Biroul de Diplomatie Publica al Ambasadei SUA anunta ca accepta propuneri de proiecte pentru Fondul Ambasadorial pentru Conservarea Obiectivelor Culturale (AFCP) Editia 2024.
Prima
etapa de inscriere pentru AFCP 2024 consta in crearea si trimiterea
unei asa-numite note de concept in format Word (formular
obtinut la cerere pe adresa de e-mail alexandrescui@state.gov)
Toate amanuntele necesare transmiterii notei de concept se regasesc in documentul anexat.
Acest
program, care este extrem de competitiv, sprijina conservarea, an de
an, a urmatoarelor obiective: situri culturale – cum
ar fi 1. cladiri istorice si situri arheologice, 2. obiecte si colectii
culturale ale unui muzeu, sit, sau institutii similare: obiecte
arheologice si etnografice, picture, sculpturi, manuscrise, ca si alte
necesitati de conservare si 3. forme culturale traditionale
de expresie – cum ar fi muzica traditionala, mestesuguri etc.
Termenul limita de trimitere a notelor de concept este 15 ianuarie 2024 inclusiv.
Orice
institutie/organizatie/ONG/entitate culturala din Romania care are un
astfel de proiect este incurajata si invitata sa participe
la selectia pentru acest program, care acorda finantari cuprinse intre
10.000 si 500.000 USD per proiect.
Acordati
mare atentie inregistrarii in SAM si obtinerii numarului UEI, care
constituie o prima etapa in procesul de participare
la selectie si o conditie obligatorie. Detalii despre inregistrarile
SAM/UEI sunt cuprinse in documentul anexat acestui e-mail.
***
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
Cultural Heritage Center
U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Grants Program 2024
Deadline for Round One Applications: JANUARY 15,2024
1. Summary: The U.S. Embassy to Romania is pleased to announce the start of the 2024 grants cycle for the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).
The application process involves two rounds:
In Round 1, the Embassy will collect project ideas from eligible institutions in the form of concept notes, due January 15, 2024.
In Round 2, the Embassy will invite the selected participant entity/entities to submit full project applications, due April 23, 2024. Full implementation of the AFCP 2024 Grants Program is pending the availability of Fiscal Year 2024 funds.
All applicants must also have an active and valid registration on www.SAM.gov (System for Award Management), the official U.S. Government system for entities interested in conducting business with the U.S. Government.
To apply for grants through AFCP, all applicants must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). As of April 2022, each entity registering or renewing in SAM.gov is automatically assigned a UEI through that system.
SAM registration must be renewed annually.
Application forms should be requested at the following e-mail address: alexandrescui@state.gov
Concept notes should be send in high level proficiency English at the following e-mail address: alexandrescui@state.gov
If applicants will not receive confirmation e-mails within 24 hours during work week, they should call the following phone number 0721 288 797, between 10 – 15 hrs.
IMPORTANT!! All documents must be sent as attachments to the email. Please DO NOT send .rar, zip, google docs, we transfer, or similar.
2. AFCP Program Background: The Department of State established the AFCP in 2001 at the request of Congress (Conference Report 106-1005 accompanying H.R. 4942).
AFCP projects strengthen civil society, encourage good governance, and promote political and economic stability around the world.
3 . Funding Priorities: The most successful AFCP projects have been designed as part of a greater bilateral exchange programming arc promoting specific standards of democracy goals such as: rule of law, human rights, minority inclusion, women empowerment, civics education and participation, community strengthening and empowerment, contributing to a more stable economy, youth leadership and empowerment, entrepreneurship promotion.
4. Sites and Objects Having a Religious Connection: The Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within an aid program under certain conditions. For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary significance from, and is nominated solely on the basis of architectural, artistic, historical, or other cultural (not religious) criteria.
5. Award Announcement: Embassy will announce the results of the AFCP 2024 Grants Program via e-mail when application review and selection are complete and the Department’s Fiscal Year 2024 funding levels are established. Annual program results are typically announced in July.
6. Disclaimer: Notification of this funding opportunity does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the AFCP program or the U.S. government. The Center reserves the right to waive program formalities and to reduce, revise, or increase project scopes and budgets in accordance with the needs of the program and the availability of funds.
7. Eligible Countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua & Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic of the), Congo (Republic of), Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
8. The AFCP Grants Program supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts.
Projects may include but are not limited to activities such as:
• Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts)
• Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site)
• Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site)
• Documentation (recording in analog or digital format the condition and salient features of an object, site, or tradition)
• Inventory (listing of objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristic or state)
• Preventive Conservation (addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition)
• Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings)
• Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site)
9. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION
Length of Performance Period: 12 to 60 months
Award Amounts: $10,000 - $500,000
Anticipated Project Start Date: 1 October 2024
This notice is subject to availability of Fiscal Year 2024 funds.
10. ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION
Eligible Applicants: The following entities are eligible to apply:
• Foreign Institution of Higher Education
• Foreign-based non-profit organizations/nongovernment organizations
(NGO)
• Foreign Public Entity, where permitted
Cost Sharing or Matching: There is no minimum or maximum percentage of cost participation required for this competition. When an applicant offers cost sharing, it is understood and agreed that the applicant must provide the amount of cost sharing as stipulated in its application and later included in an approved agreement. The applicant will be responsible for tracking and reporting on any cost share or outside funding, which is subject to audit per 2 CFR 200. Cost sharing may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect costs.
Other Eligibility Requirements: The AFCP further defines eligible applicants as reputable and accountable entities that can demonstrate that they have the requisite capacity and permission to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage in the specified country.
11. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Content and Form of Application Submission: Please follow all instructions below carefully. Applications that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.
12. REQUIREMENTS FOR ROUND ONE
Starting in FY2021, the Center reviews and scores the Round 1 concept notes based on the strength and clarity of the project scopes of work. Based on this review, and in consultation with the regional bureaus, the Center selects which projects shall advance to the full application round (Round 2).
The Concept Note should contain sufficient information so that anyone not familiar with the subject of the proposed project would understand exactly what the applicant intends to do.
Content of Concept Notes: Applicants must ensure:
•The application clearly addresses the goals and objectives of this funding opportunity
•All documents are in English
•All budgets are in U.S. dollars
•A set of 5 high resolution jpeg photos 3 MB maximum size each is also sent reflecting the gravity and the urgency of the project
The Round One Concept Notes must include the following:
- Clear statement of the applicant’s name and organization
- Project title
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov)
- Project location
- Proposal date
- Proposed project beginning and end dates
- Amount of funds requested,
- Statement of Importance highlighting the historical, architectural, artistic,
or cultural (non-religious) values of the cultural heritage
- Scopes of work summarizing the preservation goals and any broader host country or community goals.
The Center screens all Round 1 concept notes and Round 2 applications for eligibility based on the neutral criteria that include the funding categories, such as cultural sites, established by Congress, and priority activities, such as the preservation of archaeological sites, that are in keeping with international standards for the preservation of cultural heritage such as the Venice Charter. The Center also screens applications against a list of AFCP program-specific ineligible activities, such as new construction.
13. PROJECTS NOT SUPPORTED BY AFCP:
- The AFCP does not support the preservation of commercially or privately owned cultural heritage.
- Cultural sites and objects owned by a private trust are considered private property and are thus not eligible for support through the AFCP program.
- Even though many cultures have long traditions of family ownership of cultural heritage, that heritage is still privately owned and thus not eligible to receive support from the AFCP program. This prohibition applies even to privately owned heritage that is accessible or made available to the public.
- AFCP does not support the preservation of cultural heritage that is privately owned, even if a commitment is pending to donate objects or sites. Transfers of property must take place prior to the submission of AFCP requests for funding to preserve that property.
- Even when the owners of ethnographic objects like masks, carvings, and textiles objects which are in museums are willing to participate and share their resources, the AFCP does not support work on those objects.
- The AFCP gives priority to applications that directly address the physical preservation and protection needs of cultural objects and sites or that contribute to the preservation of tangible or intangible heritage in sustainable ways. The AFCP program will consider applications that involve digitization, research, inventory etc. only if that activity is part of a larger, comprehensive effort to ensure the physical preservation and protection of cultural heritage.
Detailed funding Restrictions: AFCP does not support the following activities or costs, and applications involving any of the activities or costs below will be deemed ineligible:
• Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application.
• Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.) unless the natural heritage has a cultural heritage connection or dimension.
• Preservation of hominid or human remains.
• Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.).
• Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.).
• Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use.
• Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes.
• Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project.
• Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums.
• Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example).
• Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes.
• Creation of new or the modern adaptation, or re-enacting of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances.
• Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist.
• Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another.
• Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason.
• Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation, documentation, or public diplomacy effort.
• Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies.
• Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an
endowment or revolving fund).
• Costs of fund-raising campaigns.
• Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees.
• Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.458 and approved by the Grants Officer.
• International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project or to provide project leaders with learning and exchange opportunities with cultural heritage experts.
• Individual projects costing less than US $10,000 or more than $500,000.
• Projects that do not have a formal agreement/approval with a national/regional/local cultural authority to conduct cultural heritage preservation activities.
