72038322R00001 - Ocean Plastics Pre-Solicitation Notice.pdf

Pre-solicitation Notice USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Program (Ocean Plastics)

Synopsis/Solicitation Number: 72038322R00001 Release Date: January 10, 2022

The purpose of this notice is to comply with the synopses and pre-solicitation notice requirements of FAR 5.2, Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions. Any solicitation resulting from this notice will be handled in accordance with FAR 5.102(d); therefore, availability of any resulting solicitation package will be limited to this electronic medium. Accordingly, interested vendors, especially small business, are encouraged to register themselves as an interested vendor.

The United States Agency for International Development, Sri Lanka and Maldives (USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives) intends to release a solicitation for a project titled “USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Program (Ocean Plastics)”. The purpose of this activity is to reduce plastics available to the environment, by reducing plastics inputs and improving integrated solid waste management (SWM) practices, with an emphasis on reduction of ocean plastics pollution in Sri Lanka and Maldives. The four overarching objectives of this activity are:

1. Reduce reliance on virgin plastic inputs and products;

2. Professionalize, improve, and expand solid waste management, with a focus on reducing plastics available to the environment;

3. Empower communities to drive local solid waste management solutions; and

4. Strengthen the enabling environment for solid waste management, with an emphasis on reducing ocean plastics.

The anticipated solicitation date is on or about January 31, 2022.

A draft Statement of Work (SOW) is attached solely for information and planning purposes. This is not a Request for Proposals (RFP) and no additional information regarding the planned RFP is available at this time. All necessary information will be supplied at the time the RFP is posted at https://sam.gov/. Questions/requests for information will not be responded to until RFP issuance.

Interested parties are advised to periodically monitor the above website for updates concerning this procurement. No proposals for funding should be submitted until after the RFP is issued.

This notice does not obligate USAID to release a solicitation or award a contract nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. In addition, final award cannot be made until funds have been fully appropriated, allocated, and committed and internal USAID procedures have been completed.

Sincerely, Julie Ota Contracting Officer, USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives https://beta.sam.gov/

72038322R00001

ATTACHMENT 1 – DRAFT DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C1. TITLE OF ACTIVITY

USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Program (Ocean Plastics)

C2. ACTIVITY PURPOSE

The purpose of this activity is to reduce plastics available to the environment, by reducing plastics inputs and improving integrated solid waste management (SWM) practices, with an emphasis on reduction of ocean plastics pollution in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

The Activity will work to fulfill this purpose through four complementary objectives:

1. Reduce reliance on virgin plastic inputs and products;

2. Professionalize, improve and expand SWM, with a focus on reducing plastics available to the environment;

3. Empower communities to drive local SWM solutions; and

4. Strengthen the enabling environment for SWM with an emphasis on reducing ocean plastics.

C3. BACKGROUND

Ocean plastic pollution has reached a crisis level, threatening the world’s delicate marine ecosystems, major industries such as fishing and tourism, food security, and ultimately human health. Every minute, the equivalent of an entire garbage truck of plastic makes its way into the world’s oceans—roughly eleven million tons annually.

As an island nation, Sri Lanka faces unique challenges in managing its waste. As of 2018, its population reached 21.67 million and continues to steadily increase, with its urban centers generating the bulk of the country’s waste. The country’s capital of Colombo generates 10% of the nation’s total waste, although its residents represent only ~2.5% of the national population and live within 1% of the country’s total land area. The country’s SWM systems struggle to keep pace with growing urban populations as system funding, organization, and local government resources remain static. It is estimated that in Sri Lanka only:

• 20% of households have access to public waste collection services;

• 47% burn their waste;

• 23% dispose of waste in their communities or natural environments; and

• 8% practice backyard composting for organic waste.

While urban collection rates are higher than those of rural areas, even in Colombo, only 75% of waste generated is estimated to be collected. Sri Lanka’s current collection rates represent an opportunity for increased system efficiency not only in Colombo but also in other rapidly urbanizing population centers.

Being an island state, Sri Lanka has limited local markets for materials; where they do not exist transporting the materials through export is the only option. This makes the development of local markets very important. Unfortunately, these local markets currently seem to be limited. Given that the largest component of the waste stream in Sri Lanka is organics, a significant amount of resources has gone into developing large and small-scale compost facilities. These facilities produce soil amendments that are sold into the local market. Recycling of plastics in Sri Lanka has proven to be difficult due to the lack of local markets that can use the materials as feedstock. The Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka conducted a study of the plastic industry in Sri Lanka. It was determined that because of the lack of a Polyethylene terephthalate (PET bottle manufacturing in the country, the 80 metric tons of PET collected annually was exported (mainly to India).

