SFOP0009231_Update 230630.docx

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR)

Notice of Funding Opportunity

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR) is pleased to announce an open competition for assistance awards through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). ISN/CTR sponsors foreign assistance activities funded by the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR) account, and focuses on mitigating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and WMD-related delivery systems proliferation and security threats from non-state actors and proliferator states.

Within ISN/CTR, one of the Special Projects (SP) Team supports the efforts of U.S. and allied partners to help identify and mitigate Russian efforts to acquire Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBW) and dual-use CBW material, equipment, technology, knowledge, and expertise from unsuspecting or indiscriminate commercial or scientific institutions for CBW purposes – (Russian Chemical and Biological Threats (RCBT)). It is the objective of the program to restrict Russian CBW activities by training partner countries, government watchdogs and regulators, commercial entities, logistics providers, and scientists to not engage in transactions and scientific exchanges that may even inadvertently or unknowingly promote Russian CBW proliferation.

Recent years witnessed an increase in high-profile CBR assassinations including the 2005 murder of Alexander Litvinenko in London via polonium-210, the 2018 attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury by novichok, the 2020 attempted murder of Alexei Navalny in Moscow by novichok, Consequently, the United States. Departments of Commerce, State, and Treasury have issued a range of sanctions since 2018 in response to Russia’s chemical and biological weapons activities, including the networks that facilitate procurement.

In February 2022, Russia further invaded Ukraine to international condemnation. The Russian invasion unleashed new fears of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats ranging from disinformation related to CBW development, the deliberate targeting of chemical factories via ground and air strikes, and myriad nuclear threats including Russian occupation of the largest nuclear site in Ukraine. U.S. and allied partners responded with sweeping coordinated international prohibitory legal and financial measures such as Russian sanctions, asset seizures, and travel bans.

Separately, Russian and Russian-linked criminal networks have been perpetrating cybersecurity breaches targeting global scientific institutions in the public as well as private biotech and pharmaceutical sectors with enormous human health and financial consequences. Russian cyber actors are also responsible for the then costliest cyberattack in history, NotPetya, as well as smaller and sustained attacks that serve to continually weaken and make vulnerable the global chemical and biological materials and equipment supply chain. One element in identifying and disrupting CBW supply chains is the associated financial networks (e.g., front companies, third party brokers, and other obfuscation methods and tools) that may aid CBW proliferation, especially in this era of increased scrutiny and punitive measures such as sanctions by the U.S. and allied global partners

Russia exploits historic habits of commerce with neighbors, their industries and research institutes; a lack of national and regional awareness of Russian CBW threats; poor inter-ministerial and regional coordination across targeted states; limited state-level capacity to identify and mitigate Russian CBW threats; poor awareness of know-your-customer (KYC) and due-diligence by suppliers of dual-use biological and chemical materials, equipment, and technology; and limited proliferation threat awareness in particular by private sector and academic entities. In addition, Russia seeks to leverage novel advanced technologies, uneven oversight of foreign commercial and research collaboration on dual use topics, foreign partners’ habits of openness and data-sharing, and poor control of tacit knowledge to advance Russian CBW programs. The-RCBT program has developed a strategy to bolster awareness, raise capacity, and protect critical infrastructure and scientific networks from Russian exploitation for CBW proliferation purposes.

ISN/CTR/SP’s FY23 RCBT foreign capacity building efforts will involve engagement, development, and implementation of projects to advance one or more of the following ISN/CTR/SP objectives:

· Strengthening critical infrastructure protective measures at CBR-relevant facilities to prevent and prepare facilities for possible physical or cyber attacks by Russia.

· Strengthening cybersecurity capabilities at critical chemical, biological, and public health institutions to harden their cyber infrastructure and effectively prevent and respond to Russian malign influence.

· Provide open-source information to support actionable and targeted capacity-building that illuminate procurement, financial, and logistics networks supplying sensitive dual-use biological equipment, technology, dangerous pathogens, and/or weaponizable materials to Russia for potential CBW proliferation purposes.

· Enhance partner state public and private sector capacity and coordination to disrupt illicit procurement networks, supply chains, and transshipment through states that unknowingly facilitate CBW proliferation by Russia as well as the financing mechanisms behind them.

