CAN BE
ALTERNATIVE
INVESTMENT

RFI-685-19-RGN
ABDULLAHI SADIQ A and A Specialist
Opening date 6 Dec 2018, 12:00AM
Closing date 24 Dec 2018, 12:00AM
Funding Opportunity Number: RFI-685-19-RGN
Opportunity Category: Other
Category Explanation: N/A - Request for Information
CFDA Number(s): 98.001 -- USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No
Posted Date: Dec 06, 2018 12:00:00 AM EST
Closing Date: Dec 24, 2018 12:00:00 AM EST
Eligible Applicants: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility"
Agency Name: ABDULLAHI SADIQ A and A Specialist
Description: This USAID/Sahel Regional Office (SRO) RFI is issued for the purpose of providing stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment, suggest, and enhance areas in the attached draft design document for a new USAID/Sahel Regional Office activity: the Resilient Governance in Niger activity (RGN). RGN is expected to be an $18,000,000, three-year activity, with two option years for a total of five years, subject to the availability of funds. RGN will serve leading governance activity in Niger under the USAID’s Resilience in the Sahel II Project (RISE II). RGN will address Objective 4: Enhance governance of institutions and organizations, of the RISE II results framework (attached), specifically sub-IR 4.1: Improved performance of sub-national state institutions and sub-IR 4.2: Strengthened local civil society and community based organizations. The Activity is intended to support locally-driven, politically feasible approaches to enhance: Municipal government and citizen understanding of the roles and responsibilities of municipal governments and deconcentrated national authorities, and intergovernmental communications concerning local governance; Planning, budgeting and administrative capacity of municipal governments to manage and mobilize financial and human resources for locally-determined service and infrastructure needs; and Civic engagement in communal governance - in determining local priorities, and in holding government accountable to meet its obligations USAID has revised its program cycle guidance to facilitate more adaptive, contextually-driven programming approaches, and the choice of a high-level, objective-oriented design rather than a more prescriptive scope reflects this. The attached draft presents RGN’s proposed objectives and expected outcomes. USAID/Sahel Regional Office may significantly revise this proposed new activity and planned solicitation resulting from the comments received, and from further stakeholder consultations. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Applications or Proposals (RFA/RFP). Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as proposals and will not be accepted by the U.S. Government (USG) to form a binding agreement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any solicitation or ultimately award of an assistance agreement or contract on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. USAID reserves the right to modify the scope and scale of the RFI (following the pre-solicitation conference). It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. USAID/Sahel Regional Office will not provide answers to any question submitted in response to this request. By issuing the draft for comment, USAID/Sahel Regional Office aims to consult with a broad community of public and private sector actors concerned with improving governance and service delivery in Niger. Your comments are requested to help refine the draft design document to ensure clarity, maximum development impact, coordination with existing and planned USAID and other development partner programs, and alignment with the Government of Niger’s priorities. Please provide no more than four (4) pages of comments no later than December 24, 2018 via email to sahelregional@usaid.gov. While the limit on the length of submissions is four pages, we value concise, issue-specific comments with reference to page and section numbers in the draft design document. You may receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response. USAID seeks feedback in particular on the following questions: 1) Are the Activity theory of change and expected outcomes clear and realistic? 2) Does the program description provide potential implementers with sufficient information and guidance about USAID/SRO’s objectives and expectations? 3) RGN is intended to embody principles of flexible, adaptive management and context-driven, locally-owned approaches to systems change. What suggestions do you have for how to ensure this is well-reflected in a solicitation/notice of funding opportunity? USAID will hold a Pre-Solicitation Conference on Wednesday December 19, 2018 at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar from 14:30 to 17:00 local time (GMT). For convenience, participation through webinar will be provided. Organizations may send up to two (2) participants to the conference in-person. Additionally, others may connect remotely. To facilitate better planning, please RSVP your attendance by filling-in the registration form no later than December 12, 2018 indicating whether you will participate in-person in Dakar, or call in remotely. Link for registration form: https://goo.gl/forms/IjVTjZu764kWwRsF3 We will send you the remote connection information once we receive the RSVP.
Grantor Contact Information: ABDULLAHI SADIQ A and A Specialist Phone 221.338.794.000
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