USAID/Colombia Resilient Communities (Somos Comunidad) Activity

USAID/Colombia Resilient Communities (Somos Comunidad) Activity is sponsored by United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This activity seeks applications for a Cooperative Agreement to implement USAID/Colombia Resilient Communities (Somos Comunidad) Activity.

Issue Date: ................................................... February 27, 2020 Deadline for Questions: .................................... March 9, 2020 Closing Date to receive Concept Papers: ..........

April 13, 2020 Closing Time............................... 17:00 Local time (UTC -05) Subject: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) - Request for Applications (RFA) 72051420RFA00008 Program Title: USAID/Colombia Resilient Communities ( Somos Comunidad ) Activity Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 98.

001 The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified entities to implement USAID/Colombia Resilient Communities ( Somos Comunidad ) Activity (the Activity). Eligibility for this award is not restricted; see Section C of this Request for Applications (RFA).

USAID intends to make an award to the applicant that best meets the objectives of this NOFO based on the Merit Review Criteria described in this RFA, subject to a Risk Assessment. Eligible parties interested in submitting an application are encouraged to read this RFA thoroughly to understand the type of program sought, application submission requirements and selection process.

This is a multi-tiered RFA in accordance with the Automated directives System (ADS) 303. 3. 6.

1(c). Selection under this RFA will be based on a two-step process: ● Phase 1 - Concept Paper submissions: open to all eligible organizations as described in this RFA. ● Phase 2 - Full Application submissions: by invitation only to applicants selected during Phase 1 evaluation.

To be eligible for award, the applicant must provide all information as required in this NOFO and meet the eligibility standards described in Section C of this RFA. This funding opportunity is posted on www. grants.

gov and may be amended. It is the responsibility of the applicant to regularly check the website to ensure they have the latest information pertaining to this NOFO and to ensure that the RFA has been received from the internet in its entirety. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from the transmission or conversion process.

If you have difficulty registering on www. grants. gov or accessing the RFA, please contact the Grants.

gov Helpdesk at 1-800-518-4726 or via email at support@grants. gov for technical assistance. USAID NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES expects that applicants will have equal access to all local organizations needed to implement this contract and strongly discourages exclusivity agreements with local organizations.

USAID may not award to an applicant unless the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements detailed in Section D. 6. The registration process may take many weeks to complete.

Therefore, applicants are encouraged to begin registration early in the process. Please send any questions regarding this solicitation to the point of contact identified in Section D. The deadline for questions is shown above.

Responses to questions received prior to the deadline will be furnished to all potential applicants through an amendment to this notice posted to www. grants. gov .

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S. Government nor does it commit the U.S. Government to pay for any costs incurred in preparation or submission of comments/suggestions or an application. Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicant. All preparation and submission costs are at the applicant’s expense.

Thank you for your interest in USAID programs. Jessica R. Faber Agreement Officer USAID/Colombia NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................

................ 3 SECTION A: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ................................................................ ..........

5 A. 1. PROGRAM PURPOSE AND SUMMARY ................................

............................. 5 A. 2.

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................ ...... 6 A.

3. USAID/COLOMBIA STRATEGY ................................................................ ..........

6 A. 4. THEORY OF CHANGE ................................................................

........................... 7 A. 5.

OBJECTIVE AND RESULTS ................................................................ ................. 8 A.

6. ILLUSTRATIVE INDICATORS ........................................................................... 10 A.

7. GUIDING PRINCIPLES ........................................................................................ 10 A.

8. COORDINATION AND PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: ........................ 13 A.

9. SUB-GRANTS ....................................................................................................... 13 SECTION B: FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION ........................................................

16 B. 1. ESTIMATE OF FUNDS AVAILABLE AND NUMBER OF AWARDS CONTEMPLATED ..............................................................................................................

16 B. 2. START DATE AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE FOR FEDERAL AWARDS 16 B.

3. SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT ....................................................................... 16 B.

4. ADMINISTRATIVE AND TECHNICAL INVOLVEMENT ............................... 16 B.

5. AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE ................................................................ 17 B.

6. NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USAID AND THE RECIPIENT 17 B. 7.

SELECTION OF INSTRUMENT .......................................................................... 17 SECTION C: ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION .................................................................. 19 C.

1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS ..................................................................................... 19 C.

2. COST SHARING OR MATCHING ...................................................................... 19 C.

3. NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS ............................................................................ 19 SECTION D: APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION ............................

20 D. 1. AGENCY POINTS OF CONTACT ....................................................................

20 D. 2. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.............................................................................

20 D. 3. GENERAL CONTENT AND FORM OF THE CONCEPT PAPER AND APPLICATION ....................................................................................................................

20 D. 4. BRANDING STRATEGY & MARKING PLAN ..................................................

32 D. 5. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS .................................................................................

32 NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES D. 6. CONFLICT OF INTEREST PRE-AWARD TERM (August 2018) ......................

33 SECTION E: APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION .............................................. 34 E. 1.

CRITERIA .................................................................................................................. 34 E. 2.

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS .................................................................. 34 SECTION F: FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION ................... 37 F.

1. FEDERAL AWARD NOTICES ................................................................................ 37 F.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE & NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS ......................... 37 F.

3. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS .............................................................................. 37 F.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE....................................................................... 42 F.

5. MANAGEMENT OF SUB-AWARDS ...................................................................... 43 SECTION G: FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACT(S) ...................................

44 SECTION H: OTHER INFORMATION ............................................................................. 45 H. 1.

APPLICATIONS WITH PROPRIETARY DATA ................................................ 45 ANNEX 1 – BUDGET TEMPLATE ..................................................................................... 46 ANNEX 2 - STANDARD PROVISIONS ..............................................................................

47 REQUIRED AS APPLICABLE STANDARD PROVISIONS FOR U.S. NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................... 47 REQUIRED AS APPLICABLE STANDARD PROVISIONS FOR NON-U.S. NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................... 49 ANNEX 3 – TEMPLATE BRANDING STRATEGY AND MARKING PLAN ...................

51 1. GUIDANCE ............................................................................................................... 51 2.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS - BRANDING ........................................................... 51 3. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS - MARKING .............................................................

53 NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES SECTION A: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION This funding opportunity is authorized under the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, as amended. The resulting award will be subject to 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and USAID’s supplement, 2 CFR 700, as well as the additional requirements found in Section F.

Anticipated Activity Name: USAID/Colombia Resilient Communities ( Somos Comunidad )Activity A. 1. PROGRAM PURPOSE AND SUMMARY The purpose of Resilient Communities ( Somos Comunidad in Spanish, and hereon referred to as “the Activity”) is to strengthen local systems for enhanced human security 1 conditions and thus mitigate the effects of organized criminal groups and other violent incidents in target locations.

It is expected that local capacity-building and sustainable coordination processes among key stakeholders will drive this activity. USAID/Colombia intends to generate evidence-based, sustainable citizen security programming in rural, conflict-affected locations in Colombia.

This will entail a local-systems, problem-driven, iterative learning approach which will inform an adaptive, community-responsive, phased intervention process to target geographic locations (See ‘Geography’ section of Guiding Principles, below) throughout the life of the activity.

It is envisioned that most of this work will be done through local stakeholders, facilitating a comprehensive capacity-building process that will ensure sustainability beyond USAID investments.

At a minimum, the stakeholders shall include Government of Colombia (GOC) institutions (such as local and national police, the President’s Advisor for Peace and Stabilization and Ministry of Interior, municipal government representatives, and other relevant institutions), local and civil society actors, community boards, ethnic communities, women, LGBTI and youth groups as part of the intervention.

However, it is anticipated that coordination with internationally-based non-governmental organizations, other donor-funded activities, and United States Government (USG) agencies relevant and/or present in the target locations will be necessary as well. This Activity will implement innovative, place-based and community-responsive solutions by strengthening the local systems to effectively respond and improve citizen security dynamics.