· Strengthen awareness, best practices, networks, and communities of practice for traditional and non-traditional partners to protect expertise, research collaboration, explicit and tacit knowledge from exploitation by Russia for CBW proliferation purposes.

Topics of interest to address in programming include the biological, biological, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors, open source research, supply chain, traditional and financial technology (fintech) financing of the supply chain, funding stewardship of academic partnerships and exchanges, virology, molecular biology, computational chemistry, structural analysis, materials science, supply chain optimization, automation, machine learning, quantum computing, advanced manufacturing, traditional financing, cross border financing, fintech, cryptocurrency, and blockchain utilization in supply chain and financing.

Program Objectives:

ISN/CTR/SP seeks programmatic proposals supporting the following lines of effort (LOEs):

1. CBW-Related Open-Source Information and Analysis to Identify Illicit Russian CBW Facilitation Networks and Their Financing to Inform Capacity-Building for Partner Countries: ISN/CTR projects will leverage open-source and commercially available data to identify actionable information on Russian activities related to CBW proliferation. ISN/CTR-funded projects will identify typologies and provide network analysis on: a) procurement, financial, and logistics networks and overall CBW supply chains; and b) research collaboration and peer-to-peer exchanges that have the potential to facilitate CBW programs. Projects will provide data that ISN/CTR can then share with foreign partners in a capacity-building context—to illuminate and expose Russian-led CBW proliferation activities.

ISN/CTR-funded projects will also develop cost-effective trainings for foreign partners, either remotely or in-person, to enhance partners’ capacity to utilize open-source information to promote due diligence without long-term U.S. support. Projects should build or utilize existing commercial and collaborative networks to ensure the widest possible dissemination of analysis, datasets, and information.

Previous projects include analytical reports, webinars, outreach campaigns via social media, educational campaigns via email, individual institutional briefings, industry screening platform deliveries, and prohibited entity reports. These deliverables focused on the 19 entities found to have directly or indirectly engaged with Russian CBW production through official public records, corporate filings, commercial trade data, academic publications, as well as unofficial information gathered from websites and media reports.

The RCBT program area is seeking FY2023 projects that will create new or complement existing capacity building efforts to:

· Leverage open-source and commercially available data to identify actionable information on Russian CBW proliferation.

· Identify typologies on illicit Russian procurement, financial, and logistics networks that facilitate potential CBW programs.

· Utilize existing commercial or collaborative networks to ensure widest possible dissemination of analysis, datasets, and information.

· Develop cost-effective trainings to enhance partners’ capacity to utilize open-source information to promote due diligence and enhance sanctions compliance.

This LOE seeks projects to gather this information to inform LOEs 2 (disrupting CBW supply chains) and 3 (protecting CBW knowledge from illicit transfer). Typical open-source research projects use surface (15%), deep (80%) (financial records, legal records, commercial data sources), and dark web (5%) data sources.

Please note: The RCBT Program does not fund long-term research projects or the development of new analytical tools or software. ISN/CTR does not seek to acquire an in-house data analytical tool, nor training for ISN/CTR or other USG staff to operate such tools. Further, the RCBT Program does not fund subscription services to existing publicly available data analytics tools for foreign partners, given the lack of long-term sustainability inherent in such efforts. Instead, ISN/CTR seeks to build sustainable partner country appetite and capacity to meet their own open-source data needs for CBW counterproliferation purposes.

Geographic Focus: The geographic focus of LOE 1 is global, although if a case can be made for country or region-specific ‘deep dives’ for financial, logistics, or supply hubs such projects will be considered.

2. CBW Supply Chain Mitigation Focused on CBW and Dual-Use CBW Material, Equipment, and Technology: projects for this LOE will enhance partner countries’ sub-regulatory capacity to identify and avoid Russian efforts to procure CBW and dual-use CBW materials, equipment, and technology. Projects will build threat-aware networks across industry associations and academic networks with commercial interests (e.g., supply chain related or when they involve procurement of CB materials, equipment, and technologies). They will facilitate public-private partnerships to impede networks and transport of CBW and CBW dual-use materials, equipment, and technology as well as their financing through training, tabletop exercises, threat assessment methodologies, development and dissemination of best practices, and information sharing to block Russian CBW procurement efforts. Previous efforts have taken the form of webinars, online courses, and tabletop exercises engaging the biological, biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceutical industry, national laboratory, and academic sector to provide know your customer (KYC) and due diligence best practices, risk mitigation, increasing list-based compliance with U.S. and international laws and norms, cybersecurity best practices, and understanding evasion tactics of illicit front companies related to the procurement of CBW materials and equipment by Russia. These trainings highlighted the 19 sites that the USG has publicly identified to be associated with the Russian WMD program, and red-flag typologies associated with those sites. Crucially, they promote public-private partnerships and coordination to counter illicit CBW procurement networks, supply chains, and transshipment through states that unknowingly facilitate Russian WMD proliferation.

