Countering Violent Extremism Program in West Africa

Deadline: 30-Apr-22

The Bureau of African Affairs Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (AF/PDPA) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out virtual and in-person thematic programs in Africa.

Objectives

Research and Identify a Network of Key Influencers and Credible Messengers.
Train the Influencers to Identify Disinformation and Understand How to Counter in Their Community and Regionally.
Goals

Build a network of influencers who are trained to recognize disinformation and early warning indicators of extremist activity in their community, communicate these concerns to the community leaders and their local circle of influence to counter violent extremism, and work locally and regionally to develop community programs to address CVE.
Funding Information

Length of performance period: 10 to 12 months
Number of awards anticipated: 1 award (dependent on the amount and available funding)
Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $250,000 to a maximum of $500,000
Total available funding: $500,000
Type of Funding: FY2022 Smith-Mundt Public Diplomacy Funds
Anticipated program start date: August 1, 2022
Audience

The audiences for this program will be local civil society, media, cultural, and/or spiritual influencers, drawing upon existing networks of influencers where feasible.
Audiences should be as narrowly defined as possible.
Proposed audiences should be selected based on target audience analysis and root cause analysis to maximize the impact of the program and effectively address the problem of countering violent extremism as well as disinformation targeting vulnerable audiences.
This project will not address U.S. audiences.
Priority Region: Francophone West Africa, which must include Mali, Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso.

Eligibility Criteria

The following organizations are eligible to apply:
U.S. and African public and private non-profit organizations, and accredited post-secondary U.S. education institutions meeting the provisions described in Internal Revenue Code section 26 USC 501(c)(3).
Criteria

Participants will create their own community programs to deliver new interventions that make individuals and communities less susceptible to violent extremism.
Participants will also utilize the network to understand more broadly what is being done in the region and learn best practices from other network members.
At the end of the program, participants will have developed a community and regional action plan that connects their work with that of their regional peers.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=338770