Waste management has become a priority in the country in recent years following public health threats from high rates of dengue fever, which was partially spread from standing water and breeding grounds resulting from uncollected municipal solid waste. Burning of plastics is a common practice, with considerable health impacts. Additionally, the Meethotamulla landfill in Colombo collapsed in 2017, resulting in multiple deaths, bringing escalated attention to the issue of managing waste and improving safety and health issues for waste workers. Sri Lanka has several sanitary landfills, and there are two engineered landfills—Dompe Sanitary Landfill and Arawakkalu Sanitary Landfill. There are also semi-engineered landfills at Sandatenna in Nuwara: Eliya and Ampara. At present, four more new sanitary landfills have been designed and are awaiting construction. One waste to energy project is also under construction.

The National Action Plan on Plastic Waste Management identified some of the following major issues and gaps in Sri Lanka:

• Low collection rate of plastic waste

• Low collection quality due to no or insufficient segregation

• Improper waste management practices causing increasing problems to waterways and marine litter, land and air pollution

• Deficiencies in implementation of laws to curb improper waste management

• Inadequate recognition of the need to develop the recycling industry as a business opportunity

• Inadequate coordination between stakeholders

• Inadequate community participation

• Deficiencies in data and information management

The Maldives is an archipelago of 26 low-lying coral atolls in the Indian ocean. The country consists of a total of 1190 small tropical islands out of which only 358 are used for economic activities and human settlement. More than 80% of the Maldives’ land area is less than 1 meter above sea level.

The driving force of the Maldives’ economy is tourism, which contributes about one third of the gross domestic product (GDP) and is also the fastest growing economic sector within the country.

The second largest economic sector is fisheries, which contributes to around 7% of the nation’s GDP and provides direct or indirect income to more than 20% of the population. Both fisheries and a vast portion of the tourism industry’s infrastructure are primarily located in regions that are within 100m of the coastline, which makes the Maldivian economy particularly sensitive to sea level rise and coastal storms. The archipelago is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Human activities causing damage to the country's coral reef systems exacerbate these effects leading to reduced fish populations, beach erosion and saltwater intrusion into freshwater tables.

The Maldives faces a unique set of challenges in managing a rapidly growing volume of waste.

Given its dispersed geography and a host of other unique challenges such as extremely limited amounts of land to store waste, the country has been overwhelmed by managing not only its domestic waste, but also the marine debris generated by other countries that is carried to its shores by ocean currents. Population growth, changing consumption patterns, rapid tourism development, and the lack of waste management infrastructure has exacerbated the issue. Although there is limited data on the total quantity of waste generated in the country, waste generation is estimated at 170,000 T of waste per year. The per capita waste generated per day is estimated at 1.7kg in the Male region, 0.8kg in the outer islands, and 3.5kg in the tourist resorts. Of this, biodegradable waste constitutes the largest proportion of the total waste that is generated. Greenhouse gas emissions from waste accounted for 5% of the total emissions in 2015.

The main method of waste management is uncontrolled open burning. However, composting, and small-scale incineration is practiced in some islands. Although household segregation is generally not practiced in the Maldives, there are plans to begin household segregation in Male region from 2022. A survey of 79 islands carried out by the Ministry of Environment in 2015 showed that only few islands practice waste segregation (25% islands) at household level. Partial segregation is practiced in 5% of islands, where segregation is usually limited to combustible and non-combustible waste. The bulk of the waste generated in the Male region is transported by boat daily as mixed and untreated waste to Thilafushi, an island close to Male. Recycling is not common in the Maldives, particularly due to the lack of sufficient financial and technical capacity in the islands. Participation of the private sector is challenging in the short to medium term because of minimal economies of scale benefits and the lack of finance and management capacity.

Currently, the Maldives lacks:

• mechanisms for the segregation and separate collection of waste and plastics;

• a systematic collection mechanism to extract single use and recyclable plastic waste from the general waste stream; and

• technical infrastructure for pre-sorting, sorting and recycling.

Key Statistics:

• urban areas, particularly the Male region are estimated to generate more than half of the total waste generated within the country;

• island communities account for 28% of waste generated;

• tourist resorts and safaris account for approximately 21% of the total waste generated;

and

• In 2018, 280,000 PET bottles were discarded in the capital Male alone, and 104 million plastic bags were imported into the Maldives.

