USAID/Ethiopia Collaboration Learning Adapting Platform is sponsored by USAID/Ethiopia. USAID/Ethiopia Collaboration Learning Adapting Platform is a grant from USAID/Ethiopia that funds organizations to establish a mission-wide platform for systematic collaboration, learning, and adapting in development programming across Ethiopia and Djibouti.

Collaboration Learning Adapting (CLA) Platform Broad Mission Announcement for USAID/Ethiopia for Improved Development Outcomes Background: USAID/Ethiopia, USAID/Djibouti and CLA USAID/Ethiopia’s goal is to transi tion Ethiopia to a more democratic, prosperous, and resilient society, with accountable institutions and private sector -led growth.

To achieve this goal, USAID/Ethiopia will partner with Ethiopian stakeholders and donors, the private sector, and civi l soci ety across sectors to address challenges in the areas of democracy, demographics, and Given the rapidly changing contexts within Ethiopia and the region, USAID needs to take new approaches to learning that allow for programmatic adaptati on usi ng reliable data.

To achieve this objective, USAID seeks innovative approaches to collaborating and learning to adapt its programming utilizing evidence by partnering with traditional and non -traditional partners to expand Collaboration, Learning, and Ada pting (CLA) utilization within the Mission, implementing partners, and other development partners (such as civil society, think tanks, donors, select public entities, etc.) .

Furthermore, the USAID/Djibouti operating unit is expected to benefit from the p latform. Djibouti is a critical partner whose cooperation advances United States Government (USG) interests and USAID/Djibouti plays a key role in helping the country achieve its development needs.

USAID's work in Djibouti invests in people through e ducati on, health, governance, and Problem Statement: The Need for New Approaches to Collaboration, Learning, and USAID/Ethiopia is working towards a Mission -wide systematic and intentional approach to CLA. There is a need for a CLA platform for improved data management, and to support advocacy with external partners based on evidence.

The Mission needs data to make timely decisions in our program design and implementation. Decision -making should be guided by data, work wit h exis ting systems and ensure timely adaptation and improvement in programming. The programming environment in Ethiopia is dynamic.

Intentional and iterative learning throughout activity lifecycles should result in richer analysis to inform this adaptive 2 managem ent. As such, the CLA Platform will establish feedback loops between and among activities across all Development Objectives (DOs). Externally, local partners and stakeholders also lack the ability to generate and use data to make evidence -based deci sions.

There is a need for data to inform the USG’s broader foreign policy objectives in Ethiopia. Additionally, programming is often siloed even within sectors, and within sectors, the data can be fragmented within and outside of USAID. Without accurate, right -sized, and timely data that can be applied to decision -making, it is difficult to achieve mutual development objectives and maximize impact and sustainability.

Best practices should not only cover preferred practices; rather, best practices should emphasiz e flexibility to adapt practices to unique geographic, cultural, and temporal contexts. USAID seeks to partner with organizations whose priorities lie in improving development impact by utilizing improved CLA tools and approaches.

This pr ocess should con sider Connect Online Connect Offline (COCO) applications of digital information collection given the power and internet challenges in Ethiopia and Djibouti, and more so in rural areas. There is a need to create a system that will provide a cross -mission pe rspective.

The Mission’s new CLA Platform will establish a feedback loop where such learnings will be made fit for purpose, thereby benefiting activities across USAID/Ethiopia’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) objectives and development out comes.

USAID/Djibouti and USAID/ Ethiopia program staff recently completed a CLA Mapping Assessment survey to assess current best practices and areas for improvement to help attain the aspirational level of “Institutionalizing” CLA withi n the office.

Base d on the key findings from the assessment, specific recommendations were set forth on how USAID/Djibouti and USAID/ Ethiopia can strengthen the incorporation and integration of CLA approaches into projects which will help provide an ena bling environment wi thin the organization.

It is exp ected that the platform wil l be re sponsive to the changing environment s and that funded activities can be For the purposes of this Addendum, USAID seeks new perspectives through co -creation with a diversi ty of partners who possess a number of the experienc es below, both in the development field and private -sector innovations.

More importantly, USAID/Ethiopia and USAID/Djibouti are seeking partners who have the ability to transform the way USAID and its ext ernal stakeholders understand and respond to the suc cess or failure of their programming utilizi ng the ● Systems -based approach, that is flexible and expandable based on the demands of the stakeholders addressing the objectives listed above.

● Expose stakeholders to non -traditional monit oring, evaluation, and learning methods and cutting -edge analysis as well as support their ability and awareness to engage with non - traditional development actors for learning.

