International Religious Freedom Fund (I-REFF) Emergency Assistance
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Primary applicants may submit one application in response to this NOFO.
Executive Summary
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor,
Office of International Religious Freedom (IRF) announces an open competition
for organizations interested in submitting applications for a program to provide
emergency financial assistance to victims of religious persecution and defenders of religious freedom.
IRF promotes religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy that
makes America stronger, safer, and more prosperous. IRF’s mission is guided by
its statutory mandate established by the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998 (IRF Act) and the Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016
(Wolf Act). The IRF Act provides that it is the policy of the United States,
“standing for liberty and standing with the persecuted, to...promote respect for
religious freedom by all governments and peoples.” To that end, the Wolf Act calls
for the State Department to issue foreign assistance awards to promote respect for
religious freedom and combat religious freedom violations.
As declared in President Trump’s Executive Order 13926, the promotion of
international religious freedom is a “national security imperative” and “a foreign
policy priority of the United States.” Pursuant to that Executive Order, IRF funds
foreign assistance programs to “anticipate, prevent, and respond to attacks against
individuals and groups on the basis of their religion, including programs designed
to help ensure that such groups can persevere as distinct communities; to promote
accountability for the perpetrators of such attacks; to ensure equal rights and legal
protections for individuals and groups regardless of belief; to improve the safety
and security of houses of worship and public spaces for all faiths; and to protect
and preserve the cultural heritages of religious communities.”
Information on religious freedom conditions globally can be found in the State
Department’s annual International Religious Freedom Report.
Applicants will be responsible for ensuring program activities and products are
implemented in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the United States
Constitution.