C4. RELATIONSHIP TO USAID, SRI LANKAN, AND MALDIVIAN STRATEGIES

The Ocean Plastics Activity will support USAID Sri Lanka & Maldives Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) development objectives (DO) 2.2 private sector-led growth promoted;

DO 2.3 Human Capital Development Advanced; and 3.1 Environmental and Climate Resilience Enhanced.

This program contributes to the objectives of the U.S. State Department’s Maldives Integrated Country Strategy. In addition, activities under the expected program are intended to support the USAID’s strategic approach to advance the U.S. Government’s Indo-Pacific Vision. Specifically, the program will contribute to the strategic pillar on the improved management of natural resources by supporting environmental safeguards and adoption of environmental standards.

The implementation of the USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives Ocean Plastics Reduction Program Activity will be closely coordinated with the Governments of Maldives and Sri Lanka, other USG-funded activities, and other donor-led initiatives designed to manage solid waste and reduce ocean plastics. These include, but are not limited to USAID/Sri Lanka and Maldives’ Climate Change

Adaptation Activity, Reefs Generate Environmental and Economic Resiliency for Atoll Ecosystems (REGENERATE), Public Financial Management Maldives, Private Sector Development, The Partnership for Accelerating Results in Trade, National Expenditure, and Revenue (PARTNER), and USAID/Global Clean Cities/Blue Ocean Program activities, US State Department-funded activities, and activities funded by the World Bank, the European Union, multiple UN-funded and/or implemented activities, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. This activity will also build on the accomplishments of, and lessons learned from the USAID/Global Municipal Waste Recycling Program.

In Sri Lanka, the first National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980 and its subsequent amendments, have addressed and promoted a series of waste management practices. The Ministry of Environment also led the development of the National Strategy on Waste Management in 2000 and National Policy on Solid Waste Management in 2007, updated in 2020.

From this policy framework, the National Action Plan on Plastic Waste Management 2021 - 2030 was developed to promote the 3R concept (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle). This proactive and preventive approach stems from the policy statement of “Vistas of Prosperity”. The Action Plan sets out sixteen goals to be achieved during this period, which include pilot implementation of the extended producer responsibility (EPR) concept, inventory, and monitoring mechanism for all entries and exits of plastics in the country. The action plan also promotes targets such as 80% reduction in production and consumption of single use plastics by 2025, increasing plastic waste recycling from 4% to 15% by 2025 and increasing collection and recycling of PET bottle rates from 27% to 100% by 2025.

Sri Lanka’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) also have sufficient provisions to complement plastic waste management activities in the sector. These include Circular Economy, and Resource Efficient Cleaner Production (RECP) initiatives under the proposed industry sector NDC activities as well as the quantified targets set under the waste sector activities including circular economy and enabling activities which are well aligned with the objectives of this activity.

In Sri Lanka, local authorities - 24 Municipal councils (Municipal Council Ordinance), 41 Urban councils (Urban Council Ordinance) and 276 Local councils (Pradeshiya Sabha Act No 15 of 1987), have been given the mandate for waste collection and disposal. In addition to the local authorities, there are a number of central and provincial level institutions such as the Ministry of Environment, State Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government Affairs, State Ministry of Urban Development, Waste Disposal, and Community Cleanliness, Central Environmental Authority and Western Province Waste Management Authority that oversee the area of waste management.

There have been numerous efforts to improve waste management service delivery in the country.

The “Pilisaru project” was launched by the Central Environmental Authority with the aim of a waste free Sri Lanka by 2018. In recent years, Sri Lanka has seen Gazettes/directives prohibiting the use of polythene and sachets for fast-moving consumer good (FMCG) items such as shampoos. The National Environmental (Municipal Solid Waste) Regulations, No. 1 of 2009 specifies the general rules on SWM discharge and collection of waste including prohibition of waste dumping at any place other than places designated for such purpose by the Local Authorities.

The Maldivian National Waste Management Policy of 2015 is the overall guiding framework for waste management in the Maldives. The policy is built on promoting best practices in waste management, including through the integration of the waste hierarchy pyramid of prevention, reduction, reuse, recycle, waste to energy, and disposal. However, the policy still lacks the demarcated roles and responsibilities for various stakeholders.

The Single Use Plastic Phase out Plan 2020-2023 set out target dates for ban of selected plastic products imported and produced in the country, as well as imposition of taxes and EPR policies on selected single use plastic products. Long term targets under this Plan include: providing variety of affordable, and accessible non single use plastic alternatives to consumers by 2030; establishing regulations to promote circular economy for different sectors in the country by 2030; and establishing by 2030 at least one recycling facility in Maldives that has pre-sorting, sorting and recycling technologies.