This framework is illustrated below. > 1The working definition is the combination of human security definitions proposed by the Commission on Human Security, OCHA and UNDP. For additional definitions of “human security” see Peou, Sorpong.

(2014). Human Security Studies. Theories, Methods and Themes.

World Scientific Publishing. For the purposes of this NOFO, please use the term of art "citizen security" rather than the broader term of "Human Security. ” To note that USAID considers the term "Citizen Security" to extend to all people regardless of nationality, etc. Community-level safety and resiliency to crime and violence increased Result 1.

Enhanced social cohesion Result 2. Strengthened citizen-responsive NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES When appropriate, the Activity will learn from, expand on and strengthen proven, local or regional, experiences in similar settings and/or circumstances to adapt it to the Colombian, rural, ethnic context.

The Activity shall also expand and strengthen the credibility and efficacy of ethnic boards, protection councils and other local representations that exist in the target locations. It shall also work with relevant authorities and communities to ensure an inclusive, participatory approach to the citizen security programming under this activity.

In addition, grant funds will be established to enhance local partner capacity, seize opportunities, facilitate partnerships, and enhance coordination among stakeholders. Furthermore, a rapid response fund shall also be used to respond and mitigate any unforeseen challenges or changing dynamics throughout the life of the Activity.

A key feature of the Activity will be intensive collaboration and coordination with civil society, local community counterparts, and other USG-funded activities to create innovative strategies to facilitate violence prevention services in the target locations. These interventions will help reduce the crime and violence experienced in the target locations by mitigating the effects of organized criminal groups and other violent acts.

Conflict-affected territories are increasingly at-risk of backsliding into violent conflict, as they are vulnerable to pressures from criminal networks linked to illegal mining and coca production (see Map A below). The dispute among illegal groups, including non-demobilized factions, for territorial and social control, affects security in these “conflict-affected territories.

” In many parts of Colombia, mass-displacement, forced confinement, antipersonnel mine accidents, and aggressions against social leaders have skyrocketed. The U. N.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported 305 social leader homicides since 2016, although the number varies across sources. Social leader threats also are on the rise and effectively chill leadership. According to the GOC’s National Protection Unit, most social leaders are targeted for their advocacy related to land issues, illegal mining, and illicit-crops substitution.

Additionally, the Ombudsman’s Office identified over 400 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in 33 areas of the country facing security risks. The violence also disproportionately affects departments, including Cauca, Nariño, Antioquia, and Norte de Santander (see Map B below), and impedes peace and prosperity. A.

3. USAID/COLOMBIA STRATEGY The Activity will contribute to USAID/Colombia’s (2014-2020) Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) goal “Colombia more capable of successfully implementing a sustainable and inclusive peace”. In particular, it will support the achievement of Development Objective 1: “Effective presence of democratic institutions and processes in targeted areas” and it’s Intermediate Result 1.

3: “Improved administration of justice and protection of human rights”. (See diagram below.) This activity will also align with the Mission’s new CDCS, set to begin in 2020.

NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES This Activity will be part of a whole of USG approach, as USAID/Colombia teams with the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) and others to provide USG-funded support to priority areas within Colombia.

USAID/Colombia also has an ambitious collaborative learning agenda that supports identifying successful community resilience promotion models for replication by the GOC and others.

This Activity will also work closely with USAID/Colombia’s Alliances for Reconciliation activity to promote social dialogue, the future Rule of Law activity to investigate and prosecute priority crime cases, the new Youth Resiliency activity to promote psychosocial support to youth and communities, as well as the Conflict Survivors and forthcoming Responsive Governance activities.

IF Colombia’s institutions and conflict-affected communities proactively work together to improve community-responsive, sustainable local security systems, AND the social fabric is strengthened through dialogue and trust-building to mitigate relevant threats in target locations, THEN communities will be more resilient against the effects of organized crime and violence.

This theory of change is built upon the assumptions that: ● The social and political situation in Colombia remains stable. ● The security conditions in the target areas remain stable, allowing for activity presence and implementation. ● USAID and the GOC funding levels remain stable.