● Support to a subset of the Mission’s Learning Themes and Learning Questions: 3 ○ Learning themes: Gender, Youth, Private secto r engagement, Governance, including civil society and citizen engagement, Conflict, New partnerships, Mission operations. Some are cross -cutting and target sect ors.

USAID and Implementing Partners need to conside r the difference in how we will address cros s-cutting in terms of function and focus sector/theme. ○ Major learning questions: ■ To what extent, and under what enabling conditions, does multi -sectoral integ ration lead to improved outcomes?

■ How have particul ar programmatic or sectoral approaches to sy stems strengthening been designed and implemented to foster self -reliance, and which are most effective? Why?

● Support one or more of the Ethiopia Mission’s se ctors and offices: ○ Democracy and Governance/conflict ○ Disaster Risk Management ○ Private Sector Development ○ Climate Adaptation and/or Mitigation Anticipated u sers of the CLA Platform services are : ● Mission - Internal decision -making on the Mission’s development programming in coordination with the Mission’s Organization Development Contract implementing partner.

Focus areas at the CDCS/DO, Projec t, and Activity l evels. ● Implementing Partners - CLA ca pacity building for USAID implementing partners and ● Support and strengthening/building systems to generate and apply data to their own decision -making to promote self -reliance.

● Devel opment Partners (including donors, private sector pa rtners, and civil society USAID/Ethiopia and USAID/Djibouti seek new approaches to CLA that will enable the Missions to apply predictive analytics to monitoring data t o inform programmi ng decisions, including discontinu ation of ineffective programs.

This platform will enable the wider collective impact of USAID, and other partners, thereby meeting the Development Objectives outlined within the CDCS. USAID/Eth iopia seeks to iteratively ex amine its theories of change, 4 development hypotheses, and programming approaches to ensure development challenges are in alignment with solutions.

It also seeks to do this by fully internalizing the realities and challenges of the systems within which part icular solu tions aim to provide impact.

USAID seeks partners to engage in a co -creation process to achieve the following objectives: ● Learning to drive program results more efficiently and expediently than traditional Tr aditional learning approaches can be eff ective, but the increasing complexity of the Mission’s development context, as well as the integrated 2019 -2024 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) , warrants the need to build up on traditional learning approaches.

The CDCS will be implemented during the life of this award; it is expected that the platform will play a key role in shaping the next CDCS. USAID and Implementing Partners need an active sys tem and not a passive one tha t s olely collects infor mation submitted by partners. This means embracing innovation and fostering out - of -the -box thinking to meet the new and ever -evolving demands and challenges of the Mission’s work.

There is a critical need to invest in cost -effective and evidence -revealing research, and learning is critical to both making the case for resources and for leveraging non -USG programming. There is an opportunity to consider external data generation and decision -making tools, dat a and tool repositories, inte rna l program monitoring data management, and/or a system that will support stronger integration.

With this consideration, there is a need to establish a balance between new data and leveraging the data currently being collected . ● Generate fit -for -purpose data to adapt and improv e development programs The Mission wants to reorient its approach to data generation with adaptation in mind.

Currently, USAID/Ethiopia data generation is often driven by the reporting needs of external stakeholder s as opposed to t he learning needs of th e Mission and host country partners.

USAID needs a platform that will work with the current Development Information Solution (DIS) a web -based, Agency - > wide portfolio management system designed to capture one cohesive development sto ry -from strategy to There is a need for data that adds value to implementers in its core technical areas, as well as for the Ethiopian stakeholders and local communities.

Specifically, there are processes t hat need t o be developed to address que stions related to what do we need to know, when, and how often to ensure that a project or activity remains on track or needs to adapt/pivot? There is a need for flexibility to commission technical expertise.

USAID an d Implemen ting Partners need clarity to support core drivers o f success and how do we track that in order to make effective decisions throughout the project or activity life cycle.

There is an opportunity to explore new indicators, such as the use of senti nel indica tors (a measure for complex s ystems) and proxy indic ators (an indirect measure for achievement/performance that are difficult to measure directly) and expand the use of third -party statistics .

● Increase the Speed of Collaborating, Learning, a nd Adaptation New interventi ons increase collaborat ion between traditional monitoring systems and implementing partners. As we develop the CLA platform, there needs to be a5 consideration to enable experimentation . USAID should empower implementers to test theories and iterate develop ment programs.

Best pra ctice should not only cover preferred practices; rather, best practices should emphasize flexibility to adapt practices to unique geographic, cultural, and tempora l contexts. There is a need to organize f or Innovation . USAID/Ethiopi a and USAID/Djibouti sh ould emphasize the importance of data and informational feedback systems in accelerating the innovation process.

