Uganda: Fy 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

Basic Information

Funding Opportunity Number: DFOP0008371

Assistance Listings (CFDA) number: 19.517 - Overseas Refugee Assistance Programs for Africa

Announcement issuance date: Monday, February 12, 2024

Announcement type: Cooperative Agreement

Proposal application submission deadline: Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 11:59:59 p.m. (23:59:59) EDT. Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered.

Anticipated timeframe to award for selected proposals: Pending the availability of funds, PRM anticipates, but makes no guarantee, that awards will be made less than six months from the proposal submission deadline.

Advisory: All applicants must submit proposal application packages through the website Grants.gov. PRM strongly recommends submitting your application packages early to allow time to address any technical difficulties that may arise on the Grants.gov website.

If you are new to PRM funding, the Grants.gov registration process can be complicated. We urge you to refer to PRM's General NGO Guidelines "Application Process" section for information and resources to help ensure that the application process runs smoothly. PRM also strongly encourages organizations that have received funding from PRM in the past to read this section as a refresher.

PRM strongly recommends application narratives be submitted in Adobe PDF, as Microsoft Word documents may sometimes produce different page lengths based on software versions and configurations when transmitted. Tables and budget documents should be submitted as Excel documents. Page limits are strictly adhered to, and PRM will not review pages of the narrative beyond the stated limit, which may negatively impact the concept note' score. All documents must be in English and should avoid the use of jargon and should spell out all acronyms upon first use.

Organizations can retrieve PRM's-recommended templates and NGO guidelines on PRM's website and in this opportunity's grants.gov page.

Program Description

Summary

This announcement is designed to accompany PRM's General NGO Guidelines, which contain additional information on PRM's priorities and NGO funding strategy with which selected organizations must comply. Please use both the General NGO Guidelines and this announcement to ensure that your submission is in full compliance with PRM requirements and that the proposed activities are in line with PRM's priorities. Submissions that do not reflect the requirements outlined in these guidelines will not be considered.

Geographic Regions / Populations

Proposed activities must primarily support refugees and asylum seekers in Rwanda, Tanzania, or Uganda. Because of PRM's mandate to provide protection, assistance, and sustainable solutions for refugees and victims of conflict, PRM will consider funding only those programs that include a target program participant base of at least 50 percent refugees/asylum seekers.

Program area

Proposals must align with one or more of the following program areas.

Humanitarian Protection and Assistance
Interim and Durable Solutions

Program Sectors and Modalities

Proposals must focus on one or more of the programmatic sectors listed in the country-specific guidance below (see PRM's General NGO Guidelines for sector descriptions).

Note: In order to ensure greater accountability for protection outcomes in all overseas assistance program proposals, three indicators are required for all programs regardless of design or sector. If the proposed program will not contribute to one or several of these mandatory indicators, the indicator must still be included in the proposal indicator table but with a target of zero.

PRM-1. Number of individuals directly reached through PRM funding.
PRM-2. Amount of humanitarian funding distributed to local, national, or refugee-led organizations (in USD) - This amount should include any sub-awards or contracts with local, national, or refugee-led organizations. If the prime applicant is a local, national, or refugee-led organization, they should put the full proposal budget total as the target value. Refer to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) working definition of "local" and "national" organizations. Applicants should put a target of zero for this indicator if it does not apply to them; it will not affect their eligibility.
PRM-3. Percentage of participants who report that humanitarian assistance is delivered in a safe, accessible, accountable, and participatory manner - This is a protection mainstreaming indicator developed by the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and adopted by the Grand Bargain. Research or coordination awards that don't involve community implementation are exempt from this indicator. Please refer to the PRM Performance Indicator Reference & Definition Sheets (PIRS) for a sample questionnaire and analysis guidance.

Note: Cash and Voucher Assistance programs must include the relevant indicator(s) from the selection contained in the NGO Guidelines Appendix D.

Number of Proposal Applications

Organizations may submit a maximum of one application per country only. Any subsequent submissions received will be disqualified. (Note: Submissions by organizations as part of a consortium do not count toward an individual organization's submission limit.)

Country-specific Guidelines

Rwanda Country-Specific Guidance

General Guidance

Proposals should explain how they align with UNHCR's 2024 Strategic Vision in Rwanda, including the shift from a humanitarian approach to a developmental focus in the refugee response. We expect applicants to coordinate with UNHCR in planning, implementation, and reporting within the overall Rwanda Refugee Response Plan framework and respective sectors. PRM seeks to support programming oriented towards refugees likely to remain in Rwanda, rather than repatriation activities. Applicants should submit a letter of support from UNHCR for their proposal. Applications without a letter of support may have their panel review score impacted. Proposals must focus on one or more of the following sectors:

Protection (Child Protection or GBV)
Health
Livelihoods using the Graduation Approach (full proposals must include a market analysis, or will be disqualified)

Duration of Activity

Program plans for two or three years will be considered.

