NOFO: Creation and Support of Anti-Drug Community Coalitions in Costa Rica

Deadline: 14-Oct-22

The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law (INL) Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to carry out a project to form community-based groups to promote activities that involve a variety of stakeholders, including youth, senior citizens, businesses, parents, media, law enforcement, schools, faith organizations, health providers, social service agencies, and government, with the purpose of conducting actions led by the new organization, to discourage the use, sale, or trafficking of addictive substances.

The main purpose of this project is to develop effective community-based groups (coalitions) and work with the already existing ones (Pavas, Alajuelita, five (5) in Desamparados, Moravia, Escazu, three (3) in Santa Ana, two (2) in Alajuela, Mora, La Union, three (3) in San Jose Barrio Mexico, Cartago and Heredia) by engaging with local stakeholders to collaborate and develop plans, policies, and strategies to achieve community changes that lead to reductions in the rates of illicit drug use at the community level, but also provides communities with the support they need to become stronger, more effective, and better able to sustain those reductions. This will be accomplished through the delivery of trainings, provision of technical assistance, and ongoing support to mutually agreed provinces, cantons, and districts in Costa Rica.

Goal: The goal of this program is to train, establish, and monitor formation of root causes, and for community-based groups to implement actions that tend to reduce inducements to drug use.

Objectives

Objective 1: Establish and support 12 community coalitions in selected cantons/districts.
Objective 2: Development of Community Core Teams per city to help guide the creation of community-based groups.
Objective 3: Delivery of onsite trainings, technical assistance, and ongoing support to selected community core teams on the development of drug prevention community coalitions.
Objective 4: Community Coalition Development Trainings to the existing community coalitions.
Objective 5: Integration of youth participation in the 17 existing coalitions in Costa Rica through a Youth Leadership Initiative Key Essentials Training.

Main Areas

There will be two (2) main areas of intervention for this community-based groups initiative in Costa Rica:

Region 1: Province of San Jose with up to six (6) cantons/districts prioritized for communitybased groups development.
Region 2: Up to six (6) additional provinces in Costa Rica outside of the capital city area. In total, 6 Cantons will be prioritized for community-based groups (preferably outside the Great Metropolitan Area GAM).

Funding Information

Length of performance period: 36 months
Number of awards anticipated: 1 award (dependent on amounts)
Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $400,000.00 to a maximum of $600,000.00
Total available funding: $600,000.00.

Participants and Audiences: At least 10 members of each selected community, policemen, and other important participants such as members of the ministry of health, pani, imas and any other social institution present in the community.

Priority Region/Countries: Project will be developed in Costa Rica and communities will be chosen with INL, based on the Sembremos Seguridad citizen security diagnostic.