FY2023 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation | AF MAP FY23 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for AF MAP FY23 01

The FY2023 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) grant opportunity, offered by the U.S. Department of State through the U.S. Mission to Mozambique, is a discretionary grant program that invites organizations to submit project ideas focused on safeguarding Mozambique's cultural heritage. Applicants are asked to submit a Concept Note for Round 1 of the AFCP 2023 cycle, and submissions were required to be sent by email to MaputoPDProposals@state.gov no later than December 21, 2022. The program is centered on Mozambique as the priority region for this announcement and is intended to support projects that meet recognized international standards for cultural heritage preservation while reflecting the priorities and perspectives of relevant stakeholders such as cultural authorities, local communities, and other parties with a direct interest in the heritage resource being protected.

At its core, AFCP funds efforts to preserve cultural sites, cultural objects and collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression. The program operates in more than 100 developing countries and frames cultural heritage as a lasting record of human history and contributions. In Mozambique, this can translate into projects such as restoring historic structures, conserving rare manuscripts or museum holdings, protecting archaeological sites, and documenting endangered traditional practices, including craft techniques and indigenous languages. A key emphasis is that funded work should protect the recognized heritage values of a site, object, collection, or tradition as understood by the people and institutions connected to it, rather than imposing an outside definition of what matters.

Funding is available across a wide range, with awards typically ranging from $10,000 to $500,000, and the notice indicates an expected total of three awards. Supported activities can include anastylosis (reassembling a site from its original components), conservation treatments to address deterioration, consolidation to reconnect structural or material elements, documentation in analog or digital formats, inventories that systematically list and categorize resources, preventive conservation to reduce threats before damage occurs, restoration to recreate original appearance when appropriate (often for fine arts or historic buildings), and stabilization to reduce physical disturbance and prevent further loss. In practice, these categories cover both hands-on physical interventions and the planning, recording, and capacity-building work that often makes preservation sustainable over time.

The opportunity defines three main preservation areas. For cultural sites, eligible projects may involve historic buildings, sacred places approached from a cultural (not devotional) perspective, monuments, and archaeological locations, including activities like restoration, preservation management planning, surveys that contribute to a preservation plan, or systematic documentation of sites within a region. For cultural objects and collections, the program supports work tied to museums and similar institutions, covering archaeological and ethnographic materials, artworks, manuscripts, and photo or film archives, as well as improvements to storage and display environments, condition assessments, inventories for conservation purposes, direct conservation treatment, and specialized staff training in collection care. For traditional cultural expression, AFCP can support efforts to keep living heritage from disappearing, such as documentation and audiovisual recording of music and dance traditions, or training and transmission activities for threatened crafts and traditional arts, especially when those outputs are organized so they can be accessed and used for preservation and education.

The announcement also includes an important compliance note about religiously connected sites and objects. Projects involving places of worship or items with religious associations may be eligible, but only when the resource is nominated and evaluated on non-religious grounds such as architectural, artistic, historical, or broader cultural significance. This distinction is meant to ensure the program remains consistent with U.S. constitutional requirements while still allowing culturally significant religious heritage to be protected when it forms part of a community's historical and artistic record.

Finally, the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique signals a preference for projects that align with and help advance American values, particularly tolerance and respect for cultural diversity. In practical terms, concept notes that demonstrate inclusive community engagement, broad public benefit, and sensitivity to Mozambique's diverse cultural landscape are likely to fit well within the stated priorities, especially when paired with credible technical methods and alignment with international preservation standards.

• The Department of State, U.S. Mission to Mozambique in the other (see text field entitled explanation of other category of funding activity for clarification) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY2023 Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.025.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 21, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Dec 21, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for AF MAP FY23 01

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