U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) for 2026

U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) for 2026 is sponsored by U.S. Embassy Papua New Guinea (Department of State). The 2026 AFCP grant cycle celebrates 250 years of American independence, honoring the enduring commitment to freedom, democracy, and unity via cultural heritage stewardship.

## Application Now Closed! The U.S. Embassy Papua New Guinea is pleased to announce the start of the 2026 grants cycle for the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP). The 2026 grant cycle celebrates 250 years of American independence.

This Freedom 250 special edition of the AFCP honors our enduring commitment to freedom, democracy, and unity via cultural heritage stewardship. In the spirit of these values, priority projects should incorporate technical exchange between Americans and foreign counterparts and illuminate the rich historical and cultural ties between the United States and countries around the world.

The Embassy will prioritize projects that meet one or more of the following criteria: * Cultural objects or sites in other countries associated with, or frequently visited by notable Americans, such as homes, studios, or institutions.

[Example: Conservation of the 19th-century Finca Vigía, the American writer Ernest Hemingway’s house in Cuba (AFCP 2024)] * Cultural objects or sites in other countries developed, excavated, or otherwise brought to light by American archaeologists or other heritage professionals.

[Example: Conservation of the 6th-century Rosalila Temple at the Maya site of Copan in Honduras (AFCP 2022), excavated by American archaeologists in the 1890s] * Cultural objects or sites in other countries associated with American history or American contributions to significant historical events, such as peace agreements, military memorials, and other commemorative sites.

[Example: Preservation of the World War II battle site at Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, the first major engagement between U.S. and Axis forces in Africa (AFCP 2001)] * Cultural objects or sites in other countries associated with American innovations and leadership in the sciences, such as laboratories or observatories.

* Cultural objects or sites in other countries highlighting the intellectual and philosophical roots of American institutions.

[Example: Conservation of the Ishtar Gate and other structures at ancient Babylon in Iraq, site of the first example of codified law that paved the way for later legal systems, including America’s (AFCP 2010)] * Cultural objects or sites in other countries associated with American-inspired independence movements that showcase the United States as an example for nations striving toward liberty and self-governance.

[Example: Conservation of 19th- and 20th-century monuments in Colombia commemorating the 1819 Battle of Boyacá and Simón Bolívar—military leader, liberator, and admirer of American ideals of self-governance and popular sovereignty (AFCP 2019)] * Forms of traditional cultural expression such as music and dance that heavily influenced American art forms.

[Example: Documentation of endangered musical traditions in Mali, which helped lay the foundations for American jazz and blues (AFCP 2011)] * Historical sites of significance to diaspora communities in the United States.

[Example: Conservation of the 14th-century fortified Alma Vii church in Romania, a cultural touchstone for Americans of Transylvanian Saxon ancestry (AFCP 2019)] The AFCP Freedom 250 special edition supports the preservation of archaeological sites, historic buildings and monuments, museum collections, and forms of traditional cultural expression, such as indigenous languages and crafts.

Appropriate project activities may include: * Anastylosis: Reassembling a site using its original parts. * Conservation: Addressing damage or deterioration to an object or site. * Consolidation: Connecting or reconnecting elements of an object or site.

* Documentation: Recording the condition and important features of an object, site, or tradition in analog or digital format. * Inventory: Listing objects, sites, or traditions by location, feature, age, or other unifying characteristics. * Preventive Conservation: Addressing conditions that threaten or damage a site, object, collection, or tradition.

* Restoration: Replacing missing elements to recreate the original appearance of an object or site, usually appropriate for fine arts, decorative arts, and historic buildings. * Stabilization: Reducing the physical disturbance of an object or site.

**Sites and Objects Having a Religious Connection**: The Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within a program under certain conditions.

For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary significance from and is nominated solely based on architectural, artistic, historical, or other cultural (not religious) criteria.

**Eligible Project Implementers** Eligible implementers may include non-governmental organizations, museums, educational institutions, ministries of culture, or similar institutions and organizations, including U.S.-based educational institutions and organizations subject to Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code.

The AFCP will not award grants to individuals, commercial entities, or past award recipients that have not fulfilled the objectives or reporting requirements of previous awards. Potential implementing partners must be registered and active in the U.S. government’s System for Award Management (SAM) to receive U.S. federal assistance. The registration process can take several weeks to complete, so it is important to avoid any delay.

If a project is selected for an award and the registration is not completed, the award could be delayed until the next fiscal year, pending the availability of funding. **Application Guidelines** * **Project Description**: Provide a project summary and clearly describe the goals of the project. Explain the outputs and outcomes the project will produce to achieve each goal and the activities that will generate these outputs and outcomes.