Under the Decentralization Act (7/2010), the island councils are responsible for sanitary SWMt.

However, households and businesses frequently dump solid waste in the ocean, or on uncontrolled dumpsites where it is burned periodically.

A key pillar of the Government’s policy is the establishment of Regional Waste Management Centers (RWMCs) in designated zones across the archipelago to provide treatment and disposal services for the inorganic and un-compostable organic waste that Island Waste Management Centers (IWMC) have collected from their island communities in each zone.

C.5 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Stopping plastic pollution at the source is the most effective way to address this challenge. The majority of plastic ocean debris comes from rapidly growing cities and towns along rivers and coastal areas in the developing world — where waste management systems, infrastructure, and governments struggle to keep pace with growing populations and increasing amounts of waste.

Per the 2020 Save our Seas 2.0 Act, USAID will prioritize efforts to reduce plastic waste by improving the capacity of and encouraging private sector investment in SWM systems and strengthening policies and incentives to shape behaviors for the 3Rs. USAID is leveraging its extensive networks, expertise, and global experience for a collaborative, cross-sectoral approach in working with cities and local governments to promote locally led solutions and women’s economic empowerment, engage the private sector in addressing the plastic waste challenge, and promote a circular economy. The Activity will take a system strengthening approach to support improved SWM practices, with an emphasis on reduction of Ocean Plastics Pollution in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

C.6 THEORY OF CHANGE

If USAID and partners are able to reduce reliance on virgin plastic inputs and products;

professionalize, improve, and expand SWM, with a focus on reducing plastics available to the environment; empower communities to drive local waste management solutions; and strengthen the enabling environment for SWM with an emphasis on reducing ocean plastics; then ocean plastics pollution will be reduced.

C.7 ACTIVITY OBJECTIVES

The overall purpose of this Activity will be to support improved SWM practices, with an emphasis on reducing Ocean Plastics Pollution in Sri Lanka and Maldives. The Contractor will work to fulfill this purpose through four complementary objectives:

(1) Reduce reliance on virgin plastic inputs and products by

(1a) Promoting product and process alternatives to reduce plastic inputs, and

(1b) Reducing plastic use through support of EPR, polluter pay principles, and other approaches

Both Sri Lanka and the Maldives plastics policy priorities are founded on the 3Rs. Reducing the importation and use of virgin plastics and plastic products is the first, and most important step towards reducing ocean plastics. Reducing reliance on virgin plastics requires a comprehensive analysis of supply chains and regulatory environments, and the identification of context specific opportunities and constraints.

Expected results

• Decreased amount of single use plastics imported into the country; and

• Increased adoption of 3R behaviors (reduce, reuse and recycle) at household, community and private sector levels

(2) Professionalize, improve, and expand SWM, with a focus on reducing plastics available to the environment by

(2a) Improving collection, transport, segregation, recycling, and disposal service delivery, including professionalization of informal actors, and

(2b) Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of public fund utilization and access to private funds for SWM

Waste management levels of service vary throughout Sri Lanka and the Maldives, rely heavily on local and, frequently, informal actors for the collection, transport, segregation, recycling, and ultimately disposal of solid waste. In partnership with responsible government agencies and private sector actors, the Contractor is expected to build off of current service delivery models, expanding access to and professionalizing waste management service delivery to:

• Enhance access, service reliability, and management, with a focus on urban and coastal communities. The Contractor will explore development of business models, supply chains, and technologies aimed at increasing the quality and availability of services, improving efficiencies, and generating greater cost recovery.

• Solid waste collection represents a substantial portion of many local governments’ budgets. The Contractor will seek to increase public and private funds availability through a range of planning, advocacy, and efficiency interventions.

• The contractor will also catalyze additional funding from multilateral agencies, foundations, and/or impact investors.

