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United States Department of State (DOS)

Promoting Technology for the Common Good and Countering Authoritarian Influence

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Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Applicants may be included as a subgrantee on other proposals.

Executive Summary
This proposal will support cooperation between the State Department and an implementing partner that will bring together stakeholders from governments, academia, civil society, industry, and faith-based organizations to engage in academic research, events, and other activities that: advance a human-centered approach to emerging technology which respects the inherent dignity and unalienable natural rights of all individuals, develop intellectual understandings of the dignity of the human person and unalienable rights, and counter authoritarian influences that undermine fundamental freedoms. While advancing a pro-innovation, industry-led, multistakeholder approach to the development of technology, including AI, the program will foster cooperation between the implementing partners and other stakeholders to ensure technology promotes human flourishing and the common good. The program will also identify and counter malign authoritarian influences that threaten fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion or belief, and human dignity, with a particular focus on how authoritarian institutions attempt to influence or hamper faith-based institutions. Program implementers may include academic institutions, civil society groups, industry, and religious organizations working in close collaboration to produce research, promote best practices, conduct public education campaigns, engage in advocacy, and otherwise promote technology development grounded in natural law, human dignity, and the common good.

Promoting Sovereignty and Rule of Law in Europe

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Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Applicants may be included as a subgrantee on other proposals.

Executive Summary
This program will document and analyze democratic backsliding in Europe as it relates to mass migration, with a particular emphasis on research regarding the human rights and social impacts of the mass migration crisis in Europe.

Funding Type
External Deadline
8/31/2026
Solicitation Type

Promoting Responsible Investment and Rights Respecting Production Models

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Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

Executive Summary
This program will help responsible businesses counter unfair competition from production models relying on forced labor, worker exploitation, and other violations or abuses of internationally recognized labor rights. The program will also promote worker upskilling by working with leading foreign companies in critical industries to develop and strengthen private- sector workforce development practices and programs that support resilient, rights-respecting supply chains. 

Through a phased, evidence-based approach, the program will first conduct research and engage foreign companies and other relevant stakeholders to identify workforce-related barriers to investment and expansion, assess promising workforce development practices, identify effective private-sector upskilling models in critical industries, and develop recommendations for targeted interventions. Informed by these findings, the program will then provide subawards to qualified implementing partners to address identified gaps through activities such as strengthening partnerships between foreign companies and U.S. workforce stakeholders, adapting and piloting employer-led workforce development approaches, developing and implementing worker upskilling initiatives for companies operating in critical industries, facilitating technical exchanges and peer learning, providing practical guidance and technical assistance, and strengthening worker voice and engagement. 

Through these efforts, this program will seek to reduce workforce-related barriers to responsible foreign investment, expand opportunities for American workers, promote workforce upskilling and responsible production practices among companies in critical industries, and advance investment and production models grounded in innovation, productivity, workforce skills, and respect for internationally recognized labor rights.

Research Category
Funding Type
External Deadline
8/31/2026
Solicitation Type

Documentation of Human Rights Abuses by Organized Criminal Groups

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Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Applicants may be included as a subgrantee on other proposals.

Executive Summary

Priority Region: WHA - Target countries include Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico (applicants should select one or more of the target countries based on organizational capacity and expertise)

Transnational organized criminal groups and narcoterrorists perpetrate human rights abuses against civilian communities across Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico, creating a humanitarian crisis with direct consequences for U.S. national security. The United States has designated multiple criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), recognizing their involvement in kidnappings, extortion, murder, human trafficking, and sexual violence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio identified transnational criminal organizations, which often are fueled by narcotrafficking, as the region's most urgent security threat. These abuses destabilize the region and generate billions in illicit revenue that funds further corruption and violence. 

Judicial systems already facing severe capacity constraints are vulnerable to corruption, enabling impunity for organized crime abuses. Across Latin America, drug cartels have assassinated multiple municipal leaders, prosecutors, judges, and port personnel. Criminal organizations systematically target justice officials to maintain impunity, undermining the rule of law. This impunity perpetuates cycles of violence, as criminal organizations operate without fear of prosecution, creating an environment where human rights abuses continue unchecked. 

