A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Public Affairs Office (PAS Kyiv) of the U.S. Department of State announces a limited competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a program to facilitate the participation of selected first-time Summer Work & Travel applicants in the 2022 season. Please follow all instructions below. Priority Region: Ukraine Program Objectives: The Ambassador’s Fund for Summer Work and Travel (SWT) offers a unique opportunity to enable university students from Eastern Ukraine including students of universities displaced from the conflict with Russia to apply and participate in the Summer Work and Travel Program. Selected participants will have the chance to meet with diplomats from different sections of the Embassy, allowing them to learn about the United States and the bilateral relationship prior to their exchange- preparing them to represent their country and region in the United States and promote mission and department goals upon their return to their communities. Learning about the SWT program itself, participants will become advocates of the SWT program among their peers. Participants will have a better understanding of the United States and will be better able to form an independent opinion and understanding of American culture and values which will allow them to assess news and information about the United States through fresh eyes. Participants will likely return more confident and ready to participate more actively in their local communities. Upon their return, participants would be added to the USG alumni network, where the embassy offers ongoing support, programs, and networking opportunities to help alumni make positive contributions in their own communities. This fund will cover all major costs related to the participation in the SWT program for the selected participants. The selected SWT agency will use the funding available through this NOFO to provide complex support to as many SWT participants as possible. This complex support includes but is not limited to: a) In close cooperation with PAS, definition of selection criteria and recruitment; b) Providing a variety of offers to the SWT Ambassadors program applicants, including a broad range of job offers in various US regions; c) Purchasing flight tickets for the selected candidates (ref. Fly America Act); d) Covering insurance and other costs agreed with PAS; e) Operational costs of the SWT agency; f) Identifying, and coordinating participant engagement with, online and free courses related to disinformation, critical thinking and social media usage. g) Designing and promoting travel breaks and opportunities to allow participants to visit culturally significant sites and areas of the U.S. to provide a broader experience while on the program. Participants and Audiences: The target audience is university students in Ukraine, between the age of 18-25. - preferably from Eastern Ukraine and/or those attending university at a displaced university due to the conflict with Russa - Individuals with an interest, academic studies, or other experience in civic engagement, leadership or volunteerism. - Individuals who come from a social, cultural, or educational environment that impede the individual to obtain the knowledge and skills as desired; Anticipated total number of participants: up to 20 students Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative agreement: the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine will be involved in the grant implementation, particularly in regards definition of selection criteria, setting up the mechanism to identify the best candidates, the final selection of the candidates; final decision on English language course type for the participants. Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed expectedly in 12 months. C. ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION 1. Eligible Applicants The following organizations are eligible to apply: Non-profit Organizations having a proven experience with managing at least 2 SWT seasons registered in Ukraine 2. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost sharing is not required but looked favorably upon. 3. Other Eligibility Requirements In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a unique entity identifier (Data Universal Numbering System/DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet), as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 for information on how to obtain these registrations. Individuals are not required to have a unique entity identifier or be registered in SAM.gov. D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION 1. Address to Request Application Package Application forms required below are available at U.S. Embassy Kyiv website. 2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Please follow all instructions below carefully. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible. Content of Application Applicants have to submit all application materials directly to the following email:
