The US PRM invites Proposals for NGO Programs Benefiting Burmese and Other Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia, Thailand and the Region

Deadline: 5 June 2014

The United States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration invites grant applications to implement NGO (non-governmental organization) Programs Benefiting Burmese and Other Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia, Thailand and the Region.

The initial planned duration for project implementation should be 12 to 24 months. Grant award will be made for 12 months which can be updated/revised each year depending on the performance and output of the implemented project/activity. The grantee will be submitting noncompeting continuation application at the time.

Priorities for Assistance to Burmese and Other Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia

1. Healthcare
   • Improve primary healthcare (including reproductive health), medical services, mental health, and psychosocial support to the urban refugee and asylum seeker populations in Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley, including the implementation of mobile health clinics.
   • Provision of nursing facilities and caretakers for refugee patients requiring recuperation and post-hospitalization nursing care.
   • Health-based training and education focusing on general health care, communicable disease prevention, treatment adherence, reproductive health, and nutrition.
2. Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
   • Improve knowledge of and changes in attitudes toward GBV within refugee and host communities.
   • Improve capacity of target communities to identify and effectively respond to GBV through healthcare (including reproductive health), psychosocial, safety, justice, and other services that involve refugee and host community members in their design and implementation.
   • Improve capacity of service providers to implement GBV prevention and response activities, including multi-sectoral referral services.

Priorities for Assistance to Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand

1. Healthcare
   • Improve access to primary healthcare (including reproductive health), medical services, mental health, and psychosocial support to vulnerable urban refugee and asylum seeker populations in Bangkok, including to facilitate access to public clinics and hospitals.
2. Education
   • Facilitate access to schools, including working with local school administrators to overcome barriers for refugee children and promote student enrollment.
   • Teach Thai language courses to facilitate refugees’ and asylum seekers’ ability to pursue formal education in Thai schools.
   • Promote official certification of their schooling applicable to when they decide on voluntary return or are resettled to a third country.
3. Protection
   • Legal assistance and counseling
   • Prevention and response to gender-based violence
   • Child protection
   • Dissemination of information to promote enhanced refugee access to protection mechanisms and programs

Priorities for Assistance to Burmese Rohingya in the Region

1. Developing Solutions
   • Strengthen dialogue between relevant actors in Burma, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, and elsewhere in the region on the humanitarian situation facing Rohingya populations to develop solutions.
   • Engagement of governments affected by Rohingya displacement in the region and solicitation of support from Rohingya and Rakhine leadership to facilitate the development of a comprehensive regional solution to address the Rohingya plight.
2. Education and Information
   • Provision of education and information on the situation of the Rohingya, including technical support, comparative knowledge and expertise, to concerned parties.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants can be nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with IRS, other than institutions of higher education; nonprofits without a 501(c)(3) status with IRS, other than institutions of higher education; and international organizations.
• Proposals must have a concrete implementation plan with well-conceived objectives and indicators that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and reliable, time-bound, and trackable (SMART), have established baselines, and include at least one outcome or impact indicator per objective; objectives should be clearly linked to the sectors.
• Proposals must adhere to relevant international standards for humanitarian assistance.
• PRM strongly encourages programs that target the needs of potentially vulnerable and underserved groups among the beneficiary population.

Note: Applications must be sent via grants.gov (except for the international organizations). New applicants who haven’t registered to grants.gov should do it early because it may take more than 2 weeks to complete the registration process.