Notice of Funding Opportunity for Child Protection Compact Partnership Programming in Nepal.pdf

U.S. Department of State Notice of Funding Opportunity – Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership

Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of State

Program Office: Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in

Persons, International Programs Section

Funding Opportunity Title: 2024 Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership

Programming in Nepal

Announcement Type: 2024 Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership

Notification of Funding Opportunity

Funding Opportunity: DFOP0009157

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number(s): 19.019

Deadline for Applications: 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May

16, 2024

Total Funding Floor: $1,000,000

Total Funding Ceiling: $10,500,000

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office) announces an open competition for projects in support of the Child Protection Compact (CPC) Partnership between the United States and the Government of Nepal. The CPC Partnership is jointly developed and implemented by the United States and the Government of Nepal through a multi-year plan (approximately five years). The purpose of this CPC Partnership is to advance and strengthen the efforts of the Government of Nepal and civil society organizations in Nepal to combat forced child labor and child sex trafficking in a victim-centered, coordinated, sustainable, and multi-sectoral approach to support an effective system of justice, prevention, and protection. This includes the implementation of a victim-centered prevention strategy that addresses targeted risk factors, promotes high-quality comprehensive victim protection, and investigates, prosecutes, and convicts perpetrators of child trafficking.

The Ministry of Women, Children, and Senior Citizens (MoWCSC) is the primary focal point for the Government of Nepal under the CPC Partnership. However, the TIP Office anticipates close collaboration with additional government ministries and agencies at a federal, provincial, and local level including a full range of criminal-justice stakeholders. The full partnership will be posted online here:

Child Protection Compact Partnerships - United States Department of State

Nepal is the eighth CPC Partnership the US government has negotiated globally;

the TIP Office has active CPC Partnerships in Peru, Mongolia, Colombia, and Cote d’Ivoire, and previous CPC Partnerships with the governments of Jamaica, the Philippines, and Ghana. More information is available at: .

The purpose of this notice of funding opportunity is to advance and strengthen the efforts of the Government of Nepal and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Nepal to combat child trafficking in a victim-centered, coordinated, sustainable, and multi-sectoral approach to support an effective system of prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership. Applicants are expected to propose activities that align with the goals and objectives outlined below from the U.S.-Nepal CPC Partnership text. Applicants should use the following illustrative activities to guide their proposals but are not expected to include every item listed:

Objective 1 (Prevention): The Government of Nepal, particularly local government, coordinates with NGOs on child trafficking prevention efforts that are comprehensive and contextualized into local community child protection initiatives.

Illustrative Activities:

• Capacity Building o Strengthen and empower Local Coordination Committees on Human

Trafficking;

https://www.state.gov/child-protection-compact-partnerships/ o Train Child Welfare Officers to further identify and combat child trafficking;

o Provide technical assistance to the MoWCSC on effective prevention strategies.

• Awareness Raising o Engage schools and communities on action plans to identify and prevent child trafficking;

o Engage families and communities about the risks of child trafficking among vulnerable communities;

o Work with government and local communities to increase child registration for identification.

• Community Interventions:

o Targeted interventions for most at-risk populations; examples include but not limited to working with cash plus programs, community savings and loans cooperatives, financial inclusion strategies, vocational training, and alternative livelihoods;

o Pilot or support community resilience programs to minimize the effects of disasters and climate change that exacerbate child trafficking risk factors.

Objective 2 (Protection): The Government of Nepal supports child trafficking victims by providing accessible trauma-informed, victim-centered care, and supports NGOs to protect children throughout the country.

Illustrative Activities:

• Training and Curriculum Development o Expand social workers’ use of victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches;

o Build capacity of local child-care centers with curriculum on minimum standards of care and sustainability plan.

• Direct Victim Support o Enable organizations to provide protection services to child trafficking victims;

o Identify and support protection services for male victims of trafficking, including shelter services for boys;

o Support reintegration efforts, including but not limited to vocational/ apprenticeship training, paying of school fees, and small business support.

• Standard Operating Procedures o Create SOPs and/or handbooks to guide victim support in partnership with local committees;

o Support implementation of identification guidelines with MoWCSC;

o Develop repatriation procedures, SOPs, and guidelines for cross-border trafficking cases.

• Capacity Building o Support the rollout of the Social Information Management System (SIMS) as a data collection tool and ensure it meets data sharing and case tracking needs;

o Assist the “1098 hotline” for victims of human trafficking to be more responsive to victims and increase capacity to identify and serve trafficking victims.