● Target institutions, communities, and organizations remain open to receiving USAID assistance. NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES A. 5.

OBJECTIVE AND RESULTS This Activity will provide technical assistance and grants that support the following objective and results: OBJECTIVE: Community-level safety and resilience to crime and violence increased.

While there has been progress on restoration of peace and reconciliation in Colombia, the presence of organized criminal groups in geographies most affected by illegal mining and coca production, compounded by the need for greater state presence, has contributed to increased crime and insecurity, and impeded trust and social cohesion.

This Activity seeks to strengthen trust, collaboration and communication within and among communities and GOC security sector stakeholders to increase citizen security, thereby increasing community resilience. This entails approaches tailored to specific contexts and community-level needs, as well as partnerships to achieve common goals.

Programmatic approaches must be politically and culturally sensitive, inclusive, and participatory to build local capacity and achieve sustainable results. As a result, the relationships and processes forged with security-system actors shall result in increased trust, confidence and efficacy in the services provided to each community.

Specifically, the approach shall require: assessing which conflict resolution, prevention and protection measures have proven most effective in each local system; and providing tailored support to institutional security system actors and developing interventions to help them to adapt to community needs and achieve the Objective.

It is expected that this Activity will undertake a phased approach to enable the development of geographically-relevant approaches in multiple regions, necessary contextual variations and expansion of successful interventions throughout the life of the Activity. Each Applicant shall define the composition of each phase in accordance with its proposed program and methodology.

The phased approach should be adaptive in design and implementation to facilitate analysis of best practices and lessons learned.

For example, Phase 1 could identify/prioritize actions for short, medium and long term that would help increase security and foster community resilience with the relevant stakeholders; Phase 2 could roll out the short-term actions alongside the community cohesion activities necessary to ensure buy-in and sustainability, and Phase 3 could include social auditing and monitoring for results of said actions.

The first three phases shall be completed by the end of Year 2. It is expected that by Year 3, the Activity will expand and adapt the pilots to additional targeted areas and implement them until the end date.

Proposed Performance Monitoring and Review Measures for the Objective • At a minimum, a three-phased approach developed and completed before the end of Year 2 in targeted pilot locations; • At a minimum, 20% of the total estimated budget allocated to sub-grants; • For each target locality, a community resilience 2 index with appropriately-informed data sets to be tracked until the end of the activity; and • Performance Monitoring and Review Measures for Results 1 and 2, respectively.

> 2A Community Resilience Index should incorporate quantitative measures of aspects that equip communities to be better prepared to cope or adapt to situations of violence, rather than integrate actual measures of citizen security such as crime victimization or fear of crime. NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES A. 5.

1. RESULT 1: Enhanced social cohesion Social cohesion allows communities to work together to mitigate or prevent violent and criminal behavior. 3 This Activity will support local civil society actors - such as ethnic, grassroots, faith-based, and other community-level organizations - to engage the relevant leaders, advocates, and decision-makers on issues related to crime and violence prevention.

This process shall include culturally and politically appropriate, conflict-sensitive approaches that promote social dialogue, individual and collective self-protection networks, as well as other relevant strategies. Furthermore, it is expected that self-care systems, including but not limited to psycho-social services, will be made available to communities and their leaders to augment self-protection measures.

This Activity will provide focused organizational capacity development and other competency-building strategies to enable civil society actors and communities to become change agents for social cohesion and citizen security in the target locations.

This could include community-led reconciliation and conflict management processes, social auditing, communication strategies -such as focus on social behavior change communication (SBCC) approaches, and others that promote community cohesion and non-violent conflict resolution. These outcomes will strengthen community resilience to crime and violence.

This collaborative approach should also reduce stigmas against social leaders, conflict-affected communities, and other vulnerable populations. The technical approach undertaken through this result shall be commensurate with the outcomes of Result 2.

