Water, Sanitation Funding Opportunity for Refugees in DRC Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda

FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda Funding Opportunity Announcement Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration April 5, 2013 Funding Opportunity Number: PRM-PRMOAPAF-13-008-017649 Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number: 19.517 - Overseas Refugee Assistance Programs for Africa Announcement issuance date: Thursday, April 4, 2013 Proposal submission deadline: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 12:00 p.m. (noon) EDT. Proposals submitted after this deadline cannot be considered. Advisory: Grants.gov experiences a consistently high volume of activity. PRM strongly recommends submitting your proposal several days early to allow time to address any difficulties that may arise due to system delays. Proposed Program Start Dates: June 1, 2013—September 1, 2013 Duration of Activity: Program proposals that support protection, including prevention of and response to gender-based violence (GBV) among urban refugee communities in Uganda, and for assistance to refugee returnees in Equateur Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), should be for no more than 12 months. Applicants must re-compete for PRM funding each year. Furthermore, in funding a project one year, PRM makes no representations that it will continue to fund the project in successive years and encourages applicants to seek a wide array of donors to ensure long-term funding possibilities. Proposals that cover recurrent activities over 12 to 24 months will be considered—and multi-year proposals are encouraged—for activities addressing needs in refugee settlements in Uganda and refugee camps in Tanzania. Applicants are encouraged to submit multi-year proposals with activities and budgets that do not exceed 24 months from the proposed start date. Actual awards will not exceed 12 months in duration and activities and budgets submitted in year one can be revised/updated each successive year. Continued funding after the initial 12-month award requires the submission of a noncompeting continuation application and will be contingent upon available funding, strong performance, and continuing need. In funding a project one year, PRM makes no representations that it will continue to fund the project 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. Eligible Applicants: (1) Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with IRS, other than institutions of higher education; (2) Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with IRS, other than institutions of higher education; and (3) International Organizations. International Organizations (IOs) should not submit proposals through Grants.gov in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement. IOs such as UN agencies and other Public International Organizations (PIOs) that are seeking funding for programs relevant to this announcement should contact the relevant PRM Program Officer (as stated below) on or before the closing date of the funding announcement. Current Country Specific Funding Priorities and Instructions: PRM will prioritize available funding for Democratic Republic of the Congo (Equateur Province), Tanzania, and Uganda as identified below. All proposals should target beneficiaries as identified in collaboration with UNHCR and local authorities. (1) Tanzania • Proposals should focus on life-saving basic preventative and curative healthcare assistance, including reproductive health and prevention of and response to gender-based violence, in Nyaragusu refugee camp in western Tanzania. • Health Sector Standard Indicators Pilot: Proposals focusing on health in camp based/returnee settings should include a minimum of one of the four following indicators, and include as many of the other indicators as are relevant: § Number of consultations/clinician/day – Target: Fewer than 50 patients per clinician per day § Measles vaccination rate for children under five – Target: 95% coverage § Percentage of deliveries attended by a skilled birth attendant in a health care facility – Target: 100% § Percentage of reporting rape survivors given post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with 72 hours – Target: 100% • NGO proposals that seek to fund service provision may also include the following indicators if appropriate: § Primary Care: # and % of refugee patients, by sex and age, receiving primary health care assistance. § Emergency Care: # and % of refugee patients, by sex and age, receiving care for trauma or sudden illness. Proposals should also include their own custom indicators in addition to the standard indicators. • While PRM does not discourage activities that also include the local host population along with refugees where appropriate, especially to mitigate conflict between the populations, proposals should concentrate on activities for refugees. At least 80% of beneficiaries must be refugees. (2) Uganda • Proposals may focus on life-saving basic preventative and curative healthcare assistance, including prevention of and response to gender-based violence, in Uganda’s refugee settlements. • Health Sector Standard Indicators Pilot: Proposals focusing on health in camp based/returnee settings should include