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Request for Applications: Pathogens Pathway Study for Children under Two Years Old in Southeastern Madagascar

Deadline: 12-Aug-20

PRO – WASH has launched a Request for Applications for the Pathogens Pathway Study for Children under two years old in Southeastern Madagascar.

PRO-WASH is calling on the WASH community – non-governmental organizations, research institutions, private-sector firms—to see where they can bring proven practices together with new research, innovative technologies, creative policies, and other approaches to develop affordable, sustainable solutions to meet the WASH needs of the vulnerable populations assisted by USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) programming.

This RFA is designed to provide innovative, context-specific research on strategies for interrupting fecaloral transmission and reduce overall environmental contamination for BHA partners in South-eastern Madagascar. The resulting strategy from this RFA will be critical to supporting implementing partners to be able to validate which transmission pathways are most important in the specific context of Madagascar and to begin the process of piloting potentially promising, multi-sectoral WASH interventions.

Objectives

  • 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 FIOVANA implementation areas. Recommendations included in the final strategy should consider the current prevalence and intensity of fecal contamination and fecal pathogens, including soil-transmitted helminths in implementing areas. Initially, this strategy will act to inform a small-scale pilot, including WASH behavior change activities, to address household environmental conditions in order to interrupt transmission pathways. In the longerterm, FIOVANA will consider the ways in which these recommendations could be scaled-up more broadly within the program’s design.
  • The final deliverable(s), should consider the following the overarching research questions for this sub-award:
    • What are the potential ingestion pathways of fecal pathogens (both human and animal) for children under the age of two in FIOVANA project implementation areas?
    • What are potential interventions for interrupting these transmission pathways which also take into account the specific implementation challenges (e.g. topography and climate) and unique cultural and social norms of South-eastern Madagascar?
  • The specific objectives of this study will be to:
    • Identify the key fecal pathogens likely affecting the health and well-being of children at different growth stages, including birth up to 6 months, 6-12 months and 12-24 months, both in terms of pathogen types, contamination loads and overall prevalence.
    • Determine if pathogens 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, in domestic, agricultural, public, and other spaces. 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, the amount of time children spend with and without shoes on dirt and the spatial extent of their movement.
    • Explore the relative degree to which children may be exposed to fecal contamination through various pathways including ingesting food, unimproved drinking water, mouthing hands and 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 FIOVANA beneficiary communities.
    • Identify potential interventions for interrupting fecal-oral pathogen transmission pathways.

Funding Information

Final funding levels for each award will depend on content and needs of the proposed activity, with a ceiling of $100,000 USD.

Duration of Applied WASH Sub-Award

The duration of the award provided under this RFA for a duration of six months from the start date of the award with the possibility of extension at the discretion of the PRO-WASH Director. Extensions to the timeline for this sub-award will be jointly considered by the PRO-WASH and FIOVANA teams. PROWASH, Save the Children Federation, Inc. and/or USAID/BHA reserve the right to cancel this RFA at any time for cause.

Eligibility Criteria

  • 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.
  • 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.

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/request-applications-pathogens-pathway-study-children-under-two-years-old-southeastern-madagascar