Performance Monitoring and Review Measures under Result 1 • Improved organizational capacity (as measured through an Organizational Performance Index) for communities to act as effective advocates and change agents for improved citizen security in target locations; • At a minimum, one collaborative mechanism with security system actors established or supported per target location; • At a minimum, one citizen-led self-protection structure (which includes self-care mechanisms) established and/or supported per target location; and • At a minimum, one citizen-informed strategy to reduce stigma against social leaders and people in conflict-affected communities implemented.

A. 5. 2.

RESULT 2: Strengthened citizen-responsive security systems. > 3Social cohesion has proven to bring important benefits to societies and in particular to post-conflict societies as it leads to stronger, more binding group membership (Festinger et al.

, 1950), group security and acceptance of shared norms (Cartwright, 1950; Cartwright and Zander, 1953), increased consensus (Back, 1951; Asch, 1952; Miligram, 1965) and deterrence of antisocial behavior (LeBon, 1908; Durkheim,1897) > https://www. undp. org/content/dam/rba/docs/UNDP%20Social%20Cohension_web.

pdf . NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES A broad-based participatory approach will help consolidate trust and confidence in the security system, a critical condition for sustainable results. Through this Activity, the stakeholders shall develop and implement improved security plans and guarantees, as well as human rights prevention and protection approaches 4 relevant to each target location.

The approach shall include adaptive management practices to incorporate data-driven, community-responsive prevention and intervention strategies to local security plans, as well as regular feedback loops to reinforce stakeholder collaboration, participation and trust.

This Activity will seek operational-level opportunities for security system actors to foster relational policing strategies; establish effective deterrence mechanisms; incorporate community-responsive performance evaluation measures; strengthen communication strategies; and, develop policing strategies and/or incentives that enhance police effectiveness.

This approach may require engaging national authorities in the pursuit of local-level results. It will also require coordination with other USAID, USG, and donor projects, to capitalize investments and maximize impact as a place-based approach.

Performance Monitoring and Review Measures under Result 2 • At a minimum, one geographically-relevant, citizen security approach developed and implemented per target location; • At a minimum, one community-responsive, participatory Security Plan implemented per target location; • At a minimum, two data- and community-informed crime and violence prevention strategies implemented per target location; and • At a minimum, one community-responsive relational policing strategy implemented per target area.

A. 6.

ILLUSTRATIVE INDICATORS This Activity would be measured by the following illustrative indicators: • Percentage change in perception and victimization surveys, from an initial baseline; • Percentage change in relevant select crimes per target location, per data gathered before, during and upon conclusion of the Activity; • Number of USG-supported citizen-led self-protection structures improved; and • Percentage implementation of USG-supported Security Plan per target location.

Once awarded, a complete Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (ALMEP), with indicators, will be developed and approved by USAID per solicitation instructions.

The Recipient must ensure that the following guiding principles steer the planning and implementation of this activity: • Phased Approach: As outlined above, this would entail 18 months during which the Recipient would identify, assess, and analyze existing conditions, implement agile pilots > 4Security Guarantees are mechanisms identified in Colombia’s peace accords to provide a safe environment for social leaders, organizations and communities engaged in the different areas of implementation of the peace accords.

NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES that build in explicit processes of iterative design and adaptation initiatives, for scaling-up and implementation across all targeted geographies from Month 24 through the end of the Activity.

• Journey to Self-Reliance: This Activity will strategically assist Colombia to transition to self-reliance by engaging and increasing the capacity of key stakeholders through local ownership and leadership of interventions. The Activity will nurture “non-traditional” partners with shared interests to address problems and identify opportunities.

Furthermore, the Activity will collaborate with other programming to advance government and civil society capacity and commitment to human rights and security, furthering Colombia’s Journey to Self-Reliance. • Local Capacity Development: The Recipient must build the capacity of CSOs, community-level boards, local governmental, and system security actors relevant to the Activity in order to achieve the Activity’s objective.

This approach will ensure that the approaches are sustainable and that Colombian stakeholders can replicate and maintain these processes after the Activity ends. The recipient’s Work Plan shall include a section on Local Capacity Development, and outline the specific technical assistance, training, grants, and material inputs that will support this result.