a minimum of one of the four following indicators, and include as many of the other indicators as are relevant: § Number of consultations/clinician/day – Target: Fewer than 50 patients per clinician per day § Measles vaccination rate for children under five – Target: 95% coverage § Percentage of deliveries attended by a skilled birth attendant in a health care facility – Target: 100% § Percentage of reporting rape survivors given post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) with 72 hours – Target: 100% • NGO proposals that seek to fund service provision may include the following indicators if appropriate: § Primary Care: # and % of refugee patients, by sex and age, receiving primary health care assistance. § Emergency Care: # and % of refugee patients, by sex and age, receiving care for trauma or sudden illness. • Proposals focusing on health in urban settings must include a minimum of one of the six following indicators and should try to include as many of the other indicators as are relevant: § Capacity-building: # of health care professionals/administrators trained on providing health services to refugee populations. § Referrals: # of refugees referred to appropriate services, and % of those referred who were able to get needed services. § Community Outreach: # of refugees who received targeted messages on their rights and health-related services available to them. § Health Staffing: # of total consultations per health care provider, disaggregated by refugee/national, sex, and age. § Patient Satisfaction: % of refugee patients receiving primary and emergency care who express satisfaction with services received. § Post Exposure Prophylaxis: % of reporting refugee rape survivors given PEP within 72 hours (Target: 100%) • Proposals may also focus on gender-based violence prevention and response targeting vulnerable groups, including LGBTI individuals, in urban refugee communities and in the refugee settlements in western Uganda. • Proposals may choose to focus on assistance to either the refugee settlements OR to urban refugee communities. While PRM does not discourage activities that also include the local host population along with refugees where appropriate, especially to mitigate conflict between the populations, proposals should concentrate on activities for refugees. At least 80% of beneficiaries must be refugees with the remainder, if any, being vulnerable individuals in host communities. (3) Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)—Equateur Province • Proposals should focus on Equateur Province, specifically on areas of high refugee return where new refugee returnees (those who have returned in 2011-2013) make up at least 50% of targeted beneficiaries. Proposals should specify refugee returnee population numbers and/or projections for 2013 in proposed locations. • Proposals should focus on water and sanitation, sustainable livelihood promotion, peace-building, or gender-based violence prevention and response that will lead to successful and durable reintegration. General Instructions PRM will accept proposals from any NGO working in the above mentioned programmatic areas although, given budgetary constraints, priority will be given to proposals from organizations that can demonstrate: • A working relationship with UNHCR, current UNHCR funding, and/or a letter of support from UNHCR for the proposed activities and/or overall country program (this letter should highlight the gap in services the proposed program is designed to address); • An established presence and a proven track record providing proposed assistance both in the sector and specified location; • Coordination with international organizations (IOs) and NGOs working in the same area or sector as well as local authorities; • A concrete implementation plan with well-conceived objectives and indicators that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and reliable, time-bound and trackable (SMART), have established baselines, and at least one outcome indicator per objective; objectives should be clearly linked to the sectors; • Projects in Protracted Refugee Situations, return/local integration contexts, and multi-year funding applications, where applicable, must include strong transition plans in their proposals; • A budget that is appropriate for meeting the objectives and demonstrates co-funding and/or cost-sharing by non-US government sources, and any programs that include GBV prevention and response activities should, in the detailed budget, delineate all resources dedicated specifically to those activities; • Appropriate targeting of beneficiaries in coordination with UNHCR and other relevant organizations. Because of PRM's mandate to provide protection, assistance, and sustainable solutions for refugees and victims of conflict, PRM will only consider funding projects that include a target beneficiary base of at least 80% refugees, unless otherwise noted. • Adherence to relevant international standards for humanitarian assistance. See PRM’s General NGO Guidelines for a complete list of sector-specific standards. Funding Limits: PRM will consider projects submitted with budgets up to $500,000 (Tanzania); $1,000,000 (Uganda settlements); $200,000 (Uganda Urban); $1,000,000 (DRC—Equateur Province). As stated in the PRM’s General