The RCBT program area is seeking FY2023 projects that will create new or complement existing capacity building efforts to:

· Provide capacity building for partners (industry and government) using open-source data to identify and block Russian CBW supply chains and the financing of these supply chains.

· Empower partners through training, tabletop exercises, threat assessment methodologies, and information sharing to develop sub-regulatory best practices to block Russian CBW supply chains and the financing of these supply chains.

· Build threat-aware networks, in relation to securing supply chains, across interagency communities and among regional governments.

· Facilitate public-private partnerships to counter Russian CBW procurement and knowledge development.

· Provide ‘Know Your Customer’ and due diligence training for manufacturers, distributors, and shippers of sensitive CBW materials and equipment.

· Facilitate regional roundtables and exercises that engage public and private sector partners, mentorships, and truly sustainable train-the-trainer activities.

This LOE particularly seeks creative, cost-effective, sustainable engagements that leverage train-the-trainer, regional champions, and other self-led engagements by foreign partners. Projects should provide know-your-customer and due-diligence training for private manufacturers and distributors of sensitive equipment and materials, and government regulators, to facilitate regional roundtables, mentorships and exercises that engage public and private sector partners. They should also include targeted capstone activities such as a Financial Chilling Action Plan that identify entities that may unknowingly participate in CBW-related commercial arrangements and financing and then engage them and other parties (e.g., banks, biotech/pharmaceutical companies, and other commercial entities) to ensure current and any future activity is halted. Projects with a focus on biological, biological, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors and the supply chains and financing associated with each are of particular interest. Projects may focus on the generic sector (e.g., pharmaceuticals) as well as small and medium enterprises. In addition to traditional banks and financial institutions, this LOE is also interested in novel and emerging products such as financial technology (fintech and cryptocurrency financing including as they relate to cross-border trade and money transfer (e.g., crypto to cash for sanctions evasion).

Geographic Focus: EAP (particularly Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam; secondary focus on Indonesia and Malaysia), EUR (particularly Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, Turkey, and Ukraine; secondary focus on Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia), and SCA (particularly India and Kazakhstan) although some countries within AF (e.g., Guinea) and WHA (e.g., Brazil) warrant attention. ISN/CTR seeks creative opportunities to leverage and engage partners and technical expertise from high income countries at no cost to the project in EUR including Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom and EAP including Australia, Japan, and Republic of Korea.

3. Protection of Dual-Use CBW Expertise and Tacit Knowledge from Russian Targeting for CBW Acquisition and Development: projects for this LOE will increase CBW proliferation threat awareness and builds self-sustaining information-sharing networks to promote due diligence among research institutes, academic communities, and other scientific and government stakeholders invested in chemical and biological knowledge generation and dissemination. Importantly this should include an focus on international funding agencies (e.g., charities, nonprofits) to educate about Russian CBW activities and ensure they are not unwittingly funding research or paying for the transfer of materials, equipment, or technologies to sanctioned institutes in Russia. To impede Russian access to non-explicit knowledge, these projects particularly should seek to constrain fellowships, internships, other long-term exchanges, and collaboration between foreign partners and CBW institutes which Russia exploits to obtain forms of tacit knowledge such as concealed knowledge (e.g., trade secrets), ostensive (non-verbal) knowledge, and communal types of tacit knowledge to advance Russia’s CBW program. Previous work included training public and private life science and biotechnology researchers from academia, laboratories, and research institutes with a focus on identifying best practices to protect dual-use research, knowledge, and funding; due-diligence; KYC; and list-based compliance. Participants developed country-specific action plans to increase coordination and between traditional and non-traditional partners to support further dissemination of best-practices regionally. Other previous work has focused on understanding Russian networks of scientific collaborations, institutions, disciplines, and expertise involved in the procurement of biological agents, toxins, chemicals, precursors, and equipment.

