Combating Forced Child Recruitment by FTOs and TCOs
This competition funds a project in Colombia to help law enforcement investigate, arrest, and prosecute recruiters who forcibly recruit children for FTOs and TCOs.
⚑ Foreign activities in Colombia · Cooperative agreement · Open to U.S. and foreign NGOs, educational institutions, and for-profit organizations · Security/law-enforcement implementation context
Unit fits — one characterization, each unit's own rules
| IPPRA | 53 partial | outside portfolio topics; signature methods: community engaged, policy analysis; social/behavioral work is substantial; funds technical assistance, not research (capped) |
| Physical Sciences & Engineering (demo) | 25 weak | technical depth: minor; funds technical assistance (capped) |
| Tom Love Innovation Hub | 5 none | no commercialization signal |
Description
The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to combat forced child recruitment by Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO) in Colombia. Combating forced child recruitment weakens illegal armed groups by depriving them of members and reduces their ability to engage in criminal activities that threaten U.S. national security. This project will support Colombian efforts to combat forced child recruitment by enabling law enforcement to investigate, arrest, and prosecute recruiters.
Eligibility
U.S.-based non-profit/non-governmental organizations (NGOs); U.S.-based educational institutions subject to section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code or section 26 US 115 of the U.S. tax code; Foreign-based non-profits/non-governmental organizations (NGOs); Foreign-based educational institutions For-Profit Organizations
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Legacy IPPRA LLM assessment (v2.0, for comparison)
25/100 · gpt-5.4-mini · 2026-07-06
This is a national-security-adjacent law-enforcement cooperative agreement focused on Colombia and countering armed groups, but it is primarily an operational/justice intervention rather than a research opportunity. IPPRA could potentially contribute evaluation, behavioral, or community-risk research on child recruitment and deterrence, yet those components are not named as central, so fit is weak-to-partial. Public universities are eligible, but the opportunity is not a strong match for IPPRA's research portfolio.
Legacy scoring history
| 2026-07-06 | 25 | gpt-5.4-mini | This is a national-security-adjacent law-enforcement cooperative agreement focused on Colombia and countering armed groups, but it is primarily an operational/justice intervention rather than a research opportunity. IPPRA could potentially contribute evaluation, behavioral, or community-risk research on child recruitment and deterrence, yet those components are not named as central, so fit is weak-to-partial. Public universities are eligible, but the opportunity is not a strong match for IPPRA's research portfolio. |
| 2026-07-06 | 18 | gpt-5.4-mini | This is a national-security and law-enforcement implementation project focused on disrupting forced child recruitment by criminal and terrorist organizations in Colombia. IPPRA’s strengths in public opinion, risk communication, and community-based social research are not central to the stated activities, so topical overlap is limited. Public universities are eligible, but the opportunity is too operational/foreign-assistance oriented for a strong IPPRA fit. |