Deadline: 9 December 2019

The Public Affairs Section at U.S. Embassy Montevideo, on behalf of the U.S. Department of State, has announced an open competition for organizations to submit applications for funding through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) to carry out a project to preserve cultural heritage in a specific priority country.

Proposed projects should be completed in 60 months or less. The Department of State will entertain applications for continuation grants funded under these awards beyond the initial budget period on a non-competitive basis subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the project, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the U.S. Department of State.

Objectives

The AFCP Large Grants Program supports the preservation of major ancient archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, and major museum collections that are accessible to the public and protected by law in Uruguay. Appropriate project activities may include:

• Preventive conservation (addressing conditions that damage or threaten the site);
• Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance [settling, collapse, etc.] of a site);
• Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to a collection or sites);
• Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of a site);
• Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts);
• Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of a site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings).

Funding Information

• Floor on Amount of each Award: US $200,000 per project;
• Ceiling on Amount of each Award: US $800,000 per project.

Eligibility Criteria

The following entities are eligible to apply:

• Foreign Institution of Higher Education;
• Foreign Organization;
• Foreign Public Entity;
• U.S. Non-Profit Organization (501(c)(3));
• U.S. Institution of Higher Education .
• The AFCP further defines eligible applicants as reputable and accountable entities that are able to demonstrate that:
  • They have the requisite experience and capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage in the specified country;
  • They have official permission to undertake the project and the full endorsement and support of the national cultural authority in the specified country; and
  • In the case of U.S.-based and other entities based outside the specified country, they have a local partner or a pre-existing formal agreement with the national cultural authority in the specified country to conduct cultural heritage preservation activities.
  • The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous AFCP awards;
• In order to be eligible to apply to these funds, all entities must have a unique entity identifier (UEI) or Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet), as well as a valid registration on www.SAM.gov.

Evaluation Criteria

Each application forwarded to the AFCP Program Office will be evaluated and rated on the basis of the criteria outlined below.

• Purpose, Description, Importance: 25 points max;
• Urgency: 15 points max;
• Management Plan: 10 points max;
• Rationale for U.S. Support (written by the U.S. embassy or consulate): 15 points max;
• Media Plan: 10 points max;
• Budget and Budget Narrative: 15 points max;
• Supporting Materials: 10 points max.

Ineligible Activities

AFCP does not support the following activities or costs, and applications involving any of the activities or costs below will be deemed ineligible:

• 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;
• Preservation of natural heritage (e.g., physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils);
• Preservation of hominid or human remains;
• Preservation of news media (e.g., newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs);
• Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.);
• Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use;
• Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes;
• Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
• Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums;
• Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example);
• Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;
• Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants,musical compositions, plays, or other performances;
• Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;
• Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another;
• Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;
• Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation or documentation effort;
• Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;
• 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) s) Costs of fund-raising campaigns;
• Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees;
• Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.458 and approved by the Grants Officer;
• International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
• Travel or study outside the host country for professional development;
• Individual projects costing less than US $200,000 or more than $800,000;
• Independent U.S. projects overseas.

How to Apply

• The application process for the AFCP Large Grants Program consists of two rounds:
  • Round 1 (project abstract) and;
  • Round 2 (full application).
• Interested applicants must submit their complete applications at the address given on the website.

Eligible Country: Uruguay, United States.

For more information, please visit https://uy.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/113/MVD-FY2020-AFCP-LG.pdf