72038621RFA00003-CDRI NOFO.pdf

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ISSUANCE DATE: February 12, 2021 DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS: February 26, 2021, 11:55 p.m., Indian time CLOSING DATE & TIME: March 29, 2021, 11:55 p.m., Indian time

Subject: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) No. 72038621RFA00003

Activity Title: Support to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

Dear Prospective Applicants:

USAID is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified organizations to implement the Support to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) activity. Subject to the availability of funds, USAID anticipates making a single award as a result of this NOFO to the applicant who best satisfies the eligibility criteria laid out in SECTION C: ELIGIBILITY

INFORMATION.

The NOFO contains three merit review phases:

Phase 1: The applicants will submit an Initial Application including a 10 page Concept Paper. Based on USAID’s evaluation of these initial applications, the shortlisted top applicants will be invited to participate in Phase 2.

Phase 2: The selected applicants will be invited to participate in an oral presentation to orally present on specific areas of their concept that need further detailing.

Phase 3: Based on the evaluation of the oral presentations made in Phase 2, only apparently successful applicant/s, whose application best meets the objectives of this funding opportunity, will be invited to co-create the final and full application that would consist of a technical and cost application.

USAID will evaluate the application including the Program Description and the cost elements suggested by the applicant and grade it as acceptable or unacceptable.

For the purposes of this NOFO, the term "Grant" is synonymous with "Cooperative Agreement";

"Grantee” is synonymous with "Recipient"; and "Grant Officer" is synonymous with "Agreement Officer." Eligible organizations interested in submitting an application are encouraged to read this funding opportunity thoroughly to understand the type of program sought, application submission requirements, and evaluation process.

This NOFO is posted on www.grants.gov, and may be amended at any time. Potential Applicants should regularly check the website to ensure they have the latest information pertaining to this NOFO. It is the responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that the NOFO has been received from the internet in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. If you have difficulty registering on www.grants.gov or accessing the

NOFO No: 72038621RFA00003 USAID Support to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

NOFO, please contact the Grants.gov Helpdesk at 1-800-518-4726 or via email at support@grants.gov for technical assistance.

NOFO Questions

All questions regarding this NOFO must be submitted in writing via e-mail to the points of contact identified in SECTION D: APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION no later than the closing date for questions at the time stated above. All questions submitted and answers to all questions will be provided in writing through an amendment to the NOFO which will be publicly posted on grants.gov.

USAID may not award to an applicant unless the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifiers and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements detailed in SECTION D.

The registration process may take many weeks to complete. Therefore, Applicants are encouraged to obtain them early to be eligible to apply for this NOFO.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of USAID, nor does it commit USAID to pay for any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of an application.

Further, USAID reserves the right to reject any or all applications received. In addition, the final award of any resultant Assistance Award will not be made until funds have been fully appropriated, allocated, and committed through internal USAID procedures.

Thank you for your interest in USAID Programs.

Sincerely, Armando Espinosa Regional Contracting Officer USAID/India

Armando Espinosa

Digitally signed by Armando Espinosa Date: 2021.02.11 16:52:51 +05'30'

Table of Contents

SECTION A: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 5

A.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

A.2 PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND GOAL 6

A.3 PROPOSED OUTCOMES AND RESULTS 7

A.4 CROSS-CUTTING PRINCIPLES 11

SECTION B – FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION 12

B.1 ESTIMATED FUNDS AVAILABLE AND NUMBER OF AWARDS CONTEMPLATED 12

B.2 EXPECTED PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, TARGETS, BASELINE DATA AND DATA

COLLECTION 13

B.3 START DATE AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 15

B.4 SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT 15

B.5 AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE 15

B.6 NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USAID AND THE RECIPIENT 15

SECTION C – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION 17

C.1 ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS 17

C.2 NEW PARTNERS 17

C.3 Overall Process 18

C.4 RESPONSIBLE ENTITY 18

C.5 COST SHARING 19

C.6 OTHER 19

SECTION D: APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION 20

D.1 AGENCY POINT OF CONTACT 20

D.2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 20

D.3 CONTENT AND FORM OF SUBMISSIONS 20

D.4 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION 21

D.5 CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION 22

a. Phase 1 - Concept Paper Content and Format

b. Phase 2 - Oral Presentations 26

c. Phase 3 - Co-creation and Submission of Full Application 30

SECTION E: APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION 41

E.1 General 41

E.2 Phase 1 - Concept Paper 41

E.3 Phase 2 - Oral Presentation 42

E.5 Full Cost Application Review Criteria 43

SECTION F: FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION 45

F.1 Federal Award Notices 45

F.2 Administrative & National Policy Requirements 45

F.3 Reporting Requirements 46

F.4 Program Income 51

F.5 Environmental Compliance 51

F.6 Branding & Marking 53

F.7 ADS 303.3.35.2 Covered Telecommunication and Video Surveillance Equipment or Services (Effective Date: 08/18/2020) 53