NGO Guidelines, PRM looks favorably on cost-sharing efforts and seeks to support projects with a diverse donor base and/or resources from the submitting organization. Approval of projects is subject to the availability of funding. Proposal Submission Requirements: Proposals must be submitted via Grants.gov. See “Applicant Resources” page on Grants.gov for complete details on requirements (http://www.grants.gov/applicants/app_help_reso.jsp). Please also note the following highlights: • Do not wait until the last minute 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 up to two weeks to finalize registration (sometimes longer for non-U.S. based NGOs to get the required registration numbers). To register with Grants.gov, organizations must first receive a DUNS number and register with the System for Award Management (SAM) which can take weeks and sometimes months. We 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 partners must maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which they have an active federal award or an application under consideration by PRM or any federal agency. • Applications must be submitted under the authority of the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) 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, and had a service request opened to research the problem, should contact the relevant PRM Program Officer to determine whether an alternative method of submission is appropriate. • International Organizations (IOs) should not submit proposals through Grants.gov in response to this Funding Opportunity Announcement. Rather IOs such as UN agencies and other Public International Organizations (PIOs) that are seeking funding for programs relevant to this announcement should submit a proposal or a concept note to the relevant PRM Program Officer (as stated below) on or before the closing date of the funding announcement. • Pursuant to U.S. Code, Title 218, Section 1001, stated on OMB Standard Form 424 (SF-424), the Department of State is authorized to consolidate the certifications and assurances required by Federal law or regulations for its federal assistance programs. The list of certifications and assurances can be found at: http://fa.statebuy.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=161&menu_id=68 ) Proposal Content, Formatting and Template: This announcement is designed to accompany PRM’s General NGO Guidelines, which contain additional administrative information on proposal content and formatting, and explain in detail PRM’s NGO funding strategy and priorities. Please use both the General NGO Guidelines and this announcement to ensure that your proposal submission is in full compliance with PRM requirements and that the proposed activities are in line with PRM’s priorities. Proposal submissions that do not meet all of the requirements outlined in these guidelines will not be considered. PRM strongly recommends using the proposal and budget templates that are available upon email request from PRM's NGO Coordinator. Please send an email, with the phrase “PRM NGO Templates” in the subject line, to PRM's NGO Coordinator. Single-year proposals using PRM’s templates must be no more than 20 pages in length (Times New Roman 12 point font, 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. These attachments do not count toward the page limit total. To be considered for PRM funding, organizations must submit a complete application package including: • Proposal reflecting objectives and indicators for each year of the program period. • Budget and budget narrative for each year of the program period. • Signed completed SF-424. In addition, proposal submissions to PRM 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. Wherever possible, baselines should be established before the start of the project. • To increase PRM’s ability to track the impact of PRM funding, include specific information on locations of projects and beneficiaries (GPS coordinates if possible). • Proposals should 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 project could potentially endanger the lives of the beneficiaries 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. • The budget should include a specific breakdown of funds being provided by UNHCR, other USG agencies, other donors, and your own organization. PRM strongly encourages multilateral support for humanitarian programs. • Proposals and budgets should include details of any sub-agreements associated with the program. • Copy of the organization’s Code of Conduct (required before an award can be made). • Copy of the organization’s Security Plan (required before an award can be made). • Most recent Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), if applicable. • NGOs that have not received PRM funding since the U.S. Government fiscal year ending September 30, 2004 must be prepared to demonstrate that they meet the financial and accounting requirements of the U.S. Government by submitting copies of 1) the most recent external financial audit, 2) proof of non-profit tax status including under IRS 501 (c)(3), as applicable, 3) a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, and 4) an Employer ID (EIN)/Federal Tax Identification number. • Organizations that received PRM funding in FY 2012 for activities that are being