• Advocacy o Support pending legal code amendments that align laws with the

Palermo Protocol;

o Ensure civil society organizations are adequately resourced to provide needed victim services.

Objective 3 (Prosecution): The Government of Nepal, including law enforcement, prosecutors and the judiciary, utilizes existing trafficking-specific legal frameworks to identify child trafficking victims, investigate cases, and prosecute and convict perpetrators of child trafficking in a child-friendly, victim-centered, and trauma-informed manner.

Illustrative Activities:

• Training and Curriculum Development o Comprehensive (basic and advanced) training for justice-sector actors on the human trafficking law and how to utilize it during investigations, prosecutions, and convictions;

o Comprehensive (basic and advanced) training for justice sector actors on victim-centered, trauma-informed, and child-friendly practices;

o Training for law enforcement entities on trauma-informed and child-friendly techniques for gathering evidence and testimony from survivors of child trafficking;

o Victim-centered training in the National Police Academy to combat human trafficking;

o Curriculum for the National Judicial Academy focused on human trafficking laws, trauma-informed and child friendly practices, in coordination with NGOs o Methods to investigate and monitor online violence and cybercrimes.

• Standard Operating Procedures o Child-friendly procedures for accompaniment of child trafficking victims and witnesses before the courts;

o Child interview SOPs for police investigators and MoWCSC social workers;

o Nationwide SOPs on victim identification, referral, and case management;

o Support airport and border officers with resources for improved screening tools.

• Establish New Practices o Digitized Court or “E-court” using video conferencing or video testimony likely connected with protection homes to support criminal cases;

o Victim service units and victim-friendly court environments within the Supreme court and District courts;

o Child-friendly spaces in local police offices, and/or other relevant locations;

o Create child-friendly space guidelines that are adopted and used to train relevant staff;

o Promote creation of a secure network and data collection system for criminal justice actors to share case details.

• Advocacy o Expand judges’ use of current legal frameworks with innovative prosecution techniques such as victim compensation;

o Promote appointment of an Office of the Special Rapporteur for

Human Trafficking within the National Human Rights Council;

o Create a cybercrime law from current cybercrime policy.

Objective 4 (Partnership): The Government of Nepal addresses child trafficking in a coordinated manner across all relevant ministries, local authorities and NGOs.

Illustrative Activities:

• Expand Alliances o Engage with private sector actors to raise awareness and prevent forced child labor in targeted industries;

o Engage telecommunications companies to prevent online sexual exploitation of children;

o Encourage parliamentary involvement on child protection issues;

o Analyze the use of information technology to support child trafficking prevention and protection.

• Information Sharing o Encourage information sharing across different data management systems, including the Missing Children and National Police databases.

• National Frameworks o Review and support the Master Plan on Child Labor;

o Support regional referral mechanisms and/or intergovernmental

MOUs on trafficking with neighboring countries in the region;

o Foster development and implementation of a National Action Plan.

• Advocacy o Empower the National Coordination Committee on Human

Trafficking;

o Promote creation of a national budget line to combat child trafficking to ensure programs and relevant ministries are properly funded;

o Facilitate sustainability planning to maintain CPC investments beyond the end of the agreement.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 USC 7101 et seq.), as amended (TVPA), established the TIP Office in the U.S. Department of State. The TIP Office leads the United States’ global engagement on the fight against human trafficking and seeks partnerships with foreign governments, civil society organizations, and multilateral organizations to combat human trafficking through the “3P” paradigm: prosecuting traffickers through victim-centered law enforcement, protecting trafficking victims through proactive identification and comprehensive, trauma-informed care, and preventing trafficking in persons. The TIP Office also recognizes the importance of partnerships and collaborative efforts with relevant governmental and nongovernmental stakeholders in anti-trafficking work. TIP Office programs and projects combat human trafficking—a crime involving the exploitation of someone for the purposes of forced labor or services or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion—in all its forms.

Forms of human trafficking include sex trafficking, child sex trafficking, commercial online child sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced child labor, domestic servitude, forced criminality, and the unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers through force, fraud, or coercion. It should be noted that under U.S.

law when a person younger than 18 is used to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion.

The U.S. government defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:

• Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or

• The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Trafficking in persons does not require the movement of a person. Individuals may be trafficking victims regardless of whether they once consented, they participated in unlawful acts their traffickers compelled them to commit, someone transported them into the exploitative situation, or they were simply born into a state of servitude. The TIP Office will not support projects that use alternate definitions of trafficking in persons.

