019 Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) fund. TSCTP is the U.S. Government’s primary vehicle for cooperation with partner countries in the Sahel and West Africa to strengthen civilian, military, and law enforcement capacity to counter terrorism and the spread of violent extremism.

Location: Nigeria and/or regional projects in the Sahel and West African regions. 

Funding Scope: Priority will be given to projects that address one or more of the following themes: 

• Building collaboration, trust, and reporting mechanisms between citizens and civilian government officials and institutions, including, but not limited to, law enforcement;

• Developing and implementing strategies to rehabilitate and reintegrate defectors from VEOs;

• Supporting women as effective peace and security leaders to prevent and respond to terrorist radicalization, including countering the role women play in violent extremism; and

• Building cross-border networks of government and civil society actors who can identify and mitigate recruitment and radicalization to violence.

Projects that do not address one or more of these objectives will not be considered for funding. All SOIs should clearly and succinctly explain the challenge the project would address and how the proposed project would help counter the spread of violent extremism. SOIs should be focused enough to achieve concrete results in a 24-month period.  

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of performance period: Minimum 24 months 

Number of awards anticipated: Dependent on availability of total funding

Award amounts: Projects should have a minimum budget of $250,000

Type of Funding: Fiscal Year 2019 Economic Support Funds (ESF) – Overseas Contingency Operations 

Anticipated project start date: October 1, 2020

This call is subject to availability of funding. Projects may be scaled or reduced based on funding availability. This call does not constitute a binding agreement for the U.S. Government to make any award of any specific amount.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants

The following U.S., Nigerian, or other international organizations are eligible to submit SOIs:  

• Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations 

• Public and private educational institutions

• Public International Organizations and Governmental institutions

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Applicant organizations are encouraged to include cost-sharing or matching funds in their proposed budget, but this is not a requirement of application.  

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Please follow all instructions below carefully. Submissions that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.

Content of the Statement on Interest (SOI)

Please ensure:

• The SOI clearly addresses the scope of this funding opportunity

• All documents are in English

• All budgets are calculated in U.S. dollars

• All pages are numbered

• Formatting: Submissions should employ Microsoft Word or other widely available word processing program. Documents should be single-spaced, use 12-point Times New Roman font, and have minimum one-inch margins.

The SOI must include a full project description and summary, including an explicit theory of change that: (a) identifies the underlying drivers of violent extremism support by current research; (b) the project’s anticipated goals and outcomes; and (c) how the project’s goal(s) will address the drivers noted in Section A. The narrative must also provide the following requested information.  

• Title of Project

• Name and Introduction of the Applicant Organization: To include a brief description of past and present operations that demonstrates the ability to implement the proposed program.

• Organization Point of Contact 

• Amount of Funding Requested/Budget in the form of a summary that divides potential costs into major line items (e.g. personnel, salaries, contractual, supplies, travel, etc.); it is not necessary to further sub-divide these categories at this time.

• Project Context/Rationale, i.e. the violent extremism problem or challenge and key target populations/audiences the project will address.

• Project Goals and Objectives: see above.

• Outline of Key Project Activities

• Timeline for implementation including key benchmarks within which the work will be accomplished.

• Project Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E): Describe your organization’s performance monitoring strategy. Based on its objectives, what results and indicators will be used to gauge the project’s impact? What type of data collection tools will be employed (e.g. pre- and post-activity surveys, focus group discussions, etc.)? Indicate whether M&E will be done internally or by an outside entity. 

Use of and Restrictions on Economic Support Funds: All proposals must be implemented in a manner consistent with the authority and restrictions applicable to U.S. government Economic Support Funds (ESF). SOIs must observe the following restrictions on ESF funding:  

• Cannot be used for any military or paramilitary purpose.

• ESF funds are also subject to restrictions on assistance to police, prisons, other law enforcement forces, and programs of internal intelligence or surveillance.  

• All programming must be implemented in a manner consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This provision on “separation of Church and State” requires that federally funded programs and activities have both a secular purpose and a secular effect. 

• All programming must be implemented in compliance with the 2008 Negroponte Guidance.  

E. SOI REVIEW INFORMATION

Review and Selection Process: The review process will take place as follows: 

(1) Embassy Abuja’s grants review committee will conduct an initial review of SOIs;

(2) SOIs favorably reviewed in step one will be forwarded for a secondary review to the Department of State office overseeing the TSCTP program;

(3) SOIs favorably reviewed in step two will be invited to submit full length grant application 

 proposals; 

(4) Successful organizations selected in step three will enter pre-award negotiations in preparation for award issuance.