F.8 Procurement of “Covered Material” 54

SECTION G: FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACT(S) 56

G.1 NOFO Point of Contact 56

G. 2. Acquisition and Assistance Ombudsman 56

SECTION H: OTHER INFORMATION 57

ANNEX 1 -DEFINITIONS 58

ANNEX 2 - STANDARD PROVISIONS 61

ANNEX 3 - CERTIFICATIONS, ASSURANCES, OTHER STATEMENTS OF THE RECIPIENT AND

SOLICITATIONS STANDARD PROVISIONS 63

ANNEX 4: ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 80

ANNEX 5 - PAST PERFORMANCE QUESTIONNAIRE 82

ANNEX 6 - TERMS OF REFERENCE (COMPONENT - 1) 85

ANNEX 7 : CDRI (Strategic Priorities) Work Plan (2020-2022) 94

ANNEX 8: PRELIMINARY GENDER ANALYSIS PLAN 103

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.

A.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Resilient infrastructure systems are essential for all countries to withstand and rapidly recover from natural and human‐induced disasters. Infrastructure—electricity, telecommunications, roads, water, and sanitation—is central to people’s lives. Without this infrastructure, they cannot earn a living, stay healthy, or maintain a good quality of life. Access to basic infrastructure is thus a key driver of economic development that underpins the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Underdeveloped or poor infrastructure, both in terms of quantity and quality, can therefore be a major global barrier to sustainable development. To fill this gap, the world is expected to invest around $90 trillion in infrastructure over the next 15 years.

Realizing the importance of disaster resilient infrastructure, the Government of India (GOI) catalyzed the formation of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and invited countries across the globe to join. The resulting CDRI is a global partnership of national governments, UN agencies, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, and academic and knowledge institutions. The goal of the CDRI is to build climate and disaster resilient infrastructure and enable a paradigm shift in investments in new and upgraded infrastructure systems globally. The coalition encourages countries with advanced infrastructure systems and/or with large infrastructure deficits to promote research and knowledge sharing in the fields of infrastructure risk management, standards, financing, and recovery mechanisms and bring about a substantial change in countries' policy frameworks and future infrastructure investments so as to reduce substantial economic losses suffered due to disasters.

The proposed activity is supported under a bilateral agreement between the GOI’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and USAID/India in the areas of disaster risk reduction (DRR) under the U.S.

Government’s Indo-Pacific Vision. The activity intends to support the CDRI Secretariat and bolster India’s leadership role in disaster response and risk reduction and lead the South Asia region and other member countries in addressing disaster risks by building the resilience of communities and infrastructure.

The activity will focus on DO 3 of the CDCS (https://www.usaid.gov/india/cdcs), which is “Sustainable Economic Growth and Development in the Region Enhanced” and specifically DO 3 Intermediate Result (IR) 3.1 which focuses on providing development assistance in building partnerships throughout the region, and globally in a variety of areas including disaster risk reduction, that support establishing the CDRI.

A.2 PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND GOAL

A. Background

By one estimate, governments in low and middle-income countries around the world will invest between two to eight percent of GDP every year by 2030 in infrastructure, or approximately $640 billion to $2.7 trillion a year (Rozenberg and Fay 2019). The countries making the biggest investments in absolute terms are likely to be the larger economies such as Germany or India, where annual capital investment is currently around $840 billion. However, it may be noted that low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are rapidly expanding infrastructure stock the most. Meanwhile, rising populations and hazard exposure are putting additional stress on existing infrastructure, the loss of which in any disaster may lead to losing developmental gains.

To meet this demand, in 2016 at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in New Delhi, India’s Prime Minister proposed the formulation of the CDRI. In the following two years, at the International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI), experts from the sector worked out a roadmap to conceptualize the structure and function of the coalition.

India formally launched the CDRI in September 2019 at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. The United States joined the coalition as a founding member in December 2019. The other 18 founding member countries are Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bhutan, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom. Other multilateral organizations participating in the CDRI include the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Asian Development Bank. At present, 22 members, consisting of 18 national governments and four multilateral organizations have joined the CDRI.

The CDRI Governing Council, consisting of representatives from all member countries, multilateral organizations, and other stakeholder institutions, is the highest policy-making body and provides oversight to the Coalition’s functioning. The Governing Council is co-chaired by the Government of India, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister; and the Government of the United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The CDRI also formed an Executive Committee to assist the CDRI Secretariat to oversee actions approved by the Governing Council.

The Executive Committee is chaired by the Member of the GOI’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the British High Commissioner to India.