The TVPA requires that the Department of State submit to Congress an annual report assessing the efforts of governments to address trafficking in persons. The annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIP Report) is the primary tool for the Department’s engagement with other governments on human trafficking and informs U.S. policy and assistance priorities to combat this crime. The 2023 TIP Report is available at www.state.gov/j/tip.

Since 2000, when the United Nations adopted the Palermo Protocol and the United States enacted the TVPA, the number of parties to the Protocol has reached 180. In addition, a majority of countries have criminalized all forms of trafficking, and many countries have established specialized law enforcement units, set up trafficking victim assistance mechanisms, and launched public awareness campaigns. Nonetheless, the number of victims identified and assisted, and the number of traffickers investigated, prosecuted, and convicted remain low relative to the size of the problem; and governments continue to face challenges in effectively implementing anti-trafficking legal and policy frameworks.

The TIP Office works to address these challenges in a number of ways, including through its foreign assistance programs. Information on U.S. government anti-trafficking efforts is available at https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking/.

The TIP Office’s preference is to avoid duplicating past efforts by supporting new and creative approaches. This does not exclude from consideration projects that improve upon or expand existing successful projects in a new and complementary way.

The TIP Office may fund activities in high-income countries, but the use of foreign assistance funding to benefit a high-income country requires additional review.

Applicants should ensure that inclusion of high-income countries is responsive to the TIP Office's regional and country priorities. The TIP Office considers such countries to be those designed as high-income by the World Bank using the gross national income (GNI) per capita (Atlas method). The current threshold for high-income countries (based on 2022 data) is a GNI per capita of $13,846 or more.

Applicants are expected to submit proposals that reflect an understanding of victim-centered, trauma-informed, and survivor-informed approaches to anti-trafficking programming. Applicants should also include these approaches in any plans for direct engagement with individuals with lived experience of human trafficking. If possible, applicants are encouraged to work with and/or consult individuals with lived experience of human trafficking in the development of their applications or express how this would be incorporated into the co-creation in the technical approach of projects. When relevant for the proposal, applicants are https://www.state.gov/humantrafficking/ expected to reflect the provision of comprehensive services to victims of trafficking. The TIP Office defines these concepts as follows:

Victim-Centered Approach Placing the crime victim’s priorities, needs, and interests at the center of the work with the victim; providing nonjudgmental assistance, with an emphasis on self-determination, and assisting victims in making informed choices; ensuring that restoring victims’ feelings of safety and security is a priority and safeguarding against policies and practices that may inadvertently re-traumatize victims. A victim-centered approach should also incorporate a trauma-informed, survivor-informed, and culturally competent approach.

Trauma-Informed Approach A trauma-informed approach recognizes signs of trauma in individuals and the professionals who help them and responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, practices, and settings. This approach includes an understanding of the vulnerabilities and experiences of trauma survivors, including the prevalence and physical, social, and emotional impact of trauma. A trauma-informed approach places priority on restoring the survivor’s feelings of safety, choice, and control. Programs, services, agencies, and communities can be trauma-informed.

Survivor-Informed Approach A program, policy, intervention, or product that is designed, implemented, and evaluated with intentional leadership, expertise, and input from a diverse community of survivors to ensure that the program, policy, intervention, or product accurately represents their needs, interests, and perceptions.

Comprehensive Services An array of services that should be made available to a trafficking victim. At a minimum, these services include: shelter; intensive case management; safety planning; crisis intervention; victim advocacy; legal assistance; mental health treatment, including individual and group counseling; support in family reunification and community reintegration; medical care; dental care; substance abuse treatment; assistance with educational and/or vocational needs; life skills training; transportation; and other necessary services.

Award Information:

Applicants may only submit one proposal per organization per identified priority in response to this funding opportunity. The U.S. government may: (a) reject any or all applications, (b) accept other than the lowest cost application, (c) select more than one application for funding, and (d) waive irregularities in applications received.

The U.S. government may engage in discussions and/or negotiations with applicants before making final award(s). Therefore, each initial application should contain the applicant’s best terms from a cost and technical standpoint.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants

Organizations eligible to apply include U.S.-based and foreign non-profits, non-governmental organizations (including faith-based organizations), public international organizations (PIOs), institutions of higher education, and for-profit entities. For-profit organizations are not permitted to generate profits from grant-funded activities. U.S. government (USG) agencies may respond to this NOFO with applications for projects that would be funded through an Interagency Acquisition Agreement. While foreign governments are not eligible to apply, governments may be beneficiaries of projects provided that funding does not pay salaries of government agency personnel and that such assistance is not restricted by U.S. law or policy.

