Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2007/12/06/E7-23675/bureau-of-educational-and-cultural-affairs-eca-request-for-grant-proposals-youth-leadership-and
Timestamp: 2017-10-22 05:30:21
Document Index: 45604136

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 62', 'art 62', 'art 62', 'art 62', 'art 62', 'art 62']

A Notice by the State Department on 12/06/2007
Pending availability of funds, proposed start date is summer 2008.
72 FR 68942
68942-68946 (5 pages)
Public Notice 6001
E7-23675
VI.4. Program Data Requirements
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-23675 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/E7-23675
Funding Opportunity Number: ECA/PE/C/PY-08-32.
Executive Summary: The Office of Citizen Exchanges, Youth Programs Division, of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announces an open competition for the Youth Leadership and Teacher Professional Development Program with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Public and private non-profit organizations meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3) may submit proposals to conduct a three-to four-week program in the United States focusing on leadership and civic education. The 21 participants will be secondary school students and teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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 Fulbright-Hays 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. Purpose: The Youth Leadership Program for Bosnia and Herzegovina has been implemented annually since 1999 by a partnership of the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) in the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo and the U.S. grantee organization. The goals of the program are (1) to provide a civic education program that helps the participants understand civic participation and the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy; (2) to develop leadership skills among secondary school students and teachers appropriate to their needs; and (3) to build personal relationships among high school students and teachers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United States. A successful project will be one that nurtures a cadre of students and teachers to be actively engaged in addressing issues of concern in their schools and communities upon their return home and are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to become citizen activists. Participants will be engaged in a variety of activities such as workshops, community and/or school-based programs, seminars, and other activities that are designed to achieve the program's stated goals. Multiple opportunities for participants to interact with American youth and educators must be included. The applicant should present a program plan that allows the participants to thoroughly explore civic education in the United States in a creative, memorable, and practical way. Activities should be designed to be replicable and provide practical knowledge and skills that the participants can apply to school and civic activities at home. Applicants should outline their project team's capacity for doing projects of this nature, focusing on three areas of competency: (1) Provision of leadership and civic education programming, (2) age-appropriate programming for youth, and (3) work with individuals from Bosnia-Herzegovina or other areas of Southeast Europe. Applicants need not have a partner in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the Office of Public Affairs (OPA) of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo will recruit and select the participants from selected cities in the Federation and in Republika Srpska and will provide a pre-departure orientation. The U.S. project activities should take place in spring 2009. Applicants should propose the period of the exchange, but the exact timing of the project may be altered through the mutual agreement of the Department of State and the grant recipient. The program should be no less than three weeks and up to four Start Printed Page 68943weeks in duration. Program development should begin in the late summer/early fall of 2008. The participants will be 18 high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 who have demonstrated leadership abilities in their schools and/or communities, and three high school teachers who have demonstrated an interest in youth leadership and are expected to remain in positions where they can continue to work with youth. Participants will be proficient in the English language. In pursuit of the goals outlined above, the program provided by the U.S. grantee organization will include the following: Program preparation sessions at the pre-departure orientation in Sarajevo. A welcome orientation. Design and planning of activities that provide a substantive program on civic education and leadership through both academic and extracurricular components. Activities should take place in schools and in the community. Community service must also be included. It is crucial that programming involve American participants wherever possible. Opportunities for the educators to work with their American peers and other professionals and volunteers to help them foster youth leadership, civic education, and community service programs at home. Logistical arrangements, homestays, disbursement of stipends/per diem, local travel, and travel between sites. A closing session to summarize the project's activities and prepare participants for their return home. Follow-on activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the participants have returned home designed to reinforce values and skills imparted during the U.S. program.
The proposal must demonstrate how the stated goals will be met. Applicant organizations should identify their own specific objectives and measurable outcomes based on these program goals and the project specifications provided in this solicitation. The proposal narrative should also provide detailed information on the major program activities. Additional important program information and guidelines for preparing the narrative are included in the Project Objectives, Goals, and Implementation (POGI).
Programs must comply with J-1 visa regulations. Please refer to the other documents in the solicitation for further information.
Approximate Total Funding: $85,000, pending availability of funds.
Approximate Average Award: $85,000.
Anticipated Award Date: Pending availability of funds, proposed start date is summer 2008.
Anticipated Project Completion Date: December 31, 2009.
There is no minimum or maximum percentage required for this competition. However, the Bureau encourages applicants to provide maximum levels of cost sharing and funding in support of its programs. Please note that cost sharing is one of the criteria by which proposals will be judged.
Bureau grant guidelines require that organizations with less than four years' experience in conducting international exchanges be limited to $60,000 in Bureau funding. ECA anticipates awarding one grant, in an amount up to $85,000 to support program and administrative costs required to implement this exchange program. Therefore, organizations with less than four years' experience in conducting international exchanges are ineligible to apply under this competition. The Bureau encourages applicants to provide maximum levels of cost sharing and funding in support of its programs.
