Deadline: 30-Sep-20
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a cooperative agreement from qualified entities to implement the Burkina Faso Governance Activity (BFGA).
The Burkina Faso Governance Activity (BFGA) will serve as the leading governance activity of the USAID’s Resilience in the Sahel – Enhanced II (RISE II) and Bridge projects.
BFGA promotes and assists:
- Substantive, inclusive, and effective citizen participation in government;
- Improved coordination with and performance of government institutions in their areas of core responsibility (including cooperation with security forces);
- Planning, budgeting, and administrative capacity of municipal administration and/or commune governments to manage and mobilize financial and human resources for locallydetermined service and infrastructure needs; and
- Access to the formal justice system, legal services, and dispute-resolution mechanisms.
Objectives and Anticipated Results
BFGA’s programmatic objectives and anticipated results are summarized below. These have been intentionally drafted in a broad frame, and readers will note the absence of a list of illustrative activities or indicators. Applicants are expected to articulate their understanding of the most feasible approaches to achieving BFGA’s objectives, and building on learning from other governance interventions in Burkina Faso.
Objective 1: The Government of Burkina Faso, particularly at the local level, is able to efficiently and effectively provide services to address the needs of its community.
Anticipated Results
- Local governments and state institutions understand their division of responsibilities and respective authorities demonstrate knowledge of local government policies and regulations, and of their administrative and management duties
- Local governments and state institutions coordinate with other tiers of government, donors, CSOs, and private service providers and take ownership of the provision of essential services
- Regularized channels for internal dialogue on budget planning, execution, and oversight are institutionalized in the public administration
- Local public administrations mobilize revenues for priority infrastructure and service needs and successfully manage their budget
- Local governments and state institutions demonstrate greater agency in advocating for community priorities in national level policy and budget processes
- Civil institutions of the state is more prepared to diffuse grievances and provide dispute resolution
- High need groups, such as women and youth, are identified and prioritized for support by state institutions
- National institutions that support resilience are strengthened
Objective 2: Citizens, local and community based organizations and groups, have the capacity to advocate for their needs and constructively communicate with government officials.
Anticipated Results
- Citizens have increased knowledge of the services for which local authorities are responsible, and of mechanisms for community participation
- Citizens more actively advocate for themselves through community planning, budgeting, and oversight processes of local administration and government
- Citizens utilize formal channels of communication for grievances
- Women and youth have greater voice and agency in governance processes
Objective 3: Citizens and the state regularly engage in productive dialogue
Anticipated Results
- Local authorities utilize formal, activated structures for citizen participation
- Citizens have an improved understanding of how to access their local and national government representatives
- Services and infrastructure investments better reflect citizen priorities, in particular those of youth and women
- Local authorities use mechanisms to elicit feedback from civil society organizations and citizens
- Local authorities pro-actively engage civil society organizations in the budget planning process
Theory of Change
BFGA’s preliminary theory of change posits that:
- If the capacity of government to collaboratively and accountability plan, manage and mobilize resources is strengthened; and
- If there is substantive, inclusive citizen participation in governance processes; and
- If local governments enhance their ability to ensure delivery of basic services;
- Then community resilience will be strengthened and vulnerability to violent extremism reduced.
Funding Information
- USAID intends to award one (1) Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity. Subject to availability of funding and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide $19,950,000.00 in total USAID funding over a five (5) year period. The activity will be implemented in Burkina Faso.
- The anticipated period of performance is five years. The estimated start date will be on/or about January 2021.
Eligibility Criteria
- Qualified U.S. and non-U.S. organizations (other than those from foreign policy restricted countries) are eligible to apply under this NOFO. Potential for-profit Applicants should note that, in accordance with 2 CFR 200.400(g), profit, which is any amount in excess of allowable direct and indirect costs, is not an allowable cost for Recipients of USAID assistance awards, and cannot be part of the activity budget. However, the prohibition against profit does not apply to procurement contracts made under the assistance instrument when the Recipient procures goods and services in accordance with the Procurement Standards found in 2 CFR 200.317 to 326.
- USAID welcomes applications from organizations which have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
- Applicants must have established financial management, monitoring and evaluation processes, internal control systems, and policies and procedures that comply with established U.S. Government standards, laws, and regulations. The successful Applicant(s) will be subject to a responsibility determination assessment (possibly including a pre-award survey) by the Agreement Officer (AO).
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=328788