The eligibility requirements for applying to this funding opportunity do not restrict applicants from receiving other sources of funding from the United States government, including funding from other bureaus within the Department of State. However, the applicant must provide information on any work conducted with U.S. government funding related to human-trafficking issues or cross-cutting human-trafficking issues (e.g., child protection, health, education, labor, gender, etc.) within the project narrative.

The TIP Office reserves the right to request additional background information on applicants that do not have previous experience administering federal grant awards, and these applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis.

Under this funding opportunity, applicants may form a consortium and partner with other organizations to implement and carry out project activities. Applicants proposing to partner with other organizations must clearly identify the lead applicant to directly receive a potential TIP Office award, and the applicant may designate one or more partner organizations as sub-recipients. For the purposes of this funding opportunity, a partner organization is any organization that would receive sub-award funding from a successful prime applicant to help the applicant organization implement anti-trafficking projects. All mandatory terms and conditions for a successful applicant also apply to any sub-awards.

Under this funding opportunity, applicants may partner with other organizations in submitting application(s). In instances where the lead applicant is not based in Nepal, applications must include at least one identified local partner engaged in the project from its inception. Applicants partnering with other organizations must clearly identify the lead applicant, and the applicant may designate one or more partner organizations as sub-recipients. For the purposes of this funding opportunity, a partner organization is any organization that would receive sub-award funding from a successful applicant to help the applicant organization implement anti-trafficking projects and/or activities. All mandatory terms and conditions for a successful applicant also apply to any sub-awards awarded.

The TIP Office is committed to an anti-discrimination policy in all its projects and activities. The TIP Office welcomes applications irrespective of race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or other status.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Cost sharing, cost matching, and cost participation are not required to carry out a project under this funding opportunity. While not required, applicants may propose to include voluntary cost share. Applications that include voluntary cost share will NOT be evaluated differently than other applications. Applicants that voluntarily propose cost share must read the instructions below regarding budget documents that are required to be submitted under this announcement.

Applicants should list the cost share amount in the SF-424 under Section C - 8b and Section D - 14.

3. Audit Requirements

Foreign non-profit and foreign for-profit organizations:

Although 2 CFR §200, Subpart F—Audit Requirements are not applicable, all foreign non-profit and foreign for-profit organizations that expend $750,000 or more in Department of State funds in the organization’s fiscal year, whether as a prime or a subrecipient, are required to undergo a recipient-contracted single or program-specific audit annually. The cost of required audits may be charged either as an allowable direct cost to the award or included in the organization’s Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate or de minimis indirect costs. When completed, foreign organizations must submit their audits to the Grants Officer (GO). The audits must be independently and professionally executed in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) either prescribed by a government’s Supreme Audit Institution with auditing standards approved by the Comptroller General of the United States, or in accordance with the host country’s laws or adopted by the host country’s public accountants or associations of public accountants, together with generally accepted international auditing standards. However, foreign entity audits consistent with International Standards for Auditing or other auditing standards are acceptable with the GO’s approval.

When the foreign recipient or subrecipient organization expends less than $750,000 in its fiscal year, the TIP Office must, as part of its annual review of risk, assess whether a financial and/or a program audit should be performed to verify financial accountability. If the GO determines that an audit is required, the cost of the required audit may be charged either as an allowable direct cost to the award or included in the organization’s Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate or de minimis indirect costs.

Foreign Public Entities, including Public International Organizations:

Foreign Public Entities may choose to submit audits as part of the pre-award process, but this is not mandatory.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Submitting the Application Package

All applications must be fully submitted via MyGrants (formerly SAMS-Domestic) (https://mygrants.service-now.com/grants) by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 16, 2024. All application documents must be submitted in English.

The TIP Office will NOT accept proposals or updated documents submitted by any other method, including email, fax, the postal system, delivery companies, couriers, or U.S. embassies. Each organization should submit their application once. Applicants may submit more than one application if they are requested to do so by the TIP Office; however, each application should be submitted only once.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to initiate electronic applications early in the application development process and to submit the application in advance of the deadline. This will aid in addressing any problems with submission prior to the application deadline. No exceptions will be made for organizations that have not completed the necessary steps to submit applications on MyGrants.

Applications Submitted Through MyGrants (formerly SAMS Domestic)

Organizations using MyGrants for the first time must register on the MyGrants site to create a New Applicant account as soon as possible. This application step must be completed before an application can be submitted.

