The following excerpt is from a U.S. State Department e-mail:
March 9, 2012
Department of State
Public Notice
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Request for Proposals: Program for China
SUMMARY
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces a Request for Proposals (RFP) from organizations with the capacity to launch of buyer-supplier dialogues in China through a cooperative agreement. The purpose of the dialogues is to identify and develop innovative approaches to address root causes of labor rights violations in the buyer-supplier relationship in order to improve working conditions. Participants will include U.S. manufacturers subcontracting operations to China (“buyers”) from relevant industries, Chinese suppliers, researchers from the U.S. and China, CSR and labor rights advocates, representatives from Chinese civil society and unions representing worker interests, and, in consultation with DRL, representatives of the U.S. and PRC governments.
REQUESTED PROPOSAL PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
DRL invites organizations to submit proposals outlining program concepts and capacity to manage projects targeting the issues outlined below; all requests are subject to the availability of funding.
This is an open call for organizations that have past experience and expertise with similar initiatives, dialogues, and seminars; demonstrated ability to convene relevant academic, civil society, and company stakeholders; and experience identifying and implementing practical solutions to improve working conditions in supply chains. DRL has up to $350,000 for a project up to one year in length.
Proposed funding should support the following specific activities:
Coordinate and manage at least at least two buyer-supplier dialogues (with at least one taking place in China) with participation from relevant researchers (preferably based in the United States and China), NGOs, companies, and unions. The objective of the dialogues is to bring together multiple stakeholders to improve working conditions in supplier factories. Dialogues should strive to identify innovative, practical strategies for addressing the root causes of labor rights violations and seek to secure commitments from stakeholders to implement such strategies. Potential topics might include, but are not limited to:
Demand, workforce, and material forecasting
Costing techniques and communication
Best practices for remediating health and safety violations
Effective grievance and dispute resolution systems
Produce a written summary of both dialogues and a final report. The final report should include recommendations to buyers, suppliers, and the U.S. and Chinese governments on innovative tactics to improve working conditions through the buyer-supplier relationship. At the grantee’s discretion, the final report may be co-authored with Chinese academics or academic institutions
Develop action plans for implementation of the recommendations developed in the final report.
Dialogue participants should include:
U.S. buyers from relevant industries as determined by topics
Chinese suppliers
Researchers from the United States and China
CSR and labor rights advocates and unions
Representatives from Chinese civil society
U.S. Government – determined in consultation with DRL
PRC Government - determined in consultation with DRL
The proposal will be evaluated against the specific needs identified above, as well as the technical requirements listed in the attachment. As described in the technical requirements, your proposal should demonstrate robust knowledge and experience coordinating dialogues of a similar nature.
The proposal will be evaluated against the specific needs identified above, as well as the technical requirements described below. Proposals should demonstrate robust knowledge and experience coordinating dialogues of a similar nature. Organizations that demonstrate past experience and expertise with similar initiatives, dialogues, and seminars; experience identifying and encouraging implementation of practical solutions to improve working conditions in supply chains; and an ability to convene other academics, civil society organizations, and companies will be deemed most competitive, particularly those exhibiting such experience and expertise within the China context.
Organizations may request up to $350,000. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of the announcement and PSI may not be considered. Programs that focus solely on academic research, without practical or actionable outputs, will not be highly considered.
The Bureau is committed to the containment of administrative expenses, consistent with overall program objectives and sound management principles. Additional budget guidelines are explained in the PSI. In any cases where the guidelines in the PSI differ from this request, this document takes precedence.
Note: To ensure all applications receive a balanced evaluation, the DRL Review Committee will review the first page of the requested section up to the page limit and no further. DRL encourages organizations to use the given space effectively.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The bulk of funding activities should take place during a one year time frame. DRL welcomes programs that leverage resources from funds internal to the organization or other sources. Cost sharing is strongly encouraged, and cost sharing contributions should be outlined in the proposal, budget, and budget narrative.
DRL will not consider proposals that reflect any type of support, for any member, affiliate, or representative of a designated terrorist organization, whether or not elected members of government.”
