Deadline: 31-May-23
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for two (2) fixed amount renewal awards from eligible Zimbabwean organizations to implement Youth Economic Empowerment program.
The Youth Economic Empowerment Activity is a unique opportunity for applicants to bring together local voices to achieve a common mission and vision and builds upon years of efforts under the Local Works program in USAID/Zimbabwe. From the engagement and learning with local actors described, USAID and key youth stakeholders have generated the following goal statement, which encompasses the future this funding opportunity hopes to achieve:
- A resilient and sustainable entrepreneurship development ecosystem in which actors identify, nurture and support youth-owned enterprises that are scalable, innovative, inclusive, locally driven and market-demanded in any sector of the economy.
The Activity will bring together local actors across Zimbabwe to engage in collaborative action, promote multi-stakeholder dialogue, generate cross-sector partnerships, and discover collaborative solutions to make this future a reality. Such local actors MAY include entrepreneurs; youth-led and youth-serving Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Society Organizations; academic institutions; private sector companies; business associations; financial institutions and other funders; innovation and entrepreneurship incubation hubs; business development services providers; business mentors, coaches, and counselors; vocational and technical training centers and many others. To strengthen local systems and ensure collaborative efforts and solutions, USAID/Zimbabwe strongly recommends local actors to apply as groups or consortiums of individuals or institutions who complement each other to address the complex challenges facing youth in Zimbabwe.
Objectives
Listening, system mapping, and co-creation with youth, youth-led organizations, and youth stakeholders have identified three core illustrative objectives (listed below) that will ensure the success and sustainability of the Youth Economic Empowerment Activity.
- Objective 1: Promote an enabling environment that allows youth to thrive in business. Under this objective, the Activity will ensure that youth have access to information, including around business formation and formalization, financial literacy, economic opportunities and how to access them, current policies that affect youth, and intellectual property laws; establish financing platforms and products that are accessible to young people and structured to meet their needs, including innovative financing models and definitions of collateral; and ensure that market access and linkages are in place for the products and services youth want to provide.
- Objective 2: Enable youth to acquire the skill set, knowledge and support needed to access entrepreneurship and employment opportunities. The Activity will ensure youth have opportunities to develop skills – both soft and hard – required for employment or to start and run a viable enterprise, whether through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) or through other formal education, trainings or internships; provide youth with or connect them to business coaching and mentoring; spark an evolution in attitudes around youth entrepreneurship, towards societal acceptance of entrepreneurship as a viable and respectable option for young people; and form linkages between upcoming and established entrepreneurs, such as through intergenerational mentorship or adult-youth partnerships (including support services from established Zimbabweans in the diaspora). This objective also entails creating opportunities for young people to innovate, incubate and scalerate business ideas.
- Objective 3: Promote alignment and collaboration in the youth entrepreneurship ecosystem. The Activity will ensure actors in the youth entrepreneurship system have clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and that a clear policy or framework exists that determines how these actors should work together; enhance collaboration and coordination in the existing system and build bridges between traditional and non-traditional actors to support youth entrepreneurship; engage the private sector holistically and intentionally, and encourage public-private partnerships, to create opportunities for youth employment and entrepreneurship; ensure that systems to support youth entrepreneurship exist across Zimbabwe, in rural as well as urban areas, and that these systems can provide sustainable support that extends beyond the life of the intervention.
Guiding Principles
In proposing approaches and activities to accomplish the objectives above, applicants should ensure their concepts are aligned with the following principles:
- Youth leadership: In line with USAID’s Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach and the Youth in Development Policy, concepts should ensure that young people (between 15-35) take leadership in defining priorities and designing interventions and implementation approaches in this Activity. Concepts should include concrete and practical approaches that will not only address the challenges that youth face to accomplish the Activity objectives but will also involve and support young people in the decision-making, management and leadership of this Activity.
- Gender, equity, and social inclusion: Concepts should appreciate that young people are a heterogeneous group, and “one size fits all” interventions will exclude some. Instead, applicants should employ a “leave no one behind” approach and consider the concerns and interests of young people of all genders; young people with disabilities; LBGTQI young people; young people living with HIV/AIDS; young people who are part of key populations; and young people of different economic classes and from rural as well as urban areas.
- Do no harm: As the Activity will engage youth and other vulnerable populations, concepts should speak to approaches and protocols that the successful applicants will implement within their organizations and within the Activity to safeguard participants and prevent harm, especially from sexual exploitation and abuse. Proposed interventions should also avoid harming the environment.
- Innovation and evidence-based programming: Concepts should propose approaches that are new, innovative, and based on evidence relevant to the local context and lived experience of Zimbabwean youth. USAID is also interested in funding concepts that will generate evidence that can inform future youth entrepreneurship interventions in Zimbabwe and globally.
- Private sector engagement: To build and strengthen a network of local actors that can support youth, and in line with USAID’s Private Sector Engagement policy, concepts should elaborate on how they will consult and collaborate with the private sector for greater scale, sustainability, and effectiveness of development outcomes.
- Local ownership and sustainability: In line with USAID’s Localization Vision and the principles of Local Works and locally led development, USAID will prioritize concepts from groups of actors with true local presence and perspective. The concept should illustrate how interventions will continue the process of shifting power and ownership to Zimbabwean youth, communities, and other stakeholders to bring about sustainable change beyond the life of the Activity in the youth entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Funding Information
- Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide up to $4 million in total USAID funding over a five-year period over two phases.
- Phase 1 (Project Years 1 to 3): Initial award(s) up to $1,200,000.00 ($400,000 per year)
- Phase 2 (Project Years 4 to 5): Budgeted at $800,000.00. The final amount will be determined in the programmatic review and may be lower or higher depending on the situation prevailing at that time.
- The estimated start date is October 1, 2023. The initial period of performance is for 3 years, and the maximum period of performance is 5 years.
- Award Renewal: Six months prior to the end of the initial three-year period, the Recipient will have an opportunity to apply to continue implementation for an additional two years through September 2028.
Eligibility Criteria
USAID welcomes concepts from a wide variety of local actors who bring an understanding of the development challenges facing their communities, countries, or regions or who demonstrate a way to determine local priorities in their approach.
- Eligibility for the Local Works Zimbabwe Youth Program is restricted to only Zimbabwean organizations as defined below. Therefore, applications should be from qualified local Zimbabwean entities, such as private, nonprofit organizations (or for-profit companies willing to forego profits), including private voluntary organizations, universities, research organizations, professional associations, and relevant special interest associations.
- Only local organizations as defined below are eligible for award. USAID defines a “local entity” as an individual, a corporation, a nonprofit organization, or another body of persons that:
- Is legally organized under the laws of Zimbabwe; and
- Has as its principal place of business or operations in Zimbabwe; and
- Is
- majority owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of Zimbabwe; and
- managed by a governing body the majority of who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of Zimbabwe.
- For purposes of this definition, ‘majority owned’ and ‘managed by’ include, without limitation, beneficiary interests and the power, either directly or indirectly, whether exercised or exercisable, to control the election, appointment, or tenure of the organization’s managers or a majority of the organization’s governing body by any means.
- USAID welcomes applications from organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
- Faith-based organizations are eligible to apply for federal financial assistance on the same basis as any other organization and are subject to the protections and requirements of Federal law.
- In addition, the applicant must not have received more than $5 million from USAID during the past 5 years as a prime awardee. This legislative requirement is meant to encourage support for non-traditional partners.
- The eligibility requirements apply to only the principal applicant.
- USAID/Zimbabwe will not accept applications from individuals. All applicants must be legally recognized organizational entities under the laws of Zimbabwe.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.