Department of State: Grant for Digital Platforms Supporting Immigration Integration and Counter-Extremism

The U.S. Embassy Brussels’ Public Affairs Section is pleased to announce an open competition for assistance awards through this Notice of Funding Opportunity. We invite non-profit/non-governmental organizations and individuals to submit communication campaign incubation concept papers to implement a program to incubate digital platforms that support immigration integration and counter violent extremism. Community, youth, women’s and faith-based non-governmental organizations are encouraged to apply. There is approximately $200,000 available to award one grant.

The Department of State’s purpose in funding projects under this opportunity is to reduce violent extremism and terrorism by promoting a comprehensive approach to address violent extremist challenges in Europe and the unique contributions that communities, civil society, and the private sector can make towards this effort. Our office seeks to promote positive narratives and tolerant perspectives as well as directly dispel violent extremist messaging; reduce violent extremism through education, critical thinking, and structured dialogue; and enhance and amplify community-based resiliency efforts focused on women and youth. The funds awarded through this opportunity will be used to strengthen messaging campaigns in general and specifically those created by former participants of the Peer 2 Peer competitions.

To this end, we invite proposals that address one or more of the objectives listed below:

1. Counter Narrative: Dispel the narratives of extremist groups that incite violence and provide alternative narratives. Provide positive narratives concerning refugees and immigrant populations.
2. Preventative Outreach: Provide positive alternatives to ordinary citizens susceptible to recruitment into violent extremism.
3. Capacity Building: Increase capacity within communities to reduce violent extremism with an emphasis on religious leaders, youth, and women. Engage at-risk youth and communities in the counter messaging and campaign development.

Projects should be completed within one year and may be implemented in any part of Europe.

II. BACKGROUND

This funding opportunity is part of Embassy Brussels support for public diplomacy programming in Belgium and the greater European region. Proposals should demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of public diplomacy, and address the Public Affairs Section’s stated goals, objectives, target audiences, and geographic locations.

The Public Affairs Section’s public diplomacy programming in Belgium:
• Strengthens people-to-people ties between the United States and Belgium through shared information, experiences, exchanges, and/or expertise.
• Strengthens local institutions to build long-term, self-sustaining relationships and institutional linkages between U.S. and Belgian organizations.
• Reduces violent extremism by promoting positive messages and tolerant perspectives that enhance and amplify community-based efforts in a wide range of areas.
• Expands media outreach by amplifying U.S. diplomacy activities and programs on social and traditional media platforms.

Violent extremist groups are using advances in technology, especially social media, to spread their propaganda and attract new recruits and inspire individuals more than ever before. To effectively challenge extremism, one has to be equally creative. Partnerships that engage outside of the usual channels and find innovative solutions that strengthen our communities and societies are important. Reaching those who are most vulnerable to violent extremism is vital. Especially important is the need to develop public-private partnerships with leaders in technology. Part of this overall effort is to get outside the walls of the government and get into the cyber realms of gamers, bloggers, and digital activist where the war of ideas is really being fought.

Project Objectives
The Department of State has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, Edventure Partners, and Facebook to develop the Peer 2 Peer: Challenging Extremism for U.S. domestic universities and the Peer 2 Peer: Facebook Global Digital Challenge for universities outside of the United States. https://edventurepartners.com/peer2peer/ Under these programs, and over the course of one semester, student teams and their faculty advisor identify problems in their communities related to extremism and review available program resources. The students then research the target market and create a strategy designed to best reach and influence their peers. Each team receives an operational budget to produce a real campaign that has measurable impact on their campus, community and country. Top teams then travel to Washington, D.C. to compete and participate in a Department of State-sponsored travel program. Facebook recognizes the top three teams with scholarship awards ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