[email protected] Applicants must include the Funding Opportunity Number and Funding Opportunity Title (PAS-Ukraine-2021-020) in the subject of their email. After submission applicants will receive an email, confirming their application has been received. Applications must contain the following attachments: a. Mandatory application forms (SF-424 forms) b. Summary page in PDF format c. Completed Proposal form in PDF format (sample form is available at U.S. Embassy Kyiv website.) Please read the instructions and fill out all fields. d. Completed Budget form (sample format is available at U.S. Embassy Kyiv website) Please ensure: • • The proposal clearly addresses the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity • • All documents are in English • • All budgets are in U.S. dollars • • All pages are numbered • • All documents are formatted to A4 paper The following documents are required: 1. Mandatory application forms • • SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – organizations) • • SF-424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs) • • SF-424B (Assurances for Non-Construction programs) at (note: the SF-424B is only required for organizations not registered in SAM.gov) 2. Summary Page: Cover sheet stating the applicant name, proposal date, program title, program period proposed start and end date, and brief description of the program. Page 5 of 11 b. Proposal (4 pages maximum): The proposal should contain sufficient information that anyone not familiar with it would understand exactly what the applicant wants to do. You may use your own proposal format, but it must include all the items below. • • Proposal Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed program, including program objectives and anticipated impact. • • Introduction to the organization applying: A description of past and present operations, showing ability to carry out the program, including information on all previous grants from the U.S. Embassy and/or U.S. government agencies. • • Problem Statement: Clear, concise and well-supported statement of the problem to be addressed and why the proposed program is needed • • Program Goals and Objectives: The “goals” describe what the program is intended to achieve. The “objectives” refer to the intermediate accomplishments on the way to the goals. These should be achievable and measurable. • • Program Activities: Describe the program activities and how they will help achieve the objectives. • • Program Methods and Design: A description of how the program is expected to work to solve the stated problem and achieve the goal. Include a logic model as appropriate. • • Proposed Program Schedule and Timeline: The proposed timeline for the program activities. Include the dates, times, and locations of planned activities and events. • • Key Personnel: Names, titles, roles and experience/qualifications of key personnel involved in the program. What proportion of their time will be used in support of this program? • • Program Partners: List the names and type of involvement of key partner organizations and sub-awardees. • • Program Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: This is an important part of successful grants. Throughout the time-frame of the grant, how will the activities be monitored to ensure they are happening in a timely manner, and how will the program be evaluated to make sure it is meeting the goals of the grant? c. Proposed budget: Please see sample budget form at U.S. Embassy website and please also see H. Other Information Guidelines for Budget Justification for further information PAS Kyiv reserves the right to request any additional programmatic and/or financial information regarding the proposal. 3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM.gov) Required Registrations: Any applicant listed on the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS) in the System for Award Management (SAM) is not eligible to apply for an assistance award in accordance with the OMB guidelines at 2 CFR 180 that implement Executive Orders 12549 (3 CFR, 1986 Comp., p. 189) and 12689 (3 CFR, 1989 Comp., p. 235), “Debarment and Suspension.” Additionally, no entity listed on the EPLS can participate in any activities under an award. All applicants are strongly encouraged to review the EPLS in SAM to ensure that no ineligible entity is included. All organizations applying for grants (except individuals) must obtain these registrations. All are free of charge: • • Unique entity identifier from Dun & Bradstreet (DUNS number) • • NCAGE/CAGE code • • www.SAM.gov registration Step 1: Apply for a DUNS number and an NCAGE number (these can be completed simultaneously) DUNS application: Organizations must have a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number from Dun & Bradstreet. If your organization does not have one already, you may obtain one by calling 1-866-705-5711 or visiting http://fedgov.dnb.com/webform NCAGE application: Application page here: https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/scage/CageList.aspx Instructions for the NCAGE application process: https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/Docs/US%20Instructions%20for%20NSPA%20NCAGE.pdf For NCAGE help from within the U.S., call 1-888-227-2423 For NCAGE help from outside the U.S., call 1-269-961-7766 Email
[email protected] for any problems in getting an NCAGE code. Step 2: After receiving the NCAGE Code, proceed to register in SAM.gov by logging onto: https://www.sam.gov. SAM registration must be renewed annually. 4. Submission Dates and Times The Public Affairs Section will review proposals according to the following schedule. Please note that while the deadline for submission of applications is firm, all of the review and response dates are approximate and are subject to change, based on availability of funds. All funding decisions are also subject to availability of funds at all times. Applications are due no later than August 16, 2021 (11:59 p.m. EET)