Opportunity Title: PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR JOURNALISTS
Opportunity Number: PAS-CHISINAU-FY19-11-MEDIA
CFDA Number: 19.900
CFDA Title: AEECA PD Programs
Program: Media Program (AEECA)
Announcement Type: Open Competition
Announcement Date: Thursday, February 21, 2019
Submission Deadline: Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Anticipated Award Date: Friday, May 10, 2019
Agency Contact: Tatiana Sanina, SaninaTS@state.gov
Program Description
The Embassy of the United States of America is seeking applications from qualified educational institutions or non-profit organizations to implement the program entitled “Professional English Language Training for Journalists” aimed to enhance the knowledge of Moldovan journalists and to apply English language skills to advance their careers and strengthen local media content through a diversity of sources. The participation of journalists working in the regions of Moldova is strongly encouraged.
The United States of America seeks to increase the level of English language proficiency of Moldova journalists seeking to improve their skills and increase their access to foreign media, experts and other sources not accessible in Moldova’s local languages. Journalists will have the opportunity to develop their language skills and be able to access foreign media and a wide spectrum of information and sources. The program will also help journalists improve their communication skills, which will facilitate interaction with their foreign sources and colleagues, and offer opportunities to grow professionally. The program needs to be designed in a manner that would accommodate the needs of the media professionals, ensuring a smooth and productive learning process.
Applications from organizations outside of Chisinau are encouraged.
Project objectives and expected outcomes:
The successful applicant will efficiently manage and implement six to 12 months of English language courses for journalists to help them improve their English language skills necessary for professional needs. The successful applicant will be responsible for ensuring the quality of the courses, including recruiting and training qualified instructors; providing relevant and diverse learning materials; assessing students before, during, and after the program; and gathering feedback.
The grant recipient will be responsible for the following activities:
- Develop and implement a management plan for the courses that will ensure quality instruction;
- Recruit, select, and hire locally-based language instructors;
- Announce a call for participants;
- Conduct tests to determine the level of spoken and written English proficiency of the journalists;
- Provide the U.S. Embassy with the results of the tests and a spreadsheet summarizing key applicant information, which will allow the Embassy to confirm which participants are selected for participation;
- Provide all relevant materials and instructions for language instructors;
- Monitor implementation of the courses by instructors;
- Organize a national seminar for language instructors on the journalism component of the language trainings, which should be incorporated into the second part of the courses to familiarize course participants with required in media environment vocabulary;
- Conduct midterm and final examinations of the students to measure progress and share the results with the Embassy;
- Provide midterm and final program reports to U.S. Embassy according to the timeline below.
Desired results and illustrative indicators
The Embassy expects that participants of the program will obtain English language skills applicable in their daily work. We expect participants should demonstrate measurable increases in their English proficiency. The English language courses should help selected participants gain practical skills to improve the quality of their work, improve English in reading, listening to, and discussing news and current events.
The participants should also show progress in the use of English to access information and report news stories. They should be encouraged to submit links to materials produced with sources or skills they developed through the course and should share anecdotal feedback on how they are able to use the knowledge and skills gained during the course in their work.
This funding opportunity is authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
Award Information
The U.S. Embassy will consider awarding grants up to $100,000.
Assistance Instruments: Grants or Fixed Amount Awards
Maximum period of performance: up to 12 months
The Embassy reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted and will determine the resulting level of funding for the award.
Eligibility
This funding opportunity is limited to not-for-profit, civil society/non-governmental organizations, and educational institutions officially registered in the Republic of Moldova with at least three years of programming experience. This experience should be documented in the organization’s proposal.
Organizations submitting proposals must meet the following criteria:
- Grants are made on a one-time basis. No repeat grants will be issued.
- Organizations should have existing, or demonstrate the capacity to develop, active partnerships with in-country entities and relevant stakeholders including the public sector, private sector, and civil society, as relevant to the proposed program objectives.
- Organizations may form consortia and submit a combined proposal. However, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant.
- Organizations may submit only one proposal.
- Public Affairs Section reserves the right to request additional background information on applicants that do not have previous experience administering federal grant awards, and these applicants may be subject to limited funding on a pilot basis.
- Please note: the Department of State prohibits profit under its assistance awards to for-profit or commercial organizations. No funds will be paid as profit to any recipient. Profit is defined as any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs. The permissibility of costs incurred by commercial organizations is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at 48 CFR Part 31, Cost Accounting Standards, and Part 31 Contract Cost Principles and Procedures. Program income earned by the recipient must be deducted from the total project or program allowable cost in determining the net allowable costs on which the federal share of costs is based.
- Please note: no entity listed on the Excluded Parties List System in the System for Award Management (SAM) is eligible for any assistance or can participate in any activities under an award in accordance with the OMB guidelines at 2 CFR 180 that implement Executive Orders 12549 (3 CFR Part 1986 Comp., p. 189) and 12689 (3 CFR Part 1989 Comp., p. 235), “Debarment and Suspension.” All applicants are strongly encouraged to review the Excluded Parties List System in SAM (www.sam.gov) to ensure that no ineligible entity is included.
The Media Development Grants Program cannot fund:
- Organizations with affiliation to elected officials, political parties, or religious groups;
- Humanitarian or charitable activities, including direct social services to populations;
- Fundraising campaigns;
- Career development;
- Political or partisan activities;
- Scientific research;
- Individual trips abroad;
- Trade activities; or
- Health projects.
Click here for APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
