Deadline: 16 July 2019

U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics-Law Enforcement (INL) is seeking applictions for its grant program entitled “Ecuador Justice Sector Capacity Building Program to Combat Transnational Crime and Narcotrafficking”.

This project will serve as an implementing mechanism for assessing Ecuador’s justice sector, sharing best practices in judicial and legislative reforms, and providing rapid deployment of INL anti-crime and justice subject matter expertise, training, and technical assistance to facilitate investigating and prosecuting crime, including transnational organized crimes, such as maritime narcotics trafficking and money laundering. The implementer may look to employ local or regional experts, who are familiar with the Ecuadorian legal system and speak Spanish. While targeted, efficient assessments will likely be required throughout the course of this project, the primary objective of this project is not a broad assessment. Proposed activities should focus on capacity-building assistance.

Components

• Component I: Institutional Capacity Building
  • Project Goals:
    • Build Ecuadorian partner capacity and knowledge to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, investigate and prosecute transnational crime, and seize illicitly-obtained assets.
    • Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice sector within a framework of professional impartiality, responsibility, and ethics.
    • Strengthen learning strategies and methods.
    • Promote interagency cooperation among Ecuadorian criminal justice institutions and, as appropriate, with other countries in the region.
    • Long-term goals include improving the transparency and capabilities of Ecuadorian criminal justice systems to operate sustainably and effectively.
  • Activities:
    • Training, mentoring, technical assistance, and rapid sub-project deployments.
  • Objectives:
    • Promote legal and judicial reforms that facilitate prosecution of transnational crime.
    • Strengthen inter-institutional cooperation in the law enforcement and judicial sectors to build strong cases against transnational crime that result in convictions and dismantling of crime organizations.
    • Train police and justice sector officials, including but not limited to judges, prosecutors, and public defenders.
  • Performance Measures:
    • Number of prosecutions and convictions of transnational crime, narcotrafficking and related cases.
    • World Justice Project perception indicators by country addressing the following:
    • Efficiency of the criminal justice system
    • Due process under the law (improve .47 score and ranking of 85 out of 113 countries globally and 23/30 Latin American countries in 2017-2018)
    • Number of justice sector officials (not including police) receiving U.S.-government supported training. Disaggregated by gender and province.
    • Number of police receiving U.S.-government supported training. Disaggregated by gender and unit.
• Component II: Financial Crimes Project
  • Goal: Undercut the profitability of drug trafficking and related transnational crime and dismantle criminal financial networks.
  • Objectives:
    • Promote asset recovery legislation.
    • Establish the practice of asset recovery.
    • Increase the number of successful money laundering prosecutions in Ecuador.
    • Performance Measures: o Enactment of asset recovery legislation.
    • USD value of assets recovered through asset recovery.
    • Number of successful money laundering prosecutions.
• Component III: Maritime Crime Project
  • Goal: Deter the trafficking of cocaine and other illicit goods, as well as the smuggling of licit goods, through and from Ecuador by improving prosecutorial capacity.
  • Objectives:
    • Empower Ecuador to interdict cocaine and disrupt maritime crime through maritime law enforcement.
    • Empower Ecuador to prosecute drug traffickers.
  • Activities (inputs):
    • Deliver training and technical assistance to build Ecuadorian government capacity to investigate and prosecute maritime crime.
    • Provide training, advise on procurements, and provide technical support to maximize the effectiveness of maritime law enforcement operations.
  • Performance Measures:
    • Amount of maritime drug seizures with U.S. government assistance.
    • Number of maritime crime investigations and prosecutions in Ecuador.

Target Population

Ecuadorian criminal justice sector professionals. Applicants should identify specific target audiences, specific demographics, and the region(s) in which the project will be implemented. It is particularly important to specify the approximate number of beneficiaries to be directly and indirectly impacted by project activities.

Funding Information

• Award Ceiling: $750,000
• Award Floor: $500,000

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility for this NOFO is limited to:
  • Applicants that qualify to receive U.S. grants (such as U.S. not-for-profit/nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) or U.S. based educational institutions subject to section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code; foreign not-for-profits/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or foreign based educational institutions, with the ability to develop and successfully implement a project in countries noted in this NOFO and meet INL’s reporting requirements. Organizations must also be able to demonstrate current (or pending) country registration in CBSI countries and Haiti and meet INL’s reporting requirements. Organizations must also be able to demonstrate current (or pending) country registration in CBSI Countries and Haiti, if required by the country of project implementation.
  • AND
  • Applicants must have demonstrated experience implementing similar capacity building programs, preferably across multiple Ecuadorian countries or other countries in the Western Hemisphere. INL reserves the right to request additional background information on organizations that do not have previous experience administering similar programs and/or federal grant awards.
  • Applicants must have the ability to produce course materials, deliver training, and conduct evaluations in English and Spanish. The applicant’s staff should be proficient in English in order to fulfill reporting requirements.
  • Applicants must have existing, or the capacity to develop, active partnerships with stakeholders in order to successfully carry out the proposed program.
  • Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant.
  • Applicants must be able to respond to the NOFO and be able to mobilize in a short period of time.
• PLEASE NOTE: Public International Organizations (PIOs) and For-Profit Organizations are excluded from applying to this grant announcement.
• To be eligible for a grant award, in addition to other conditions of this NOFO, organizations must have a commitment to non‐discrimination with respect to beneficiaries and adherence to equal opportunity employment practices. Non‐discrimination includes equal treatment without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and political affiliation.
• Applicants are reminded that U.S. Executive Orders and U.S. law prohibits transactions with, and the provision of resources and support to, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism. It is the legal responsibility of the Recipient to ensure compliance with these Executive Orders and laws. This provision must be included in any sub‐awards issued under this grant award.
• INL encourages applications from potential new partners.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply online via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=316581