Nigeria Defections Promotion Messaging Program | SFOP0005577

Opportunity Information: Apply for SFOP0005577

The Nigeria Defections Promotion Messaging Program is a U.S. Department of State initiative run through the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), a bureau focused on helping U.S. diplomats anticipate, prevent, and respond to conflicts that threaten U.S. interests and national security. CSO positions itself as an operational and analytical hub, combining conflict analysis and data visualization with planning support, deployable civilian expertise, targeted programming, and diplomacy to better understand and address high-risk conflicts. In this grant competition, CSO is seeking one implementing partner to carry out a security sector stabilization effort in Nigeria, with a specific emphasis on influencing behavior inside violent extremist organizations through carefully designed communications.

The central objective of the opportunity is to increase voluntary defections from Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa (also referred to as ISIS-WA or ISWAP) by using targeted strategic messaging. The program is not described as a general public awareness campaign; instead, it is meant to be informed by research into why fighters and associates join these groups, why they leave, and what conditions or triggers make exit more likely. The solicitation highlights the need to understand how combatants and affiliates receive information and how they share it within their networks, which implies attention to local communication ecosystems, trusted messengers, language, media habits, and the channels that can realistically reach intended audiences. It also emphasizes the legal and policy environment in Nigeria and neighboring Lake Chad Basin countries, reflecting that messaging about defection and disengagement has to align with real-world amnesty, detention, screening, rehabilitation, reintegration, and accountability frameworks, as well as the perceptions people have about those systems.

Planned activities may include designing and producing message content for an information campaign that uses local and regional media outlets. This could reasonably involve developing narratives, testimonies, radio content, community-facing materials, or other media products tailored to specific sub-audiences (for example, fighters, logisticians, family networks, or coerced affiliates), though the grant text leaves flexibility for applicants to propose the most suitable formats. In addition to content creation and dissemination, the opportunity explicitly calls for analysis of key issues linked to voluntary disengagement and the peaceful reinsertion of ex-combatants and affiliates. That analytical work is meant to feed an iterative approach to “defection targeting,” meaning messaging strategies should evolve based on what is learned about audience responses, shifting incentives, and barriers to leaving armed groups. The program also expects assessment of the reach and effectiveness of messaging efforts, pointing to a monitoring and evaluation component that goes beyond simply tracking outputs and aims to gauge whether the campaign is actually reaching intended populations and influencing decision-making.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity issued as a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates a higher level of U.S. government involvement during implementation than a standard grant. The funding opportunity number is SFOP0005577, and it is listed under CFDA 19.121. The agency anticipates making a single award, with an award ceiling of $760,000. Eligibility is limited to U.S.-based nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The notice was created on February 15, 2019, with an original application closing date of April 4, 2019. Overall, the opportunity is framed as a focused stabilization tool: a research-driven, legally and contextually informed messaging program aimed at encouraging voluntary exit from Boko Haram and ISIS-WA and supporting pathways toward disengagement and reintegration.

• The Department of State, Bureau of Conflict Stabilization Operations in the community development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Nigeria Defections Promotion Messaging Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.121.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 15, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 04, 2019. (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 $760,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for SFOP0005577

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