The GOI has provided approximately $70 million to support the CDRI for technical assistance and research projects, establish the Secretariat, and cover recurring expenditures through 2024. The United Kingdom has also allocated an initial sum of GBP 1 million over a period of two years. USA announced in-kind support along with multilateral organizations such as the UNDP, UNDRR and The World Bank.

The support to the CDRI reflects and aligns with USAID policies and strategies including the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for India. Intermediate Result (IR) 3.1 under Development Objective (DO) 3 of the CDCS focuses on providing development assistance in building partnerships throughout the region, and globally in a variety of areas including disaster risk reduction, that support establishing the CDRI.

Support to the CDRI not only aligns with USAID’s CDCS but also with a global momentum established by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDG) that commits to developing sustainable and resilient infrastructure (Target 9.1). The 2030 Agenda seeks to facilitate development through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS) (Target 9.A), Paris Agreement, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.

B. Activity Goal

The overall vision of this activity is to strengthen the technical capacity of the CDRI Secretariat.

More specifically, the activity will provide targeted technical assistance or other resources to the CDRI Secretariat to achieve, sustain and accelerate outcomes from the activities supported under the three strategic priority areas as identified in the CDRI work plan (see Figure 1 below). The three CDRI work plan priority areas include: (i) provide technical support and build capacity to build back resilience, increase financing, strengthen governance, and carry out risk and resilience assessments;

(ii) carry out research and knowledge management to develop learning from disasters, build decision support functions, develop standards and certifications, and promote innovations; and (iii) build advocacy and partnerships that would result in the organization of national and international workshops, reports and resilience challenges.

C. Geographic Focus

The main focus of this activity is working with the CDRI Secretariat based in India to strengthen their support to the CDRI member countries for disaster resilient infrastructure.

A.3 PROPOSED OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

USAID/India’s 2020-2024 CDCS goal is “India Accelerates its Own Inclusive Development and Fosters Enhanced Regional Connectivity.” “Regional Connectivity” is an overarching term covering the efforts needed to operationalize the USG Indo-Pacific vision. The USG has defined the region as spanning from the west coast of the U.S. to the west coast of India, thereby encompassing East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia. This activity will focus on DO 3 of the CDCS, which is “Sustainable Economic Growth and Development in the Region Enhanced” and specifically DO 3 Intermediate Result (IR) 3.1 which focuses on providing development assistance in building partnerships throughout the region, and globally in a variety of areas including disaster risk reduction, that support strengthening the CDRI.

For more information regarding USAID/India’s CDCS please visit https://www.usaid.gov/india/cdcs#:~:text=USAID%2FIndia's%202020%2D2024%20CDCS,propose d%20strategy%20and%20results%20framework.

1. TECHNICAL APPROACH

Being a newly formed coalition, the CDRI is seeking support from a wide range of stakeholders to further its establishment, and bolster its operations and service delivery to developed, developing, small island states, landlocked countries, countries with advanced infrastructure systems, and countries with large infrastructure deficits to promote and upgrade disaster resilient infrastructure.

As mentioned above, the overall objective of the activity is to strengthen the coalition by providing technical assistance to bolster the CDRI’s activities. USAID’s Support to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Project will include three components as illustrated below. All the three components are mutually reinforcing in their support to the CDRI Secretariat to achieve the results as outlined under the three strategic priority areas as outlined in Figure 1 below.

Component 1: Improve the overall management of the CDRI Secretariat Component 2: Improved technical support, knowledge management and advocacy skills showcased by the CDRI Secretariat Component 3: Improved Communications

Component 1: Improve the overall management of the CDRI Secretariat

One of the main objectives of the CDRI Secretariat is to provide technical assistance to member countries so as to reduce infrastructure risks that arise due to natural disasters. To achieve this there is a need for the Secretariat to have adequate staff with adequate competencies to meet its technical needs. This component will include providing human resource support to ensure that the Secretariat has adequate technical expertise. A maximum of five technical staff may be provided as listed below. However, the support may be reviewed periodically to assess the technical requirements of the Secretariat. The Applicant may note that at any given point of the project performance period, only five technical specialists may be provided for technical assistance which may vary depending on the requirements of the Secretariat. The human resource support may include the following technical experts (Terms of Reference (TORs) attached as Annex - 6).

1. Disaster Risk Finance specialist

2. Knowledge Management specialist

3. Power sector project specialist

4. Telecom sector project specialist

5. Transport sector project specialist

Illustrative outcomes of this component include:

● Placing experts in five technical areas within the CDRI Secretariat that will play an essential role in improving the ability of the CDRI to provide technical assistance to member countries.

