2. NGOs should demonstrate that they would apply Minimum Humanitarian Standards while implementing projects. Minimum Humanitarian Standards in emergency projects like disaster responses can be according to the Sphere Handbook. But for other types of projects, these Standards have to be according to the relevant internationally accepted principles and practices. For example, if the project is about providing water facilities to the community, NGOs should input procedures in their proposals that test the quality of the water to be provided. Similarly, for projects that fund a refugee program, NGOs should not propose infrastructure for which material is not available in the local market. In health and education projects, PRM strongly discourages standalone interventions that do not collaborate with governmental agencies and UN organizations at the local level and instead lead to the creation of parallel systems. All proposed projects should be in line with the national policies and working collaborations have to be established with relevant local authorities and the UN agencies and other multilaterals and bilaterals.
3. Security is another critical area to which PRM attaches high priority but often NGOs fail to give importance to it. If proposals outline clear security measures adopted by NGOs for the project, there is comparatively a better chance of funding approval. Security of the staff – the local staff, not just the expatriates – and also of the equipment, material and other types of physical assets funded by PRM projects should be considered by NGOs while writing the proposals.
4. All projects are funded by PRM for duration of 12 months only without any guarantee of extension. All new interventions have to be reapplied for funding support again.
5. Proposals should present a plan for acknowledging the support of the PRM during the implementation of the project. Project activities, including publications should flag with phrases such as ‘Gift of the United States Government’ and ‘Funding provided by the United States Government’ along with the graphic of the flag of the United States. In some cases, PRM will also consider projects that are unable to present these types of public acknowledgements especially in conflict-sensitive areas, provided that there is enough justification for it.
6. For all solicitations, PRM has a proposal format to which all applicant organizations should strictly adhere to. The format is available at the PRM’s webpage and it can also be requested by email. Proposals formats seek deeper information about the proposed intervention including its monitoring and sustainability plans. The format also seeks information on partnership coordination, transition, beneficiaries and security among other things.
7. For budgets, there is a different template available and this should be strictly with enough justification presented for the costs. PRM believes in the principle of cost sharing and expects implementing organization or other donors to contribute part of the total budget of the project. The plan for this has to be explained in the proposal.
8. Finally, last but not the least, NGOs need to get acquainted with the proposal submission process for PRM. This can be extremely complicated because all proposals have to submit through the Grants.gov website, which is a one-stop destination for finding and applying all the grants, national as well as international, from the US Government. Submitting proposals through this website is not an easy game unless the organization has already been registered. All new applicant organizations need to go through a step-by-step process to get registered and then the proposals can be submitted finally. PRM recommends that NGOs prepare themselves with their proposals at least one week in advance of the actual deadline and immediately begin the process of registering and submitting the proposal to avoid any last-minute confusion. Also, it has been observed that submitting proposals on or just before the deadline can overburden the server of the website and the proposals can be lost online. So it is better to begin the submission process as early as possible.
Disclaimer
This is an unofficial summary of the FY 2010 General NGO Guidelines for Overseas Assistance issued by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) at the US Department of State. This information given here does not guarantee any funding support or any kind of consideration from PRM. Readers are expected to make their own inquiries from the source links given above for further assistance. This website is in no way related or affiliated to any of the organizations or agencies or their associates mentioned above. The material presented here is purely for informational purposes only.
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