Period of Performance

Programs period of performance of one-year (12 months) cycles for a period not to exceed three years (36 months) will be considered.

Funding limits

Program proposals must not be less than the funding floor and not more than the funding ceiling per year or they will be disqualified.

Funding floor per year (lowest $ value): $800,000
Funding ceiling per year (highest $ value): $3,000,000

Note: Funding ceilings and floors pertain to the PRM cost per year.

Anticipated Number of Awards

The amount of funding available per award for this NOFO will be determined once final FY 2024 appropriations have been made. This NOFO will be cancelled if FY2024 appropriations are insufficient to support new awards.

Anticipated Amount to be Awarded Total

The amount of funding available per award for this NOFO will be determined as part of the application review process based on applications received and funding made available through appropriations.

Tanzania Country-Specific Guidance

General Guidance

Proposals must focus on the Congolese and Burundian refugee and asylum seeker populations located in camp-based settings in Tanzania. We encourage proposals to demonstrate how the program will support Burundian refugees participating in UNHCR's voluntary repatriation program, such as providing services that will help refugees reintegrate upon return. We expect applicants to coordinate with UNHCR when planning, implementing, and reporting on its programs. Applicants should submit a letter of support from UNHCR for their proposal. Applications without a letter of support may have their panel review score impacted. Proposals must focus on the following sectors in the refugee camps:

Health
Child Protection
Education

Duration of Activity

Program plans for one or two years will be considered.

Period of Performance

Programs period of performance of one-year (12 months) cycles for a period not to exceed three years (24 months) will be considered.

Funding limits

Program proposals must not be less than the funding floor and not more than the funding ceiling per year or they will be disqualified.

Funding floor per year (lowest $ value): $600,000
Funding ceiling per year (highest $ value): $1,750,000

Note: Funding ceilings and floors pertain to the PRM cost per year.

Anticipated Number of Awards

Anticipated Amount to be Awarded Total

The amount of funding available per award for this NOFO will be determined as part of the application review process based on applications received and funding made available through appropriations.

Uganda Country-Specific Guidance

General Guidance

Proposed activities must explain how they align with Uganda's Global Refugee Forum pledges and UNHCR's 2024 Strategy. We expect applicants to coordinate with UNHCR in planning, implementation, and reporting within the overall Uganda Refugee Response Plan framework and respective sectors. Applicants should submit a letter of support from UNHCR for their proposal. Applications without a letter of support may have their panel review score impacted. All proposals must have a clearly defined localization plan that includes at least one of the following: 1) a transition plan with national or local-level government entities, 2) a local or refugee organization as a grantee or sub-grantee, or 3) an agreement to progressively strengthen the capacity of a local or refugee organization over the course of the award. Localization strategies must also demonstrate how they increase the project's sustainability and the representation of local actors in Uganda's broader refugee response. Proposals must focus on one or more of the following sectors:

Protection
- Protection: Legal
- Protection: Child Protection
- Protection: GBV
Livelihoods (full proposals must include a market analysis, or will be disqualified)
Mental health and psychosocial support
Capacity Strengthening: Local/ Refugee-Led Organizations
Health

Duration of Activity

Program plans for two or three years will be considered.

Period of Performance

Programs period of performance of one-year (12 months) cycles for a period not to exceed three years (36 months) will be considered.

Funding limits

Program proposals must not be less than the funding floor and not more than the funding ceiling per year or they will be disqualified.

Funding floor per year (lowest $ value): $1,000,000
Funding ceiling per year (highest $ value): $3,250,000

Note: Funding ceilings and floors pertain to the PRM cost per year.

Anticipated Number of Awards

Anticipated Amount to be Awarded Total

The amount of funding available per award for this NOFO will be determined as part of the application review process based on applications received and funding made available through appropriations.

Federal Award Information

Proposed program start dates: July 1, 2024 - September 15, 2024

Duration of Activity: See country-specific guidelines above. Applicants may submit multi-year proposals with activities and budgets that do not exceed three years from the proposed start date. Actual awards will not exceed three years in duration and activities and budgets submitted in year one can be revised/updated each year. Continued funding after the initial 12 month period of performance requires the submission of a noncompeting single proposal and will be contingent upon available funding, strong performance, and continuing need. In funding a program one year, PRM makes no representations that it will continue to fund the program in successive years and encourages applicants to seek a wide array of donors to ensure long-term funding possibilities. Please see Multi-Year Funding section below for additional information. Livelihoods programs are encouraged to be multi-year, and livelihoods proposals must include a market analysis or will be disqualified.