Component 2: Improved technical support, knowledge management and advocacy skills showcased by the CDRI Secretariat

Under this component, the activity will provide technical support to the CDRI Secretariat to improve its ability to build the capacities of member countries in the technical area of disaster resilient infrastructure. This component will support technical priorities focused on three strategic priority areas as outlined in Figure 1 below: (i) Technical Support and Capacity Development; (ii) Research and Knowledge Management; and (iii) Advocacy and Partnerships. The activities under each of the priority areas are in alignment with the CDRI’s strategic priority areas. For further details see Annex 7 for the CDRI Work Plan.

Figure 1: CDRI Strategic Priorities

Strategic Priority 1 Strategic Priority 2 Strategic Priority 3

Technical Support and Capacity Development

Research and Knowledge Management

Communication and Partnerships

1.1 Building back resilience 2.1 Learning from disaster 3.1 National workshops

1.2 Financing disaster and

climate resilient infrastructure

2.2 Risk, resilience and early

warning platform

3.2 Marketplace

1.3 Strengthened infrastructure

governance

2.3 Technical standards 3.3 Flagship report

1.4 National risk and resilience

assessments

2.4 Disaster and climate

certification mechanism

3.4 Resilience challenges

2.5 Innovative approaches 3.5 International conferences

USAID’s support to CDRI shall align with the strategic priority areas as outlined in the CDRI Work Plan. The following is an indicative set of project ideas under each of the three strategic priority areas as outlined by CDRI Secretariat. Note: A number of multilateral and bilateral organizations contribute to the CDRI’s priority areas. The activities proposed by the Applicant should not be a duplication of efforts and should include gender and social inclusion considerations.

A. Strategic Priority 1: Technical Support and Capacity Development:

This strategic priority will raise awareness of the importance of disaster and climate resilient infrastructure in Member Countries and will assist them to assess risk and resilience and to identify measures that strengthen infrastructure governance.

B. Strategic Priority 2: Research and Knowledge Management

This strategic priority will strive to document and learn from infrastructure failure in disasters as well as the emergence of new and innovative approaches to expand and enhance the global knowledge base on disaster and climate resilient infrastructure. It will establish a decision support platform to provide actionable metrics, serving as early warning to strengthen resilience and will design mechanisms such as standards and certification that are able to generate powerful new incentives for increased investment.

The proposed Applicant will proactively build synergies with other platforms and initiatives on disaster and climate resilient infrastructure like the U.S Government’s Blue Dot Network.

C. Strategic Priority 3: Advocacy and Partnerships

This strategic priority will strengthen the engagement of governments, industry, the financial sector, knowledge and research institutions and others in the development of a strong and viable disaster and climate resilient infrastructure sector both in Member Countries and globally.

Illustrative outcomes of this component include:

● Enhancing technical capacity for resilient infrastructure in CDRI Member countries.

● Establishing and/or building on standards and certifications and setting linkages to existing networks to promote quality infrastructure like the Blue Dot Network.

● Establishing knowledge platforms that contribute to CDRI member countries capacity on disaster risk management.

● Mainstreaming disaster resilience into development plans.

● Building traditional knowledge repositories, testing/promoting them and engaging at the community level to build their local capacities to adapt to risk exposure, and respond appropriately at the time of extreme events to reduce losses.

● Supporting technical areas like nature-based solutions; risk and resilience assessments; risk financing in member countries with large infrastructure deficits to promote and upgrade governance in disaster resilient infrastructure.

Component 3: Improved Communications

To achieve the result, with USAID support, the CDRI Secretariat will develop a strategic communication plan. The communications strategy will include developing messaging and editorial content for media-facing communications including messaging narrative, backgrounders and FAQ.

Media outreach activities will also include adopting playbooks to media and spokesperson briefing documents, media pitch documents, press releases and outreach to media and staffing of interactions.

To encourage reporting the platform will facilitate a media roundtable with CDRI spokespersons.

The communications strategy will also include developing a social media management plan and managing CDRI’s social media presence. It is expected that CDRI’s social media platforms will provide editorial content for thought leadership, such as opinion articles and online blog development and content development for quarterly newsletter.

Illustrative outcomes of this component include:

● Establishing a knowledge management/archival resource system within the CDRI Secretariat that will be accessible by all member countries

● Establishing and institutionalizing a robust communications strategy to recruit additional countries as well as showcase CDRI successes and achievements

● Supporting the Secretariat to build partnerships

● Increasing external communications showcasing CDRI results.

A.4 CROSS-CUTTING PRINCIPLES

1. Gender and social inclusion:

Women, children and marginalized populations are especially hard-hit by the social impacts of environmental disasters. Existing gender inequalities are the root cause of women’s disaster vulnerability. Women are particularly vulnerable because they have fewer resources in their own right and under their own control. They have no permanent place in decision - making systems and they suffer traditional, routine and gratuitous gender -biased oppression. By virtue of their lower economic, social, and political status, women tend to be more vulnerable to disasters. Women's high rate of poverty as well as cultural constraints on their activities in some societies means they are more likely to suffer losses of life and property in the face of natural disasters.