To register with MyGrants, follow the “create an account” link and complete the “MyGrants User Registration Request” application form. Users will receive an email requesting account verification. This verification step must be completed before an application can be submitted. If the applicant has previously received funding from the Department of State, please contact JTIPGrants@state.gov after the user account has been created to ensure the account is associated with the correct organization. If an applicant has not previously received funding from the Department of State, the TIP Office cannot associate a new account in MyGrants to an organization. Please note a new user account does not need to be associated with an organization in order to submit an application. Electronic https://mygrants.service-now.com/grants mailto:JTIPGrants@state.gov applications submitted via MyGrants must contain completed SF-424 online forms and documents specified in this funding opportunity.

To upload the application, go to MyGrants (https://mygrants.servicenowservices.com/mygrants), select “Apply,” then “Funding Opportunities,” and select the “Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Programs” funding opportunity. Select the “Apply Here” button, enter the applicant organization’s information, and click Save. Complete each section of the application in the corresponding section of the Additional Documents to Be Submitted Tab: SF 424 Information (SF-424, SF-424 A, SF-42B if applicable); Project Narrative (applicants MUST type within the grey box);

Summary Budget; Resumes and CVs for Key Personnel; Letters of Intent to Cooperate; and a NICRA Agreement (if applicable).

Please ensure that you select the box, “allow anyone in my organization to edit this application,” to ensure members of your organization have access to edit this application.

Please review the MyGrants recipient training at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pUKQ6gRmi0 to answer any questions about the platform.

For assistance with MyGrants, please contact the ILMS Support Desk at 1-(888)- 313-4567 (toll free for international callers) or submit a ticket using the ILMS Self Service Portal (https://afsitsm.service-now.com/ilms/home). Customer Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please note support hours may change on Federal holidays. Direct questions regarding the process of uploading applications to Customer Support. Technical difficulties not resolved by the Support Desk by the time of submission must be fully documented, including a ticket number documenting communication with Customer Support, and reported to the TIP Office at JTIPGrants@state.gov only. Please do not contact any other Department of State personnel.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

To be considered for funding, all applications must indicate past experience advancing at least one objective listed in this funding opportunity. All required https://mygrants.service-now.com/grants)%22%20/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pUKQ6gRmi0 https://afsitsm.service-now.com/ilms/home documents submitted must be written in the English language using documents preferably with one-inch margins formatted to 8 ½ x 11 paper only, unless otherwise stated. All documents should use text that is black-colored and size 14 point in Calibri font.

Submission of PDF files will not be accepted and will result in automatic failure of the technical review.

Complete applications must also include the following documents in the required templates (found on MyGrants) to be considered for funding:

• Online Forms/Standard Forms – SF 424, SF 424A and SF 424B

• Project Narrative – This template is available on MyGrants. The project narrative must not exceed the ten-page limit with Calibri size 14 font.

Spaces, footnotes, and charts are included within the page limit. The cover page does not count towards the narrative page limit but must not exceed one page. Please double check the page count before submission, as exceeding the limit will result in failure of the technical review.

o Required components within the project narrative include:

Background Problem Statement Project Description Sustainability Local Partnerships Coordination with Relevant Anti-Trafficking Actors Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning

• Proposal Annexes:

o Annex A – Results Monitoring Plan (RMP) o Annex B – Timeline o Annex C – Security, Risk Mitigation, and Contingency Plan o Annex D – Budget Summary o Annex E – Line-Item Budget o Annex F – Budget Narrative

Required for both prime and sub-awards Account for translation costs o Annex G – NICRA Agreement* o Annex H – Resumes and Qualifications of Key Personnel o Annex I – Certification of Training Requirement o Annex J – Letters of Agreement or Letters of Intent to Cooperate in

Partnership Must demonstrate current relationships with local stakeholders o Annex K – Donor History Form USG funding and/or research funding history from the last 10 years

* Required only if applicable

Note: Applicants must use the TIP Office templates for the project narrative, results monitoring plan; timeline; security, risk mitigation, and contingency plan; budget summary, line-item budget, which are part of the Additional Information to Be Submitted by the Applicant Tab

3. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM)— Required

A valid Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) (formerly the Data Universal Numbering System or DUNS) is required for submission of an application on MyGrants.

Organizations should verify their UEI number or take the steps needed to obtain one as soon as possible. The DUNS number was formally replaced by a UEI (SAM) as of April 3, 2022, however, MyGrants will be asking for the UEI number in the SF-424 submission and organizations who have existing DUNS numbers need to instead input the UEI number they have been assigned in SAM.GOV in lieu of their pre-existing DUNS number.