Do this for both primary goals (such as restoring a part of a monument) and secondary goals (such as improving economic opportunities). Successful applications describe a clear, logical pathway from activities to goals, including the necessary steps in between. Unsuccessful applications state broad goals but omit details on how they will be achieved.

In addition to the description, applicants may include a list, table, or Gantt chart of activities in chronological order, along with major outputs and outcomes and target dates for achieving them. * **Key Personnel: Names**, titles, roles and experience/qualifications of key personnel involved in the project.

* **Statement of Importance**: Highlight the historical, architectural, artistic, or cultural (non-religious) values of the cultural heritage. * **Freedom 250 Statement**: Describe how the cultural heritage relates to one or more of the AFCP Freedom 250 funding priorities (see page 1).

* **Project Maintenance Plan**: Outline the steps or measures that the applicant will take to maintain the site, object, or collection in good condition after the AFCP-supported project is complete; or, in the case of forms of traditional cultural expression, preserve and disseminate the documentation, knowledge, or skills gained from the project.

* **Data and Information Access Plan**: Outline how the implementing partner will share, as appropriate, raw data or processed information, such as publications, generated from the project with the public and the State Department.

* Detailed Project Budget: Provide a detailed project budget that lists all costs in separate categories (personnel, fringe benefits, travel [including per diem], equipment, supplies, contractual, other direct costs, indirect costs) and indicates funds from other sources. (please see suggested template). **Cost Sharing and Other Forms of Cost Participation** There is no minimum or maximum percentage of cost participation required.

When an implementing partner offers cost sharing, it is understood and agreed that the partner must provide the amount of cost sharing as stipulated in the budget of the application and later included in an approved agreement. The implementing partner will be responsible for tracking and reporting on any cost share or outside funding, which is subject to audit per 2 CFR 200.

Cost sharing may be in the form of allowable direct or indirect costs. **Ineligible Activities and Unallowable Costs** The AFCP Freedom 250 special edition does not support the following activities or costs, and CHC will consider applications requesting support for any of these activities or costs ineligible: 1.

**Privately or Commercially Owned Property:**Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections, or real property, including those whose transfer from private or commercial to public ownership is envisioned, planned, or in process but not complete at the time of application. 2.

**Natural Heritage:**Preservation of natural heritage (physical, biological, and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants, fossils, etc.) unless the natural heritage has a cultural heritage connection or dimension. 3. **Human Remains:**Preservation of hominid or human remains.

4. **News Media:**Preservation of news media (newspapers, newsreels, radio and TV programs, etc.). 5.

**Published Materials:**Preservation of published materials available elsewhere (books, periodicals, etc.). 6. **Mandated Educational Materials:**Development of curricula or educational materials for required classroom use.

7. **Archaeological Research:**Archaeological excavations or exploratory surveys for research purposes. 8.

**Historical Research:**Historical research, except in cases where the research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project. 9. **New Collections:**Acquisition or creation of new objects or collections for new or existing museums.

10. **New Construction:**Construction of new buildings, building additions, or permanent coverings (over archaeological sites, for example). 11.

**New Works of Art:**Commissions of new works of art or architecture for commemorative or economic development purposes. 12. **New or Modern Adaptations:**Creation of new or modern adaptation of existing traditional dances, songs, chants, musical compositions, plays, or other performances.

13. **Conjectural Reconstructions:**Creation of conjectural reconstructions of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist. 14.

**Relocation:**Relocation of cultural sites from one physical location to another unless under imminent threat of irreversible damage or destruction. 15. **Removal:**Removal of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the country for any reason.

16. **Digitization:**Digitization of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a clearly defined conservation, documentation, or public diplomacy effort. 17.

**Conservation Plans or Studies:**Conservation plans or other studies, unless they are one component of a larger project to implement the results of those studies. 18. **Cash Reserves or Endowments:**Cash reserves, endowments, or revolving funds (funds must be expended within the award period [up to five years] and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund).

19. **Fund-Raising Campaigns:**Costs of fund-raising campaigns. 20.

**Contingency Costs:**Contingency, unforeseen, or miscellaneous costs. 21. **Pre-Award Costs:**Costs of work performed prior to the announcement of the award unless allowable per 2 CFR 200.

458 and approved by the GO. 22. **Project Cost Limits:**Individual projects which cost less than US $25,000 or more than $250,000.

23. **Independent U.S. Projects:**Independent U.S. projects overseas. **Full details about the AFCP Freedom 250 program, including application** **requirements, are here:**https://grants.

gov/search-results-detail/361395 **DEADLINE OF APPLICATION: April 24****, 2026** **FOR MORE INFORMATION**: please contact PDPortMoresby@state. gov