The RCBT program area is seeking FY2023 projects that will create new or complement existing capacity building efforts to:

· Engage industry, academic, public, and private research institute partners to promote sub-regulatory dual-use best practices to identify and mitigate Russian CBW related activities.

· Raise awareness of Russian CBW threats and the risks of doing business with sanctioned, listed, and high-risk CBW-linked Russian state entities.

· Build networks among universities, research institutes, industry, and non-traditional partners to counter Russian CBW threats, including entities that support and finance research.

· Develop creative approaches for identifying and engaging non-traditional partners in awareness-raising, networking, and capacity building to counter Russian CBW proliferation.

· Identify, promote, and implement practitioner-driven best practices, including on cybersecurity, to protect dual-use research collaborations, tacit and knowledge, and expertise from exploitation by Russia for CBW proliferation purposes.

· Build networks between non-traditional and traditional CBW threat reduction partners.

This LOE seeks creative, cost-effective, and self-sustaining approaches to promulgate, implement, reinforce, and strengthen mechanisms, policies and procedures that protect dual-use research collaborations and knowledge in all forms from Russian influence, targeting, coercion, or theft. Typical projects in this LOE promote best practices on KYC (of the funded scientists) and due diligence, policies, and sub-regulatory measures for widespread adoption of CBW awareness and due diligence. Example project types include country-specific or regional case studies; bilateral, multilateral, or global projects; one sector or multisectoral approaches; funding stewardship, due diligence, and best practices.

Geographic Focus: EAP (particularly Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam; secondary focus on Indonesia and Malaysia), EUR (particularly Azerbaijan, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Slovakia, and Ukraine; secondary focus on Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia), and SCA (particularly India) although some countries within WHA (e.g., Brazil) warrant attention. High income countries, though not explicitly funded, may serve as models for those countries where ISN/CTR is mandated to conduct capacity

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Length of performance period: 12 Months Number of awards anticipated: Approximately 20-50 awards (dependent on amounts) Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $50,000 to a maximum of $1,5000,000 Total available funding: Approximately $5,000,000 Type of Funding: FY23/24 Nonproliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining and Related Activities Funds under the Foreign Assistance Act. Additional funding sources may be used to support approved projects submitted to this NOFO if ISN/CTR is authorized to obligate such funds. Anticipated program start date: October 1, 2023

This notice is subject to availability of funding.

Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative agreements. Cooperative agreements are different from grants in that bureau/embassy staff are more actively involved in the grant implementation.

Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 12 or less.

C. ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants

The following organizations are eligible to apply (both domestic and international):

· Not-for-profit organizations

· Public and private educational institutions

· For-profit organizations

· Federally funded research and development centers

· Public International Organizations

2. Cost Sharing or Matching

Providing cost sharing, matching, or cost participation is not an eligibility factor or requirement for this NOFO and providing cost share will not result in a more favorable competitive ranking.

3. Other Eligibility Requirements

In order to be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number issued via www.SAM.gov as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov. Please see Section D.3 for more information.

Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal package per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Address to Request Application Package

Application forms required below are available at grants.gov

2. Content and Form of Application Submission Please follow all instructions below. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will be ineligible.

Content of Application 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 8 ½ x 11 paper, and

· All Microsoft Word documents are single-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, with a minimum of 1-inch margins.

1. The following documents are required:

Mandatory application forms

1. SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – organizations)

2. Project Proposal: Please follow the directions to complete the proposal template included in the application package.

3. Consolidated Project List

4. Budget Detail and Summary: See section H. Other Information: Guidelines for Budget Submissions below for further information.

Optional application forms

1. SF-424B (ASSURANCES - NON-CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMS)

2. SF -LLL (DISCLOSURE OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES)

3. Copy of most recent approved NICRA

4. DEIA standalone document (Separate from DEIA plan information included in project proposal)

2. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM.gov)

Required Registrations: Note: As of April 2022, a DUNS number is no longer required.

· www.SAM.gov registration which will generate a UEI

· NCAGE/CAGE code

Any applicant with an exclusion 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.”

The Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is one of the data elements mandated by Public Law 109-282, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA), for all Federal awards. SAM.gov is the Federal government's primary database for complying with FFATA reporting requirements. OMB designated SAM.gov as the central repository to facilitate applicant and recipient use of a single public website that consolidates data on all federal financial assistance. Under the law, it is mandatory to register in SAM.gov.

Starting April 2022, the UEI will be assigned when an organization registers or renews it’s registration in SAM.gov at www.SAM.gov. To access SAM.gov an organization is required to have a Login.gov account. Organization can create an account at https://login.gov/. As a reminder, organizations need to renew its sam.gov registration annually.

US-based organizations: A CAGE code will be automatically assigned when the U.S. organizations registers in www.sam.gov. CAGE must be renewed every 5 years. Site for CAGE: https://cage.dla.mil/Home/UsageAgree. Grantees may be asked for more information to finalized and must comply.

Non -US based organizations: Must apply for a NCAGE code before registering in SAM.gov. Go to: https://eportal.nspa.nato.int/AC135Public/CageTool/home to apply for a NCAGE code. NCAGE codes must be renewed every 5 years.

It is in the organization’s best interest to check if their CAGE/or NCAGE codes are active. Organizations are required to register/or renew their CAGE or NCAGE codes prior to registering or renewing www.sam.gov . Both registration and renewals for both CAGE and NCAGE can take up to 10 days. Organization’s legal address in NCAGE/CAGE must mirror www. sam.gov.

www.sam.gov requires all entities to renew their registration once a year in order to maintain an active registration status in SAM.gov. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure it has an active registration in SAM.gov.

If an organization plans to issue a sub-contract or sub-award, those sub-awardees must also have a unique entity identifier (UEI number). Those entities can register for a UEI only at SAM.gov.

If an organization does not have an active registration in SAM.gov prior to submitting an application, the application will be deemed ineligible. All organizations applying for grants (except individuals) must obtain these registrations, the latter are free of charge.

1. Submission Dates and Times

Applications are due no later than: July 30, 2023, 11:59PM EDT

2. Funding Restrictions

Of note, legal restrictions prevent ISN/CTR from providing assistance to Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria.

3. Other Submission Requirements

With the exception of FFRDCs, all application materials must be submitted electronically through www.Grants.gov.

For FFRDCs ONLY, directly submit application to the relevant program team and copy the budget team: ISN-CTR-BUDGET@state.gov

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

1. Criteria

Applicants should note that the following criteria serve as a standard against which all project proposals will be evaluated and identify significant considerations that should be addressed in all proposals. ISN/CTR will award a cooperative agreement to the applicant(s) whose offer represents the best overall value to the government from both a technical and cost perspective.

ISN/CTR will evaluate proposals against the stated criteria. Criteria are listed in descending order of importance.

· Proposed Activity or Activities: Applicants should clearly describe what they propose to do and how they will do it. The proposed project(s) must directly relate to meeting the specified objectives and applicants should include specific information on how they will systematically meet ISN/CTR’s global threat reduction mission. ISN/CTR will evaluate the project proposal in terms of how well it addresses the issues at hand, relevance and feasibility of the proposed activities, the timeline for completion, and the extent to which the impact of the project will continue beyond the conclusion of the period of performance.

· Organizational Capability: Applicants must demonstrate how their resources, capabilities, and experience will enable them to achieve the stated goals and objectives in an international technical context. The proposal(s) must identify all key partners and organizations that will be involved in implementation of this project.

· Budget: Proposed costs will be evaluated for feasibility, fiscal control practices, and efficiency. ISN/CTR must be able to determine that proposed costs are reasonable, allowable, and allocable to the proposed project activities. ISN/CTR will evaluate the budget to determine if the overall costs are realistic for the work to be performed, if the costs reflect the applicant’s understanding of the allowable cost principles established by 2CFR200, and if the costs are consistent with the program narrative.