All applicants must register with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov/SAM/) and/or maintain an active registration prior to award issuance.

Selected applicants will be required to have an active registration in SAM.gov.

Organizations must take the necessary steps to renew annually prior to their date of expiration. Before submitting applications, please reactivate any accounts that have become inactive. SAM.gov is a free government-managed website;

applicants are not required to pay to have their organization registered or renewed annually and should be aware there are a number of SPAM emails associated with payment for renewal, along with legitimate payment renewal businesses.

Please note that selected grantees may not make a sub-award to a sub-recipient unless that sub-recipient has obtained and provided to the recipient a UEI. A sub-recipient is not required to be fully registered in SAM.gov but must complete a UEI-only request within SAM.gov.

4. Submission Dates and Times

All applications must be submitted via MyGrants (https://mygrants.service-now.com/grants) by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 16, 2024.

The TIP Office will not accept application materials submitted by any means other than uploading to MyGrants. If an organization experiences difficulty submitting an application near the deadline, their application will only be accepted late if they open a ticket with the ILMS Support Desk to resolve the problem prior to the deadline. To be competitive under this funding opportunity, applicants must be fully responsive to all directions in this document.

The application process is not complete until the applicant receives notification from MyGrants that its application has been validated and forwarded to the granting agency (TIP Office). Please allow sufficient time for entering the application into these systems and to troubleshoot any issues. It is the responsibility of the applicant to monitor its application to ensure that it is successfully received and validated.

5. Funding Restrictions

The TIP Office will not consider applications that reflect any type of support for any member, affiliate, or representative of a designated terrorist organization.

Please refer the link for Foreign Terrorist Organizations:

https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/. Project activities whose direct beneficiaries are foreign militaries or paramilitary groups or individuals will not be considered for TIP Office funding given purpose limitations on funding.

The selected applicant will work with the TIP Office to develop a terrorist financing risk assessment.

Construction https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations/

The TIP Office generally restricts the use of Federal assistance for construction purposes. Construction costs are defined as non-major costs for rearrangement and alteration or reconversion or renovation of facilities. Construction would include ordinary or normal alterations, restoration, or rehabilitation such as any work that modifies buildings and/or grounds. This includes but is not limited to adding, replacing, modifying, relocating, removing, or painting doors, walls, windows, flooring, or the alterations of ceilings, adding on to or dividing existing space or work on any building utility system, electrical, plumbing, ventilation, air conditioning, controls systems, fire alarms, fire sprinklers, security systems and telecommunication equipment. Federal assistance funds cannot be used for capital improvements unless specifically approved in advance by the TIP Office.

Equipment and Supplies Equipment is herein defined as an article of non-expendable, tangible, personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost in excess of $5,000. Please note, if equipment costs are included in an application, the organization must retain ownership of all equipment obtained throughout the lifetime of the federal award. This includes any equipment funded with cost sharing or matching funds. At the end of the award, the awardee must complete federal SF-428 forms in order for the TIP Office Grants Officer to evaluate whether the item(s) in question be retained, sold, or disposed of without any further obligation to the Department of State.

Supplies are herein defined as all tangible personal property other than those described in Equipment. Note that if there is a residual inventory of unused supplies exceeding $5,000 in total aggregate value upon completion of the project and the supplies are not needed for any other Federal award, your entity must retain the supplies for use on other activities or sell them, but must, in either case, compensate the Department of State for its share. The amount of compensation will be computed in the same manner as for Equipment. Foreign assistance funds may not benefit countries or entities that are not eligible recipients of United States foreign assistance or for which there are applicable assistance restrictions. Applicants shall work with the Department of State to ensure that any applicable restrictions and requirements are addressed prior to awarding any sub-awards.

In addition, applicants should refer to the U.S. Department of State Policy on the Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment, which is described under the “Administrative and National Policy Requirements” section of this NOFO.

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

1. Criteria

Reviewers will evaluate applications based on their own merits. Reviewers will evaluate proposals against the evaluation criteria below. Applicants are responsible for reviewing the criteria below to fully understand how applications will be reviewed and evaluated for potential funding.

Technical Approach: The application should be responsive to the intention of the CPC Partnership, which is to strengthen the capacity of the Nepali government, as well as civil society organizations and public international organizations, to address child sex trafficking and forced child labor, thereby strengthening existing efforts by the Government of Nepal to meet the needs of child victims and at-risk children and eradicate these crimes. Projects should address the CPC Partnership objectives but do not need to include every item listed under illustrative activities.