Please contact the Youth Programs Division, Office of Citizen Exchanges (ECA/PE/C/PY), Room 568, U.S. Department of State, SA-44, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547, telephone (202) 203-7505, fax (202) 203-7529, e-mail lantzcs@state.gov to request a Solicitation Package. Please refer to the Funding Opportunity Number (ECA/PE/C/PY-08-32) located at the top of this announcement when making your request. Alternatively, an electronic application package may be obtained from grants.gov. Please see section IV.3f for further information.
It also contains the Project Objectives, Goals and Implementation (POGI) document, which provides specific information, award criteria and budget instructions tailored to this competition. Please specify Bureau Program Officer Carolyn Lantz and refer to the Funding Opportunity Number (ECA/PE/C/PY-08-32) located at the top of this announcement on all other inquiries and correspondence.
Applicants must follow all instructions in the Solicitation Package. Start Printed Page 68944The application should be submitted per the instructions under IV.3f. “Application Deadline and Methods of Submission” section below.
IV.3a. You are required to have a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number to apply for a grant or cooperative agreement from the U.S. Government. This number is a nine-digit identification number, which uniquely identifies business entities. Obtaining a DUNS number is easy and there is no charge. To obtain a DUNS number, access http://www.dunandbradstreet.com or call 1-866-705-5711. Please ensure that your DUNS number is included in the appropriate box of the SF-424, which is part of the formal application package.
The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is the official program sponsor of the exchange program covered by this RFGP, and an employee of the Bureau will be the “Responsible Officer” for the program under the terms of 22 CFR part 62, which covers the administration of the Exchange Visitor Program (J visa program). Under the terms of 22 CFR part 62, organizations receiving grants under this RFGP will be third parties “cooperating with or assisting the sponsor in the conduct of the sponsor's program.” The actions of grantee program organizations shall be “imputed to the sponsor in evaluating the sponsor's compliance with” 22 CFR part 62. Therefore, the Bureau expects that any organization receiving a grant under this competition will render all assistance necessary to enable the Bureau to fully comply with 22 CFR part 62 et seq.
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs places critically important emphases on the secure and proper administration of Exchange Visitor (J visa) Programs and adherence by grantee program organizations and program participants to all regulations governing the J visa program status. Therefore, proposals should explicitly state in writing that the applicant is prepared to assist the Bureau in meeting all requirements governing the administration of Exchange Visitor Programs as set forth in 22 CFR part 62. If your organization has experience as a designated Exchange Visitor Program Sponsor, the applicant should discuss their record of compliance with 22 CFR part 62 et seq., including the oversight of their Responsible Officers and Alternate Responsible Officers, screening and selection of program participants, provision of pre-arrival information and orientation to participants, monitoring of participants, proper maintenance and security of forms, record-keeping, reporting and other requirements.
Your monitoring and evaluation plan should clearly distinguish between program outputs and outcomes. Outputs are products and services delivered, often stated as an amount. Output information is important to show the scope or size of project activities, but it cannot substitute for information about progress towards outcomes or the results achieved. Examples of outputs include the number of people trained or the number of seminars conducted. Outcomes, in contrast, represent Start Printed Page 68945specific results a project is intended to achieve and is usually measured as an extent of change. Findings on outputs and outcomes should both be reported, but the focus should be on outcomes.
Application Deadline Date: Thursday, January 31, 2008.
Reference Number: ECA/PE/C/PY-08-32.
The original and six 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/PY-08-32, Program Management, ECA/EX/PM, Room 534, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547.
Applicants have the option of submitting proposals electronically through Grants.gov (http://www.grants.gov). Complete solicitation packages are available at Grants.gov in the “Find” portion of the system. Please follow the instructions available in the ‘Get Started’ portion of the site (http://www.grants.gov/​GetStarted).
Once registered, the amount of time it can take to upload an application will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the application and the speed of your internet connection. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you not wait until the application deadline to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
Applicants will receive a confirmation e-mail from grants.gov upon the successful submission of an application. ECA will not notify you upon receipt of electronic applications. Start Printed Page 68946
The Bureau will review all proposals for technical eligibility. Proposals will be deemed ineligible if they do not fully adhere to the guidelines stated herein and in the Solicitation Package. All eligible proposals will be reviewed by the program office, as well as the Public Diplomacy section overseas, where appropriate. Eligible proposals will be subject to compliance with Federal and Bureau regulations and guidelines and forwarded to Bureau grant panels for advisory review. Proposals may also be reviewed by the Office of the Legal Adviser or by other Department elements. Final funding decisions are at the discretion of the Department of State's Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs. Final technical authority for assistance awards (grants) resides with the Bureau's Grants Officer.
Please see the review criteria in the accompanying Project Objectives, Goals, and Implementation (POGI) document.
(2) Interim reports, as required in the Bureau grant agreement.
For questions about this announcement, contact: Carolyn Lantz, Program Officer, Youth Programs Division, Office of Citizen Exchanges, ECA/PE/C/PY, Room 568, U.S. Department of State, SA-44, 301 4th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20547, Telephone: (202) 203-7505, Fax: (202) 203-7529, E-mail: LantzCS@state.gov.
All correspondence with the Bureau concerning this RFGP should reference the above title and number ECA/PE/C/PY-08-32.
[FR Doc. E7-23675 Filed 12-5-07; 8:45 am]