Storytelling to Safeguard Cultural Identity and Sovereignty: Bolstering the Tourism Industry
Grant Opportunity Analysis
The U.S. Mission to Uzbekistan, through Embassy Tashkent, is seeking a cooperative agreement to support “Storytelling to Safeguard Cultural Identity and Sovereignty: Bolstering the Tourism Industry” in Uzbekistan. The program is designed to strengthen tourism-linked storytelling, cultural heritage preservation, and content creation around AFCP-supported heritage sites by delivering training for tourism professionals, tour guides, and content creators. The selected organization must be U.S.-based and work with Uzbek government agencies and local creative industry partners to establish a Heritage Content Creation and Storytelling Lab and deliver the integrated training program. The award range is $30,000 to $50,000, with an estimated two awards available and an application deadline of June 30, 2026; inquiries may be sent to tashkent-program@state.gov.
Eligible Applicants
The following organizations are eligible to apply: •U.S.-based not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations with demonstrated experience in cultural heritage preservation, community engagement, tourism development, and/or content creation capacity building •U.S.-based public and private educational institutions with relevant expertise in cultural heritage management, museum studies, tourism, or related fields Note: Only U.S.-based organizations are eligible to serve as the prime recipient of this award. The selected organization must demonstrate the capacity to work in partnership with Uzbek government agencies and local creative industry partners. For-profit entities, even those that may fall into the categories listed above, are not eligible to apply for this NOFO. Organizations may sub-contract with other entities, but only one, non-profit, non-governmental entity can be the prime recipient of the award. When sub-contracting with other entities, the responsibilities of each entity must be clearly defined in the proposal. For more information on the difference between sub-contract and sub-recipient, please refer to 2 CFR 200.331.