Deadline: 19-Jan-22
The United States Government, as represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) and USAID/Dominican Republic, has announced the Opportunity Youth Addendum to the YouthPower 2 (YP2) Annual Program Statement (APS), hereafter known as the YP2 APS.
Through this Opportunity Youth Addendum, USAID/Dominican Republic aims to provide a vehicle for engaging with youth-led and youth-serving organizations, among others, and systems to generate cross-sectoral, positive youth development outcomes. As a New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) opportunity, USAID/Dominican Republic also seeks to support partner countries’ progress to self-reliance, achieve sustainable and resilient results, and catalyze more effective partnering for impact. This Addendum disseminates information to prospective Applicants so they may develop and submit Concept Notes in response and ultimately to be considered for USAID finding.
The purpose of the USAID’s Opportunity Youth Activity is to prevent youth crime and violence in the Dominican Republic through engaging with youth-led and youth-serving organizations, among others, to generate cross-sectoral, positive youth development outcomes. The activity should support interventions that advance community-level youth crime and violence prevention, including a positive youth development approach focused on youth engagement for civic and economic opportunities and reintegrate individual youth offenders into the community. Some illustrative activities/approaches may include:
- Informal and formal civic education initiatives, service learning and volunteering, and community-based civic actions. These civic engagement and youth organizational leadership approaches should align with USAID’s Global LFAD initiative,
- Raising awareness among youth at risk for crime and violence on issues affecting marginalized populations, including programs that teach tolerance and acceptance, and strengthen capacity to advocate for the rights of marginalized populations.
- Opportunities for youth leadership, workforce readiness, and life skills training tailored to youth’s level of risk for crime and violence, including family counseling, anger management, psycho-social counseling, cognitive behavior training/mindfulness, and mentor programs.
USAID/DR would like potential applicants to propose a pilot intervention (lasting between one and two years) to increase opportunities for youth offenders to be prepared for formal wage employment and reintegration into the community. The intervention should empower youth with increased education, life skills, and job readiness and provide the tools and supports needed for successful reentry. The pilot intervention should focus on soft skills and technical vocational training for job readiness and insertion, including internship placements for youth offenders.
Focus Areas
- Positive Youth Development
- Caribbean Basin Security Initiative
- Crime and Violence Prevention
- Inclusive Development
- Private Sector Engagement
- Do No Harm
- Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Funding Information
- Subject to the availability of funds, USAID/Dominican Republic anticipates supporting up to one award of $15 million over the life of the award. USAID reserves the right to award more or fewer awards than this estimate and is not obligated to make any awards.
- The anticipated period of performance for the award made under the Opportunity Youth Addendum to the YP2 APS is 5-years with an anticipated start date of May 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
- U.S. and non-U.S. public, private, for-profit, and non-profit organizations, as well as higher education institutions (especially minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)), public international organizations, and non-governmental organizations are eligible to submit a concept note. Further, the organization must be a legally recognized organizational entity in the country where it operates.
- USAID values the participation of the U.S. higher education community in this activity. U.S. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are key partners for developing solutions to development challenges, by serving as intellectual hubs for knowledge, research support, and innovation. MSIs and HBCUs have played an important role in both American history and global affairs and are uniquely positioned to contribute to youth development efforts.
- All interested organizations are restricted to submitting only one Concept Note as the Prime Applicant. If more than one Concept Note is received with the same Prime Applicant, USAID will seek written clarification from the relevant entity regarding which Concept Note should be considered for review. If clarification is not resolved within five (5) business days, all Concept Notes submitted by the Applicant will be deemed ineligible.
- Please note that Applicants can serve as sub-awardees or supporting partners on multiple Concept Notes under this Addendum.
- As an NPI addendum under the YP2 APS, The Opportunity Youth Addendum envisions three specific forms for engagement, each intended to offer different entry points for working directly or indirectly with new, underutilized, or established organizations. Organizations only need to qualify under one of the forms of engagement but must involve significant participation by one or more new or underutilized partners in the Dominican Republic that is a youth-led or youth-serving organization.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=336825