Additionally, a single application does not have to address all four objectives, but applicants should adjust their budget accordingly. The total funding ceiling includes all four objectives. Therefore, if an applicant chooses to focus on only one objective, the budget should correspond to roughly one fourth of the total funding, or less. The proposal should address how the project will accomplish the overall goal and selected objective(s) of the U.S. – Nepal CPC Partnership in close partnership with the Nepali government. The proposal should describe how activities will address both child sex trafficking and forced child labor. The proposal should demonstrate a logical approach and present project objectives that adhere to the specificities of trauma- and survivor-informed principles and that are targeted, measurable, and achievable during the project period. Key personnel for the project should be well qualified to manage the project and oversee its implementation and be knowledgeable about trauma- and survivor informed-practices.

Quality of Project Idea The project narrative represents activities that clearly lead to the accomplishment of the objectives and goals. The project idea is feasible with the funds and time proposed. Personnel, project activities, timeline, and budget expenditures are congruent with the project description and objectives. Objectives articulate one concept each and clearly define the target population central to achieving change, and project activities engage those with the power to support/prevent the process of change. The project design is positioned for sustainability. Project activities necessary to design, plan, and implement the project are effective and efficient with respect to the purpose of the goal and objectives and performance monitoring. The project is relevant and clearly meets the actual needs of the target population, and is pertinent, applicable, and appropriate to its goal and objectives. The project is suitable and designed to operate in the environmental conditions in which it will operate. The project design is evidence-based and reflects knowledge of the field, target populations, and local community(ies).

There is a clear plan for implementation and sufficient staffing and partnerships to ensure success. The potential for impact is clear, realistic, and measurable.

The application identifies related projects or activities that the applicant may already be implementing or planning and should describe how the proposed project would complement or avoid duplicating current or planned efforts. The project clearly incorporates the TIP Office program design standards. Project activities should include meaningful engagement from survivors or persons with lived experience of human trafficking in developing and implementation of the project and/or propose survivor-led organizations as sub-grantees or partners.

Where relevant and appropriate, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is a built-in component of project activities, and applicants demonstrate how the unique needs of all groups in the target population will be addressed.

Definition of Problem and Context The project narrative clearly states the problem(s) to be addressed. The population with which the project intends to work and the local issues and conditions in the project locale are clearly described. The project proposal describes the environmental surroundings where the project will take place to establish baseline context. Background information focuses on the specific environmental factors relevant to the project locale and the identified problem(s).

The project narrative demonstrates research-based evidence justifying the unique project approach. The project narrative describes the source of the problem(s) or issue(s) the project will address. There is a clear description about why the problem(s) or issue(s) exist, perpetuating factors that keep the problem in existence, and how the project will serve to fill an existing gap to address the problem(s) or issue(s) identified. The project narrative describes the current state of local responses to human trafficking and demonstrates a logical connection between the project’s objectives and local response.

Institutional Record and Capacity The application clearly establishes the applicant’s ability to implement the anti-trafficking project in the specific country or region. The applicant has appropriate experience in the subject matter or clearly describes how it will bring expertise to the project. The application identifies well-qualified key personnel to manage the project and oversee implementation. Applicants demonstrate experience administering successful projects of similar size and scope – preferably in human trafficking or related areas – and experience administering successful projects in Nepal or the region.

Sustainability Sustainability is integrated into the project design. Sustainability explains how the project’s specific outcomes will be sustained after the project ends. Sustainability is the ability of a local system to produce desired outcomes over time. Discrete projects contribute to sustainability when they strengthen a local system’s ability to produce valued results and its ability to be both resilient and adaptive in the face of changing circumstances. To the extent possible, the project’s activities promote sustainable intervention practices and build the capacity of local communities, including both local government institutions and civil society, to address human trafficking challenges. Where appropriate, applications will be evaluated on how well they promote, strengthen, and build the capacity of local institutions/systems and on the extent to which applicants identify replacement resources, encourage local ownership and political will, integrate the project within existing systems, and address felt needs.

Local Partnerships The applicant demonstrates how they plan to leverage partnerships with local actors to enhance the project’s ability to carry out activities effectively, meet the project’s objectives, and contribute to the project’s goal and sustainability. The proposal describes existing or proposed partnerships with anti-trafficking actors on the ground. The TIP Office will give strong preference to a proposal that demonstrates substantial subaward arrangements with local civil society organizations. In cases where an applicant is not able to partner with a local organization or institution, does not consider it feasible to do so, or does not consider it in the project’s best interest, the application must clearly explain why.

