Deadline: 30-Sep-21
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified entities to implement the Advancing Girls Education (AGE) Activity.
Through this solicitation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) intends to identify a uniquely qualified Contractor to implement a five-year Cooperative Agreement activity, to increase retention of girls ages 10-19 in school who are vulnerable or at risk of dropping out of school due to physical, sexual, or psychological violence at school, teen pregnancy, or child marriage.
The Activity will support the Government of the Republic of Mozambique’s (GRM) strategy of school-based reform in local communities to improve student retention and create access to education for girls and improve their learning environment.
Objectives
- USAID/Mozambique aims to support the development of the Mozambican Education sector by implementing girl’s education activities focused on “increasing retention of girls (10-19) in school”. To achieve this goal, Advancing Girls Education will:
- Improve access to school for girls and increase the community support towards girl’s education.
- Improve girls’ retention, and performance in upper primary and secondary schools.
- Increase girls’ access to key social services such as health, WASH.
- Increase safety of girls at school and household by reducing their vulnerability to early marriage and pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and School Related Gender Based Violence (SRGBV).
Benefits
The Activity is expected to improve the retention of girls ages 10-19 who are in school, pregnant and/or otherwise at risk of dropping out of school in Zambézia and Nampula provinces.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $10,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $10,000,000
- Award Floor: $10,000,000
Components & Expected Results
- Advancing Girls Education consists of four components, which when integrated, will contribute to each other’s results and to the activity’s overall objectives. The four components focus on:
- Improving access to safe, community-supported schools
- Improving teachers’ skills to promote learning and outcomes and better behavior for students.
- Improving access to key social services
- Improving school and household safety for girls (Early marriage and pregnancy, sexual transmitted diseases and SRGBV).
- Component 1: Increased access to school for girls ages 10-19 and increased community support towards girl’s education.
- Expected Results: To improve the quality of teaching, with emphasis on the gender-sensitivity of teaching that will lead to better girls’ learning outcomes for girls.
- Vulnerable girls have a safe environment to stay in school and succeed
- Vulnerable girls have a safe environment while attending school and social beliefs support their graduation
- Increased Girls (and boys) knowledge to champion and exercise their rights in school and household and be free from fear of violence, underage pregnancy, and early marriage.
- Increased community knowledge of the importance of education for girls.
- Increased community participation to advocate for education for girls and other social rights.
- Increased channel of community protection for girls in school and household.
- Increased capacity of girls, boys, and community to recognize harmful attitudes.
- Increased capacity of girls to fully exercise their right to education and social services.
- Component 2: Improved girls’ retention, and performance in upper primary and secondary schools in target districts. Violence and lack of gender-sensitive teaching methodology affect the quality of learning for girls
- Expected Results: Teachers have the skills and behaviors to increase girls’ learning. Focus on teaching quality (in literacy and numeracy), general teaching skills behavior (including absenteeism and treatment of girls) at grades 5–10, with particular emphasis on grade 5 and grade 7.
- Collaborating with some select teachers’ colleges and reinforcing their curriculum and processes with regard to pedagogic approaches.
- Component 3: increasing girls’ access to key social services such as Health and WASH.
- Expected Results: Increased opportunity for girls to access and benefit from WASH and Health services.
- Established school-based health services linked with the DREAMs program and health workers at district level.
- Increased access to sanitation services to widen adolescent girls’ opportunity to manage menstruation, preventing sexually transmitted diseases and early pregnancy.
- Girls (and boys) have soft skills to seek justice services to claim for their rights.
- Component 4: increase safety of girls at school and household (Early marriage and pregnancy, sexual transmitted diseases and SRGBV).
- Expected results: Increased capacity of community radios to broadcast key messages aiming to promote gender equality and reduce violence in schools and households in the local language.
- Increased leadership skills of existing female teachers and school councils to promote community debates to monitor all forms of violence at household level.
- Strengthened youth clubs in school and community to promote community debates on prevention of early marriage and pregnancy, gender-based violence and promotion of gender equality at all levels.
Geographic focus
- The Activity is expected to be implemented in the provinces of Zambézia and Nampula.
- The criteria for determining the geographic focus included MINEDH’s strategic focus on promoting the gradual expansion of equitable access to education, prioritizing districts with lower learning indicators.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligibility for this RFA is restricted to Local Entities.
- For the purpose of this section, local entity means an individual, a corporation, a nonprofit organization, or another body of persons that:
- Is legally organized under the laws of;
- Has as its principal place of business or operations in;
- Is majority owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of;
- Managed by a governing body, the majority of who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of a country receiving assistance from funds appropriated under title III of this Act.
- These eligibility requirements apply to only the principal Applicant.
- USAID welcomes applications from organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=335335
