Water, Sanitation Funding Opportunity for Refugees in Thailand and Malaysia

FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Burmese Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand and Malaysia. Funding Opportunity Announcement Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration April 19, 2013 FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Burmese Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand and Malaysia. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number: 19.511- Overseas Refugee Assistance Programs for East Asia Announcement issuance date: Friday, April 19, 2013 Proposal submission deadline: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 at 12:00 p.m. noon (EDT). Proposals submitted after this deadline will not be considered. ADVISORY: PRM strongly recommends submitting your proposal early to allow time to address any difficulties that may arise. Proposed Program Start Dates: June 1 – September 27, 2013 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. Rather 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 listed below) on or before the closing date of the funding announcement. Duration of Activity: Program plans from 12 to 24 months will be considered. Applicants may 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. 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 the Multi-Year Funding section below for additional information. PRM will prioritize project proposals that demonstrate strong coordination and integration of services with other NGOs. Current Funding Priorities for Assistance to Burmese Refugees in Thailand: PRM will prioritize funding for proposed NGO activities that best meet the Bureau’s priorities in Thailand for Burmese refugees in camps along the Thailand-Burma border as identified below. Health (including curative, preventative, reproductive health, mental health and psychosocial care), Water and Sanitation, and Gender-Based Violence: PRM will accept proposals from NGOs for activities that focus on the following priorities in Mae La, Umpiem, Nu Po, and Ban Don Yang camps: a. Improved access to quality health care services, including reproductive healthcare, with a particular emphasis on the health and nutritional needs of children under five and pregnant and lactating women and improved access to services for persons with disabilities (PwDs) and their families; b. Improved camp water and sanitation and other environmental infrastructure, including protection and development of the water resource in Mae La and in the host villages in Tak Province; c. Improved quality of life of refugee populations by addressing their psychosocial needs and developing income-generating activities, with an emphasis on the development of skills and vocational training to achieve a measure of self-sufficiency and a reasonable livelihood; and d. Strengthened community capacity to prevent Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and better respond to the health, psychosocial, safety, and justice needs of GBV survivors. Current Funding Priorities for Assistance to Burmese Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons on the Thailand-Burma Border: PRM will accept proposals from NGOs that focus on the following priorities: a. Improved network of services for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and their families through provision of specialized and support services; b. Strengthened physical and functional rehabilitation services and responsive networking with preventive camp health care services that are broadened and made disability-inclusive. c. Inclusion of PwDs in selected key mainstream stakeholders’ services related to livelihoods, water and sanitation, and schools by reducing social and physical barriers. d. Conduct mine-risk education, where possible, inside Burma and with refugees on the Thailand-Burma border. Activities should include conducting mass information campaigns among target populations, developing tools, such as training packages for use by local staff. Trainings may include small scale training for key community leaders and influential persons who may act as message multipliers within their spheres of influence, larger-scale trainings including lectures, demonstrations, simulations, and small group discussions for the most at-risk groups. Trainings should be led by and include women leaders as appropriate. Proposed activities should demonstrate direct or indirect link to and/or coordination with other Mine Risk Education activities underway in Burma. Such interaction should support an increase of Burmese refugees’ awareness of and ability to influence national and local mine action services and institutional initiatives in Burma. Current Funding Priorities for Assistance to Burmese Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia: PRM will accept proposals from NGOs that focus on the following priorities: (1) Healthcare: a. Improved primary healthcare, medical services, mental health and psychosocial support to the urban Burmese refugee population in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley, including the implementation of mobile health clinics; b. Provision of nursing facilities and caretakers for refugee patients requiring recuperation and post-hospitalization nursing care; and c. Health-based training and education focusing on general health care, communicable disease prevention, treatment adherence, reproductive health, and nutrition. (2) Gender-Based Violence (GBV): a. Improved knowledge of GBV within refugee and host communities; b. Improved capacity of target communities to identify and effectively respond to GBV through healthcare (including reproductive health), psychosocial, safety, justice and other services that involve refugee and host community members in their design and implementation; and c. Improved capacity of service providers to incorporate GBV prevention and response activities, including multi-sectoral referral services. Current Funding Priorities for Assistance to Burmese Rohingya in the Region: PRM will accept proposals from NGOs for activities that focus on the following priorities for the stateless Rohingya in the East Asia region: a. Strengthened dialogue between relevant actors in Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere in the region on the humanitarian situation facing Rohingya populations; b. Engagement of affected governments in the region, either directly or indirectly, and solicitation of support from Rohingya leadership to facilitate the development of a comprehensive regional solution to address the Rohingya plight; c. Provision of education, including technical support, comparative knowledge and expertise, to concerned parties. 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), have established baselines, and include at least one outcome or impact indicator per objective; objectives should be clearly linked to the sectors. Proposals must adhere to relevant international standards for humanitarian assistance. See PRM’s General NGO Guidelines for a complete list of sector-specific standards. 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, 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); • 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; • a strong transition plan, where feasible, involving local capacity-building; • a budget that demonstrates co-funding by non-US government sources. Funding Limits: In FY 2013, project proposals must not be less than $100,000 and not more than $1,000,000 or they will be disqualified. As stated in 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. 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 contact 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 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.): For Thailand-Burma and Regional Proposals, Contact PRM Program Officer Hoa Tran, TranHT3@state.gov, 202-453-9289, Washington, D.C. For Malaysia Proposals, Contact PRM Program Officer Jennifer Handog, HandogJG@state.gov, 202-453-9286, Washington, DC. Regional Refugee Coordinator Andrea Doyle, DoyleAL@state.gov, U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Refugee and Migration Affairs, Bangkok, Thailand.