Eligibility Information

Eligible Applicants:

Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education (U.S.-based NGOs must be able to demonstrate proof of non-profit tax status).
Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education (overseas-based NGOs must be able to demonstrate proof of registration in country of domicile); and
International Organizations. International multilateral organizations, such as United Nations agencies, should not submit proposals through Grants.gov in response to this NOFO. Multilateral organizations that are seeking funding for programs relevant to this announcement should contact the PRM Program Officer (as listed below) on or before the closing date of the funding announcement.

Cost Sharing or Matching: Cost sharing, matching, or cost participation is not a requirement of an application in response to this funding announcement.

Proposals for consideration should describe the sources and amounts of additional funding that may be utilized to complement PRM funding, and meet the following criteria:

Are not paid by the Federal Government under another Federal award.
Are verifiable from the non-Federal entity's records.
Are not included as contributions for any other Federal award; and
Are necessary and reasonable for accomplishment of project or program objectives.

Please include this information in the Budget Summary, Budget Detail, and Budget Narrative of the proposal, and separated from the PRM share of the proposed budget.

Note: Though favorably looked upon, inclusion will not result in a competitive ranking increase when evaluated.

Other

Proposals must have a concrete implementation plan with well-conceived objectives and indicators that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and reliable, time-bound, and trackable (SMART), and have established baselines; objectives should be clearly linked to the sectors.

Proposals must adhere to relevant international standards for humanitarian assistance, especially Sphere Standards. See PRM's General NGO Guidelines for a complete list of sector-specific standards including guidance on proposals for programs in urban areas.

PRM strongly encourages programs that target the needs of vulnerable and underserved groups among the program participant population (such groups may include women; children; adolescents; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals; older persons; the sick; persons with disabilities; and members of minority communities) and can demonstrate what steps have been taken to meet the specific and unique protection and assistance needs of these vulnerable groups effectively.

PRM will accept proposals from any NGO working in the above-mentioned sectors although, given budgetary constraints, priority will be given to proposals from organizations that can demonstrate:

a working relationship with UNHCR.
a proven track record in providing proposed assistance both in the sector and specified location.
evidence of coordination with international organizations (IOs) and other NGOs working in the same area or sector as well as - where possible - local authorities.
an emphasis on the outcome or impact of program activities.
a strong sustainability plan, involving local capacity building, where feasible.
where applicable, adherence to PRM's Principles for Refugee Protection in Urban Areas; and
an understanding of and sensitivity to conflict dynamics in the program location.

Application and Submission Instructions

Where to Request Application Package: Application packages may be downloaded from the website www.Grants.gov.

Consortia: Organizations may apply to this call as part of a consortia; however, for consortia, one organization must be designated as the lead applicant.

For purposes of consortia applying for PRM funding, PRM's considers consortium to be a group of no less than three NGOs that comprise an agreement, combination, or group formed to undertake, or proposing to undertake, an assistance activity beyond the resources of any one member. PRM may request to review and approve of substantive provisions of proposed sub-awards. Applicants may form consortia in order to bring together organizations with varied expertise to propose a comprehensive program in one proposal. The consortium arrangement may allow for greater geographic coverage, inclusion of technical and sectoral strengths from multiple organizations, increased inclusion of local and national organizations, and/or the potential of much greater impact through collaboration.

Submissions by organizations as part of a consortium do not count toward an organization's individual submission limit. If the applicant is applying as a consortium, a description of how the consortia will be organized and how lines of authority and decision-making will be managed across all team members and between the lead applicant and associate awardees should be included in the concept note. The prime applicant would be responsible for overall implementation of the proposed program activities, preparation/presentation of annual work plans, M&E planning, and required reporting to PRM. The prime applicant should designate a single individual to be the liaison with PRM, although PRM would reserve the right to communicate with sub-grantees.

Content and Form of Application: Organizations may submit a maximum of one (1) proposal per country only. Any subsequent submissions received will be disqualified. PRM strongly recommends using the proposal and budget templates that are available on PRM's website.

Single-Year Proposals:

Single-year program proposal page limits: Single-year proposals using PRM's templates must not exceed 15 pages in length (Times New Roman or Calibri 12-point font, letter sized paper, one-inch margins on all sides). If the applicant does not use PRM's recommended templates, proposals must not exceed 10 pages in length. Organizations may choose to attach work plans, activity calendars, and/or logical frameworks as addendums/appendices to the proposal but are not required to do so. These attachments do not count toward the page limit total; however, annexes cannot be relied upon as a key source of program information. The proposal narrative must be able to stand on its own in the application process. For multi-year funding application instructions, see below.
PRM strongly recommends application narrative be submitted in Adobe PDF, as Microsoft Word documents may sometimes produce different page lengths based on software versions and configurations. Tables and budget documents should be submitted as Excel documents.
Page limits are strictly adhered to, and PRM will not review pages of the narrative beyond the stated limit, which may negatively impact the proposal's score.
All documents must be in English and should avoid the use of jargon and should spell out all acronyms upon first use.

