DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING PROPOSALS:  Friday, January 5, 2018, 5:00 p.m.

The U.S. Embassy Quito and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State are pleased to announce the 2018 call for proposals for the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

The Fund was established to help countries to preserve cultural heritage and to demonstrate U.S. respect for other cultures, their prosperity, and stability around the world.  Through the AFCP Program, the Department of State supports projects that may range from $10,000 to $200,000 to preserve cultural heritage of Ecuador in the following three areas:

1. CULTURAL SITES: conservation of an ancient or historic building, preservation of an archaeological site, or documentation of cultural sites in a region for preservation purposes.
2. CULTURAL OBJECTS AND COLLECTIONS: conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects from a museum, site, or similar institution – that include, but are not limited to, archaeological and ethnographic objects, paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, and general museum conservation needs; needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation and protection purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the care and preservation of collections.
3. FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION: documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music, indigenous languages and dance forms for broad dissemination as the means of teaching and further preserving them, or support for training in the preservation of traditional applied arts or crafts in danger of extinction.

Additionally, proposals for projects that meet one or more of the following criteria will receive additional consideration:

1. S. treaty or bilateral agreement obligations, such as cultural property agreements
2. S. Embassy Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) goals
3. Disaster risk reduction for cultural heritage in seismically active and other disaster-prone areas
4. Post-disaster cultural heritage recovery
5. Preservation of inscribed World Heritage sites

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING SITES AND OBJECTS THAT HAVE A RELIGIOUS CONNECTION:  The establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within an aid program under certain conditions.  For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary significance and is nominated solely on the basis of architectural, artistic, historical, or other cultural (not religious) criteria.

ELIGIBLE PROJECT APLICANTS:  eligible project applicants are reputable and accountable non-commercial entities, such as non-governmental organizations, museums, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.-based organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, that are registered and active in SAM.gov and able to demonstrate that they have the requisite experience and capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage.

INELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES AND UNALLOWABLE COSTS:  AFCP will NOT support the following activities or costs, and applications involving any of the activities or costs below will be deemed ineligible:

1. Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application.
2. Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.).
3. Preservation of hominid or human remains.
4. Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.).
5. Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.).
6. Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use.
7. Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes.
8. Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project.
9. Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums.
10. Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example).
11. Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes.
12. Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances.
13. Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist.
14. Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another.
15. Removal or cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason.
16. Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort.
17. Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies.
18. Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund).
19. Costs of fund-raising campaigns
20. Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees.
21. Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award.
22. International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project.
23. Travel or study outside the host country for professional development.
24. Individual projects costing less than $10,000.
25. Independent U.S. projects overseas.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:  Interested organization in submitting proposals for the 2018 AFCP call must:

1. Obtain a Dun & Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, a NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) code, and be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting applications. This process can take several weeks, therefore, we recommend to start the process as soon as possible (guide to obtain the codes is attached).
2. Send proposals (attached electronic forms) in English to:
   Sección de Prensa y Cultura
   Embajada de los Estados Unidos en Quito
   contactoprogramas@state.gov
   Subject: Fondo del Embajador para la Preservación Cultural 2018

Documents:

1. Application form (PDF-286KB)
2. Budget sample (PDF-210KB)
3. Guidance for SAM registration (in Spanish) (PDF- 194KB)

 

By U.S. Mission Ecuador | 29 November, 2017 | Topics: Culture, News