The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) announces the call for Applications from organizations interested in providing Hausa-language TV content via free-to-air satellite – with a footprint to cover northern Nigeria.
CT invites organizations to submit applications outlining a project concept and capacity to develop and manage a free-to-air Hausa-language satellite TV channel aimed at youth residing in northern Nigeria. In pursuit of CT’s long-term goal of reducing audience receptivity to terrorist recruiters, this project supports the following CT objectives: create positive themes and narratives to compete with those of violent extremist ideologues; and displace the violent extremist worldview.
Specifications
- The successful applicant will demonstrate capacity to leverage the satellite platform to intensify audience engagement through complementary content in at least one other medium. An award is subject to the availability of funding.
- Programming material should fall within the category of general entertainment (GE), including, but not limited to:
- Talk shows (including public affairs in a talk format);
- Children’s programming;
- Comedies;
- Dramas;
- Films; and
- Adult education (ranging from cooking shows to language-learning).
Note: Content may not include news or political reporting.
Worth of Awards
- Funding Mechanism Type: Cooperative Agreement
- Estimated Number of Awards: One Award
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $5,900,000 – $6,100,000
- Project Period of Performance: 31 months, including start-up and close-out
- Period of Channel Operations: 24 months
Eligibility
The successful applicant may be a public or private academic institution, non-governmental organization, or for-profit entity. Applicants that are for-profit entities are reminded that profit may not be earned on U.S. Federal Foreign Assistance.
- Public and state controlled institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(C)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- For profit organizations other than small businesses
- Others (see text field entitled Ädditional Information on Eligibility”for clarification)
How to Apply
CT invites organizations to submit applications outlining a project concept and capacity to develop and manage a free-to-air Hausa-language satellite TV channel aimed at youth residing in northern Nigeria.
How to Submit an Online Application:
All funding opportunities and application kits are made available on Grants.gov. If your organization has/had a grantee business relationship with a grant program serviced by the Office of Grants Management, and you are applying as part of ongoing grantee related activities, please access GrantSolutions.gov. In order to apply electronically you must first have a GrantSolutions user account. If you are already an existing grantee, please login to GrantSolutions using your existing grantee username and password. If you do not remember your account information or have not been assigned a grantee account, please contact the GrantSolutions Help Desk at (866)577-0771 or by email at [email protected] . GrantSolutions provides you the ability for existing grantee organizations to submit their entire application online. However, please note that all required signatures must still be “original hardcopy signatures” and must be received by the Grants Servicing Office by the due date requirements as specified in the grant announcement.
How to Submit a Paper Application:
Please print, complete, and mail the required application kit enclosures to the Grants Servicing Office by the due date requirements as specified in the grant announcement.
- PLEASE NOTE: CT urges potential applicants to register immediately with www.sam.gov and Grants.gov.
- Applicants are advised that it can take up to one week to complete SAM registration before it is possible to start registering for Grants.gov. Subsequently, it may take up to one week to register with Grants.gov (i.e., to obtain a username and password), for a total time to register of up to two weeks.
- Requirements: In order to be considered for funding, all of the following are required. Applicants that fail to adhere to these requirements will be deemed non-responsive to the RFA and will not be considered further. Unless an item is marked “exempt from page limit,” that item is subject to the overall 30-page limit for the submission.
- Project Narrative: Applicants shall describe the efforts the applicant will undertake to address the priorities and goals of this announcement.
- Budget: Applicants shall submit a budget that covers the entire project period. The budget should be accompanied by a detailed budget and budget narrative in MS Excel format. All costs should be broken down by unit and cost to the maximum extent possible. Applicants shall utilize the broad budget categories outlined in the U.S. government form (Organizations must also fill out and submit SF-424 and SF-424B forms, as directed on Grants.gov.) Applicants shall include the amount requested of the U.S. government, as well as the non-U.S. government cost-share, if any, and program income or revenue
- Sub-Award to Local Partners Plan: Applicants will be asked to sub-award to local partners at least 50 percent of the content production work by cost (i.e., at least half of the proposed production costs must be sub-awarded to entities domiciled in a country where Hausa or another language of northern Nigeria is commonly spoken). Local partners – content providers domiciled in Nigeria or another West African country with a significant Hausa speaking population that is eligible to receive Federal Foreign Assistance – may serve as contract content producers. Alternatively, they may provide production facilities, dubbing or sub-titling services, licensed content, professional staff, or any combination of the foregoing. This sub-award plan should explain, briefly, what types of production work the implementer intends to sub-award and to whom. If the implementer foresees building the capacity of a local partner or partners as part of this award, that should be mentioned here. Applicants proposing to award less than 50 percent of the content production work by cost shall briefly explain why this threshold cannot be met.
- Demonstration of Experience and Expertise
- The successful application will demonstrate the applicant’s track record of:
- Producing innovative content that counters violent extremist narratives;
- Cost-effectively adapting proven themes to new audiences and markets;
- Promoting, through general entertainment (GE), rule of law, social and religious tolerance, gender equity, and popular participation in national affairs;
- Developing immature advertising markets;
- Building and enhancing local media capacity and professionalism; and
- Understanding the Hausa-speaking peoples and cultures of northern Nigeria.
- CT understands that few single existing entities would be able to demonstrate all aspects of the required track record; therefore, CT will accept applications by consortia, provided that one member of the consortium serves as the lead partner (“primary applicant”) for purposes of negotiation and award. In the case of application by a consortium, the primary applicant shall submit a detailed project plan outlining the roles and responsibilities of the other partners in the consortium and how the consortium will both work and consult with CT. The primary applicant must submit a letter of commitment from each partner in the consortium. Sub-award partners (see above) may be considered part of a consortium. If an applicant (whether an existing entity or a consortium) fails to meet all six of the “Experience and Expertise” criteria listed in (4) above, CT will not consider that applicant non-responsive. However, if all other evaluative factors are equal, applicants that do meet all six criteria will achieve higher scores in the evaluative process.
- To ensure all applications receive a balanced evaluation, the CT Review Committee will review each application up to the page limit and no further. The page limit is 30 pages. Applications should not exceed 30 pages (including required attachments that are subject to the page limit), plus no more than 60 minutes of video clips. The programming grid, staff resumes, and letters of intent do not count against the 30-page maximum, but no resume should exceed one page. All submissions should be formatted in 12-pt Times New Roman to print on 8.5×11-inch paper, with one-inch margins on all sides. Submission should not be formatted to print on A4 paper.
Deadline: All applications must be submitted electronically via Grants.gov or GrantSolutions.gov by 11:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on July 11, 2013.
Click to read more and apply online