Multi-Year Proposals:

Applicants proposing multi-year programs should adhere to the following guidance: Applicants may submit proposals that include multi-year strategies presented in one-year (12 month) cycles for a period not to exceed three years (36 months) from the proposed start date as outlined in the country-specific guidance sections. Fully developed programs with detailed budgets, objectives and indicators are required for each year of activities. Applicants should use PRM's recommended multi-year proposal template for the first year of a multi-year application.
Multi-year funding applicants may use PRM's budget templates, and must disaggregate budget by year, per year, and for each program year. Multi-year proposal narratives and budgets can be updated yearly upon submission of new noncompeting single year proposal narrative template with an updated budget.
Multi-year program proposal page limits: multi-year proposals using PRM's multi-year template must not exceed 17 pages in length (Times New Roman or Calibri 12-point font, letter sized paper, one-inch margins on all sides). If the applicant does not use PRM's recommended templates, proposals must not exceed 15 pages in length. Organizations may choose to attach work plans, activity calendars, and/or logical frameworks as addendums/appendices to the proposal but are not required to do so. These attachments do not count toward the page limit total however annexes cannot be relied upon as a key source of program information. The proposal narrative must be able to stand on its own in the application process.
PRM strongly recommends application narratives be submitted in Adobe PDF, as Microsoft Word documents may sometimes produce different page lengths based on software versions and configurations. Tables and budget documents should be submitted as Excel documents.
Page limits are strictly adhered to, and PRM will not review pages of the narrative beyond the stated limit, which may negatively impact the proposal's score.
All documents must be in English and should avoid the use of jargon and should spell out all acronyms upon first use.
Multi-year applications selected for funding by PRM will be funded in one-year (12-month) increments based on the proposal submitted in the initial application as approved by PRM. Continued funding after the initial 12-month award requires the submission of a noncompeting single-year proposal narrative and will be contingent upon available funding, strong performance, and continuing need. Follow-on applications are submitted annually for years two through three of proposals through non-competed directed announcements for the continuation funding. It is strongly recommended that NGOs submit as early as possible after the directed announcement for continuation funding has been issued. Late submissions will jeopardize continued funding.
In the proposal narrative, please include an explanation of why multi-year funding may be necessary for this program to succeed, how longer periods of consultation with program participant populations will inform programming and enable interventions to be studied and improved, and how the proposed activities in year one will contribute to outcomes and impacts in years two and three. Please, articulate and quantify cost efficiencies that could not otherwise be attained through single year programs as well.

Application Package

To be considered for PRM funding, organizations must submit a complete application package, including:

Proposal Narrative not exceeding stated page limits.

Indicator Table: Including all required PRM indicators and targets for each year (if multi-year).
- Cash and voucher assistances (CVA) modality must report on CVA indicators

Completed Budget table including summary and detail tabs
- disaggregated by year and for each year of the program period (for multi-year proposals).
- Include total costs by objective and estimated costs by sector,
- Total costs divided by country (if applicable)

Budget Narrative disaggregated by year and for each year of the program period.

Completed and signed SF-424 andSF-424A. PRM requires that Box 21 of the SF-424 be checked.
- If the applicant organization has an active registration in SAM.gov that was either created or updated on or after February 2, 2019, then the applicant does NOT need to submit the SF-424B as they will be prompted to complete the representations and certifications in SAM.gov.

Risk Assessment and Security Plan.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Code of Conduct and a country or regional implementation plan specific to the country of region of the application. Note: Codes of Conduct must be consistent with the updated 2019 IASC Task Force's Six Core Principles. The country/regional implementation plan should outline how employees are trained and otherwise made aware of the Code of Conduct, how violations of the Code of Conduct against program participants are reported and followed up on in a safe and confidential manner, how program participants are made aware of the Code of Conduct and a mechanism to report any violations, and whether there is a focal point in the country or regional office for the Code of Conduct.

Key Personnel for award applicant and sub-recipient(s)
Applicants must furnish names, titles, and brief biographical information on the education and experience of key personnel in implementing the program and key supervisory personnel; (i.e., the members of the professional staff in a program supervisory position engaged for or assigned to duties under the award).
A Market Analysis and a Participant Competency/Capacity Assessment for all proposals that include at least one livelihoods sector objective (or will be disqualified), if applicable. Please see the General NGO Guidelines for more details.