Their role in ensuring household food security, and their dependence on natural resources to do this, reinforces the impact of disasters, for example drought and slow flooding, in search of supplemental income; this leaves women to fend for themselves and assume even greater responsibility for caring for their family. In post disaster situations women are often more vulnerable than men. Their caregiving roles expand dramatically after a disaster and experience shows their access to resources for recovery is constrained. In addition, the participation of women in the planning, designing, implementing and monitoring emergency programs and rehabilitation projects continues to be on a low-key profile as they are mostly seen as helpless victims than resourceful managers. USAID through CDRI will include women, men, and women and other marginalized groups to become equal players in the re-development of the country post disaster.

Activities should also include three overarching gender-related outcomes: i) reducing gender disparities in access to, control over and benefit from resources, business opportunities, and services;

ii) reducing gender-based violence and mitigating its harmful effects on individuals, persons with disabilities, and communities; and iii) increasing the capability of women, persons with disabilities, and girls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decision making in households, communities, and societies. For more details see Annex 8.

2. Sustainability and self-reliance

Applicants must consider how the proposed investment will be used to catalyze sustained changes that strengthen the GOI’s ability to deliver development assistance to countries in the region and globally, across a variety of development areas. Self-reliance refers to the ability of a country, working across its sectors (government, civil society, citizens, economy) to solve its own development challenges. The proposed approach should consider how to support India’s emergence as a development leader, as well as how the proposed interventions will build self-reliance in potential third-country partners. The proposed approach should explicitly acknowledge a re-orientation of donor assistance programs to better support the journey of a country towards self-reliance through appropriate policies and systems reforms.

3. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

The Activity must make best use of the latest principles in monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) in order to set and achieve targets, fulfill objectives, and demonstrate outcomes of development efforts undertaken as part of this award. Complexity-aware monitoring approaches, as well as good practices in collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA), are vital to ensure adaptive programming that responds to changing circumstances, new knowledge, and new evidence. A learning agenda and plan for dissemination of findings to the appropriate stakeholders will be critical to the success, sustainability and scalability of this activity. The applicant should include in its learning agenda evaluations or studies to assess and inform the roll out of interventions and incorporate reflection opportunities in order to better target and adapt activities.

As parts of its learning agenda, the Implementing partner must identify key knowledge gaps to articulate learning questions and potential tasks/actions required to answer the learning questions and develop meaningful indicators to measure key results. As appropriate, use of qualitative methods and measurements is encouraged, especially for hard to quantify and/or long-term results, to gauge the Activity’s contribution to the results.

4. Collaboration and coordination

In close collaboration with USAID, the activity will engage with the CDRI Secretariat and other key stakeholders as appropriate. The activity will coordinate with current USAID-funded activities working in the same geographic areas. USAID/India will establish partnerships with other USAID missions to potentially support activities as and when needed. This activity will coordinate and leverage the work of other relevant actors and stakeholders to ensure complementarity and avoid duplication of efforts.

[END OF SECTION A]

SECTION B – FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

B.1 ESTIMATED FUNDS AVAILABLE AND NUMBER OF AWARDS

CONTEMPLATED

USAID intends to award one Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this notice of funding opportunity.

Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide $9,200,000 in total USAID funding over a five-year period.

Upon successful ongoing implementation of the program, incremental funding will be provided to the successful Recipient, during the five (5) years period of performance, not to exceed the Total Estimated Amount of $9,200,000. USAID reserves the right to change funding amounts and terms of the resulting Cooperative Agreement as a result of availability of funds and U.S. Government requirements.

B.2 EXPECTED PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, TARGETS, BASELINE DATA AND

DATA COLLECTION

USAID/India intends for the activity to be subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation, to (a) ensure the intended results and impact are being generated, and (b) inform activity management if, and when, course corrections may be necessary – an important consideration, given that this is a new activity and Partnership. The recipient should also conduct several periodic analyses to better understand certain aspects and issues within the award’s domain.

Performance monitoring and evaluation will be included by the Applicant while designing their technical approach. USAID may conduct additional monitoring and evaluation through external contract(s). A detailed M&E design will be developed upon completion of the design and will include appropriate Standard Foreign Assistance Indicators (F indicators).

Anticipated Results and Indicators

The activity will contribute to strengthening the coalition by providing technical assistance to bolster the CDRI’s activities. USAID’s Support to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Project will improve the overall management of the CDRI Secretariat; improve technical support, knowledge management and advocacy skills, showcased by the CDRI Secretariat; and enhance CDRI communications.

