U.S. Embassy Tirana Grant: Empowering Albanian Civil Society Organizations

• Albanian not-for-profit organizations, including civil society, non-governmental organizations, and think tanks that are able to respond to the NOFO, and have experience and expertise working on community activism programs.

• U.S. organizations and individuals are not eligible for grants under the program.

• Cost sharing or matching is not required and is not part of the evaluation criteria. However, the applicants are encouraged to explore the possibility of a cost-share whenever possible.

2. Other Eligibility Requirements

• In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number issued via www.SAM.gov, as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 for more information. Note: Individuals are not required to have a UEI or be registered in SAM.gov.

• Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

A.   PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania announces an open competition for non-governmental organizations to submit applications aimed at empowering civil society organizations (CSO) in Albania and strengthening the civil society sector as a key contributor to democracy.

Please follow all instructions below:

Priority Region: Albania

Program Objectives:

·        The proposals should focus on: Increasing CSO transparency, accountability, organizational standards, sustainability, and resiliency. helping them diversify funding sources and strengthening CSO business partnerships.

·        Improving their capacities to actively participate in decision-making processes representing their communities. Building dialogue with governmental institutions and monitoring government reforms. Increasing the watchdog and advocacy role of organizations and their engagement as key actors in good governance and rule of law, service delivery, human rights protection and gender equality, social inclusion of marginalized groups and employment, environment, and other issues.