To respond to these issues, DRL seeks proposals for 1-2 programs that aim to strengthen accountability for human rights abuses committed by organized crime groups in Latin America. Resulting programs will improve how civic organizations document violations and collect evidence of human rights abuses for use in accountability mechanisms, expand community access to protection and legal support services, analyze how abuses drive mass and illegal migration, and advance judicial security, transparency, and reform through strategic advocacy. Through these efforts, the program will reduce impunity for organized crime- related human rights abuses and increase protection for affected communities and human rights defenders, thereby increasing security in the Western Hemisphere.

Funding Type
External Deadline
8/31/2026
Solicitation Type

Documentation of Hateful Rhetoric Targeting Minority Populations in South Africa

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Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

Executive Summary
While South Africa is considered one of Africa’s most developed countries, it continues to experience significant levels of violence and crime, including crimes affecting Afrikaner and other minority communities across the country. These minority populations face ongoing threats to their safety and security within a broader context of elevated crime rates. Minority communities experience distinct vulnerabilities that warrant focused attention and documentation, including lack of policing resources, discriminatory government policies, and violent rhetoric. 

This proposed program will seek to document hateful rhetoric and violent acts against minority communities, assess access to justice and law enforcement protection, as well as research widespread violence affecting both minorities and the broader population in South Africa. The implementing partner will conduct conflict sensitive research and data collection to create a 3 comprehensive record of violence affecting Afrikaner and other South African minority populations in line with international standards and develop recommendations for how to improve the law enforcement situation to ensure equal protection.

Research Category
Funding Type
External Deadline
9/3/2026
Solicitation Type

Project Constellation: Building a Constellation of Outer Space Partners at the UN

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Limiting Language 
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, only the first time-stamped application submission will be review for technical eligibility.

Executive Summary 
The U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna advances U.S. foreign policy through multilateral diplomacy with the major international organizations headquartered in Vienna, including the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). As the U.S. Mission accredited to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and other Vienna-based international organizations, UNVIE is uniquely positioned to promote implementation of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the three other core space treaties, non- binding guidelines and best practices adopted by COPUOS, and other measures to strengthen international cooperation that advances the peaceful, responsible, and commercially beneficial uses of outer space. 

The global space economy is undergoing unprecedented growth as governments, private industry, universities, entrepreneurs, and investors expand commercial space capabilities and develop innovative technologies. Participation in this rapidly evolving sector offers countries new opportunities to promote economic growth, strengthen innovation ecosystems, develop highly skilled workforces, improve public services, and increase international competitiveness. 

While established spacefaring nations continue to lead many aspects of the sector, an increasing number of emerging space nations are developing national space policies, institutions, and commercial capabilities to support their participation in the global space economy. Many of these countries are seeking trusted international partners that can help strengthen institutional capacity, foster entrepreneurship, expand commercial opportunities, and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers, business leaders, and policymakers. Although numerous bilateral partnerships already exist among governments, universities, research institutions, and private companies, these relationships are often developed separately from international legal and policy debates on civil and commercial space at the UN, limiting the cross-pollination of technical standards, best practices, and policy approaches between global forums like COPUOS and regional or bilateral initiatives. 

The United States possesses one of the world's most dynamic and integrated space ecosystems, combining government leadership, world-class universities, research institutions, innovative startups, established commercial companies, investors, nonprofit organizations, and international partnerships. By connecting partner countries with this broad ecosystem, the United States can improve alignment between U.S. and foreign partners’ policy approaches to UN forums like COPUOS, while strengthening national space ecosystems and promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, commercial engagement, workforce development, and mutually beneficial economic partnerships. 

As the home of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), Vienna provides a uniquemultilateral platform for fostering these partnerships. Building upon the successful inaugural U.S. Space Forum in 2025, the U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna (UNVIE) is launching Project Constellation: Building a Constellation of Outer Space Partners at the United Nations as a long-term international partnership platform that strengthens collaboration among governments, industry, academia, entrepreneurs, and international organizations while supporting capacity building in emerging space economies that advances practical implementation of international obligations and non-binding guidelines and best practices adopted through COPUOS. 

Consistent with the objectives of Economic Support Funds (ESF), Project Constellation seeks to strengthen innovation ecosystems, promote entrepreneurship and commercial engagement, build institutional and workforce capacity, and expand economic opportunities through sustainable international partnerships. 

The U.S. Department of State, U.S Mission to International Organizations in Vienna (UNVIE) announces an open competition for organizations (see eligibility information in C.1) interested in submitting an application to implement a project aimed at.

