USAID’s Pacific American Fund: Call for Concept Papers

Deadline: 1-Feb-21

With this Call for Concept Papers, the USAID’s Pacific American Fund is now formally initiating its first full annual round of grants—the Year 1 grant cycle.

The Pacific American Fund (also referred to as “the Fund” below) is a critical new development assistance vehicle funded by the United States Agency for International Development Mission for the Pacific Islands (USAID/Pacific Islands) to respond to the diverse development challenges facing the Pacific Region. Social Solutions International, Inc. (Social Solutions) is responsible for implementing the Pacific American Fund contract on behalf of USAID/Pacific Islands.

The Pacific American Fund’s goals are to improve the quality of life for vulnerable communities and to increase access to services for remote communities in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). The goals of the Pacific American Fund activity are:

• to improve the quality of life in vulnerable Pacific Island communities and
• to improve access to services for remote communities in the Pacific Islands.

Priorities

Primary Sectorial

The Primary Sectorial Priorities are detailed as follows:

• Basic Education
• Environment
• Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)

Secondary Sectorial

The Secondary Sectorial Priorities are detailed as follows:

• Climate Change Adaptation
• COVID-19 Response and Recovery: Private Sector Productivity
• COVID-19 Response and Recovery: Social Assistance
• Disaster Resilience
• Sustainable Market-Driven Enterprise Development and Economic Growth
• Improved Access to Quality Health Care Services
• Increased Democratic Governance

Types of Grants

The Pacific American Fund will determine the most appropriate types of grants prior to award, as applicable. The four types of possible grants that may be awarded by the Pacific American Fund include:

• Standard Grants, cost-reimbursable grants that allow for procurement of equipment, international travel, and other relatively complex costs, generally managed only by well-established grantees with strong USAID past experience;
• Simplified Grants, cost-reimbursable grant mechanisms similar to a Standard Grant, but not involving any complex or administratively challenging costs (may not exceed $250,000);
• Fixed Amount Awards, whereby payment to the grantee is based on achieving pre-defined milestones, and supporting activities when the program scope is specific and adequate cost, historical, or pricing data is used to establish a fixed amount award (may not exceed $250,000); and
• In-kind Grants are mechanisms whereby the Pacific American Fund assumes responsibility for all procurements and other financial responsibilities and, as a result, no money is transferred to the grantee.

Funding Information

• Subject to availability of funds, solicitations will be open to fund grants in one of three Grant Ranges:
  • up to $150,000;
  • $150,001 to $1 million; and
  • $1,000,001 to $3 million

• The period of performance for each grant may vary, but must fall between a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 36 months.
• Subject to availability of funds, the Pacific American Fund intends to award up to $6,300,000 in grants under the Year 1 Pacific American Fund grant cycle.

Eligible Organizations

• Non-sovereign civil society organizations are eligible to submit Concept Papers as part of the Pacific American Fund grant application process. All applicants must have the ability to legally operate in the country where the proposed activity will take place, and must be organized or recognized in accordance with the laws of their respective countries. Both U.S. and Non-US non-governmental organizations may apply, but grants to US non-governmental organizations must not exceed $100,000. New organizations are encouraged to apply.
• Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) eligible for Pacific American Fund grants include:
  • National, regional, or international NGOs;
  • Universities, academic institutions, advocacy groups, and umbrella organizations that represent multiple NGO members;
  • Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) operating nationally, regionally, or internationally that qualify for funding under Executive Order 13279; and
  • Private sector entities such as companies, chambers of commerce, and associations.
• The Pacific American Fund will execute grants with non-governmental organizations (non-profits or for profits), subject to the conditions in the USAID Automated Directives System (ADS). Grants will be awarded only to non-US or US non-governmental organizations.

Concept Papers must fall within one of the following three (3) ranges of grant sizes and meet eligibility requirements for each:

1. Eligibility for Range 1 Grants (up to USD 150,000): local organizations, NGOs and institutions operating locally, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations operating locally or regionally, universities, and local private sector organizations.
2. Eligibility for Range 2 Grants (between USD 150,001 and USD 1,000,000): established CSOs and other non-sovereign civil society entities, which may be operating locally, nationally, regionally, or internationally, yet are focused on building capacity at the community-level.
3. Eligibility for Range 3 Grants (between USD 1,000,0001 and USD 3,000,000): established CSOs and other non-sovereign civil society entities that are operating nationally, regionally, or internationally, and have a proven track record of managing funds, in addition to having technical experience, and experience implementing sustainable development projects.

Additional Eligibility Criteria

Grant applicants must meet the following additional requirements to remain eligible to apply for a Pacific American Fund grant:

1. Applicants must provide proof that they can operate legally within the country/ies where proposed grant activities will take place—through legal registration, through other approval (such as a memorandum of understanding or other agreement with the host country government providing permission to operate in the country), or demonstration that process of registering is underway.
2. Applicants must display sound management of written financial, administrative, and technical policies and procedures and present a system of controls that safeguard assets, protect against fraud, waste, and abuse, and support the achievement of program goals and objectives.
3. Organizations must propose activities that respond to the goals and sectorial priorities of the Pacific American Fund program and contain expected outcomes and results consistent with, and linked to, the Fund’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan.
4. Organizations must demonstrate a commitment to gender equality and female empowerment, in part through integration of gender considerations into every aspect of their operations and approach to the proposed grant, including: female representation in leadership and decision making; planning and implementation of project activities; use of performance indicators, methods, and outcomes; and information dissemination.
5. Applicants must be established organizations and in good standing within their community and with local tax authorities.

For more information, visit https://socialsolutions.biz/pacificamericanfund/