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Call for Applications: USAID Nepali Women in Business Activity

Deadline: 22-Nov-23

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a cooperative agreement from qualified entities to implement USAID Nepali Women in Business.

In support of the USAID/Nepal’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), the USAID Nepali Women in Business activity will increase economic opportunities for women-led and inclusive local businesses, and women from marginalized communities leading to improved economic security.

USAID Nepali Women in Business seeks to advance gender equity and equality, and accelerate the economic security of women and girls, with an intentional emphasis on including and addressing the needs of those from marginalized and underserved populations, in a gender-transformative way. Key stakeholders and partners in this activity will primarily be private sector institutions (such as financial institutions, cooperatives, e-commerce aggregators, anchor firms, employment agencies, business service providers, technical education and vocational training institutes, etc.) and civil society organizations including advocacy and research organizations.

Focus Areas
  • The recipient must achieve the following focus areas:
    • Increased access for women-led and women-inclusive MSMEs to financing and markets.
      • The recipient will build on USAID/Nepal’s Business Literacy Program (BLP) and several other financial literacy programs implemented through other development agencies.
      • The recipient will harness the potential of women farmers and entrepreneurs, through strengthening their relationships with business accelerators and formal financial institutions.
      • Possible intervention areas could include but are not limited to:
        • Improve inclusion and growth prospects for targeted local business and lines of work.
        • Improve MSME access to quality and affordable market-based financial services and market opportunities.
        • Support in packaging, certification, branding, business formalization, and product upgrades.
        • Increase MSME adoption of digitalization.
    • Improved access for women from marginalized communities to resources, services, and information for well-paying and safe jobs.
      • The recipient will partner with organizations of women and marginalized communities to strengthen local government systems and processes for inclusive access to information, budgets, and services.
      • Possible intervention areas could include but are not limited to:
        • Mobilize employment and information agents to connect and facilitate job access.
        • Collaboration with firms and municipalities to create a safe work environment.
        • Sensitize local government officials on the importance of creating inclusive, equitable, and safe policies and programs that benefit women and marginalized communities.
        • Provide scholarships to pursue technical courses such as Junior Technicians/Bsc. Agriculture.
    • Strengthened influence, collective voice, and leadership of women in their communities to improve their economic security
      • The recipient will partner with associations of women and marginalized groups to collaborate with the private and public sectors to dismantle gender inequality and create safe employment opportunities, enhance leadership and organizational skills, and strengthen women, girls and marginalized communities’ collective voice and bargaining power to increase access to resources, markets, credit and technology.
      • Possible intervention areas could include but are not limited to:
        • Promote women entrepreneurs as role models within the community.
        • Foster collaboration with municipalities to create opportunities for women and girls.
        • Provide leadership and organizational skills for women and women led businesses.
        • Conduct CSO led collective monitoring and accountability assessments such as public hearings, social audit or gender audit of public programs and budgets to support local governments to meet their gender responsive budgeting goals.
Funding Information
  • USAID intends to award one Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity. Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide up to $9,500,000.00 in total USAID funding.
  • The anticipated period of performance is five years.
Geographic Focus
  • Guided by the Global Food Security Strategy, the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future initiative (FTF) works in 20 countries including Nepal, supporting food security efforts. Program efforts in the FTF Zone of Influence (ZOI) focus and concentrate resources in discrete geographies and measure progress over time at the population level. The Global Food Security Strategy Nepal Country Plan is being revised with the potential revision of the current ZOI.
Eligibility Criteria
  • Eligibility is restricted to local entities. The restriction of eligibility is considered necessary for this activity based on market research and guiding principle for Gender Equity and Equality Action (GEEA) funds to emphasize direct engagement with, implementation through, funding of, and support for local organizations, particularly those led by women and girls and dedicated to promoting gender equality. USAID determined that there are local organizations that possess capacity to effectively implement, manage, and account for programs.
  • 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 Nepal.
    • Has as its principal place of business or operations in Nepal.
    • Is majority owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of Nepal.
    • Is managed by a governing body the majority of who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of the country receiving assistance, Nepal.
  • Each applicant must be found to be a responsible entity before receiving an award.
  • Applicants who do not currently meet all USAID requirements for systems and controls may still be eligible under special award considerations and should not be discouraged from applying.
  • USAID welcomes applications from organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID. The prime recipient is encouraged to promote involvement of “underutilized” partners and local organizations in the implementation of this activity. USAID will not accept applications from individuals.

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