Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices 21061

right to reduce, revise, or increase

proposal budgets in accordance with the

needs of the program and the

availability of funds. Awards made will

be subject to periodic reporting and

evaluation requirements.

Notification

Final awards cannot be made until

funds have been appropriated by

Congress, allocated and committed

through internal Bureau procedures.

Dated: April 13, 2000.

Evelyn S. Lieberman,

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and

Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

[FR Doc. 00–9802 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–11–P

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice 3293]

Bureau of Educational and Cultural

Affairs; Program Title: Small Grants

Competition; Grassroots Citizen

Participation in Democracy; Request

for Proposals

SUMMARY: The Office of Citizen

Exchanges, Bureau of Educational and

Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department

of State, announces a small grants

competition on Citizen Participation in

Democracy. U.S. public and private

non-profit organizations meeting the

provisions described in IRS regulation

26 CFR 1.501(c) may submit proposals

to develop exchanges and training

programs in the below mentioned

countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, the

Middle East or Latin America (countries

listed under guidelines.)

Program Information

Overview

The Office of Citizen Exchanges,

Bureau of Educational and Cultural

Affairs of the U.S. Department of State,

announces an FY2000 small grants

competition for local community-based

organizations interested in

internationalizing their educational,

professional and cultural efforts or

gaining support for ongoing

international exchange programs. This

competition is aimed at local-level

grassroots organizations that have not

received prior funding directly from the

Bureau. Creative and innovative ideas

are sought.

One goal of this initiative is to

encourage smaller organizations or local

units of national groups to expand the

scope of their work by building linkages

with counterparts in certain other

countries. This may be accomplished by

providing professional experience and

exposure to American life and culture

through internships, workshops and

other learning-sharing experiences

hosted by local institutions and home

stays with members of the community.

The experiences also will provide

Americans the opportunity to learn

about different cultures. Travel under

these grants may constitute a two-way

exchange or provide only for foreigners

to visit the United States. The program

is not academic in nature; it is designed

to provide practical, hands-on

experience in U.S. public/private sector

settings that may be adapted to an

individual’s institution upon return

home. Proposals may combine elements

of professional enrichment, job

shadowing and internships appropriate

to the language ability and interests of

the participants.

Exchanges and training programs

supported by the institutional grants

from the Bureau should operate at two

levels: they should enhance

partnerships, and they should offer

practical information to individuals and

groups to assist them with their

professional and volunteer

responsibilities. Viable proposals

usually have the following

characteristics:

• A strong existing partnership

between a U.S. organization and an incountry institution;

• A proven track record of working in

the proposed issue area;

• Cost-sharing from U.S. and/or incountry sources, including donations of

air fares, hotel and/or housing costs,

ground transportation, interpreters, etc.;

• Experienced staff with language

facility; a clear, convincing plan

showing how long-term results will be

accomplished as a result of the activity

funded by the grant;

• A follow-on plan beyond the scope

of the Bureau grant.

The Bureau wants to see tangible

forms of time and money contributed to

the project by the prospective grantee

institution, as well as funding from

third party sources. If proposals

received are of equal strength,

preference will go to those with higher

cost-sharing.

Exchanges should be two-to-three

weeks in length. It is anticipated that

programs will be conducted between

September 2000 and August 2001.

Successful projects will enhance the

participants’ skills in leadership,

participatory democracy, NGO

development, and open the potential for

longer-term partnerships.

Applicants should identify the local

organizations and individuals in the

counterpart country with whom they are

proposing to collaborate and describe in

detail previous cooperative

programming and/or contacts. Specific

information about the counterpart

organizations’ activities and

accomplishments is required and

should be included in the section on

Institutional Capacity.

This year the small grants competition

will be focused on one over-all theme of

Grassroots Citizen Participation in

Democracy. Under this theme,

consideration will be given to related

priority topics. Suggestions are listed

below.

Grassroots Citizen Participation in

Democracy

Democracy takes root and flourishes

where there is grass-roots participation

in decision-making and citizen

participation is valued and practiced.