Notes: Organizations submitting SOIs that do not pass through all of the four stages will be notified. As noted in Section B., issuance of any award is subject to funding availability. 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

U.S. EMBASSY ABUJA PUBLIC AFFAIRS SECTION (PAS)

Call for Statements of Interest (SOI)

Funding Opportunity Title: Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP)

Deadline for Applications: March 2, 2020

CFDA Number: 19.222

Contact: U.S. Embassy Abuja, Public Affairs Section

E-mail: NigeriaTSCTP@state.gov 

A. FUNDING DESCRIPTION

The Public Affairs Section (PAS), U.S. Embassy Abuja, is pleased to issue this call for Statements of Interest (SOI) for the FY2019 Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) fund. TSCTP is the U.S. Government’s primary vehicle for cooperation with partner countries in the Sahel and West Africa to strengthen civilian, military, and law enforcement capacity to counter terrorism and the spread of violent extremism.

Location: Nigeria and/or regional projects in the Sahel and West African regions. 

Funding Scope: Priority will be given to projects that address one or more of the following themes: 

• Building collaboration, trust, and reporting mechanisms between citizens and civilian government officials and institutions, including, but not limited to, law enforcement;

• Developing and implementing strategies to rehabilitate and reintegrate defectors from VEOs;

• Supporting women as effective peace and security leaders to prevent and respond to terrorist radicalization, including countering the role women play in violent extremism; and

• Building cross-border networks of government and civil society actors who can identify and mitigate recruitment and radicalization to violence.

Projects that do not address one or more of these objectives will not be considered for funding. All SOIs should clearly and succinctly explain the challenge the project would address and how the proposed project would help counter the spread of violent extremism. SOIs should be focused enough to achieve concrete results in a 24-month period.  

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of performance period: Minimum 24 months 

Number of awards anticipated: Dependent on availability of total funding

Award amounts: Projects should have a minimum budget of $250,000

Type of Funding: Fiscal Year 2019 Economic Support Funds (ESF) – Overseas Contingency Operations 

Anticipated project start date: October 1, 2020

This call is subject to availability of funding.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants

The following U.S., Nigerian, or other international organizations are eligible to submit SOIs:  

• Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations 

• Public and private educational institutions

• Public International Organizations and Governmental institutions

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Applicant organizations are encouraged to include cost-sharing or matching funds in their proposed budget, but this is not a requirement of application.  

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Please follow all instructions below carefully. Submissions that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.

Content of the Statement on Interest (SOI)

Please ensure:

• The SOI clearly addresses the scope of this funding opportunity

• All documents are in English

• All budgets are calculated in U.S. dollars

• All pages are numbered

• Formatting: Submissions should employ Microsoft Word or other widely available word processing program. Documents should be single-spaced, use 12-point Times New Roman font, and have minimum one-inch margins.

The SOI must include a full project description and summary, including an explicit theory of change that: (a) identifies the underlying drivers of violent extremism support by current research; (b) the project’s anticipated goals and outcomes; and (c) how the project’s goal(s) will address the drivers noted in Section A. The narrative must also provide the following requested information.  

• Title of Project

• Name and Introduction of the Applicant Organization: To include a brief description of past and present operations that demonstrates the ability to implement the proposed program.

• Organization Point of Contact 

• Amount of Funding Requested/Budget in the form of a summary that divides potential costs into major line items (e.g. personnel, salaries, contractual, supplies, travel, etc.); it is not necessary to further sub-divide these categories at this time.

• Project Context/Rationale, i.e. the violent extremism problem or challenge and key target populations/audiences the project will address.

• Project Goals and Objectives: see above.

• Outline of Key Project Activities

• Timeline for implementation including key benchmarks within which the work will be accomplished.

• Project Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E): Describe your organization’s performance monitoring strategy. Based on its objectives, what results and indicators will be used to gauge the project’s impact? What type of data collection tools will be employed (e.g. pre- and post-activity surveys, focus group discussions, etc.)? Indicate whether M&E will be done internally or by an outside entity. 

Use of and Restrictions on Economic Support Funds: All proposals must be implemented in a manner consistent with the authority and restrictions applicable to U.S. government Economic Support Funds (ESF). SOIs must observe the following restrictions on ESF funding:  

• Cannot be used for any military or paramilitary purpose.

• ESF funds are also subject to restrictions on assistance to police, prisons, other law enforcement forces, and programs of internal intelligence or surveillance.  

• All programming must be implemented in a manner consistent with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This provision on “separation of Church and State” requires that federally funded programs and activities have both a secular purpose and a secular effect. 

• All programming must be implemented in compliance with the 2008 Negroponte Guidance.  

E. SOI REVIEW INFORMATION

Review and Selection Process: The review process will take place as follows: 

(1) Embassy Abuja’s grants review committee will conduct an initial review of SOIs;

(2) SOIs favorably reviewed in step one will be forwarded for a secondary review to the Department of State office overseeing the TSCTP program;

(3) SOIs favorably reviewed in step two will be invited to submit full length grant application 

 proposals; 

(4) Successful organizations selected in step three will enter pre-award negotiations in preparation for award issuance.

Notes: Organizations submitting SOIs that do not pass through all of the four stages will be notified. As noted in Section B., issuance of any award is subject to finding availability.