The Concept Paper shall propose intermediate results that will help inform its content areas and initiatives. Applicants are expected to propose activities that are appropriate and relevant to the situation. Potential indicators may include:

● Total number of disaster resilient infrastructure created with the technical assistance of CDRI platform;

● Number of technical assistance activities in the form of training, expert services, and technical assistance supported by the secretariat in member countries.

Objective 1:

● Number of activities implemented for strengthening institutions in India and in CDRI member countries to deliver essential assistance, services, and financing for the people in the region with USG assistance.

● Number of institutions collaborating to provide technical support services in India and in member countries with USG support.

● Number of people from various countries from the region receive training, expert services and technical assistance from the CDRI platform with support from USG assistance.

● Number of persons trained with USG assistance to advance outcomes consistent with gender equality or female empowerment through their roles in public or private sector institutions or organizations.

Objective 2:

● Number of networks established to promote standards and certification in quality infrastructure as a result of USG assistance

● Establishing knowledge platforms/build capacities that contribute to CDRI member countries capacity on disaster risk management.

● Number of disaster resilience development plans mainstreamed in member countries' development plans as a result of USG assistance.

● Number of traditional knowledge repositories, promoted, and successfully implemented at the community level to adapt to risk exposure, as a result of USG assistance.

● Number of nature-based solutions; risk and resilience assessments; risk financing in member countries with large infrastructure deficits is promoted and upgraded as a result of USG assistance.

Objective 3:

● Number of strategies, guidelines, decisions, guidelines, legislations, and regulations created/ amended as a result of USG assistance. (outcome)

● Number of technical resources developed for supporting the CDRI platform with USG assistance. (Communications strategy, performance measurement and learning system)

● Number of activities, instruments and models developed by CDRI platform for implementation in the member countries.

Evaluation

Based on the preliminary learning questions and scope of the CDRI activity and its various components, several assessments and evaluation will be considered depending on the implementation of the activities. The assessments and evaluation will measure the lessons learned and effectiveness of the activity and the results achieved against the objectives proposed in the activity. Lessons learned, challenges, and recommendations will be summarized by the third party for review by USAID/India.

Learning Plan

Given the various collaborative approaches being proposed as a part of this activity, learning is an essential and valuable component of implementation. A composite learning agenda will be designed for USAID CDRI engagement as a whole, which will then have individual questions and components for each component that will contribute to both contextualized learning to support activity adaptive management.

A list of preliminary and illustrative learning questions is developed to serve as examples of what may be incorporated into the USAID CDRI activity learning agenda.

Illustrative Learning Questions:

● What U.S. Government strategies/approaches have been most effective in bolstering resilient infrastructure in CDRIs member countries?

● Has implementation of USAID CDRI initiatives been more effective in some member countries/sectors over others?

● Which of these approaches (improved technical support, knowledge management and advocacy skills) provided by the CDRI Secretariat are more effective in promoting disaster and climate resilient infrastructure?

● What are the innovations in communications and knowledge management that have contributed to the CDRI objective relative to the traditional approach?

● What are the best practices adopted by the CDRI platform in the resilience infrastructure sector in its member countries ?

B.3 START DATE AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance anticipated herein is five (5) years. The estimated start date of the award is July 2021.

B.4 SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT

In accordance with ADS 303.3.11, USAID will remain substantially involved over the life of the Cooperative Agreement to assist the Recipient in achieving the expected outcomes and results of the program. Examples of potential areas of substantial involvement during performance include the following:

1. It is expected that USAID will review the recipient’s implementation plans to ensure that the plans are aligned with GoI’s broader planning and timelines are followed.

2. Considering the innovative technical nature of this activity, it would be prudent for USAID to ensure that recipients key personnel have the experience and knowledge to lead the implementation of the activity. Hence, USAID will approve recipients' key personnel.

NOTE: This Substantial Involvement section is subject to change following the Co-Creation Workshop and submission of the Final Application of Phase 3.

B.5 AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE

The authorized geographic code for the procurement of services and commodities is 937. Code 937 is defined as the United States, the recipient country (India), and developing countries, but excluding any country that is a prohibited source. There are currently no prohibited source countries, but the list is updated regularly and can be found here:

http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1864/310mac.pdf

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

The principal purpose of the relationship with the Recipient and under the subject program is to transfer funds to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) activity which is authorized by Federal statute. The successful Recipient will be responsible for ensuring the achievement of the program objectives and the efficient and effective administration of the award through the application of sound management practices. The Recipient will assume responsibility for administering Federal funds in a manner consistent with underlying agreements, program objectives, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award.