Most recent Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), if applicable, or a de minimis rate calculation of Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) if the applicant is eligible and elects to use the de minimis rate.

Most recent external audit report is required prior to issuance of an award, if proposal is chosen for implementation.Information in support of any cost-sharing/cost-matching arrangements, if applicable.

Information detailing the source of any in-kind contributions, if applicable.

Details on any sub-agreements associated with the program including the budget detail (must be part of the budget submission as noted above), if applicable.

Organizational Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) Framework (is required prior to issuance of an award, if proposal is chosen for implementation)

Additionally, organizations must consider the following considerations as part of their proposal package:

To be considered a competitive proposal, the Proposal Narrative, Indicator Table, and Budget Detail should include the following information:
Focus on outcome or impact indicators as much as possible. At a minimum, each objective should have one outcome or impact indicator.
Include specific information on locations of programs and participants (GPS coordinates highly recommended) to increase PRM's ability to track the impact of PRM funding.
Outline how the NGO will acknowledge PRM funding. If an organization believes that publicly acknowledging the receipt of USG funding for a particular PRM-funded program could potentially endanger the lives of the program participants and/or the organization staff, invite suspicion about the organization's motives, or alienate the organization from the population it is trying to help, it must provide a brief explanation in its proposal as to why it should be exempted from this requirement.
PRM expects each proposal, regardless of sector, to demonstrate protection mainstreaming, including by identifying potential protection risks associated with the program and how they will be mitigated. Assistance activities should mainstream protection by analyzing the protection risks in relation to each specific programming sector. An analysis of the risks should inform how assistance is designed to minimize them and maximize protection of program participants. Applicants may introduce gender-specific risks in this section but should provide a full analysis in the gender analysis.
PRM partners must complete a gender analysis in the proposal narrative that briefly explains:
Experiences of men, women, boys, and girls with a focus on the different familial roles, community privileges, and gender dynamics within the target population;
Associated risks and threats experienced by women, girls, and other vulnerable populations based on their gender;
Power imbalances and needs that arise based on gender inequalities that exist within the family or community; and
Proposed responses that will address the above and mitigate any gender differences in access, participation, or decision-making that may be experienced by at-risk groups, particularly women and girls. The gender analysis should aim to specify and target specific at-risk sub-populations of women and girls, such as women and girl heads of households, out-of-school girls, women and girls with disabilities, women and girl survivors of violence, married girls, adolescent mothers, as well as people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTQI+), and those who are often unaware of and excluded from programs and services and who may be the hardest to reach based on their gender.
The budget should include a specific breakdown of funds being provided by UNHCR, other USG agencies, other donors, and your own organization.
Applicants whose proposals address gender-based violence (GBV) through their programs must estimate the total cost of these activities as a separate line item in their proposed budgets (see PRM's budget template). Proposals and budgets must include details of any sub-agreements associated with the programs.
For consortia only, a description of how the partnership will be organized and how lines of authority and decision-making will be managed across all team members and between the lead applicant and associate awardees should be included in the proposal.

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM)

Note: On April 4, 2022, the formerly used DUNS Number was replaced by the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) UEI. For more information on the process, visit GSA's website on the UEI transition.

Each applicant is required to:

be registered in SAM before submitting its application.
provide a valid UEI number in its application; and
continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active PRM award or an application or plan under consideration by PRM.

No federal award may be made to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable UEI and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time the PRM award is ready to be made, PRM may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a PRM award and use that determination as a basis for making a PRM award to another applicant.

Applications must be submitted via Grants.gov. Grants.gov registration requires a UEI number and active SAM.gov registration. If you are new to PRM funding, the Grants.gov registration process can be complicated. We urge you to refer to PRM's General NGO Guidelines "Application Process" section for information and resources to help ensure that the application process runs smoothly. PRM also strongly encourages organizations that have received funding from PRM in the past to read this section as a refresher. Applicants may also refer to the "For Applicants" page on Grants.gov for complete details on requirements.

Do not wait until the deadline to attempt to submit your application on Grants.gov. Organizations not registered with Grants.gov should register well in advance of the deadline as it can take several weeks to finalize registration (sometimes longer for non-U.S. based NGOs to receive required registration numbers). We also recommend that organizations, particularly first-time applicants, submit applications via Grants.gov no later than one week before the deadline to avoid last-minute technical difficulties that could result in an application not being considered. PRM has extremely limited ability to correct or facilitate rapid resolution to technical difficulties associated with Grants.gov, SAM.gov or UEI number issues. PRM partners must maintain an active SAM.gov registration with current and correct information at all times during which they have an active federal award or an application under consideration by PRM or any federal agency.

