Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, CFOI wants to say "thank you" to our partners and friends who provide live-saving and community-transforming assistance to marginalized and under-served populations. In particular, we give thanks for the faith-based organizations and local community initiatives that serve their neighbors, always motivated by compassion and often by creed. We value the critical work you do and equally value the spirit of generosity that motivates your work.

Full of gratitude, the CFOI team extends our warmest greetings this holiday.

Kirsten Evans
Director
USAID Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives
Administrator Green Attends the Accord Network Conference
On October 2nd, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green traveled to North Carolina to deliver remarks at the Accord Network Forum . The Administrator discussed the contributions of faith-based organizations to development and the importance of fostering partnerships with the faith community in realizing the aspirations of people around the world for dignity and self-reliance. “The community of faith, faith-based organizations, and the church formally, are trusted voices that can help reach, geographically and also demographically, to areas that government cannot reach effectively and, quite frankly, don't want them to intrude upon,” he said. “So, to me, it's those trusted voices that help us reach out and minister in ways that provide the investments for lifting lives.” He spoke about USAID beneficiaries and their journey to self-reliance. “Where we find people – families, communities, and leaders who are willing to do the difficult things to get themselves towards self-reliance, I believe as a nation – a country founded around values – we should walk with them along the way.”

The Administrator also met with leadership from Samaritan's Purse , a faith-based organization based in Boone, North Carolina. The organization has been on the ground in the Bahamas to assist the immediate needs of people affected by Hurricane Dorian and support recovery efforts. The United States is providing $34 million in humanitarian assistance to help people in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas affected by Hurricane Dorian. This assistance was part of a U.S. government-wide effort, in partnership with the Bahamian government, charitable organizations, and the private sector, to address the acute humanitarian needs of those affected by the strongest storm to ever hit the Bahamas. 

The majority of this additional funding will provide vital support to Samaritan’s Purse for its field hospital at Rand Memorial Hospital on Grand Bahama Island. In addition to contributing to the most-immediate humanitarian needs, the funding to Samaritan’s Purse will also fund the removal of debris to help people get back into their homes; emergency and transitional shelters and repairs to water, sanitation, and emergency water supplies in communities affected by the storm.

Read more of his remarks here . 
Religious Freedom Day
October 27th was International Religious Freedom Day . USAID Administrator Mark Green delivered remarks highlighting the U.S. Government's commitment to protecting religious freedom. 
Deputy Administrator Glick Visits Rohingya Community
On November 5th, USAID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick traveled to Bangladesh to support economic reforms and visit USAID programs on human trafficking, hygiene and sanitation, as well as the ongoing Rohingya humanitarian crisis. DA Glick traveled to the Kutupalong refugee camp, which houses Rohingya fleeing Myanmar.  Read more here .
CFOI Sponsors Event on Role of Faith in Fragile Contexts
On October 15th, CFOI and the Office for Global Faith Engagement at the World Bank co-hosted an event titled The Role of Faith in Fragile Contexts , during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings. USAID Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick presented at the event, remarking on the critical role of faith-based organizations in driving social and economic inclusion and growth in fragile contexts. 
"Pathways to Achieving Human Dignity" at the U.S. Embassy Vatican
On October 2nd, CFOI Director Kirsten Evans presented at a U.S. Embassy to the Vatican and Holy See co-sponsored symposium titled Pathways to Achieving Human Dignity: Partnering with Faith-Based Organizations.  The Symposium celebrated the 35-year diplomatic relationship between the U.S. Department of State and the Holy See. Ms. Evans represented the U.S. government, speaking on the critical role of faith-based organizations in humanitarian assistance and the importance of partnership between communities of faith and government agencies in addressing global poverty, conflict resolution, and building sustainable societies. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered opening remarks that highlighted the U.S. and Holy See efforts to promote human dignity and acknowledged the contributions of faith-based leaders and organizations, alongside Cardinal Secretary Pietro Parolin. U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and U.S. Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking of Persons John Cotton Richardson also presented.
International Religious Freedom Celebrated in Romania
On October 5th, CFOI Director Kirsten Evans presented at the International Religious Freedom Round Table for Central and Eastern Europe, which g athered the Mufti of the Muslim Community in Romania, leadership of various Orthodox Christian traditions, and members across a spectrum of other religious communities, to discuss religious freedom in Romania and throughout the region.  The event was one of the first of a series of civil society driven international religious freedom round tables that came out of the U.S. Department of State's Second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in July .
Global Missions Health Conference
CFOI Deputy Director Brian Klotz attended the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, KY, November 7th and 9th. He was joined by representatives from USAID's American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA). The conference focused on engaging U.S.-based faith organizations that have global health portfolios.  
United States Global Leadership Coalition Hosts Roundtable