· Impactful and Measurable Engagements: Although complex nonproliferation objectives demand persistent engagement with partner countries, discrete projects should individually advance progress toward a particular objective. Proposals should describe the end-state the project aims to achieve, along with specific, measurable, and realistic benchmarks by which to gauge progress toward that end-state. Compelling project proposals will establish milestones to be met during the training period, and describe observable progress in the adoption, implementation, or enhancement of nonproliferation or sanctions enforcement and compliance best practices

· Diversity and Inclusion: ISN/CTR values collaboration and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion with all stakeholders by creating an environment that is open to equal opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran or disabled status. Implementers are welcome but not required to submit with their proposal a plan for how the implementer intends to further ISN/CTR’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) objectives through their programming. Submitted plans will be evaluated separate to the overall evaluation of projects and

· Cyber Security: Implementer shall be required to establish and follow policy and procedures for an effective implementation of security controls using NIST 800-53 (Rev. 5 or higher)), System and Information Integrity Policy (SI-1) as follows:

1. Identification and Authentication: Implement multifactor authentication for network access and local access.

2. Access Controls: Implement security controls for information sharing, remote access and wireless access including:

a. Monitoring, controlling, and protecting remote and wireless access to information by auditing information systems components (e.g., workstations, notebook computers, smartphones, and tablets).

3. Incident Handling: Monitor and report any and all security incidents including breaches to ISN/CTR directly within 48 hours of the incident and include a risk assessment of the security access controls.

2. Federal Awardee Performance & Integrity Information System (FAPIIS)

For any Federal award under a notice of funding opportunity, if the Federal awarding agency anticipates that the total Federal share will be greater than the simplified acquisition threshold on any Federal award under a notice of funding opportunity may include, over the period of performance (see §200.88 Simplified Acquisition Threshold), this section must also inform applicants:

i. That the Federal awarding agency, prior to making a Federal award with a total amount of Federal share greater than the simplified acquisition threshold, is required to review and consider any information about the applicant that is in the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM (currently FAPIIS) (see 41 U.S.C. 2313);

ii. That an applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through SAM and comment on any information about itself that a Federal awarding agency previously entered and is currently in the designated integrity and performance system accessible through SAM;

iii. That the Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to the other information in the designated integrity and performance system, in making a judgment about the applicant's integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in §200.206 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants.

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

1. Federal Award Notices

The cooperative agreement will be written, signed, awarded, and administered by the Grants Officer. The assistance award agreement is the authorizing document, and it will be provided to the recipient for review and signature by email. The recipient may only start incurring project expenses beginning on the start date shown on the grant award document signed by the Grants Officer.

If a proposal is selected for funding, the Department of State has no obligation to provide any additional future funding. Renewal of an award to increase funding or extend the period of performance is at the discretion of the Department of State.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S. government, nor does it commit the U.S. government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the U.S. government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

Anticipated Time to Award: Applicants should expect to be notified of the recommended concepts within 90 days after the submission deadline. Following this initial notification, selected applicants will be expected to submit a full application within 30 days. ISN/CTR staff will provide information at the point of notification about the requirements for the full application, which may include revisions to the activities. The full applications will not be subject to further competition, but must incorporate any suggested changes made by ISN/CTR.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Government, nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the Government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

Project Implementation Meeting: The recipient should expect to have a pre-project implementation meeting with ISN/CTR within thirty days after the cooperative agreement is awarded and before any work is performed for the award.

Payment Method: Payments under this award will be made through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Payment Management System (PMS). Unless otherwise stipulated, the Recipient may request payments on a reimbursement or advance basis. Instructions for requesting payments are available at: https://pms.psc.gov/.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Before submitting an application, applicants should review all the terms and conditions and required certifications which will apply to this award, to ensure that they will be able to comply.

These include:

· 2 CFR 25 - UNIVERSAL IDENTIFIER AND SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT

· 2 CFR 170 - REPORTING SUBAWARD AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION INFORMATION

· 2 CFR 175 - AWARD TERM FOR TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS

· 2 CFR 182 - GOVERNMENTWIDE REQUIREMENTS FOR DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE (FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE)

· 2 CFR 183 - NEVER CONTRACT WITH THE ENEMY

· 2 CFR 600 – DEPARTMENT OF STATE REQUIREMENTS

· U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS

In accordance with the Office of Management and Budget’s guidance located at 2 CFR part 200, all applicable Federal laws, and relevant Executive guidance, the Department of State will review and consider applications for funding, as applicable to specific programs, pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity in accordance with the following: NOTE:

· Guidance for Grants and Agreements in Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR), as updated in the Federal Register’s 85 FR 49506 on August 13, 2020, particularly on:

· Selecting recipients most likely to be successful in delivering results based on the program objectives through an objective process of evaluating Federal award applications (2 CFR part 200.205),

· Prohibiting the purchase of certain telecommunication and video surveillance services or equipment in alignment with section 889 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019 (Pub. L. No. 115—232) (2 CFR part 200.216),

· Promoting the freedom of speech and religious liberty in alignment with Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty (E.O. 13798) and Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities (E.O. 13864) (§§ 200.300, 200.303, 200.339, and 200.341),

· Providing a preference, to the extent permitted by law, to maximize use of goods, products, and materials produced in the United States (2 CFR part 200.322), and

· Terminating agreements in whole or in part to the greatest extent authorized by law, if an award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities (2 CFR part 200.340).