When registering with Grants.gov, organizations must designate points of contact and Authorized Organization Representatives (AORs). Please note that as of December 2022, organizations based outside of the United States that do not intend to apply for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awards are no longer required to have a NATO CAGE (NCAGE) code to apply for non-DoD foreign assistance funding opportunities. If an applicant organization is mid-registration and wishes to remove an NCAGE code from their sam.gov registration, the applicant should submit a help desk ticket ("incident") with the Federal Service Desk (FSD) online to seek guidance on how to do so. Applicants experiencing technical difficulties with the SAM.gov registration process should contact the Federal Service Desk online or at 1-866-606-8220 (U.S.) and 1-334-206-7828 (International).

Applications must be submitted under the authority of the Authorized Organization Representative at the applicant organization. Having proposals submitted by agency headquarters helps to avoid possible technical problems.

If you encounter technical difficulties with Grants.gov please contact the Grants.gov Help Desk at support@grants.gov or by calling 1-800-518-4726.

Applicants who are unable to submit applications via Grants.gov due to Grants.gov technical difficulties and

who have reported the problem to the Grants.gov help desk.
received a case number.
have completed UEI and SAM.gov registrations.
and had a documented service request opened to research the problem.

Applicants may contact the PRM NGO Coordinator before the submission deadline to determine whether an alternative method of submission is appropriate. However, PRM makes no guarantee to accept an application outside of the grants.gov system.

It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure the appropriate registrations are in place and active. Failure to have the appropriate organizational registrations in place or are experiencing issues resulting from discrepancies across registration platforms is not considered a technical difficulty and is not justification for an alternate means of submission.

In accordance with 2 CFR §200.113, Mandatory disclosures, the non-Federal entity or applicant for a federal award must disclose, in a timely manner, in writing to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity all violations of Federal criminal law involving fraud, bribery, or gratuity violations potentially affecting the Federal award. Non-Federal entities that have received a federal award including the term and condition outlined in Appendix XII--Award Term and Condition for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters are required to report certain civil, criminal, or administrative proceedings to SAM. Failure to make required disclosures can result in any of the remedies described in 2 CFR §200.338 Remedies for noncompliance, including suspension or debarment. (See also 2 CFR part 180, 31 U.S.C. 3321, and 41 U.S.C. 2313.)

Submission Dates and Times

Announcement issuance date: Monday, February 12, 2024
Proposal submission deadline: Thursday, March 28, 2024, at 11:59:59 p.m. (23:59:59) EDT. Applications submitted after this deadline will not be considered.
Intergovernmental Review: Not Applicable
Funding Restrictions: Federal awards will not allow reimbursement of Federal Award costs without prior authorization by PRM.
Other Submission Requirements

Branding and Marking Strategy

The following provisions will be included whenever assistance is awarded:

The Recipient shall recognize the U.S. Government's funding for activities specified under this award at the project site with a graphic of the U.S. flag accompanied by one of the following two phrases based on the level of funding for the award:

Fully funded by the award: "Gift of the United States Government"
Partially funded by the award: "Funding provided by the United States Government"

PRM highly encourages recognition of U.S. Government funding on social media and website platforms to be included in proposals branding and marking strategy. Recipients should tag PRM's Twitter account @StatePRM and/or Facebook account @State.PRM (rather than using hashtags). Additionally, the applicable U.S. Embassy should be tagged as well.

Updates of actions taken to fulfill this requirement must be included in quarterly program reports to PRM.

All programs, projects, assistance, activities, and public communications to foreign audiences, partially or fully funded by the Department, must be marked appropriately overseas with the standard U.S. flag in a size and prominence equal to (or greater than) any other logo or identity. The requirement does not apply to the Recipient's own corporate communications or in the United States.

The Recipient must appropriately ensure that all publicity and promotional materials underscore the sponsorship by or partnership with the U.S. Government or the U.S. Embassy. The Recipient may continue to use existing logos or project materials; however, a standard rectangular U.S. flag must be used in conjunction with such logos.

Do not use the Department of State seal without the express written approval from PRM.

Sub non-Federal entities (sub-awardees) and subsequent tier sub-award agreements are subject to the marking requirements and the non-Federal entity shall include a provision in the sub non-Federal entity agreement indicating that the standard, rectangular U.S. flag is a requirement. Exemptions from this requirement may be allowable but must be agreed to in writing by the Grants Officer. (Note: An exemption refers to the complete or partial cessation of branding, not use of alternative branding). Requests should be initiated with the Grants Officer and Grants Officer Representative. Waivers issued are applied only to the exemptions requested through the Recipient's proposal for funding and any subsequent negotiated revisions.