[END OF SECTION B]

SECTION C – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

C.1 ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Eligibility for this NOFO is not restricted. Organizations eligible to apply under this NOFO include, but are not necessarily limited to, U.S. and non-U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs), private voluntary organizations, public international organizations (PIOs), foundations, colleges and universities, civic groups, faith-based and community institutions, private businesses and associations, regional organizations, philanthropic organizations, and advocacy groups.

Pursuant to 2CFR 200.400(g), it is USAID policy not to award profit under assistance instruments such as Cooperative Agreements. While for-profit organizations may participate, pursuant to 2 CFR 700.13(a)(1), Prohibition against Profit, no profit will be paid to any for-profit entity receiving or administering Federal financial assistance as a recipient or subrecipient.

USAID welcomes organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID to submit their applications.

Though not required in the Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the process, before submitting a full application an Applicant must have successfully registered in SAM (System for Award Management).

Applicants must also provide a valid DUNS number in the SF424 form to be submitted along with a full application. For those who have previously registered in SAM, they must renew and maintain an active SAM registration during the time they have concept notes or applications under consideration by a Federal awarding agency or during active Federal award.

C.2 NEW PARTNERS

a) Potential New Implementing Partners:

In support of the Agency’s interest in fostering a larger assistance base and expanding the number and sustainability of development partners, USAID encourages applications from potential new implementing partners who may not have previously received financial assistance from USAID.

Any resultant award to a new organization may be significantly delayed if USAID must undertake a necessary pre-award review of these organizations to determine their “risk assessment” (see below).

Accordingly, in order to mitigate this, the pre-award review may begin simultaneously with the co-creation phase. Non-U.S. Organization Pre-award Survey Guidelines and Support is available in the following link: http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/303sam.pdf.

NOTE: As defined in Annex 1 of this NOFO, a new partner is defined by this NOFO as an organization that has never received direct or indirect awards from USAID. An underutilized partner is defined by the Agency as an organization that has received less than $25 million in direct or indirect awards from USAID over the past five years. The five years is relative to when the organization is applying to a USAID procurement/funding opportunity. A Locally Established Partner (LEPs) is defined by the Agency as a U.S. or international organization that works through locally-led operations and programming models and: (1) meet the definition of a LEP (please see Annex 1); (2) have received less than $25 million cumulatively in USAID funding over the previous five (5) years to date; and (3) currently have additional, non-USAID funding streams that exceed total funding received worldwide from the USAID (e.g., if an applicant has implemented $5 million in USAID funding, it must demonstrate at least $5 million in funds worldwide from sources other than the USAID).

b) Pre-award Risk Assessment

The Apparently Successful Applicant (ASA) will be responsible for ensuring achievement of the objectives described in the NOFO. Thus, an ASA must be a responsible entity. The Agreement Officer (AO) will decide on whether to subject the ASA to a pre-award survey, and based on the results, will make a determination if the prospective recipient is a responsible entity, whether the prospective recipient has the necessary organization, experience, accounting, and operational controls, financial resources, and technical skills – or ability to obtain them – in order to achieve the objectives of the program and comply with the terms and conditions of the award.

Prior to making an award under this NOFO, USAID may perform a pre-award survey for organizations that are new to working with USAID or for organizations with outstanding audit findings. Accounting systems, audit issues and management capability questions may be reviewed as part of this process. Depending on its result of the risk assessment, USAID may determine to execute the award, not execute the award, or award with “specific conditions” (2 CFR 200.207). If notified by USAID that a pre-award survey is necessary, applicants must prepare in advance the required information and documents. A pre-award survey does not commit USAID to make an award to any organization.

C.3 Overall Process

Under this NOFO, there are three phases:

a. The First Phase is the submission, review and evaluation of written Concept Papers.

b. The Second Phase is the Oral Presentation, wherein the highest rated applicant/s from the First

Phase will be invited to present orally on the specific areas of their concept that needs further detailing.

c. The Third Phase, the Application co-creation and final application submission phase, is when the highest rated applicant(s) from the Second Phase will collaboratively develop with USAID a program description and develop a detailed budget which will be submitted as Technical and Cost Application/s together with other required documents.

C.4 RESPONSIBLE ENTITY

The Apparently Successful Applicant (ASA) will be responsible for ensuring achievement of the objectives described in the NOFO. Thus, an ASA must be a responsible entity. The AO will decide on whether to subject the ASA to a pre-award survey, and based on the results, will make a determination if the prospective recipient is a responsible entity, i.e., whether it has the necessary organization, experience, adequate accounting and operational controls, and technical skills—or ability to obtain them—in order to achieve the objectives of the project and comply with the terms and conditions of the award. If a pre-award survey is necessary, the AO will establish a formal survey team to conduct the examination.

