U.S. Public Diplomacy Palestinian Peacebuilding Program

The Public Diplomacy Section (PD) of the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs (U.S.OPA) announces an open competition for a grant through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). The U.S. Public Diplomacy FY24 Palestinian Peacebuilding program is designed to partner with Palestinian, American, and International non-profit/non-governmental organizations to implement activities which advance the applicant's goals and the U.S.OPA mission, including but not limited to Advancing a comprehensive and lasting peace through a negotiated two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the development of a vibrant, representative, and responsive Palestinian civil society, private sector and governing institutions. This must include substantive engagement with American people, institutions, ideas, and ideals in order to improve American-Palestinian relations and create greater opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership and cooperation. Priority Region: Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza or a combination of two or three of them. Program Objectives: All proposed projects must aim to advance the U.S.OPA-PD mission goals stated above, contain a substantive American element, and achieve at least one of the following specific objectives:

• Young Palestinians between the ages of 14-35 increase their knowledge of peacebuilding, nonviolent activism, social change, negotiation, debate skills, conflict resolution, and civic education;

• Young Palestinians between the ages of 14-35 imagine alternatives to occupation, violence, despair, or apathy;

• Training and capacity building for civil society leaders to continue working with youth on nonviolent activism and peacebuilding;

• Creating discussion groups among youth about the two-state solution, its history, and imagining and discussing options for solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;

• Training for social media influencers about the two-state solution and identifying and discussing the most common concerns of Palestinian youth when it comes to this topic. Each proposal must have a substantial monitoring and evaluation component that will contribute to research in the field of peacebuilding to make data-based decisions that make an impact on the ground. We will give special consideration to proposals which incorporate the following elements as techniques or tools for meeting the strategic goals identified above:

• Cooperation in project implementation between two civil society organizations

• Alumni of U.S. government programs and exchanges, this could include building upon previous programs or launching new initiatives with alumni from past projects

• Grassroots elements that support underserved communities. This project proposal does not need to have an Israeli element or a component of bringing Israelis and Palestinians together, but it must be building the conditions and laying the groundwork for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Please describe your theory of change and how you believe your project serves this goal as part of your proposal. The work plan should identify clear problems related to the strategic goals described herein, and propose feasible solutions based on a concrete and coherent methodology to address the problems identified. We encourage proposals that show creative solutions. Participants and Audiences: Palestinians in East Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza