Call for Proposals: Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation_Deadline: Dec 11, 09

The U.S. Embassy and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State are pleased to announce the 2010 call for proposals for the Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation.

The Fund was established to help countries preserve cultural heritage and to demonstrate U.S. respect for other cultures. The Fund is aimed at preserving cultural sites or objects that have an historical or cultural significance to the cultural heritage of Cambodia.

Proposals may be submitted targeting the following criteria:

• Cultural sites: This might include (but is not limited to) historical buildings and sites, sacred places, monuments, and archaeological sites. Proposals in this category may involve, for example, restoration of an historic building, an archeological survey as a component of a preservation plan, preservation management planning for a site, or documentation of sites in a region for preservation purposes.
• Cultural objects and collections: from a museum, SITE, or similar institution. This includes archaeological and ethnographic objects, paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, photographic and film collections, and general museum conservation activities. Proposals in this category may involve, for example, conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects; needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the care and preservation of collections.
• Forms of Traditional Cultural Expression: This includes traditional music, rituals, knowledge, languages, dance, drama, and crafts. Proposal in this category may involve documenting and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms as part of a traditional expression and making the information and recordings available, or support for training in preservation or traditional arts or crafts that are threatened by extinction.

Priority ActivitiesAFCP gives top priority to project activities in keeping with international standards for the preservation of cultural heritage. These activities may include:

• In the case of Cultural Sites, restoration of a historic building, an archaeological survey as a component of a preservation plan, preservation management planning for a site, or documentation of sites in a region for preservation purpose.
• In the case of Cultural objects and collections, conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects; needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the care and preservation of collections.
• In the case of forms of traditional cultural expression, documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms for preservation and eventual dissemination, or support for training in the preservation of traditional arts or crafts that are threatened by extinction.

An appropriate preservation activity is one that protects the values of the site, object or collection, or form of traditional cultural expression as they are understood by stakeholders. Stakeholders may include national, regional, or local cultural authorities, the local community, and others with vested interests in the site and the outcome of a project.

Special Note Regarding Sites and Objects that Have a religious Connection: The establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within an aid program under certain conditions. For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary significance and is nominated solely on the basis of architectural, artistic, historical or other cultural (not religious) criteria. For more information, please contact Nhim Pheakdey at 023-728179; or Chau Sa at 023-728248.

Application Guidelines
The deadline for submitting a proposal in English is Friday, December 11, 2009. Proposal shall be submitted to:Nhim Pheakdey, Cultural Affairs Assistant Re: The Ambassador's Fund for Cultural PreservationPublic Affairs OfficeU.S. Embassy1, Street 96, Phnom Penh.

Proposals shall not exceed 1,000 words (excluding budget). Proposals must include the following information:

1. Project Title: A short, descriptive title – up to 10 words
2. Project Purpose and Summary: Responses to these questions: What are the objectives of the project? In a brief summary: What is the nature of the cultural resource, what is the problem; and what is the intended result?
3. Project Location: The location of the site or resource, and some description.
4. Detailed Project Description: A full description of the work to be undertaken. What is the objectives, tasks, methods, previous related actions, roles of personnel and materials to be used, the larger context of the proposed work, bibliography, etc.)
5. Project Time frame - Sequence & Duration of Activities: Detailed time line describing the stages of the proposed project from start to finish. Project duration should be no more than 12-18 months. However, Maximum length of larger project may be up to 60 months, with five 12-month budget periods.
6. Statement of Significance: Describe the cultural / artistic / historical significance of the resource on which the project will focus.
7. Statement of Urgency: Describe the specific threat (e.g., imminent physical collapse, damage from insect infestation, improper storage, loss of a cultural tradition, etc.), and it is important to address it now
8. Rationale for U.S. Support: If the proposed project is part of a larger effort, what is the specific component of the work that the U.S. would cover? Any link to U.S. foreign policy?
9. Detailed Project Budget: A detailed budget indicating expenditure of funds to include a narrative statement for each proposed budget item. Specify other source(s) of funding if any (in-kind contribution) from the Cambodian government, international organization, NGOs, and private sector. Create a budget worksheet in MS Excel (Excel - 251 KB). These may include but not limited to:
   . Salaries/Wages/Consultant Fees - Involved staff (provide name, position, and task); orTask (specify whether he/she is a conservator, mason, speaker)
   . Travel - Specify who, where, how long, and why
   . Materials & Supplies - Estimate the amount and cost of materials needed for the project
   . Equipment - Justify the need to buy equipment in budget narrative, and the cost of each . Administrative Costs (phone, fax, postage, freight, photocopying, printing, etc… list all details)
10. Organization Information: Information about the organization that would do the work and about the people involved (contact person, project director, address, phone, cellular phone, fax, email, and website).
11. Resumes of the project director and professional staff: résumé of the project director and professional staff involved in the project
12. Official permission to undertake the project: a letter from the local/national authority responsible for the site or resource indicating that the prospective grantee has the support of that authority, and permission to undertake the project.
    Other funding sources, if any
13. Attachments: include at least three digital images (JPEGS) or audiovisual files of the site, object, or form of expression to be addressed in the proposed project.

General NotesRestrictions: AFCP does not support the following:

• 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 proposal submission;
• Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.);
• Preservation of hominid or human remains;
• Preservation of news media (newspaper, newsreels, etc.);
• Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.);
• Archaeological excavations or surveys for research purposes
• Historical research, except in cases where historical research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
• Acquisition or creation of new collections for new or existing museums;
• Construction of new buildings;
• Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes;
• Creation of replicas or re-creation of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;
• Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location or another;
• Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason;
• Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless art of a larger, clearly defined conservation effort;
• Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies;
• Cash reserves, endowments or revolving funds; funds must be expended within the award period and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund or otherwise spent over any years;
• Costs of fund-raising campaigns for preservation;
• Operating expenses, i.e. expenses incurred during the day-to-day operational activities of an organization, such as, office rent, utilities, license fees, and other costs for administrative time, services, or materials not directly related to performing project work;
• Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous fees;
• Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award;
• International travel, except in cases where travel for outside specialists is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
• Individual projects costing less than US $10,000; or
• Awards to individuals or commercial entities.

Strong encouragement is given to local non-U.S. government source cost-sharing (including in-kind) from sources such as governments, international organizations, and the private sector.
For more information, please contact Nhim Pheakdey at 023-728179; or Chau Sa at 023-728248.

Moreinfo: http://cambodia.usembassy.gov/afcp_call_for_proposals.html