C.5 COST SHARING

Cost-sharing is encouraged but not required. Under this NOFO there is not a mandatory cost share requirement. Cost sharing includes contributions, both cash and in-kind, which are necessary and reasonable to achieve program objectives and which are verifiable from the recipient's records.

C.6 OTHER

An organization may submit only one (1) application under this notice of funding opportunity.

However, organizations participating as a member of a consortium may elect to participate in another consortium under a different Concept Paper.

[END OF SECTION C]

SECTION D: APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

D.1 AGENCY POINT OF CONTACT

Armando Espinosa USAID Regional Contracting Officer American Embassy Shantipath, Chanakyapuri New Delhi 110021 India aespinosa@usaid.gov Phone: +91-11-2419-8469 Fax: +91-11-24198612

D.2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

All questions relating to this NOFO must be submitted to the indiarco@usaid.gov mailbox no later than 11:55pm on February 26, 2021 to provide sufficient time to address the questions and incorporate the questions and answers as an amendment to this solicitation. Unless otherwise notified by an amendment to the NOFO, no questions will be accepted after the due date. Applicants must not submit questions to any other USAID staff. All the submission of questions application files submitted must be compatible with Microsoft (MS) Office in a MS Windows environment and/or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf). The subject of each e-mail must read as follows: NOFO # 72038621RFA00003 - Support to the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (SCDRI).

D.3 CONTENT AND FORM OF SUBMISSIONS

Applicants are expected to review, understand and comply with all aspects of this NOFO. Applicants must ensure the necessary documents are complete and received at USAID on time. All submissions received by the stated deadlines in the NOFO will be reviewed in accordance with the review criteria contained in Section E of this NOFO. Failure to do so may result in the submission being considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed.

Submissions must be in electronic format. Applicants’ authorized representatives are to sign their names (manually or digitally) on the cover pages of their submissions, as well as in required certifications. For a submission to be considered timely, the electronic transmission must be submitted by email to indiarco@usaid.gov and received by USAID/India no later than the date and time indicated on the coversheet of the NOFO.

Overall Selection Process

USAID/India will follow a three phased selection process as follows:

Phase 1 - Concept Paper: Applicants will be invited to submit a Concept Paper; the Concept Paper must not exceed 10 pages. Information regarding the Concept Paper is in Section D of this NOFO.

Concept Papers will be assessed against the merit review information included in Section E of this NOFO. More specifically, Concept Papers will be reviewed for how well they address the Activity Goal, Proposed Outcomes, Results, and three Technical Components of the program; the proposed Key Personnel, Cross Cutting and Synergistic Practices, the applicant's organizational capabilities, overview of monitoring and evaluation plan and other information as outlined in Section D below.

The highest rated Concept Papers will be invited to participate in Phase 2.

In the event that USAID determines that none of the Concept Papers are acceptable, this NOFO will be cancelled.

Phase 2 - Oral Presentation: Highest rated applicants will be asked to orally present on the specific areas of their concept that need further detailing. This will be two weeks approximately after being notified that their Concept Papers were accepted for Phase 2. The Oral Presentation will be held through video conferencing or in person. The technical as well as format requirements for this phase will be made available to the highest rated applicants invited to the Oral Presentation. The Applicant’s Concept Paper author/s and lead Technical Representatives must be part of the presentation team.

Approximately two weeks after the oral presentations are completed, USAID will invite the highest rated applicant(s) to participate in Phase 3.

Phase 3 - Co-Creation and Final Application: Approximately two weeks after notification to the highest rated applicant/s, a two-week co-creation workshop (online/on site) will be hosted by USAID. The workshop will include the selected highest rated applicant/s, USAID, and other key stakeholders and will bring together various technical approaches and strategies that will further define activities aimed to achieve the desired outcomes. During this workshop, a programmatic framework will be developed which will clearly illustrate how the applicant/s will implement its concept aiming to achieve the goals and objectives stated in the NOFO. The program budget will also be determined during this Phase. After the workshop, the applicant/s will continue to work remotely to refine the resulting program description and cost application to be submitted within two weeks. USAID will review the application/s and provide clarification questions if needed. The Applicant/s will have one week to respond to questions and submit the revised technical and cost application for final review. Based on the final review, USAID will determine the Apparently Successful Applicant.

NOTE: No funding will be made to any applicant prior to the award of the Cooperative Agreement, The Applicants are responsible for all costs incurred prior to the award of the Cooperative Agreement, including costs incurred during all the phases - Concept Paper preparation, oral presentation, co-creation and pre-award.

D.4 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Applicants must review, understand, and comply with all aspects of this NOFO. Failure to do so may be considered as being non-responsive and may be evaluated accordingly. Applicants should retain a copy of the application and all enclosures for their records.

Applications in response to this NOFO must be submitted no later than the closing date and time indicated on the cover letter, as amended.