U.S. Embassy Brussels seeks to fund a project to expand on selected P2P projects.
Participants would come from a variety of countries that have competed in P2P and grant activities could take many forms. For example, one of the winning projects was entitled, “Dare to be Grey” and was developed by students at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The messaging campaign counters the polarizing rhetoric of violent extremist groups by encouraging people to speak out against these narratives in a moderate way. The #DareToBeGrey campaign creates a platform where “anyone’s
opinion” can matter. They also incorporated the content into a video and photo series and an education tour. Some follow-on projects might include but are not limited to:
• Virtual programs or real time programs between these students and students in other countries, perhaps sharing their idea for use by others.
• A camp-type event in which participants work together to find solutions that were not addressed in the first campaigns.
• Projects with the original students but with the inclusion of “target” audiences for the original campaigns.
• Completely new messaging campaigns spanning several European countries or adaption of previous ones for new audiences.
• Mentoring of participants on the expansion of their original ideas to form more permanent entities. Perhaps the development of an NGO.

The idea is to produce larger scale communication content and innovative solutions to challenge extremism that can be used and shared broadly.

Organizations may only submit one proposal under this funding opportunity, but projects that address one or more of the below objectives are welcome. Proposals should specify which project objective(s) the activities will support. Some project objectives specify the issues or a range of issues that will be considered.

1. Counter Narrative: By the end of the project, credible voices will offer positive, tolerant messages in reactive and proactive circumstances. This objective may be achieved through the following means:
• People-to-people engagements with leaders of influence, including religious, community, youth, and women leaders
• TV, radio, online, and social-media campaigns
• Other strategic communications methods of reaching vulnerable populations and delegitimizing violent extremist ideologies

2. Capacity Building: By the end of the project, individuals and organizations involved in peace-building or anti-violent extremist efforts, especially religious leaders, women and youth, will retain the skills, knowledge, and capacity necessary to take a stronger role in countering and preventing violent extremism. This objective may be achieved through the following means:
• Enhancing the role of credible religious and faith-based voices that support tolerance and nonviolence, and more broadly promoting educational initiatives
• Amplifying the role of women in building secure, tolerant families and communities
• Critical thinking and peace-building education efforts to help build resilience against extremist rhetoric and recruiting
• Promoting local research and information-sharing on the drivers and the new trends of violent extremism in all of its forms and on how to address them

3. Preventative Outreach: By the end of the project, ordinary citizens – especially younger Europeans – susceptible to recruitment into violent extremism will experience persuasive, positive alternatives to violent thought and action. This objective may be achieved through the following means:
• Education-based programs to those at risk of recruitment into violent extremism: Programs should propose directly working with schools and communities in order to engage young people in educational activities that provide exposure to moderate viewpoints and help eliminate bias.
• Activities that bring together youth from different schools or regions, establish tolerance- and peace-building practices via in-school and/or after-school programs, and/or provide exposure to positive role models – including ordinary people and celebrities/cultural heroes.

All proposals should:
• Address how the project will contribute to one or more of the objectives listed above;
• Enumerate specific outputs and outcomes to be achieved by the end of the grant period;
• Describe involvement of American participants, expert/s, organization/s, or institution/s, if any;
• Clearly specify the audiences to be reached and the geographic locations of program activities;
• Describe how elements of the project will have a multiplier effect or be sustainable beyond the life of the grant;
• Include a traditional and/or social media plan for marketing or advertising program activities and outcomes;
• Demonstrate competency to manage all financial and oversight aspects of the project, including participant costs and transparent arrangements of sub-grant relationships with partner organizations, if applicable.

The Public Affairs Section will not support the following activities or expenses under this funding opportunity:
• the purchase of space or buildings in support of program activities;
• development projects;
• construction projects;
• individual travel to conferences;
• scholarships to support educational opportunities or study for individuals;
• completion of activities begun with other funds;
• fundraising or fund development projects;
• projects that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship/support to an individual or single party in electoral campaigns;
• political party and lobbying activities;
• projects that support specific religious activities;
• cash prizes for competitions