Expected results

• Decreased volume of solid waste available to the environment; and

• Improved access to reliable and sustainable waste management services

(3) Empower communities to drive local waste management solutions by

(3a) Increasing community ownership of SWM service decisions, delivery, and oversight, and

(3b) Supporting social and behavior changes related to SWM

The most indispensable people to improving waste management are oftentimes the least represented in decision making. Informal sector workers are the foundation of the waste management pyramid, yet they struggle to obtain legal and economic support to ensure safe working conditions. Women have fewer opportunities for jobs in the formal sector or higher up in the recycling value chain and are vulnerable to gender-based violence. A city’s ability to create a more circular economy is a function of how members of the SWM value chain are included. One way to increase recovery and recycling rates is to improve the welfare and livelihoods of independent waste collectors and to support women-owned recycling businesses. The Contractor will move beyond community consultation towards community empowerment, resulting in community-level and community-led SWM initiatives, businesses, and services. Communities will be empowered to work with local governments to identify opportunities to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as to design and implement effective containment, collection, segregation, and recycling approaches.

Expected results

• Reduced amount of waste within the community; and

• Increased management practices that support the 3R principles

(4) Strengthen the enabling environment for solid waste management with an emphasis on reducing ocean plastics by

(4a) strengthening central and local government efforts to plan, budget for, finance and regulate SWM;

(4b) Improving solid waste data, availability, use, and management, with a particular focus on plastics; and

(4c) Increasing capacity to prevent and/or respond to solid waste-related impacts of disasters

USAID recognizes that the success of these objectives is predicated on improvements in the broader enabling environment for SWM, particularly plastics, in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Specifically, the contractor will strengthen the enabling environment by:

• Supporting implementation of government policies. Both Sri Lanka and the Maldives have strong governmental policies that govern SWM approaches, particularly as they relate to plastics. The Contractor will work with local, regional, and national governmental bodies to support implementation of existing, relevant, policy priorities.

• Improving SWM data availability, use, and management. Reliable and accurate information systems are needed to both track key performance indicators (KPIs) and provide information on the amount of plastics imported into the country, as well as collection, reuse, recycling, disposal, and leakage into the environment. Priority will be given to strengthening and working within existing systems, rather than the development and deployment of new systems. In all cases, long-term (post-Activity) management of data systems must be assured through partnerships with local public and private entities.

• Disasters ranging from COVID 19, to the X-Press Pearl fire, to the 2004 tsunami generated excess solid waste and disrupted existing SWM systems. The Contractor will increase capacity to prevent and/or respond to solid waste related impacts of disasters.

Expected results

• Enhanced implementation of governmental SWM policies;

• Improved data availability and use for decision-making and management;

• Increased capacity to prevent and/or respond to solid waste related impacts of disasters.

C.8 GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING

Geographic targeting will be determined in consultation with relevant stakeholders within the Governments of Sri Lanka and Maldives. The intent is to work in a range of locations that provide representative examples of approaches that can be scaled by private government and private sector actors. USAID anticipates that approximately 75% of the level of effort within this activity will focus on Sri Lanka and 25% will focus on Maldives.

C.9 REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor must work at both the national and sub-national levels to reduce plastics available to the environment and improve the enabling environment for and implementation of SWM systems.

The Contractor must work with relevant partners, including the private sector, donor organizations, civil society, and NGOs to assist the national and local authorities in achieving the key objectives of this activity.

The Contractor must work through existing Steering Committees and technical working groups and collaborate with national actors working on SWM during implementation.

C.10 PERFORMANCE MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING

USAID is building evidence and data to improve relevant stakeholders' understanding of the use, recycling, and ultimate disposal of plastics. The Contractor must conduct data collection as part of the Contractor’s performance monitoring and evaluation plans. USAID may use third party monitors and/or contractors to audit and verify data collected and submitted to USAID. USAID may also conduct a performance evaluation of this award that may use sampling methods that include lot quality assurance for this verification.

It is important for the Contractor to demonstrate Governments of Sri Lanka & Maldives capacity for planning, resourcing and implementing their own solid and plastic waste management policies.

The Contractor must coordinate with external and/or third-party monitors and evaluators engaged by USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives. The Contractor is required to comply with the cost data collection and reporting as outlined in USAID’s Cost Reporting Guidance and Annexes.

Performance monitoring of the activity should strengthen supervision structures and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) that results in clear actions to improve implementation and assist relevant government actors’ use of data collected at the national and local levels to improve solid waste management services, particularly related to reducing plastics available to the environment.

The Contractor’s MEL Plan must track key data over the life of the contract. Data collection systems utilized within this contract should, to the maximum extent practicable, be designed so that they complement, work within, and are ultimately transferred to relevant government actors.

USAID is required to monitor all programs being implemented with USAID financing and requires annual collection and reporting of Standard Indicators. The Contractor must focus on indicators that show real impact rather than lower-level indicators and must include relevant standard outcome indicators.

