FY 2012 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO programs benefiting Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu, India | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The FY 2012 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled "FY 2012 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO programs benefiting Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu, India" is a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) competitive funding opportunity to support humanitarian assistance for Sri Lankan refugees living in Tamil Nadu, India. The award mechanism is a cooperative agreement, meaning PRM expects an ongoing level of programmatic engagement and oversight compared to a simpler grant. The opportunity was posted March 22, 2012, with an application deadline of April 24, 2012 (and an archive date of May 24, 2012). The assistance is categorized under refugee assistance, and the CFDA number referenced is 19.519 (Overseas Refugee Assistance Program for Near East and South Asia).

PRM makes clear that funded activities should primarily benefit Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu and must fall within one or more priority sectors: Protection, Shelter and Infrastructure, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), and/or Livelihoods. While PRM is open to proposals from NGOs working in any of these sectors, the FOA frames these priorities as the core filter for competitiveness, and it signals that proposals are expected to be designed around established humanitarian norms and standards rather than ad hoc service delivery.

Within Protection programming, PRM encourages proposals that address prevention of and/or response to gender-based violence (GBV), trafficking, school abandonment, empowerment of women and children, and psychosocial support. The FOA also highlights a specific protection-related population: stateless refugees who may be eligible to regain Sri Lankan citizenship under the Government of Sri Lanka's 2009 amendment to the Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act. This is a notable inclusion because it links protection work not only to immediate safety and wellbeing concerns, but also to legal identity and durable solutions, which PRM routinely treats as a protection priority.

For Shelter and Infrastructure and for WASH, PRM emphasizes compliance with Sphere standards, which are widely used benchmarks for humanitarian quality and accountability. Shelter projects are expected to be planned and implemented with meaningful involvement of the beneficiary population and in coordination with local governments, and they should be designed with sensitivity to the norms and conditions in surrounding Indian host communities. In practical terms, that language signals that PRM is looking for projects that avoid creating tension with host populations and that incorporate local authority participation, rather than operating in isolation within refugee sites.

In the Livelihoods sector, PRM allows livelihood components but draws a firm line against standalone vocational training that is not tied to income generation or job placement strategies. This requirement is meant to push applicants to propose livelihoods activities that can plausibly translate into real economic outcomes, such as support to microenterprises, market-linked skills training, apprenticeships tied to employers, or job placement pathways. The FOA specifically notes that microcredit for small enterprises has had success in Tamil Nadu and may be appropriate inside refugee communities, and it also flags PRM interest in projects that can connect refugees who may return to Sri Lanka during implementation with livelihoods support in Sri Lanka. That cross-border linkage is a subtle but important cue: PRM is not only funding services in India, but is also interested in programming that supports voluntary return and reintegration when refugees choose that option.

Because the funding pool is limited, PRM lays out explicit attributes that will make proposals more competitive. Priority is given to organizations that can demonstrate a working relationship with UNHCR, have current UNHCR funding, and/or can provide a UNHCR letter of support that clearly explains the service gap the project will address. PRM also prioritizes proven track record in the relevant sector and location, including the practical ability to access Sri Lankan refugee camps as needed, which is a key operational constraint in many refugee contexts. Strong coordination is another major evaluation theme: applicants are expected to show active coordination with international organizations, other NGOs, and local authorities rather than duplicating services.

On program design and performance management, the FOA is unusually specific about what PRM expects to see. Applicants are asked to submit a concrete implementation plan with SMART objectives and indicators (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and reliable, time-bound and trackable), with established baselines where possible, and at least one outcome or impact indicator per objective. PRM is also pushing applicants to improve location and beneficiary specificity for monitoring: proposals should include clear information on project locations and populations served, and any project that builds or maintains physical infrastructure must provide site coordinates (place name, P-code, latitude, and longitude). This is meant to strengthen PRM's ability to track what was built or improved, where it occurred, and who benefited.

A major theme of the FOA is sustainability and exit planning. PRM requires a strong transition plan that explains how activities and services will be moved to local governance structures, local organizations, development actors, or self-reliance strategies, explicitly noting that follow-on PRM funding is not guaranteed. If the proposal includes direct service provision or capacity building, it must include objectives and indicators that measure steps to phase out direct NGO service delivery and/or transition management to other actors. In other words, PRM is not just asking for an end-of-project narrative; it is asking applicants to build measurable transition milestones into the results framework from the start.

Funding levels are framed both at the overall and per-award scale. PRM anticipates roughly $1.5 million total available in FY 2012 for this refugee response in Tamil Nadu. Individual project budgets are expected to fall between $200,000 and $1,000,000 (the award floor and ceiling). While cost sharing is not a requirement, PRM states that it looks favorably on cost sharing and prefers projects with a diverse donor base and/or resources contributed by the applicant organization. Budget presentation is expected to be transparent, with a specific breakdown of funding from UNHCR, other U.S. government agencies, other donors, and the applicant itself, reinforcing PRM's preference for coordinated, multi-donor humanitarian financing.

Eligibility is geared toward nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education) and international organizations. Proposals are submitted through Grants.gov only, and the FOA repeatedly warns applicants not to underestimate registration timelines. Organizations must have a DUNS number and be registered in the Central Contractor Registry (CCR at the time), which can take weeks and may take longer for non-U.S. NGOs. The FOA also outlines the process for handling Grants.gov technical failures: applicants must first contact the Grants.gov help desk, obtain a case number, and then contact the PRM program officer to discuss whether an alternative submission method is appropriate, making clear that this exception hinges on documented technical issues.

The FOA points applicants to PRM's General NGO Guidelines as the governing set of administrative and technical rules, and it stresses that proposals that do not meet all requirements in the guidelines will not be considered. PRM strongly encourages use of its recommended proposal and budget templates, available by emailing the PRM NGO Coordinator with "PRM NGO Templates" in the subject line. There are also additional compliance and documentation requirements for NGOs that have not received PRM funding since the fiscal year ending September 30, 2004, including providing the most recent external audit, proof of 501(c)(3) status, and organizational identifiers such as DUNS and EIN/Federal Tax ID.

Reporting obligations are substantial and reflect PRM's accountability expectations. Program reporting includes quarterly and final narrative reports that describe and analyze results achieved during the agreement period, and PRM recommends using its program report template. Financial reporting is required within 30 days after the end of each calendar year quarter, with a final financial report due within 90 days after the agreement ends. For organizations that received PRM funding in FY 2011 and are reapplying for similar activities under this announcement, PRM requires submission of the most recent quarterly progress report against previously agreed indicators, plus updates if the last report is more than six weeks old at the time of application.

Finally, the selection process is explicitly competitive. PRM convenes a review panel that evaluates proposals against PRM priorities and the published criteria, within the limits of available funding. PRM may request revised proposals and/or budgets after panel feedback, and final award decisions are communicated formally after Bureau management review. The FOA includes multiple points of contact for technical questions, including the PRM program officer in Washington, D.C., regional refugee coordination staff based at the U.S. Embassy Kathmandu, and political and economic staff at the U.S. Consulate General Chennai, reflecting that both programmatic and regional operational considerations matter in this funding stream.

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