U.S. Agency for International Development, M/OP/B/AEP, Room 7.09-075, Washington, DC 20523-7100

R -- GLOBAL CIVIL SOCIETY STRENGTHENING ASSISTANCE FOR USAID'S GLOBAL BUREAU DEMOCRACY CENTER SOL M/OP-00-668 POC Angela Fortune, Agreement Specialist, Tel: 202-712-5188, Fax: 202-216-3132, E-mail: afortune@usaid.gov, Contracting Officer, Tel: 202-712-5831 WEB: http://www.info.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/announce/cbd, http://www.info.usaid.gov. E-MAIL: http://www.info.usaid.gov, afortune@usaid.gov. This is a pre-solicitation notice for a Cooperative Agreement Request for Applications (RFA) to support a global program in Civil Society Strengthening sponsored by USAID's Center for Democracy and Governance. The anticipated issuance date of the RFA is March 31, 2000 with an anticipated closing date of May 15, 2000. One or more awards will be made for a 5-year period. Subject to the availability of funds, USAID expects to obligate up to $12 million total for all awards over the 5 year period. The new award(s) will follow-on an existing Civil Society Strengthening program sponsored by the Center for Democracy and Governance. The RFA will solicit applications from qualified U.S. registered non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to engage with USAID's Global Bureau's Center for Democracy and Governance in a Cooperative Agreement. The purpose is to support transitions to and the consolidation of participatory democratic processes worldwide by enhancing the freedom of individuals to associate, to openly debate and advocate public policy change, and to petition and seek redress from their government. A leader with associate award type agreement is anticipated. USAID encourages organizations to partner with other institutions, firms, non-governmental organizations, universities and individuals. Partnering with indigenous organizations having regional or country-specific expertise is also strongly encouraged for country and regional activities. The preferred method of distribution of USAID procurement information is via the Internet or by request of an application on a 3.5" floppy disk. This CBD notice can be viewed and downloaded using the Agency web site. The RFA, once issued, can be downloaded from the Agency web site. The Worldwide Web address http://www.info.usaid.gov. Select "Business and Procurement" from the home page, then "USAID Procurements". On the following screen, select "Download USAID Solicitations". Receipt of this RFA through the Internet must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above (Angela Fortune). It is the responsibility of the recipient of the RFA document to ensure that is has been received from the Internet in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion process. Interested parties may also request a copy of the RFA by mailing a request to Attn: A. Fortune, USAID,M/OP/B/AEP, Washington, D.C. 20523-7100. Posted 03/08/00 (W-SN432185). (0068)

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