U.S. OPA Public Diplomacy Section Grant for American-Palestinian Arts, Culture, and Sports

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Public Diplomacy Section (PD) of the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs (U.S. OPA) announces an open competition for a grant through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The American Palestinian Arts, Culture, and Sports Initiative will offer funding to American and/or Palestinian non-profit organizations to implement activities which advance the applicant’s goals, the objectives defined below, and the U.S.OPA-PD mission: to advance a comprehensive and lasting peace through a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the development of a vibrant, representative, and responsive Palestinian civil society, private sector, and governing institutions 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.

Priority Region: Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza or a combination of two or three of them.

Program Objectives:

All proposed projects must aim to advance the U.S. OPA-PD mission goals stated above, contain a substantive American element, and achieve one or more of the following specific objectives:

·        Increase understanding and collaboration between Americans and Palestinians via direct exchange with American arts, film, music, dance, theatre, cultural, and/or sports professionals or institutions. Activities may include joint performances, productions, exhibits, workshops, tournaments, trainings, and other projects/works among other ideas.

·        Enhance employability, entrepreneurship, and/or careers of artists, creatives, arts, cultural and sports professionals

·        Positively address issues of conflict resolution, mental health, resiliency, or trauma therapy through arts, culture, and/or sports

·        Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, environmental protection, human rights, and/or a strong civil society via arts, culture, and/or sports activities and exchange.

Special consideration will be given to proposals that demonstrate how the program advances equity with respect to race, ethnicity, religion, income, geography, gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or disability.

Participants and Audiences:

Participants and audiences must primarily include Palestinian professionals and students in the fields of arts, culture, and sports or any other population that will advance the objectives described above.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of performance period: up to 18 months

Number of awards anticipated: To be determined based on the number and amount of awards funded under this NOFO. No more than two proposals per organization will be considered.

Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $5,000 to a maximum of $50,000

Total available funding: $100,000

Type of Funding: FY22 Smith-Mundt Act Public Diplomacy Funds

Anticipated program start date: September 30, 2022

This notice is subject to availability of funding.

Funding Instrument Type:  Grant, Fixed Amount Award, or Cooperative Agreement (to be determined by the selection committee in coordination with successful applicants)

Program Performance Period: Proposed projects should be completed in 18 months or less, noting that at least the last 1 -3 month(s) of the period of performance — after the end of the substantive project activity — should be dedicated to short and medium term measurement and evaluation of project success to determine if goals and objectives have been met.

C. ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION

1.     Eligible Applicants

Eligible primary applicants for grant funding must be not-for-profit Palestinian and/or American organizations working with Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank and/or Gaza.

2.     Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost share is allowed but not required and will not factor into the merit review process.

3.     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. Individuals are not required to have a UEI or be registered in SAM.gov.

Proposals must be submitted in English; proposals submitted in Arabic or other languages will not be considered.

Organizations wishing to submit proposals to the Public Affairs Section should click this link to review the documents and forms: https://www.grants.gov/forms/sf-424-family.html

To see the full grant announcement, click this link: https://il.usembassy.gov/palestinian-affairs-unit/cultural-and-educational-programs/grants-and-funding-opportunities/funding-opportunity-american-palestinian-arts-culture-and-sports-initiative/