U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Grants Program

Full implementation of the program is pending the availability of FY 2024 funds and evaluation of the safety and security situation in Sudan broadly and the proposed project site specifically. Interested institutions are urged to consult with the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum as soon as possible for details. 

AFCP Program Objectives:  

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) 

Competition Format: 

The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum will select proposals through a two-part process. Applicants must first submit a concept note which concisely and clearly communicates a program idea and its objectives before requiring the development of a full proposal application. Upon review of eligible proposals, U.S. Embassy Khartoum, in consultation with the Cultural Heritage Center of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (“the Center”), will invite selected applicants to expand their ideas into full proposal applications. 

Concept Notes should include the following: 

a) Project Basics, including working title, anticipated project length (no more than 60 months), location/site, and project cost estimate (amount requested from AFCP; in U.S. dollars); 

b) Details about the Project Implementer; 

c) Project Scope of Work summarizing the preservation goals and any broader host country or community goals (i.e., what the implementer hopes to gain from the project beyond the preserved heritage and how they plan to get there) as well as the significance of the project itself (why is this project/site important, what will its preservation contribute to the field of cultural heritage and what would be lost by not protecting it, the impact of preservation locally and/or globally, why the project should be supported by AFCP, etc.); 

d) Five (5) high quality digital images (JPEGs) or audiovisual files that convey the nature and condition of the site, collection, or tradition and show the urgency or need for the proposed project (collapsing walls, water damage, etc.). 

Applicants should also include a Risk Assessment and Monitoring Plan of no more than one page, detailing the potential difficulties to be encountered in the implementation of this project, ways the implementer envisions reducing these risks in their planning, and a proposed monitoring plan.  

Concept Notes and Risk Assessments should be submitted via email to KhartoumEmbassyGrants@state.gov. 

Ineligible Activities and Unallowable Costs: 

AFCP does NOT support the following activities or costs, and the Center will deem applications requesting AFCP support for any of these activities or costs ineligible: 

a) Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application. 

b) Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.) unless the natural heritage has a cultural heritage connection or dimension. 

c) Preservation of hominid or human remains. 

d) Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.). 

e) Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.). 

f) Development of curricula or educational materials for classroom use. 

g) Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes. 

h) Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project. 

i) Acquisition or creation of new exhibits, objects, or collections for new or existing museums. 

j) Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example). 

k) Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes. 

l) Creation of new or the modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances. 

m) Creation of replicas or conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist. 

n) Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another. 

o) Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason. 

p) Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation, documentation, or public diplomacy effort. 

q) Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies. 

r) Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund). 

s) Costs of fund-raising campaigns. 

t) Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs or fees. 

u) Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.458 and approved by the Grants Officer. 

v) International travel, except in cases where travel is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project or to provide project leaders with learning and exchange opportunities with cultural heritage experts. 

w) Individual projects costing less than US $10,000 or more than $500,000. 

x) Independent U.S. projects overseas. 

Disclaimer: 

 

Issuance of this funding opportunity does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the AFCP program or the U.S. government. The Center reserves the right to waive program formalities and to reduce, revise, or increase project scopes and budgets in accordance with the needs of the program and the availability of funds.