Deadline: 5-Feb-21
PRO-WASH is pleased to announce the release of the Pathogens Pathway Study for Children under two years old in Northwestern Kenya Request for Applications (RFA).
This request for applications (RFA) is designed to provide innovative, context-specific research on strategies for interrupting fecal-oral transmission and reduce overall environmental contamination for the Nawiri (Mercy Corps) Resilience Food Security Activity in Northwestern Kenya. The resulting strategy from this RFA will be critical in supporting implementing partners to be able to validate which transmission pathways are most important in the specific context of Turkana and Samburu and to begin the process of piloting potentially promising, multi-sectoral WASH interventions.
The objectives of this RFA are to solicit proposals for a comprehensive strategy which would provide context-specific, actionable recommendations for addressing environmental exposure to animal and human fecal pathogens for children under the age of two years in USAID Nawiri implementation areas within Samburu North and Turkana South. The final study locations, as well as the sample size, will be determined in close collaboration with the USAID Nawiri team and county-level officials from a subset of households enrolled in the longitudinal study.
The specific objectives of this study will be to:
- Identify the key fecal pathogens and/or parasites (such as soil-transmitted helminths) likely affecting the health and well-being of children at different growth stages, including birth up to 6 months, 6-11 months, and 12-23 months, both in terms of pathogen types, contamination loads, and overall prevalence
- Determine if pathogens and/or parasites found in stool are similar to those found in soil
- To quantify the interaction of children under the age of two with their environment (both indoors and outdoors) within the immediate household compound, agricultural, public, and other spaces they come into contact with either by themselves or while being carried by a caregiver. Specifically, quantify the frequency of individual’s hand-to-mouth and object-to-mouth contacts, which have the potential to convey fecal-oral pathogens into the mouth.
- Explore the relative degree to which children may be exposed to fecal contamination through various pathways including ingesting contaminated food, unimproved drinking water, mouthing hands/fomites, and/or directly ingesting soil
- Identify child and caregiving behaviors likely contributing to pathogen ingestion, including mothers’ and caregivers’ hygiene behaviors
- Identify any environmental or behavioral variations between groups of children in Nawiri beneficiary communities
- Identify potential interventions for interrupting fecal-oral pathogen transmission pathways
Funding Information
The activity will fund one award under this RFA up to $200,000 USD for a study period of up to eight months beginning in early 2021.
Eligibility Criteria
- PRO-WASH will not accept applications from individuals. All applicants must be legally recognized organizational entities under applicable law. Applicants must comply with all applicable Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements. Applicants are not required to have a DUNS number at the time of application but must have a DUNS number at the time of the award. Hence, applicants should be in the process of receiving a DUNS number to avoid any delays in the award process. Applicants must have completed all required steps (if any) with the host government to legally operate their program.
- Organizations are welcome to propose collaborative efforts, but each proposal must identify one organization that will be the lead/prime recipient of funding and be responsible for program requirements. The lead/prime organization also will be responsible for coordinating efforts with other partners. All collaborative efforts must be clearly identified and described in the proposal.
- Eligible entities include NGOs, universities, nonprofits, and for-profit entities not owned in-full or in-part by foreign governments. In their cost application, organizations should indicate whether they have a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA) with USAID. Organizations or institutions that do not have a NICRA are eligible for grants under this RFA either by using a de-minimus indirect cost rate (if requirements of 2 CFR 200.414(f) are met) or by direct charging all costs using a documented cost allocation methodology.
- The following are not eligible to apply for grants under this RFA:
- Individuals
- Government entities, including ministries
- Multilateral organizations
- Firms operating as commercial companies or other organizations (including nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations) that are wholly or partially owned by foreign governments or agencies
For more information, visit https://www.fsnnetwork.org/grant/pro-wash-pathogens-pathway-study