On October 16th, CFOI Director Kirsten Evans joined the United States Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) Virginia State Advisory Committee in Lynchburg, Virginia for a round table discussion with local community leaders on the importance of foreign assistance. Ms. Evans delivered remarks and engaged in a dialogue with the USGLC, during which she addressed USAID's commitment to working with small community initiatives and faith-based organizations in the humanitarian sector. 
Ethiopian Cardinal Comes to USAID
On October 28th, USAID's Africa Bureau and CFOI hosted Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel , the Ethiopian Catholic Archbishop of Addis Ababa and the Chancellor of the Catholic University of Eastern Africa . Cardinal Berhaneyesus was also named as President of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Ethiopia by The Ethiopian Prime Minister.   The Cardinal shared about the Missionaries of Charity in Addis Ababa, which is one of the 18 Missionaries of Charity homes in Ethiopia, and highlighted the work of Caritas Ethiopia which provides humanitarian and development assistance at the community and national level. He discussed the critical role of the faith-community in rebuilding societies after war and natural disasters, and the essential role of communities of faith in fostering reconciliation and peace.
CFOI Meets with President of the Central African Republic

During the Peace With No Borders event hosted by the Comunità di Sant’Egidio and the Archdiocese of Madrid, CFOI Director Kirsten Evans and Senior Partnership Liaison Marsha J. Baxter joined President Faustin-Archange Touadéra for a bilateral meeting. President Touadéra expressed gratitude for the support from USAID and the American people to the Central African Republic (CAR). In addition, a shared interest was expressed regarding the needs of CAR on its journey to self-reliance.
Pakistani Minister for Human Rights

In October, CFOI hosted Mr. Ijaz Alam Augustine, Minister of Human Rights and Minorities Affairs for the Government of Punjab, Pakistan to discuss the importance of religious freedom and minority rights in Pakistan, and how a strong Pakistan-U.S. partnership could help promote human rights, particularly through interfaith work .
USAID Launches BetterTogether Challenge for Venezuela
On October 21st, USAID and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched the BetterTogether ( Juntos Es Mejor ) Challenge . The new partnership will provide $13.5 million to crowdsource, fund, and scale innovative solutions that support Venezuelans inside the country, Venezuelans across Latin America and the Caribbean, and the communities hosting them. CFOI is grateful to the faith-based organizations who have officially joined us as partners in the Challenge.
The Asian Gathering

Senior Advisor Timothy Lavelle participated at the  Asian Gathering, an unofficial group of politicians, business people, and leaders primarily from Japan and the Indo-Pacific region that come together to discuss and pray for world peace. They met during the week of October 21st in the spirit of friendship to establish and strengthen personal ties among participants and their representative countries.
USAID's New Partnership Initiative Incubator
USAID has officially launched the New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) Incubator , which wil l help strengthen how USAID works with new and underutilized partners. The NPI Incubator will develop resources and training for local and underutilized groups, including faith-based, community, and civil-society organizations, so they can successfully compete for USAID funding. For ongoing information and to sign up for the NPI newsletter visit us here .
Funding Opportunities: American Schools and Hospitals (ASHA)
Funding opportunities for the American Schools and Hospitals program are available. The instructions for the 2019 Request for Applications (RFA) can be found here . The posting of the RFA is also in the ASHA newsletter. You can subscribe to ASHA's newsletter and learn more about the application and process on their website .
USAID Releases Self-Reliance Country Roadmaps for Fiscal Year 2020
USAID released the second iteration of the Journey to Self-Reliance Country Roadmaps, USAID’s visualization tool for assessing self-reliance in a given country. This tool uses 17 third-party, publicly available metrics that capture a country's Commitment and Capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions to their own development changes . Learn more about the Roadmaps, click here . 
Acquisition and Assistance Update
On Thursday, December 5th at 8:30 a.m. ET, USAID will host its first-quarter Fiscal Year 2020  Business Forecast  conference call. Register for the call here . Following the call, responses to all of the questions submitted on the Forecast will be posted on  USAID.gov . Can't make the call? A recording and transcript will be available afterwards on USAID's  Business Forecast page .