Since most civic activities are

concerned with community-based

issues that directly affect individuals’

lives, local issues and institutions

should be the focus of the exchange

program. Single-country activities

should be built around a specific theme

or target audience. Target audiences

may include, but are not limited to:

women in business, NGO leaders,

professional women, special interest

groups (i.e. ethnic minorities, people

with disabilities, economically

disadvantaged persons). The Bureau is

looking for programs that will result in

the creation of a sustainable

professional association or coalition

with activities continuing after the grant

period.

Priority Topics

Strengthening Grassroots Democracy:

Training NGO leadership and

addressing organizational governance

issues; building coalitions; networking;

lobbying elected officials; media

strategies; fund raising; volunteerism;

addressing civic values; NGO roles in

mediating conflict in the community.

Equal Treatment of Women Under the

Law: Educating women about existing

anti-discriminatory laws, including

domestic violence legislation;

understanding legal rights and options;

addressing attitudes of the judiciary;

building community support to combat

violence against women, including

trafficking in Women and children.

Women and Political Leadership:

running for elective office and/or

managing electoral campaigns;

developing a media strategy; public

speaking/communication skills; meeting

challenges and responsibilities of public

office once elected.

Local Governance: strengthening local

governments and making them more

responsive to local needs; local

21062 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices

government administration, including

budget development, financial

management; tax policies and

mechanisms; election practices;

management of municipal services;

committee and staff structures; drafting

of legislation and relationships with

regional and national governments.

Guidelines

All projects should focus on one

country, promote local community

contacts with that country and address

one or more of the priority topics

described above. Since most civic

activities are concerned with

community-based issues that directly

affect individuals? lives, local issues

and institutions should be the focus of

proposed exchange programs. Target

audiences may include, but are not

limited to: NGO leaders, women in

business, professional women, special

interest groups (i.e. ethnic minorities,

those with disabilities or economically

disadvantaged). Applicants should

carefully note the following restrictions

for proposals in these specific

geographic areas:

Africa

Only proposals for Kenya,

Madagascar, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda,

and Zambia will be considered. Contact

for African programs: Orna Blum, 202/

260–2754; E-Mail {oblum@usia.gov}

Middle East

Only proposals for Kuwait, Oman,

Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and

Yemen will be considered. Contact for

Middle East programs: Tom Johnston,

202/619–5325; E-Mail

{tjohnsto@usia.gov}

Latin America

Only proposals for Colombia,

Venezuela and Chile will be considered.

Contact for Latin American programs:

Laverne Johnson, 202/619–5337; E-Mail

{ljohnson@usia.gov}

Budget Guidelines

The grant-making process will be

specifically streamlined to

accommodate first-time applicants.

Priority will be given to grant proposals

with budgets ranging from $15,000 to

$40,000. No proposal above $50,000

will be eligible. Contingent on budget

uncertainties, approximately, two

hundred and fifty-thousand dollars has

been allotted for this competition.

Awards will be announced around

August 1, 2000.

Allowable costs include the

following:

(1) Program Expenses.

(2) Administrative Expenses

including indirect costs.

Please refer to the Solicitation

Package for complete budget guidelines

and formatting instructions.

Announcement Title and Number: All

correspondence with the Bureau

concerning this RFP should reference

the above title and number ECA/PE/C–

00–47.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: The

Office of Citizen Exchanges, ECA/PE/C,

Room 224, U.S. Department of State,

301 4th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C.

20547, telephone number 202/619–5348

and fax number 202/260–0440 , Internet

address to request a Solicitation Package

(see above regional contacts). The

Solicitation Package contains detailed

award criteria, required application

forms, specific budget instructions, and

standard guidelines for proposal

preparation. Please specify Bureau

Program Officer listed above on all other

inquiries and correspondence.

Please read the complete Federal

Register announcement before sending

inquiries or submitting proposals. Once

the RFP deadline has passed, Bureau

staff may not discuss this competition

with applicants until the proposal

review process has been completed.

To Download a Solicitation Package via

Internet

The entire Solicitation Package may

be downloaded from the Bureau’s

website at http://exchanges.state.gov/

education/rfps. Please read all

information before downloading.