• Windows of Opportunity: Program designs and annual work plans shall be flexible and allow for responding to windows of opportunity. The Recipient shall recognize when there are windows of opportunity and moments of political and social change when processes or reforms are more likely to take root.

In such cases, work plans, grant allocation, the rapid response fund and other tools can and should be altered in response, and these changes are to be agreed upon in writing between the Agreement Officer Representative (AOR) and the Recipient. Alterations to the work plan, etc. must not hold the USG to incurring in costs above the approved budget total.

• Target geography: This Activity will target rural conflict-affected territories with high levels of violence perpetrated against social leaders and vulnerable communities. The Activity will align with USAID’s Mission-wide geographic priorities and the GOC’s geographic priorities for USAID support.

While target areas will be defined in the work plan, it is likely that, at a minimum, the Activity will be implemented in the following five regions: Tumaco, Catatumbo, Bajo Cauca-Southern Córdoba, and Cauca. The specific number of target municipalities will be determined in the Work Plan.

USAID/Colombia has Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capabilities in the Program Office and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Activity. The Recipient must support the Mission’s systems by working with the Program Office, MEL Activity, and sub-grantees to ensure that relevant performance information is geocoded.

Once the Recipient and USAID agree on which indicators can be geocoded, USAID will require implementing partners to include this additional information in their regular reporting processes. ● Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Gender equality, female empowerment and social inclusion are essential for achieving USAID’s development goals.

The USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy advances equality between females and males, and empowers women and girls to participate fully in and benefit from development, through the integration of gender in the entire project cycl e ‐‐ from NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES project design and implementation to monitoring and evaluation.

This integrated approach focuses on: • Reducing gender disparities in access to, control over and benefit from resources; • Reducing gender based violence; and • Increasing the capability of women and girls to realize their rights.

Per USAID Gender Policy, implementing partners are to develop a gender and social inclusion strategy to accompany and complement the first annual work plan to ensure the integration of gender and social inclusion considerations into the work plan, the M&E Plan, and for reporting on how the project benefited men and women. The Strategy is prepared annually together with the project work plan or implementation plan.

The applicant should include women, and other identified vulnerable populations, in their staff and among target groups in aa representative a manner as possible, and ensure increased participation of women (from partner institutions) in project implementation.

• Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) approach: The Recipient will work with USAID (and others) to process emerging conclusions from analyses, to develop a common understanding of the local context and dynamics at play, and to refine work plans and the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) plan to adapt to changes in the context and/or new information that impacts program implementation.

• "Do No Harm": Lessons learned from other citizen security programming shows that implementers should exercise an abundance of caution to ensure that providing support to certain populations will not create hostility between individuals and/or communities with illicit groups (i.e. organized crime, gangs), or exacerbate existing tensions.

The Recipient should analyze potential harmful impacts of the Activity and propose approaches to mitigate those impacts. • Monitoring and Evaluation: Specific interventions applied by the Activity will be driven not just by opportunity, but also by empirical and qualitative evidence.

The Recipient must integrate a baseline diagnostic for the Activity which reflects the elements of the development hypothesis with realistic expectations of the value and scale of results, and understanding of implementation risks.

Further, the Recipient must be able to develop and administer flexible monitoring tools where country program goals and objectives may change, baselines and control groups may be lacking, cause and effect do not always follow a linear relationship, and programs rely on quick turnaround of data and analysis to inform programming decisions.

Finally, the Recipient will be required to cooperate with and facilitate the work of an independent Contractor who will design and implement a performance evaluation of the Activity, in accordance with USAID policy. The Recipient should expect periodic performance evaluations conducted by USAID.

The Recipient must submit as part of its proposal a monitoring and evaluation plan to describe how it will measure starting points, progress and results achieved in reaching the expected outcomes of the Activity.

Accordingly, the Recipient shall propose a holistic results framework (which may differ from the USAID-proposed results framework) which includes sub-intermediate results for each intermediate result and an alternative theory of change which supports their proposed technical approach. ● Communications and Outreach: The Activity must enhance USAID’s outreach and communications efforts to Colombian and other audiences.

