U.S. Department of State’s Rural Reading Program Grant for Girls in Zimbabwe

A.       PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Public Diplomacy (PD) section of the U.S. Embassy Zimbabwe under the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for a Rural Reading Program. The PD section invites proposals from organizations to implement a secondary school reading program for girls in rural schools from the Matabeleland North Province. The program will improve English skills, literacy, communication capability, and critical thinking. In partnership with the U.S. Embassy, the grantee will identify five (5) rural schools in Matabeleland North, selecting 30 students and two English teachers per school for participation in the program. The program will use books by U.S. authors that focus on leadership, equality, and women’s empowerment and will employ U.S.-style pedagogy practices, including an emphasis on open discussion and constructive debate.

The grantee will design and implement the program, facilitate access to rural schools, and distribute books. The grantee will ensure that participants are resourced to engage fully in program activities. This may include, for example, the provision of solar lamps as needed. Suggested activities for the program include film screenings, writing workshops, essay competitions, and a graduation ceremony at the conclusion of the program. 

The successful grantee should have experience working in rural education development and demonstrate ability to responsibly manage funds, coordinate logistics, and produce high quality programs and financial reports.

Priority Region:

Project activities must take place in Matabeleland North in Zimbabwe.

Program Objective: 

To improve rural students’ literacy and critical thinking skills in support of their roles as leaders in their schools and communities.

Participants and Audiences: 

Girls between the ages of 14 to 19 years, enrolled in under-resourced secondary schools in Matabeleland North.

B.  FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION 

Length of performance period:  12 Months from date of award

Number of awards anticipated: One (1)

Award amounts:                          US$24,000

Total available funding:              US$24,000

Type of Funding:                          2024 Public Diplomacy Funds – Smith-Mundt

Anticipated program start date: January 2025

Funding Instrument Type:           Grant

     THIS NOTICE IS SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY OF FUNDING. 

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION 

To Request Application Package:

Email PublicDiplomacyGrants-ZIM@state.gov; an automatic reply with the application forms will be sent. Forms are also available at www.grants.gov

1. Content and Form of Application Submission:

Content of Application – the proposal should:

·        Clearly serve the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity;

·        Be specific and concise in describing the who, what, why, when, where, how and cost aspects of the project;

·        Provide all documents in English; and

·        Include a budget narrative and a budget table in U.S. dollars breaking down costs per unit rates, quantities as well as totals.

Application Forms required: (in the Application Package)

·        Completed application (form attached)

·        Detailed projected budget (form attached)

·        SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – Organizations)

or SF-424-I (Application for Federal Assistance – Individuals)

·        SF-424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs)

·        SF-424B (Assurances for Non-Construction programs)

Attachments

·        Letters of support from program partners describing the roles and responsibilities of each partner

·        If your organization has a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) and includes NICRA charges in the budget, your latest NICRA should be

included as a PDF file. If you do not have a NICRA, indirect and overhead costs can’t be over 10% of the budget.

·        Official permission letters, if required for program activities.

2.     Required Registrations:

All organizations (not individuals) whether based in the United States or in another country, must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and an active

registration with the SAM.gov.  

Steps to acquire UEI and registration:

·        https://login.gov create an account. To access SAM.gov an organization is required to have a Login.gov account.

·        https://www.SAM.gov  registration which will generate a unique entity identifier (UEI)

The UEI are assigned when an organization registers or renews its registration in SAM.gov Organizations should renew their registration once a year to

maintain an active registration status in SAM.gov. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure it has an active SAM registration. 

Note: The process of obtaining or renewing a SAM.gov registration may take anywhere from 4-8 weeks.

 Please begin your registration as early as possible.

·        Organizations based outside of the United States and that do not pay employees within the United States do not need an EIN from the IRS but do

need a UEI number prior to registering in SAM.gov. 

·        Organizations based in the United States or that pay employees within the United States will need an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and a UEI number prior to registering in SAM.gov.

If an organization plans to issue a sub-contract or sub-award, those sub-awardees must also have a unique entity identifier (UEI number). Please note the UEI

for sub-grantees is not required at the time of application but will be required before an award is processed.

If an organization does not have an active registration in SAM.gov prior to submitting an application, the application will be deemed ineligible. 

Note: As of April 2022, a DUNS number is no longer required. 

3.     Submission Dates and Times

PD Harare will accept proposals starting May 25, 2024. All applicants should submit their proposals prior to July 31, 2024 for consideration. 

4.      Other Submission Requirements

All application materials may be emailed to PublicDiplomacyGrants-ZIM@state.gov (with “RURAL READING PROGRAM GRANT PROPOSAL” in the

subject line).