Applicants are encouraged to work with survivor-led organizations as sub-grantees or partners. The TIP Office also encourages proposals that include partnerships with organizations that advance racial equity and support and promote equitable representation of underserved communities.

Coordination with Relevant Anti-Trafficking Actors The applicant identifies how they will coordinate with anti-trafficking actors in Nepal including, but not limited to, donors, implementers, and governments, to support broader anti-trafficking strategies, and mitigate duplicative efforts.

Applications demonstrate a clear understanding of how they will coordinate efforts to increase sustainability and to ensure programming is contextually appropriate. Applicants are expected to gather letters of support from relevant Nepali government ministries and agencies that they plan to work with through the CPC partnership.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Integration Applicants display an understanding of the gender dynamics and social inclusion considerations in the narrative. Applicants provide evidence of how they will ensure their project takes into account and receives feedback from subsets of the population especially vulnerable to the human trafficking scenario and address gender dynamics, gaps or differences. Applicants demonstrate how addressing relevant gender and social gaps and dynamics will enhance the project’s goals and objectives.

Gender integration should include the identification and subsequent treatment of gender differences and inequalities around human trafficking issues during project design and implementation.

Social integration is achieved when all people, regardless of their sex, age, ethnicity, social status, income, religion, sexual orientation, ability or disability etc., have the same rights and opportunities to contribute to and benefit from the proposed human trafficking project. Where applicable, this should be documented in the Project Narrative, specifically by addressing any relevant gender and/or social gaps and ways the proposed project activities will address those gaps. Applicants should demonstrate how addressing relevant gender and/or social gaps will enhance the project’s goals and objectives and ensure inclusion and access by all intended groups.

Survivor Inclusion and Victim-Centered Approach Applicants must describe how survivors or persons with lived experience of human trafficking are meaningfully included in all stages of the development and implementation of the project. Applicants are highly encouraged to compensate survivors or persons with lived experience for all contributions made to the project. When survivors or persons with lived experience are compensated, it should be clearly articulated in the budget and budget narrative.

Placing the victim’s priorities, needs, and interests at the center of the work with the victim; providing nonjudgmental assistance, with an emphasis on self-determination, and assisting victims in making informed choices; ensuring that restoring victims’ feelings of safety and security are a priority and safeguarding against policies and practices that may inadvertently re-traumatize victims. A victim-centered approach should also incorporate a trauma-informed, survivor-informed, and culturally competent approach.

Trauma-Informed Approach Trauma-informed practice is built on the knowledge and understanding of the impacts of trauma on people’s lives and health. It addresses the effects of historical, intergenerational and ongoing trauma, as well as structural and interpersonal violence, that people have experienced not only as a result of human trafficking, but also broader factors (e.g., systemic violence, cultural oppressions, etc. It includes an understanding of the vulnerabilities and experiences of trauma survivors, including the prevalence and physical, social, and emotional impact of trauma.

A trauma-informed approach requires programs and interventions to integrate this knowledge into all aspects of practice and programming in ways that foster safety, respect and empowerment of everyone involved in the process, including survivors, researchers, practitioners, etc. It recognizes signs of trauma in individuals and the professionals who help them and responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, practices, and settings. A trauma-informed approach places priority on restoring the survivor’s feelings of safety, choice, and control.

Applicants must describe the ways in which the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation methods and approaches of the proposed intervention, including the research methods, are trauma informed.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning The project narrative summarizes illustrative monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) activities, project evaluation plans, and total MERL costs as a percentage of the total budget. The MERL budget should be no less than seven percent of the total budget. The MERL summary will be evaluated against the applicant’s commitment to: 1) Conducting a baseline study to assess the pre-implementation state of the objectives and outcome indicators, and to consider the questions regarding relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project 2) Implementing a monitoring system to collect data for project specific, and when relevant, partnership specific indicators 3) Collaborating with the TIP Office on the project evaluation design and other MERL activities 4) Ensuring adequate MERL staffing capacity to support MERL activities throughout the project’s period of performance 5) Conducting an externally commissioned final project evaluation. Under certain circumstances, the TIP Office may allow for an internal evaluation. A justification for an internal evaluation should be provided.

2. Review and Selection Process

Following the submission deadline, all applications will be screened to determine whether they…