We should institute well -organized data and protot yping simulation s ystems in order to empo wer implementers and program officers to rapidly ass ess, iterate and scale new ideas. o Timing and Resolution . Informational tools should emphasize the importance of generating and analyzing information at the timing and resolution of relevance .

o System. To provide a cross -mission persp ective, t he Mission’s n ew CLA Platform will establish a feedback loop where such learnings will be made fit for purpose, thereby benefiting activities across CDCS objectives and developm ent outcomes. o Actionability .

Information must have a clear purpose an d be closely coupled wi th Mission program and policy actions; Programs should be structured to respond and develop around the information . Implementers should serve important roles in framing questions, proposing possible indi cators; and gathering informa tion. o Reduce Cost .

US AID should maximize and prioritize the use of third -party data sources and passive observational tools; where possible, USAID should explore the use of proxy indic ators (e.g., mobile phone data as a measu re of economic activity). o Focus on causal relati onships . Information efforts should clarify the causal relationships between policies and programs and the activity or behavior of target beneficiaries.

Target ind icators should be selected to emphasize r elationships between policies and behavioral outcome s rather than describing population characteristics and should include predictive analytics to inform the path forward.

● Improve data literacy, including the abili ty to generate, comprehend, rigorously an alyze, and apply data generat ed by both USAID and br oader development actors Mission staff members have limited time resources and there is no expectation that everyone becomes a data scientist.

However, it is para mount for the general success of the Miss ion’s development projects an d activities that plann ers and managers have analytical skills and create space for learning to understand appropriate learning questions and methods to ascertain answers with adaptation .

There is a need for a clear understandi ng of what data will be used for and within what tim eframe --clear anchor points of reference such as data generation and consolidation (i.e., the data ecosystem) and analysis (i.e., analyzation and reconfiguration) . More importantly, t here is a need for ap plying different research mod eling methods to promot e data analysis, data interrogation, and interpretation.

To facilitate this, there should be a consideration for human -centered design and the digital design prin ciples in the platform’s development ● Share CLA practi ces and expand the use of CLA across the Mission’s implementing partners, and other Ethiopian and Djibouti partners outside of government. 6 The Mission must b e able to help other development actors inco rporate basic learning and adapting principles.

We n ee d to develop a user -friendly platform with a plan for capacity strengthening, sustainability, and microlearning tools. USAID anticipates a funding of up to $60 M from which we will issue on e or multiple awards, depending on the co -creation process.

Please submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) indicating the resear ch or development idea which will work towards d iscovering potential solutions to the above Problem Statement by increasing knowledge and understanding of potentia l solutions, capitalizing on scientific discoveries or improvements in technology, materials, processes, methods, or techniques, advancing th e state of the art, or using scientific and technica l knowledge in the design, development, implementation, testing or evaluation of CLA activities.

Please describe your idea for innovative approaches for solving the Missions’ challenges, and highlight your group’s value to the partnership. Organization s are encouraged to consider collaborating with peer organizations that bring differing perspectives and/or comparative advantages.

● No t exceed 10 pages, excluding Header, Summary Bud get and optional graphic(s) ● Contain a Header with th e following information (not included in word count): ○ Respondent Na me/Group and Contact Information ○ BAA Addendum Name/Number ● Be in . pdf or .

d ocx format ○ Idea/approach to CLA, including brief identification/summary of su pporting ○ Innovate approaches and other resources you are willing to dedicate to this ○ Your organization’s unique perspectives and cap abilities, as well as your ability to harness th e comparative advantages of other parties (that addr esses one or ● Contain a Summary Budget with the following information (not included in the word ○ Table listing major cost categor ies and showing a total figure to give the Missi on an idea of the magnitude of the work effort.

○ A br ief (a paragraph or two) discussion of budget line items and struct ure, as applicable. Details are not necessary at this time. EOI preparation costs will not be reimbursed by USAID.

7 Eligibility: Unrestricted. Submissions are not evaluated against other submissions, but so lely against the criteria below. The following criteria (in descending order of importance) will be applied to the evaluation of all 1.

Overall Scientific and Technical Merit of the Idea/Approach : In evaluating the idea/approach, USAID will focus o n how the EOI presents fresh, informed and realistic thinking, and how it uses su pporting evidence and analysis. The Mission will base it s decision on the available evidence, data, and resu lting analysis. The Mission seeks targeted solutions that will achi eve significant impact on its organization.

2. Management Capability and Key Per sonnel : The managerial capability of the organization(s) and team of people engaged in the proposed endeavor . The extent to which the proposed management plan of the idea/appr oach is realistic, efficient and effective.

3. Experience : Strengths of your gro up as a partner, including past performance and experien ce, to advance the Mission’s objectives. The degree to which the partner(s) has successfully executed similar innovativ e work in the recent past.