Funding Type
External Deadline
9/4/2026
Solicitation Type

Global Cybercrime and Cryptocurrency Assessment and Intelligence Gathering

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Limiting Language 
Applicants must address only one strategic goal per application but may address one or more objectives within that goal. Applicants may submit only one application per goal. Submitting multiple applications for the same goal will result in all applications for that goal being deemed ineligible for technical review. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal; however, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).

Goal Areas

  • Goal 1: Disrupt and deter cybercrime harming American communities and businesses by strengthening threat understanding and investigative and cross-border coordination capabilities
  • Goal 2: To disrupt and deter cryptocurrency-enabled criminal networks by strengthening the enforcement, investigative, and prosecutorial capacity of criminal justice institutions to combat the criminal misuse of virtual assets.


Overview
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications addressing cybercrime and cyber-enabled crimes. Projects should focus on combating cyber intrusions, online fraud, online-facilitated drug trafficking, digital piracy, and the criminal misuse of cryptocurrency and virtual assets. These crimes represent a rapidly evolving, cross-border threat that directly undermines U.S. national and economic security and harms an estimated one in four American households according to a 2018 Gallup survey. Criminals increasingly exploit the pseudonymous and borderless nature of virtual assets to launder proceeds, evade law enforcement, and victimize Americans at scale across all of these typologies. These trends have produced large- scale financial losses and growing harm to Americans, prompting President Trump's March 2026 Executive Order to strengthen efforts against cybercrime targeting U.S. families, businesses, and critical infrastructure.

Funding Type
External Deadline
8/31/2026
Solicitation Type

Effects of International Parental Child Abduction on Abducted Children and Left- Behind Parents

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Limiting Language 
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

Executive Summary
Investing in the protection and well-being of children and families is a proven strategy for ensuring American security, solidifying American strength, and increasing American prosperity for generations to come. While the negative consequences of international parental child abduction (IPCA) on abducted children and left-behind parents are generally acknowledged, the issue has only received piecemeal attention in scientific literature. The ensuing research gap affects the ability of service providers, advocacy organizations, and governmental authorities to provide needed services to adequately support affected children and their families in the United States. 

As the U.S. Central Authority for the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“Convention”), the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues is responsible for monitoring and implementing all aspects of the Convention in the United States as well as handling cases involving children abducted to and from countries that are not treaty partners under the Convention. 

Through this cooperative agreement, the Office of Children’s Issues seeks to fund one research study whose goal is to better understand how IPCA affects abducted children and their left-behind parents in order to better support impacted individuals, their families, and their communities in the United States.

Research Category
Funding Type
External Deadline
9/16/2026
Solicitation Type

Kenya: Crowd Control and Less-Than-Lethal Riot Response Training

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Limiting Language 
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. Organizations may form a consortium and submit a combined proposal; however, one organization should be designated as the lead applicant and other organization(s) listed as sub-recipient partner(s).

Overview
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) seeks an implementing partner to address a critical security sector skills gap that exposes U.S. citizens and businesses in Kenya to heightened risks.

This program will strengthen Kenyan police command and control during critical incidents by training commanders, officers, and recruit trainees scheduled to begin service in late 2026, focusing on public order management. By building these capabilities, the program will enhance stability and protect U.S. interests in Kenya.

Funding Type
External Deadline
9/10/2026
Solicitation Type

Global Documentation for Accountability Initiative

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Limiting Language
Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

Executive Summary 
Priority regions and thematic areas will be identified through consultation with DRL and may include: 
Illustrative Priority Regions: Global, with regional emphasis on priority areas such as: NEA (Yemen, Syria); WHA (Cuba, Haiti); EAP (DPRK, Burma); and Pacific Islands. 

Illustrative Priority Themes: atrocities, gross human rights violations, human rights abuses, transnational repression (TNR), restriction on civic space, technology-enabled repression, and other emerging DRL priorities.

This global program will support the documentation of human rights violations and abuses and transform this information into credible, actionable, policy-relevant data that can support U.S. and allied sanctions, visa restrictions, law enforcement, DRL’s annual Human Rights Reports, diplomatic engagement, and other accountability measures. By improving the volume, quality, accessibility, and analytical use of locally generated information that meets the evidentiary standards used by the United States and U.S. allies for human rights-based sanctions, visa restrictions, and other accountability tools, the program addresses critical gaps that limit the operational use of documentation efforts and enables burden‑sharing.