In the event the non-Federal entity does not comply with the marking requirements as established in the approved assistance agreement, the Grants Officer Representative and the Grants Officer must initiate corrective action with the non-Federal entity.

PRM Standardized Indicators: Partners must refer to PRM's indicator list in Appendix D of the NGO Guidelines and include any mandatory and required indicators as part of the application. PRM has two categories of indicators:
- Required: Indicators marked as "required" in Appendix D must be included in the proposal as applicable. Each sector and sub-sector has at least one required PRM indicator; these must be included in the indicator table if the partner is proposing any activities or budget for that sector/sub-sector. In addition, three indicators are required for all programs regardless of design or sector. If the proposed program will not contribute to one or several of these mandatory indicators, the indicator must still be included in the proposal indicator table but with a target of zero.
  - PRM-1. Number of individuals directly reached through PRM funding.
  - PRM-2. Amount of humanitarian funding distributed to local, national, or refugee-led organizations (in USD) - This amount should include any sub-awards or contracts with local, national, or refugee-led organizations. If the prime applicant is a local, national, or refugee-led organization, they should put the full proposal budget total as the target value. Refer to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) working definition of "local" and "national" organizations. Applicants should put a target of zero for this indicator if it does not apply to them; it will not affect their eligibility.
  - PRM-3. Percentage of participants who report that humanitarian assistance is delivered in a safe, accessible, accountable, and participatory manner - This is a protection mainstreaming indicator developed by the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and adopted by the Grand Bargain. Research or coordination awards that don't involve community implementation are exempt from this indicator. Please refer to the PRM Performance Indicator Reference & Definition Sheets (PIRS) for a sample questionnaire and analysis guidance.
- Recommended if applicable: Partners may consider using these indicators to monitor any related activities as they are aligned with humanitarian standards and best practices. However, inclusion of recommended indicators is not mandatory and will not affect the proposal scoring. Please note that in rare cases PRM may request for a partner to use a particular recommended indicator if there is a strong technical/thematic need to track information on that indicator, or if a similar custom indicator was proposed by the partner.

Application Review and Selection Process

Application Review Process

PRM is committed to ensuring a competitive and standardized process for awarding funding. Applications will be screened initially in a Technical Eligibility Review stage to determine whether applicants meet the eligibility requirements and have submitted all required documents. Applications that do not meet these requirements will not advance beyond the Technical Eligibility Review stage and will be deemed ineligible for funding under this NOFO.

PRM reserves the right to have all applications deemed to be technically eligible undergo a Subject Matter Expert (SME) review prior to the Merit Review Panel to determine whether an application is responsive to the information in this NOFO.

All applications that proceed to the Merit Review Panel will be evaluated by a panel of at least three people based on the below-referenced programmatic criteria and PRM priorities in the context of available funding. Department of State review panels may provide conditions and recommendations on applications to enhance the proposed program, which must be addressed by the applicant before further consideration of the award. To ensure effective use of limited PRM funds, conditions or recommendations may include requests to increase, decrease, clarify, and/or justify costs and program activities.

Application Evaluation Criteria

Eligible submissions will be those that comply with the criteria and requirements included in this announcement. In addition, the Merit Review Panel will evaluate the proposals based on the following criteria:

Gap/Analysis (10)
Profile of Target Population (5)
Program Description (25)
Objectives & Indicators (10)
Monitoring & Evaluation Plan (10)
Accountability to Affected Populations (5)
- (Note: The AAP section of a NOFO proposal narrative is specific to the program being proposed, is the criterion listed above being evaluated, and is distinct from the organization-level AAP framework.)
Coordination (5)
Sustainability and Capacity-Building (5)
Management and Past Performance (5)
Risk Management (10)
Budget/Budget Narrative (10 points)

Prior to making a Federal award with a total amount of Federal share greater than the simplified acquisition threshold, PRM is required to review and consider any information about the applicant that is in the U.S. government designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM.gov (see 41 U.S.C. 2313);

An applicant, at its option, may review and comment on any information about itself that a Federal awarding agency previously entered. Currently, federal agencies create integrity records in the integrity module of the Contractor Performance Assessment and Reporting System (CPARS) and these records are visible as responsibility/qualification records in SAM.gov;

The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in the designated integrity and performance system, in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in §200.206 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants.

Federal Award Administration Information

Federal Award Administration

A successful applicant can expect to receive a separate notice from PRM stating that an application has been selected before PRM actually makes the federal award. That notice is not an authorization to begin performance. Only the notice of award signed by the Grants Officer is the authorizing document. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified following completion of the selection and award process.

Administrative and National Policy Requirements.