4. Cost Realism and Reasonableness : Note that cost re alism and reasonableness shall also be considered to the extent appropriate, although the selection of propo sals is primarily a technical decision. This criterion will be cons idered only when evaluating Full Proposals and Full USAID’s goal is to facilitate the research tha t is required to lead to innovative and potentially commercially viable solutions.

Understanding the sensitive nature o f submitters’ information, when it is a possible concern, USAID will work with or ganizations to protect intellectual Expressio ns of interest should be free of any intellectual pr operty that the submitter wishes to protect, as the expressions of interest will be shared with USAID partners as part of the selection process.

How ever, once submitters have been invited to engage in fur ther discussions, submitters will work with USAID to identify proprietary information that requires protection.

Theref ore, organizations making submissions under this Addendum hereby grant USAID a royalty -free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use, disclose, reproduce, and prepare derivative works, a nd to have or permit others to do so to any information contained i n the 8 expressions of interest submitted under the Addendum.

If USAID engages wi th the organization regarding its submission, the parties can negotiate further intellectual property protecti on for the organization’s intellectual property.

Organizations must ensure that any submissions under the Addendum are free of any third party pro prietary data rights that would impact the license USAID will re view and select EOIs submitted in accordance with the guidelines an d criteria set forth in this Addendum.

USAID reserves the right to disregard an y EOIs that do not meet the Stage 1 : All EOIs will be reviewed by an Internal Review Board (Board ) which may include but not limited to USAID experts, partners, out side development or other experts.

For EOIs that are deemed to have merit by US AID and pass the criteria/eligibility stated above, USAID will issue an invitation to collaborate to the poten tial partner(s) in a (very likely virtual) co -creation workshop/ses sion. Post co -creation, potential partner(s) will develop a Concept Paper(s). I t is during this time that the parties will determine addi tional partners and resources to complement their pr oposed activity.

The Concept Paper(s), generally 10 -15 pages, will further outline the concrete programmatic plan, focus areas, goals, timelines, etc. The Concept Paper(s) will also include a more detaile d budget (not included in the 10 -15 page count). Nei ther co -creation participation costs nor Concept Paper preparation costs will be reimbursed by USAID. Stage 2 : All Concept Papers will be reviewe d by an Internal Review Board (Board).

The Board will reco mmend which Concept Paper(s) should be considered fo r Full Proposal(s) or Full Application(s). In accordance with the s pecified evaluation criteria, the Board will recommend whether to move forward with the activity including any revisions/additions, and p otential partners and resources.

Please note that be ing identified to submit a Full proposal or Full Application is not a guarantee of award or funding from USAID. Stage 3: The Contracting/Agreemen t Officer (CO/AO) will review the Board’s recommendations.

The CO/AO may determine the anticipated instrument type to facilitate activity design and/or may advise the co -design team on possible instruments and relationship types, and/or may determine the i nstrument at a later time in the co -design process.

Stage 4: USAID will work with the Apparent Potential Part ner(s) to clarify the activity and will assist the Apparent Potenti al Partner(s) in preparing a Full Proposal or Full Application, which will be a pproximately 45 pages in length.

The Full Proposal(s) or F ull Application(s) will fully describe the Potential Partner’s(s’) technical approach, management approach, organizatio nal capacity, past performance, fully -costed budget, as well as representations and certifications. Note that the addition of new partner s in the co -design phase will require the approval o f the CO/AO. Full Proposal/Full Application preparation costs will not be reimbursed by USAID.

Stage 5 : All Full Proposal(s)/Full Applications wi ll be reviewed by the Board. Using its technical expertise and in accordance with the specified evaluation cri teria, the Board will recommend 9 whether to move forward with the Fu ll Proposal(s)/Full Application(s). The CO/AO will consider this recommendation and make a final decision whether to move forward to nego tiations.

The CO/AO will make an Apparent Potential Partner(s) determination. The CO/AO will determine instrument type and responsibility, analyze cost reasonableness, etc. and craft an award instru ment with the Apparent Potential Partner(s). If the Appare nt Potential Partner(s) and USAID cannot arrive at a mutually agreeable arrangement, the CO/AO will cancel the activity at no cost to the Government.

USAID is not obligated to issue a financial ins trument or award as a result of this Addendum. Please submit your expression of interest in E nglish to Liam Garvey at > lgarvey @usaid. gov with a copy to caddis@usaid.

gov no later than 17:00 Et hiopian Time, October Plea se submit your questions (if any) via email to Liam Garvey at lgarvey @usaid. gov with a copy to no later than 17:00 Ethiopian Time, September 7, 2021 . Responses to all timely questions will be posted as an amendment to this Addendum.