Deadline for Proposals

All proposal copies must be received

at the Bureau of Educational and

Cultural Affairs by 5 p.m. Washington,

D.C. time on Friday, June 2, 2000. Faxed

documents will not be accepted at any

time. Documents postmarked the due

date but received on a later date will not

be accepted. Each applicant must ensure

that the proposals are received by the

above deadline.

Applicants must follow all

instructions in the Solicitation Package.

The original and ten copies of the

application should be sent to: U.S.

Department of State, SA–44, Bureau of

Educational and Cultural Affairs, Ref.:

ECA/PE/C–00–47, Program

Management, ECA/EX/PM, Room 336,

301 4th Street, SW, Washington, DC

20547.

Applicants must also submit the

‘‘Executive Summary’’ and ‘‘Proposal

Narrative’’ sections of the proposal on a

3.5’’ diskette, formatted for DOS. These

documents must be provided in ASCII

text (DOS) format with a maximum line

length of 65 characters. The Bureau will

transmit these files electronically to the

Public Affairs section at the US Embassy

for its review, with the goal of reducing

the time it takes to get embassy

comments for the Bureau’s grants

review process.

Diversity, Freedom and Democracy

Guidelines

Pursuant to the Bureau’s authorizing

legislation, programs must maintain a

non-political character and should be

balanced and representative of the

diversity of American political, social,

and cultural life. ‘‘Diversity’’ should be

interpreted in the broadest sense and

encompass differences including, but

not limited to ethnicity, race, gender,

religion, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and physical

challenges. Applicants are strongly

encouraged to adhere to the

advancement of this principle both in

program administration and in program

content. Please refer to the review

criteria under the ’Support for Diversity’

section for specific suggestions on

incorporating diversity into the total

proposal. Public Law 104–319 provides

that ‘‘in carrying out programs of

educational and cultural exchange in

countries whose people do not fully

enjoy freedom and democracy,’’ the

Bureau ‘‘shall take appropriate steps to

provide opportunities for participation

in such programs to human rights and

democracy leaders of such countries.’’

Proposals should reflect advancement of

this goal in their program contents, to

the full extent deemed feasible.

Year 2000 Compliance Requirement

(Y2K Requirement)

The Year 2000 (Y2K) issue is a broad

operational and accounting problem

that could potentially prohibit

organizations from processing

information in accordance with Federal

management and program specific

requirements including data exchange

with the Bureau. The inability to

process information in accordance with

Federal requirements could result in

grantees’ being required to return funds

that have not been accounted for

properly.

The Bureau therefore requires all

organizations use Y2K compliant

systems including hardware, software,

and firmware. Systems must accurately

process data and dates (calculating,

comparing and sequencing) both before

and after the beginning of the year 2000

and correctly adjust for leap years.

Additional information addressing the

Y2K issue may be found at the General

Services Administration’s Office of

Information Technology website at

http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov.

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 76 / Wednesday, April 19, 2000 / Notices 21063

Review Process

In support of first-time applicants, the

grant proposal, budget and review

process has been modified for this

competition. The proposal narrative

should not exceed six pages doublespaced and be developed around the

review criteria below. Budget should be

contained on one page. Please follow

the enclosed Request for Proposal(RFP)

Proposal Submission Instructions(PSI).

Proposals will be reviewed in two tiers.

First, all proposals will be read and

reviewed by a qualified staff team from

the Office of Citizen Exchanges and the

respective Department of State regional

bureaus. Second, the most competitive

will be forwarded to embassies overseas

and to panels of Bureau-wide State

Department officers for formal advisory

review. Non-finalists will be advised at

this point in the process. Final funding

decisions will be made at the discretion

of the Under Secretary of State for

Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

Final technical authority for assistance

awards (grants or cooperative

agreements) resides with the Citizen

Exchanges Grants Officer.

Review Criteria

Technically eligible applications will

be competitively reviewed according to

the criteria stated below. These criteria

are not rank ordered and all carry equal

weight in the proposal evaluation:

1. Quality of program idea and ability

to achieve objectives: Program objectives

should be clearly and precisely stated.