3. Reporting

Reporting Requirements: As a cooperative agreement, reporting and deliverable requirements for this project exceed those of typical grants. Applicants should pay special attention to these enhanced reporting and deliverable requirements. Specifically:

Using a template provided by ISN/CTR, the Recipient shall submit quarterly progress reports to the designated Grants Officer Representative (GOR), program distribution list, and to the following email address ISN-CTR-BUDGET@state.gov detailing:

· Assistance activities conducted during the reporting period;

· Milestones and successes achieved to date;

· Key assistance activities remaining to be implemented with a projected timetable;

· Details of any problems encountered with proposed solutions; and

· Any other pertinent information requested by ISN/CTR.

· The Recipient shall provide the GOR with copies of all materials developed under this cooperative agreement.

· In addition to regular quarterly reports, the Recipient shall furnish the GOR with ad hoc reports as requested from time to time.

· In addition to the above, the Recipient shall submit quarterly financial reports throughout the project period. Financial reports are due 30 days after the reporting period. Final programmatic and financial reports are due 90 days after the close of the project period

Applicants should be aware of the post award reporting requirements reflected in 2 CFR 200 Appendix XII—Award Term and Condition for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

Foreign Assistance Data Review: As required by Congress, the Department of State must make progress in its efforts to improve tracking and reporting of foreign assistance data through the Foreign Assistance Data Review (FADR). The FADR requires tracking of foreign assistance activity data from budgeting, planning, and allocation through obligation and disbursement. Successful applicants will be required to report and draw down federal funding based on the appropriate FADR Data Elements, indicated within their award documentation. In cases of more than one FADR Data Element, typically program or sector and/or regions or country, the successful applicant will be required to maintain separate accounting records.

G. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

If you have any questions about the grant application process, please contact: CTRSpecialProjectsProposals@state.gov

Direct any NOFO submission (non-programmatic) questions to:

Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction Budget Team ISN-CTR-BUDGET@state.gov

H. OTHER INFORMATION

Guidelines for Budget Justification Personnel and Fringe Benefits: Describe the wages, salaries, and benefits of temporary or permanent staff who will be working directly for the applicant on the program, and the percentage of their time that will be spent on the program.

Travel: Estimate the costs of travel and per diem for this program, for program staff, consultants or speakers, and participants/beneficiaries. If the program involves international travel, include a brief statement of justification for that travel.

Equipment: Describe any machinery, furniture, or other personal property that is required for the program, which has a useful life of more than one year (or a life longer than the duration of the program), and costs at least $5,000 per unit.

Supplies: List and describe all the items and materials, including any computer devices, that are needed for the program. If an item costs more than $5,000 per unit, then put it in the budget under Equipment.

Contractual: Describe goods and services that the applicant plans to acquire through a contract with a vendor. Also describe any sub-awards to non-profit partners that will help carry out the program activities.

Other Direct Costs: Describe other costs directly associated with the program, which do not fit in the other categories. For example, shipping costs for materials and equipment or applicable taxes. All “Other” or “Miscellaneous” expenses must be itemized and explained.

Indirect Costs: These are costs that cannot be linked directly to the program activities, such as overhead costs needed to help keep the organization operating. If your organization has a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate (NICRA) and includes NICRA charges in the budget, attach a copy of your latest NICRA. Organizations that have never had a NICRA may request indirect costs of 10% of the modified total direct costs as defined in 2 CFR 200.68.

“Cost Sharing” refers to contributions from the organization or other entities other than the U.S. Embassy. It also includes in-kind contributions such as volunteers’ time and donated venues.

Alcoholic Beverages: Please note that award funds cannot be used for alcoholic beverages.