proposed for funding under this announcement must include the most recent quarterly progress report against indicators outlined in the cooperative agreement. If an organization’s last quarterly report was submitted more than six weeks prior to the submission of a proposal in response to this funding announcement, the organization must include, with its most recent quarterly report, updates that show any significant progress made on objectives since the last report. Multi-Year Funding: Applicants proposing multi-year programs should adhere to the following guidance: Applicants may submit proposals that include multi-year strategies presented in 12-month cycles for a period not to exceed 24 months from the proposed start date. Fully developed programs with detailed budgets, objectives and indicators are required for each year of activities. These can be updated yearly upon submission of continuation applications. Applicants should note that they may use PRM’s recommended multi-year proposal template for this application, which is different from the single year template. Multi-year funding applicants may also use PRM’s standard budget template and should submit a separate budget sheet for each project year. Multi-year proposals using PRM’s templates must be no more than 30 pages in length (Times New Roman 12 point font, one inch margins on all sides). If the applicant does not use PRM’s recommended templates, proposals must not exceed 25 pages in length. Organizations may choose to attach work plans, activity calendars, and/or logical frameworks as addendums/appendices to the proposal. These attachments do not count toward the page limit total. Multi-year applications selected for funding by PRM will be funded in 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 continuation application and will be contingent upon available funding, strong performance, and continuing need. Continuation applications must be submitted by the organization no later than 90 days before the proposed start date of the new award (e.g., if the next project period is to begin on September 1, submit your application by June 1). Continuation applications are submitted in lieu of responding to PRM’s published call for proposals for those activities. Late continuation applications will jeopardize continued funding. Organizations can request multi-year funding and continuation application templates by emailing PRM's NGO Coordinator with the phrase “PRM NGO Templates” in the subject line. Reports and Reporting Requirements: Program reporting: PRM requires quarterly and final program reports describing and analyzing the results of activities undertaken during the validity period of the agreement. It is highly suggested that NGOs receiving PRM funding use the PRM recommended program report template. To request this template, send an email with the phrase “PRM NGO Templates” in the subject line to PRM's NGO Coordinator. 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; a final financial report covering the entire period of the agreement is required within ninety (90) days after the expiration date of the agreement. For more details regarding PRM’s reporting requirements please see PRM’s General NGO Guidelines. Proposal Review Process: PRM will conduct a formal competitive review of all proposals submitted in response to this funding announcement. A review panel will evaluate submissions based on the above-referenced proposal evaluation criteria and PRM priorities in the context of available funding. PRM may request revised proposals and/or budgets based on feedback from the panel. PRM will provide formal notifications to NGOs of final decisions taken by Bureau management. Branding and Marking Strategy: Unless exceptions have been approved by the designated bureau Authorizing Official as described in the proposal templates that are available upon email request from PRM's NGO Coordinator, at a minimum, the following provision will be included whenever assistance is awarded: As a condition of receipt of this assistance award, all materials produced pursuant to the award, including training materials, materials for recipients or materials to communicate or promote with foreign audiences a program, event, project, or some other activity under this agreement, including but not limited to invitations to events, press materials, event backdrops, podium signs, etc. must be marked appropriately with the standard U.S. flag in a size and prominence equal to (or greater than) any other logo or identity. Subrecipients and subsequent tier sub-award agreements are subject to the marking requirements and the recipient shall include a provision in the subrecipient agreement indicating that the standard, rectangular U.S. flag is a requirement. In the event the recipient 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. PRM Points of Contact: Should NGOs have technical questions related to this announcement, they should contact the PRM staff listed below prior to proposal submission. (Note: Responses to technical questions from PRM do not indicate a commitment to fund the program discussed.): PRM Program Officer Bryan Lupton (LuptonBC@state.gov); 202-453-9307; Washington, D.C. Great Lakes Regional Refugee Coordinator Greg Shaw (ShawGJ@state.gov); U.S. Embassy Kampala, Uganda.