C.11 GRANTS UNDER CONTRACT

The Contractor may utilize grants under contract (GUC) to issue grants to non-governmental organizations as part of program implementation, where appropriate. The total estimated amount of grants made under this provision will not exceed $4,000,000 of the total contract cost (approximately $3,000,000 for Sri Lanka and $1,000,000 for Maldives). Grants under this contract will be made to carry out activities that are consistent with the activity objectives. All applicable regulations for sub-recipients, ADS 303 and ADS 302 apply. USAID retains the ability to terminate unilaterally any grant activities under extraordinary circumstances.

C.12 PROGRAMMATIC REQUIREMENTS

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Given the deep rooted, complex and country nature of gender inequities in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Ocean Plastics will need a comprehensive and adaptive approach to gender inclusion, conscious of cultural norms and ties to local, regional and national structures, policies and support structures. Improving gender power dynamics and social inclusion will shape interventions and drive results in each of Ocean Plastics’ objectives. Both Sri Lankan and the Maldivian governments prioritize gender equity and improved economic opportunities for women and girls in key national strategy documents., However, economic gender gap indicators, as measured in USAID’s Country Roadmaps, of 0.49 and 0.41 for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, respectively, are well below peers’ average of greater than 0.60.

In alignment with USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives seeks to promote gender equality and female empowerment through its activities. The Contractor must ensure that all beneficiaries are benefiting from the activities administered under this Contract without discrimination based on sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, gender identities, and disabilities. Results for all people-level indicators reporting must be disaggregated by sex and disability as appliable. The Contractor must document unintended gender and social inclusion-related consequences of the activity implementation as part of the annual reporting. The Contractor must identify development areas that indicate gender and social inclusion-specific gaps or issues that exacerbate gender inequalities and implement measures to address these as appropriate. The Contractor will ensure that plans to establish an enabling environment in which women and men and boys, girls and traditionally disadvantaged groups can equally access, contribute, and benefit from activities are integrated into the work plan and regular reporting. The plans will include specific approaches or strategies that are tailored to the needs of each group.

The contractor should consider gender balance in its key personnel, staffing plan and invest in capacity building in gender (such as USAID Gender 101) and other similar courses to enhance staffing capacity and knowledge that can help improve program implementation to women and other disadvantaged groups.

Private Sector: SMEs play a crucial role in the economy of Sri Lanka, accounting for 75 percent of all active enterprises, providing 45 percent of employment, and contributing 5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The Activity will tap into private sector actors to increase efficiencies and spur innovation throughout the SWM system, with particular focus on interventions that reduce ocean plastics. Work with local governments to improve planning, budgeting, procurement and regulation of SWM services supports improved economic governance.

Increasing private sector involvement in SWM will promote private sector led growth.

Professionalization of SWM services will advance human capital development.

Particular attention shall be given to increasing women’s role in the private sector. A 2017 time-use survey conducted by the Department of Census and Statistics found that women (age 15 and above) spend 6.8 hours per day on unpaid housework and care work, compared to 2.7 hours for men. These figures drop slightly for the working population: employed women spend 5.7 hours on unpaid work, compared to 2.5 hours for employed men.

Institute for Policy Studies research found that women entrepreneurs were largely unaware of financial and non-financial services offered by government, business associations, NGOs, and the private sector, and that they rarely participate in business associations.

Partnerships: The objectives outlined in this activity present a timely opportunity to achieve greater impact and scale in Sri Lanka & Maldives through partnership. The Ministry of Environment and the Central Environment Authority are the key institutions that have been promoting the development of the waste management sector. National and local government entities, and the robust NGO and private sector community will serve as critical partners to achieve the results of this contract. The Contractor must leverage and use existing tools and mechanisms already developed, approved, and deployed to support SWM. In addition to traditional sub-awards, the Contractor will support USAID in identifying, designing and coordinating alliances or public- private partnerships (PPPs) as appropriate.

Sustainability and Scalability: Sustainability and scalability are fundamental aspects of this activity, and all of its sub-activities should be designed with this in mind. The ultimate goal is for this activity to reduce ocean plastics. To achieve this goal, interventions must be country-owned and must leave lasting, integrated impacts at the activity’s end -- including the ability of host country institutions and the vibrant NGO and private sector communities to scale interventions without further USAID assistance.

Innovation and Technology: The Contractor should identify appropriate, new or existing, and cost-effective technology that could improve effectiveness and efficiency of SWM in the target countries, increase accountability, and enable citizens to have greater engagement and increased oversight to improve SWM services.

[END OF SECTION C]