About

The U.S. Embassy in Djibouti and the Cultural Heritage Center (The Center) of the Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs are pleased to announce the 2024 call for proposals for the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) Grants Program.

Since its inception in 2001, AFCP has helped preserve archeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression and around the world.

Program Objectives

• The Department of State established the AFCP in 2000 at the request of Congress (Conference Report 106-1005 accompanying H.R. 4942). At the time, the Senate noted that the preservation of cultural heritage “offers an opportunity to show a different American face to other countries, one that is non-commercial, non-political, and nonmilitary.” The projects recommended for funding advance U.S. foreign policy goals and show respect for other cultures. Cultural preservation is effective public diplomacy that resonates deeply with opinion leaders and local communities, even in countries where ties may be otherwise limited. AFCP projects strengthen civil society, encourage good governance, and promote political and economic stability around the world.

Funding Information

• Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $500,000

• Length of performance period: 12 to 60 months

• Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 60 months or less.

Funding Areas

• The AFCP Grants Program supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts.  Appropriate project activities may include:

  • Anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original parts);

  • Conservation (addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site);

  • Consolidation (connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site);

  • Documentation (recording in analog or digital format the condition and salient features of an object, site, or tradition);

  • Inventory (listing of objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristic or state);

  • Preventive Conservation (addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition);

  • Restoration (replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate only with fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings);

  • Stabilization (reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site).

Performance and Deliverables

• AFCP 2024 award recipients must submit performance progress reports, federal financial status reports, and final reports on time as specified in the Notice of Award. Upon completion of an AFCP project, the Center will also ask implementers to respond to an online survey about their project and experience with the AFCP program. In cases where the proposed public diplomacy or other expected impacts may not be fully realized at the immediate conclusion of the project, the Center may request continued voluntary reporting on specific topics. The Center may compile this information into reports to Congress and other documents.

Eligibility

Eligible Project Implementers

• The Center defines eligible project implementers as reputable and accountable non-commercial entities that can demonstrate they have the requisite capacity to manage projects to preserve cultural heritage. Eligible implementers may include non-governmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.-based educational institutions and organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous awards.

• Potential implementers must be registered and active in the U.S. government’s System for Award Management (SAM) to receive U.S. federal assistance. If an embassy’s project idea is advanced to Round 2 and the anticipated implementing partner has not registered itself in SAM, the embassy should work with them to initiate the registration process immediately, so it is in place in the event the project is ultimately selected for an award. 

• Embassies vet potential implementers for eligibility, suitability, and reputable performance in cultural preservation or similar activities and ensure that they are able to receive U.S. federal assistance.

Post Date: November 28, 2023