This effort will focus on NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES describing and explaining USAID’s efforts to assist Colombian partners to achieve the objectives established above.

This includes but is not limited to: Preparing and sharing (with USAID) updated fact sheets on a quarterly basis; and preparing and including at least one success story (following USAID guidance) describing the impact of the program in each quarterly technical report. Such stories can be as short as one page and not longer than one page. Communications and Outreach must also advance the Activity’s programmatic objectives.

As such, the Plan must include a set of project and communication objectives, key audiences (both primary and secondary), key messages, implementation plan, budget, and evaluation framework. Lastly, the Communications and Outreach Plan will need to strategically be aligned with the AMELP in order to ensure effective knowledge management. A.

8. COORDINATION AND PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: The Recipient shall plan and carry out program activities with a clear understanding of the scope and impacts of other efforts in citizen security – particularly as related to the target locations in order to avoid duplication or inconsistencies in efforts, leverage maximum impact, and identify opportunities for joint implementation or collaboration.

The implementation of a place-based approach may require a systems navigator function; this is envisioned as persons or entities which understand the relevant local systems and serve as steering bodies within communities to support persons, organizations and/or service providers in reaching the appropriate services, stakeholders of beneficiaries in pursuit of the Activity’s goal and results.

Each system navigator will play a key supportive role in order to seize opportunities, capitalize USG investment, incorporate elements from donors to expand results, or refer actions to state or non-state actors as relevant.

In addition, the Recipient is urged to investigate and utilize the potential for public private partnerships and alliances (in coordination with USAID) to broaden activity impact, and ensure the sustainability of activities and processes after the end of the Activity. The Recipient is expected to adhere to USAID/Colombia’s guidance and procedures for due diligence prior to engaging a private sector entity as a partner.

The private sector refers to businesses, financial institutions, entrepreneurs, investors, business associations, chambers of commerce, private grant-making foundations and philanthropic entities.

The goal of private sector engagement, including but not limited to public private partnerships, is to help solve a development challenge and/or to further advance development objectives by leveraging and applying private sector expertise, capabilities, networks and other resources.

The latter includes, but is not limited to, business expertise, market access, networks, financial resources and in-kind contributions such as equipment, technology or personnel time. The Recipient is expected to use, at a minimum, 20 percent of the total estimated cost of the Activity for sub-grants in support of citizen security strategies, interventions, and service delivery systems.

The Recipient shall ensure that USAID must be significantly involved in establishing grant guidelines and selection criteria and must approve the grant recipients through a Grant Manual approved by the Agreement Officer. Source: International Crisis Group, Colombia’s Armed Groups Battle for the Spoils of Peace NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES (https://www. crisisgroup.

org/latin-america-caribbean/andes/colombia/63-colombias-armed-groups-battle-spoils-peace ) Source: Colombia Human Rights Ombudsman, Social Leader and Human Rights Defender Homicides (http://www. defensoria. gov.co/es/public/contenido/7399/Homicidios-de-l%C3%ADderes-sociales-y-defensores-de-DDHH.

htm )NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES [END OF SECTION A] NOFO 72051420RFA00008 RESILIENT COMMUNITIES SECTION B: FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION B. 1. ESTIMATE OF FUNDS AVAILABLE AND NUMBER OF AWARDS CONTEMPLATED USAID intends to award one (1) Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this NOFO.

Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide $39. 2 million in total USAID funding over a five-year period. B.

2. START DATE AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE FOR FEDERAL AWARDS The anticipated period of performance is five (5) years. B.

3. SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT USAID will be substantially involved in this Cooperative Agreement to help the Recipient achieve the agreement objectives in the following manner: 1. The Agency’s approval of the recipient’s implementation plans during performance.

2. The Agency’s ability to immediately halt an activity if the recipient does not meet detailed performance specifications. 3.

The Agency’s review and approval of one stage of work, before work can begin on a subsequent stage during the period covered by the cooperative agreement. 4. The Agency’s review and approval of substantive provisions of proposed subawards or contracts (see definitions in 2 CFR 200).