Early Warning and Response in Nigeria

The Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor is soliciting applications for a single-award cooperative agreement to fund an early warning and rapid response program in Nigeria's Middle Belt, with an application deadline of August 25, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET. The award ceiling is $1,973,359 in FY25 Democracy Fund appropriations with an anticipated 18–24 month period of performance and project start date of September 30, 2026.

Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations, civil society and nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, public and private educational institutions, individuals, public international organizations, and governmental institutions. All organizational applicants must obtain a Unique Entity Identifier and maintain active SAM.gov registration. Cost sharing is not required.

The program pairs civil society-led early warning networks with strengthened Nigerian government rapid response capacity by deploying community monitors, establishing secure communications between at-risk communities and security forces, and building joint coordination centers linking federal, state, and local responders to real-time threat data. The aim is to detect threats before they become attacks, accelerate security force deployment, and reduce both casualties and attack severity across the Middle Belt.

Applications require SF-424 or SF-424-I forms, SF-424A budget forms, SF-424B assurances, a 15-page maximum proposal addressing problem statement, goals, objectives, activities, methods, timeline, partners, and monitoring and evaluation plans, a detailed budget justification narrative, and supporting attachments including line-item budgets, key personnel position descriptions, letters of partner support, and NICRA documentation if applicable. Evaluation criteria include program quality and feasibility, organizational capacity, ability to achieve objectives, budget reasonableness, monitoring and evaluation capability, and sustainability. All awards are subject to 2 CFR Part 200 requirements, Executive Order compliance, trafficking in persons certifications, anti-discrimination certifications, and foreign funding disclosure requirements. Recipients must submit quarterly financial reports and progress reports with narrative sections addressing contextual information, activity evaluation, success stories, evaluation results, sustainability efforts, implementation challenges, indicator data, and proposed next-quarter activities. The assistance listing is 19.345 (International Programs to Support Democracy, Human Rights and Labor).