Deadline: 1-May-23
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/ Southern Africa Mission invites Concept Papers that are focused on the provision of program design analytic and consultative services for USAID/ South Africa’s “Power to the People” program.
USAID/South Africa seeks concept notes from qualified local entities to provide program design support services as described in this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), including a political economy analysis, community listening sessions, gender and youth analysis, and program design workshops to inform and facilitate the design of its new Local Works Power to the People program.
Goals and Objectives
- USAID/South Africa seeks program design support services including a political economy analysis, community listening sessions, gender and youth analysis, and design workshop support to inform and facilitate the design of its new Power to the People program.
- The field-based political economy analysis will focus on improving understanding of the underlying power dynamics and relationships in the IPP SED investment landscape. The political economy analysis will enable USAID and the IPPO to better address the challenges and emerging issues, take advantage of evident opportunities, and react to unexpected political and economic trends and social conditions in specific project sites. The political economy analysis will influence the design and implementation of current and future Power to the People activities.
- Concurrent with the political economy analysis, the recipient will organize and facilitate a series of community listening sessions in select municipalities in the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. “Listening” is an intentional, deliberative process in which development practitioners and local people come together to discuss a common theme or question. It prioritizes the voices of local participants and allows for unexpected responses and open-ended conversations. The feedback and insights generated from the listening process will enable USAID, IPPO, and other partners to
- learn about a particular local system and its environment;
- identify local actors, their complex relationship dynamics, and the factors that influence their interactions and behaviors; and
- determine prospects for engagement, and opportunities that will inform and shape the overall Power to the People program design. The listening will lead to a clear understanding of the challenges that communities are facing and proposed solutions to tackle them.
- After the listening has been completed and analyzed, the recipient will support USAID in designing and facilitating a series of program design workshops, including USAID, key stakeholders, and local organizations. The purpose of the workshops will be to develop a program to address the challenges and barriers to effective SED/ED community programs. The program design workshops will be interactive and enable meaningful conversation, relationship-building, and learning among participants. The successful applicant will lead the facilitation of the sessions and ensure an effective overall structure for the events, timekeeping, and flow.
- Based on an opportunity mapping analysis conducted by USAID and IPPO which looked specifically at opportunities for community engagement and the greatest potential impact of socioeconomic investments given baseline conditions and resources present in a given community, all activities will focus on specified municipalities in the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape provinces.
- USAID expects that the political economy analysis and community listening will overlap to maximize field-based data collection efforts and ensure key stakeholders are not overburdened with consultations. Subsequent program design workshops and gender and youth analyses are expected to build upon the foundation of learning established during listening and the political economy analysis. The activity will conclude with intentional knowledge sharing and learning, where the recipient will share back lessons learned across all activities with USAID and the IPPO.
Funding Information
- Award Ceiling: $625,000
Activities
- Political Economy Analysis (PEA)
- Community Listening
- Program Design Workshops
- Gender and Youth Analysis
- Knowledge and Learning Sharing
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligibility for this NOFO is restricted to only South African organizations as defined. USAID welcomes concepts from a wide variety of local actors who bring an understanding of the development challenges facing their communities, countries, or regions or who demonstrate a way to determine local priorities in their approach. Concept notes should be from qualified local South African entities, such as private, nonprofit organizations (or for-profit companies willing to forego profits), including private voluntary organizations, universities, research organizations, professional associations, and relevant special interest associations.
- USAID defines a local organization as one that:
- Is legally organized under the laws of South Africa;
- Has as its principal place of business or operations in South Africa;
- Is majority-owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of South Africa;
- Is managed by a governing body, the majority of which are citizens or lawful permanent residents of South Africa.
- The term “majority-owned” and “managed by” include, without limitation, beneficiary interests, and the power, either directly or indirectly, whether exercised or exercisable, to control the election, appointment, or tenure of the organization’s managers or a majority of the organization’s governing body by any means.
- In addition, the applicant should have not received more than $5 million from USAID during the past five years as a prime awardee. This legislative requirement is meant to encourage support for non-traditional partners. The eligibility requirements only apply to the principal applicant.
- USAID especially encourages concepts from Local Entities that have not worked with USAID. While not an exhaustive list and provided for illustrative purposes only, the following types of non-U.S. entities are encouraged to participate:
- Civic groups
- Colleges and universities
- Cooperatives
- Faith-based organizations (FBOs)
- Foundations
- Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
- Private businesses
- Trade associations
- Indigenous People’s Organization
For more information, visit Grants.gov.