PRM awards are made consistent with the following provisions in the following order of precedence: (a) applicable laws and statutes of the United States, including any specific legislative provisions mandated in the statutory authority for the award; (b) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR); (c) Department of State Standard Terms and Conditions of the award; (d) the award's specific requirements; and (e) other documents and attachments to the award.

Reporting

Successful applicants will be required to submit:

Program Reports: PRM requires program reports describing and analyzing the results of activities undertaken during the validity period of the agreement. A program report is required within thirty (30) days following the end of each three-month period of performance during the validity period of the agreement. The final program report is due one hundred and twenty (120) days following the end of the agreement. The submission dates for program reports will be written into the cooperative agreement. Partners receiving multi-year awards should follow this same reporting schedule and should still submit a final program report at the end of each year that summarizes the NGO's performance during the previous year.

The Bureau suggests that NGOs receiving PRM funding use the PRM recommended quarterly program report template and annual/final report template. The suggested PRM NGO reporting templates are designed to ease the reporting requirements while ensuring that all required elements are addressed.

Financial Reports: Financial reports are required within thirty (30) days following the end of each calendar year quarter during the validity period of the agreement (January 30th, April 30th, July 30th, October 30th). The final financial report covering the entire period of the agreement is required within one hundred and twenty (120) days after the expiration date of the agreement. For agreements containing indirect costs, final financial reports are due within sixty (60) days of the finalization of the applicable negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA).

Reports reflecting expenditures for the recipient's overseas and United States offices should be completed in accordance with the Federal Financial Report (FFR SF-425) and submitted electronically in the Department of Health and Human Services' Payment Management System (HHS/PMS) and in accordance with other award specific requirements. Detailed information pertaining to the Federal Financial Report including due dates, instruction manuals and access forms, is provided on the HHS/PMS website.

Audit Reports: When a recipient-contracted audit is not required because the Federal award amount is less than the $750,000 threshold, the Department may determine that an audit must be performed, and the audit report must be submitted to the responsible grants office(r) for review, dissemination, and resolution as appropriate. The cost of audits required under this policy may be charged either as an allowable direct cost to the award or included in the organizations established indirect costs in the award's detailed budget.

PRM Points of Contact

Applicants with technical questions related to this announcement should contact the PRM staff listed below prior to submission. Please note that responses to technical questions from PRM do not indicate a commitment to fund the program discussed.

PRM Program Officer: Emily Gallagher, GallagherEE@state.gov, Washington, D.C.
Regional Refugee Coordinator: Chris Jones, JonesCA@state.gov, Kampala, Uganda

Disclaimer

External websites linked above may not be supported or accessible by all web browsers. If you are unable to link to a referenced website, please try using a different browser or update to a more recent one. If you continue to experience difficulties to reach external resources, please contact PRM NGO Coordinator.

Section 508

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d), as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, charges the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (US Access Board) with developing and promulgating standards address that access to information and communication technology (ICT) Accessibility Standards (36 CFR part 1194). Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use ICT. Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. These standards are part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation. The complete text of the Section 508 Final Provisions can be accessed at https://www.access-board.gov/ict/.

The Section 508 accessibility standards applicable to this contract or order are identified in the following paragraph. If it is determined by the Government that ICT supplies and services provided by the Contractor do not conform to the described accessibility standards in the contract, remediation of the supplies or services to the level of conformance specified in the contract will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its own expense.

The Section 508 standards applicable to this contract are: 1194.

205 WCAG 2.0 Level A & AA Success Criteria
302 Functional Performance Criteria
502 Inoperability with Assistive Technology
504 Authoring Tools
602 Support Documentation
603 Support Services

In the event of a modification(s) to this contract or order, which adds new ICT supplies or services or revises the type of, or specifications for, supplies or services, the Contracting Officer may require that the contractor submit a completed Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) 2.4 or greater, 508 revision (Rev 508) or another format approved by the Department, and any other additional information necessary to assist the Government in determining that the ICT supplies or services conform to Section 508 accessibility standards. If it is determined by the Government that ICT supplies and services provided by the Contractor do not conform to the described accessibility standards in the contract, remediation of the supplies or services to the level of conformance specified in the contract will be the responsibility of the Contractor at its own expense. Information about VPAT can be accessed at the ITIC Website.

If this is an Indefinite Delivery contract, a Blanket Purchase Agreement or a Basic Ordering Agreement, the task/delivery order requests that include ICT supplies or services will define the specifications and accessibility standards for the order. In those cases, the Contractor may be required to provide a completed VPAT and any other additional information necessary to assist the Government in determining that the ICT supplies or services conform to Section 508 accessibility standards.

Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

Read the original article on State Department.

Uganda: Fy 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda

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