SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT EMERGENCY SUBMISSION
U.S.
National Commission for UNESCO Laura W. Bush Traveling Fellowship
OMB Number 1405-XXXX, DS-7646
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. A critical component of the Administration’s transformational diplomacy initiative is the encouragement of freedom and the adoption of democratic processes throughout the world. This goal can be pursued, bilaterally and multilaterally, by means of public diplomacy. The Presidential initiative to rejoin the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2003 and the subsequent reestablishment of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, which was originally established under 22 U.S.Code 287o et seq., support this goal. The First Lady has agreed to allow the U.S. State Department to award a fellowship in her honor to a U.S. college student proposing to undertake activities that employ education, natural science, social and human science, culture, or communication and information—the mandate of UNESCO—to build strong ties among nations. The National Security Council also supports the awarding of this fellowship. The authority for this State Department fellowship is supported by 22 U.S.C. 2651a, 2656, 1431 et seq., and 2451 et seq. The White House has expressed interest in awarding the first fellowship during the May 18-19, 2008 Annual Meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, and therefore it is required that the call for applications for the fellowship be open by April 1, 2008. The State Department will collect and review proposals submitted by applicants.
2. As noted above, this information is collected as part of procedures to effectuate the stated goals of The White House and The U.S. Department of State. Information is to be submitted by applicants and collected by the Executive Secretariat of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO, within the Office of UNESCO Affairs (IO/UNESCO). The information will be reviewed for the purpose of identifying the most meritorious proposal, as measured against the published evaluation criteria.
3. Responses are requested to be submitted electronically, if possible, as the most efficient means of collecting and processing the data. The Office of UNESCO Affairs has established a password protected, restricted government access mailbox and portal (www.unesco.state.gov) for the protection of any sensitive information that may be contained in fellowship applications. The Office of UNESCO Affairs will also accept hard copy responses should electronic not be possible for an applicant.
4. The information collected is not duplicative of other information collections.
5. This collection of information does not impact small businesses or other small entities.
6. Not collecting this information on a timely basis will make it difficult for the Administration to implement its goals of promoting international collaborative efforts that build strong foundations of knowledge that bridge nations, encourage freedom, and promote democracy. A key component of this goal is the awarding and implementation of the proposed The U.S. National Commission for UNESCO Laura W. Bush Traveling Fellowship
7. There are no special circumstances that would require the information to be collected in the manner described.
8. A notice will be published in the Federal Register in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.13.
9. The Department does not make any type of payment to the respondent for the information other than awarding of the fellowship.
10. Information relevant to the vetting of fellowship applications will be maintained in accordance with Privacy Act provisions. A Privacy Act Statement is incorporated into the application form. Appropriate measures will be taken to assess the credibility of the information obtained. Data provided will be checked against relevant and appropriate databases. If derogatory information is identified, a review and assessment of its reliability will be conducted by the International Organization Affairs (IO) bureau at the Deputy Assistant Secretary level, which will either: (i) instruct the action officer to take appropriate action with respect to the funding request; or (ii) in those cases where interagency consultation may be useful or desired before the IO bureau formulates a final decision, request further consultation with appropriate Agencies/Departments before rendering a decision. If determined to be reliable, appropriate action with respect to the funding request will be taken. An initial screening process provides safeguards to make sure that applicants are screened in such a manner as to prevent a denial of application because of false or incorrect reporting or screening data. Meetings of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO convened for the purpose of reviewing fellowship applications will be conducted in closed session, in accordance with section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (P.L. 92-463), and appropriately announced in the Federal Register.
11. The form does not request information of a sensitive nature.
12. The following data was used to calculate the estimated hour burden required to complete a proposal:
a. Number of Respondents: 100
b. Number of Responses: 100
c. Frequency of Response: On occasion.
d. Estimated form completion time: 10 hours
e. Annual hour burden: 1000
13. There are no costs to respondents associated with this collection.
14. IO/UNESCO staff estimates devoting 80 hours to evaluating the information submitted by applicants. Total cost to the Federal Government at $40/hour is $3200.
15. This is a new collection of information.
16. The information collected will not be published or routinely tabulated. Announcement of awarding of Fellowships will be published on the website of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO. No personal information will be released to the public.
17. IO/UNESCO will display the expiration date for OMB approval.
18. No exceptions to the certification statement identified in OMB Form 83-I are requested.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR |
| Author | USDOS |
| Last Modified By | zemekaf |
| File Modified | 2008-03-04 |
| File Created | 2008-03-04 |