Applications should respond to

priorities in this announcement and

articulate the organization’s ability to

successfully carry out objectives. Staff

and participant responsibilities and

timetable should be clearly designated.

2. Cost effectiveness and Cost sharing:

Administrative costs should be kept

low. Proposals should maximize costsharing through support and in-kind

contributions.

3. Monitoring/Reporting: Proposals

should provide a brief plan for

submitting written reports midway

through the program and at the end.

Reports should include

accomplishments, problems

encountered, and impact on American

and overseas communities.

4. Support of Diversity: Proposals

should demonstrate substantive support

of the Bureau’s policy on diversity.

Achievable and relevant features should

be cited in both program administration

(selection of participants, program

venue and program evaluation) and

program content (orientation and wrapup sessions, program meetings, resource

materials and follow-up activities).

5. Project Evaluation: Proposals

should include a plan to evaluate the

activity’s success, both as the activities

unfold and at the end of the program. A

draft survey questionannaire or other

technique plus description of a

methodology to use to link outcomes to

original project objectives is

recommended. Successful applicants

will be expected to submit intermediate

reports after each project component is

concluded or quarterly, whichever is

less frequent.

Authority

Overall grant making authority for

this program is contained in the Mutual

Educational and Cultural Exchange Act

of 1961, Public Law 87–256, as

amended, also known as the FulbrightHays Act. The purpose of the Act is ‘‘to

enable the Government of the United

States to increase mutual understanding

between the people of the United States

and the people of other countries* * *;

to strengthen the ties which unite us

with other nations by demonstrating the

educational and cultural interests,

developments, and achievements of the

people of the United States and other

nations...and thus to assist in the

development of friendly, sympathetic

and peaceful relations between the

United States and the other countries of

the world.’’ The funding authority for

the program above is provided through

legislation.

Notice

The terms and conditions published

in this RFP are binding and may not be

modified by any Bureau representative.

Explanatory information provided by

the Bureau that contradicts published

language will not be binding. Issuance

of the RFP does not constitute an award

commitment on the part of the

Government.

The Bureau reserves the right to

reduce, revise, or increase proposal

budgets in accordance with the needs of

the program and the availability of

funds. Awards made will be subject to

periodic reporting and evaluation

requirements.

Notification

Final awards cannot be made until

funds have been appropriated by

Congress, allocated and committed

through internal Bureau procedures.

Dated: April 10, 2000.

Evelyn S. Lieberman,

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and

Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State.

[FR Doc. 00–9800 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–11–P

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice #3277]

Shipping Coordinating Committee

Maritime Safety Committee; Notice of

Meeting

The Shipping Coordinating

Committee will conduct an open

meeting at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May

11, 2000, in Room 2415, at U.S. Coast

Guard Headquarters, 2100 2nd Street,

SW, Washington, DC. The purpose of

this meeting will be to finalize

preparations for the 72nd Session of the

Maritime Safety Committee, and

associated bodies of the International

Maritime Organization (IMO), which is

scheduled for May 17–26, 2000, at IMO

Headquarters in London. At this

meeting, papers received and the draft

U.S. positions will be discussed.

Among other things, the items of

particular interest are:

a. Bulk carrier safety;

b. Role of the human element;

c. Formal safety assessment;

d. Piracy and armed robbery against

ships;

e. Reports of seven subcommittees—

Training and watchkeeping; Flag State

implementation; Bulk liquids and gases;

Radiocommunications and search and

rescue; Safety of navigation; Dangerous

goods, solid cargoes and containers; Fire

protection; and, Ship design and

equipment;

Members of the public may attend

this meeting up to the seating capacity

of the room. Interested persons may

seek information by writing to Mr.

Joseph J. Angelo, Commandant (G–MS),

U.S. Coast Guard, 2100 2nd Street, SW,

Room 1218, Washington, DC 20593–

0001 or by calling (202) 267–2970.

Dated: April 6, 2000

Stephen M. Miller,

Executive Secretary, Shipping Coordinating

Committee, U.S. Department of State.

[FR Doc. 00–9729 Filed 4–18–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–17–U