Description
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Department of State’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (ISN/CTR) is pleased to announce an open competition for assistance awards through this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). ISN/CTR invites potential recpients to submit proposals for projects that will advance the mission of the Department’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR). ISN/CTR prefers projects that cost less than $500,000 though awards may involve multiple projects that cumulatively exceed $500,000. All applications and submission costs are at the Applicants’ expense. ISN/CTR will not pay for any costs incurred in preparation of the applications. II. BACKGROUND AND PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ISN/CTR, sponsors foreign assistance activities funded by the Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR) account, and focuses on mitigating proliferation risks from state and non-state actors in North-East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The United States government seeks to use all available tools to exert pressure on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to curtail its proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related delivery systems and induce the DPRK to denuclearize. Specifically, the DPRK uses external procurement and trade networks to acquire nuclear and missile materials and technology and to finance its WMD program. While several United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) obligate states to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and their means of delivery, and establish appropriate domestic controls over related materials, some countries lack the capacity and resources to fully comply with the UNSCRs. ISN/CTR will contribute to United States government efforts to pressure the DPRK by building capacity in partner countries to counter-DPRK proliferation activities and enforce the relevant UNSCRs. The countries to be included in this engagement are global in scope, including Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, but focus on states that have trade relations with the DPRK or may be a hub for shipping materials to or from the DPRK are potential recipients of ISN/CTR capacity building efforts. A notional list of countries would include key commercial, shipping, and transshipment hubs in Southeast and East Asia; states with major maritime flag registries or that are centers for the provision of commercial maritime services; and states in Africa with historical commercial or arms trade relations with the DPRK. Please note that ISN/CTR does not support activities related to the training, engagement, or redirection of DPRK nationals or government or non-government agencies. Objectives By the end of the award’s period of performance, the recipient will have successfully developed and implemented a project to advance CTR’s mission by: • Support government efforts to develop legal frameworks, operational frameworks, and regulatory practices to enforce asset freezes and other sanctions associated with proliferation activities; • Provide technical and policy expertise to assist various organs of government to enforce DPRK proliferation-related sanctions and address proliferation finance consistent with the relevant guidance from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF); • Train governmental and on-governmental entities on relevant UNSCRs, identification and disruption of DPRK shipping activities including: o Illicit DPRK shipping activities using “flags of convenience” and false ship registries; o Activities that finance DPRK WMD proliferation, such as conventional arms sales, as well as the trade in luxury and counterfeit goods; o Services that finance DPRK proliferation including DPRK laborers, trade in coal and other minerals, commercial fishing; and o Other associated activities that finance DPRK WMD proliferation. • Enhance partner government’s ability to enforce UNSCRs prohibitions on the travel of DPRK individuals for the purposes of sanctions evasion; • Train government stakeholders and non-governmental stakeholders, including private companies, industry associations, and others, to counter activities that finance the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, including disrupting both licit and illicit commercial activities that fund the DPRK’s WMD programs; • Train government personnel, law enforcement, regulators, and others to ensure that industry conducts stringent end-user checks to prevent unwitting commercial activity that supports DPRK nuclear and missile proliferation; and • Train national police bureaus, regulators, and others to recognize and undermine DPRK attempts to avert sanctions, including identifying, investigating, and arresting DPRK financial activity that finances nuclear and missile programs or facilitates the traffic in WMD information and technology.