95332419N0001 Amendment 3 Version 4 Conformed Copy.pdf

MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION (MCC)

ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENT (APS)

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) NO.: 95332419N0001

Partnerships with MCC Program

VERSION 4 / Amendment 00031

Amendment Issued: 16 August 2019

NOFO Issue Date: March 26, 2019

NOFO Closing Date: March 25, 2021

CFDA #: 85.002 MCC Foreign Assistance for Overseas Programs

Pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the authority contained in the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended, the United States Government (USG), as represented by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "MCC"), is pleased to launch this Annual Program Statement (APS) No. 95332419N0001 for opportunities to support MCC in advancing our mission via partnership.

The APS facilitates a co-creative process to scope, design, and launch partnerships that leverage the unique capabilities of MCC and external entities. Partnerships enable MCC and external organizations to achieve outcomes that either party working alone could not realize. Through partnership, MCC seeks to increase the impact, scale, innovation, and sustainability of programs that advance our mission of poverty reduction through economic growth.

The purpose of this APS is to disseminate information to prospective applicants so they may develop and submit applications for MCC funding. Through this APS, MCC and external organizations can discuss their respective objectives and goals, determine how those interests align, and jointly identify ways to leverage and combine resources via partnership. This APS: (A) describes the types of activities for which applications will be considered; (B) describes the funding available and the process and requirements for submitting applications; (C) explains the criteria for evaluating applications; and (D) refers prospective applicants to relevant documentation available on the internet.

MCC is seeking concept papers for the following partnership opportunities (see Section A.6. for details related to each opportunity):

1. Empowering African Women through Data Skills – Due Date: May 15, 2019

2. Environmental Economics Partnership – Due Date: May 17, 2019

3. Women’s Entrepreneurship Partnerships – Due Date: May 15, 2019

4. Collaborative for Data Science in Africa – Due Date: May 15, 2019

5. Geospatial and Earth-Observation Analyses for Africa – Due Date: May 15, 2019

6. Strengthening Evidence and Economic Modeling Partnership – Due Date: May 17, 2019

To be eligible for award, the applicant must provide all information and be fully responsive to all directions as required under this APS and meet eligibility standards in Section C. Eligibility Information. This funding opportunity is posted on www.grants.gov, and may be amended. Interested applicants should check the website regularly to ensure they have the latest information pertaining to this Annual Program Statement.

1 Any amendments that change the terms of this NOFO or the associated Partnership Opportunity Statements will be highlighted in an updated copy of the NOFO as part of the amendment package in grants.gov. It is MCC’s intent to ensure that the version of the NOFO posted on Grants.gov at any point in time captures all changes and updates made to date.

http://www.grants.gov/

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute a binding commitment on the part of the Government to issue an award, nor does it commit the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of any concept papers, engagement, collaboration, co-creation, or full applications. MCC reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted under this APS.

We hope you will consider responding to the partnership opportunity statements contained in this APS.

Sincerely, Andrew E. Lee Agreement Officer

Table of Contents

ACRONYMS

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

A.1. AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION

A.2. OVERVIEW OF THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION (MCC)

A.3. INTRODUCTION

A.4. ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENT DESCRIPTION

A.5. OVERVIEW OF THE APS PROCESS

A.6. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENTS

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

B.1. ANTICIPATED NUMBER AND TYPE OF AWARDS

B.2 ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE FOR NEW AWARDS

B.3. SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT

B.4. ANTICIPATED AWARD BUDGETS

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

C.1. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

C.2. COST SHARE OR MATCHING

C.3. LEVERAGE FUNDING

C.4. PROFIT OR FEE UNDER ASSISTANCE AWARDS

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

D.1. APS DOCUMENT INFORMATION

D.2. APPLICATION SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

D.3. STAGE I – CONCEPT PAPER PRE-APPLICATION SUBMISSION

D.4. STAGE III – TECHNICAL APPLICATION SUBMISSION FORMAT AND CONTENT

D.5. STAGE III – BUSINESS/COST APPLICATION AND OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

D.6. UNIQUE ENTITY IDENTIFIER AND SYSTEM FOR AWARD MANAGEMENT (SAM)

D.7. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

E.1. APPLICATION EVALUATION REVIEW PROCESS

E.2. MERIT REVIEW CRITERIA

E.3. COST EVALUATION (STAGE III ONLY)

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

F.1. AWARD NOTICES

F.2. QUESTION SUBMISSIONS

F.3. PRE-AWARD RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION AND RISK ASSESSMENT

F.4. AWARD ADMINISTRATION

F.5. PROGRAM INCOME

F.6. BRANDING AND MARKING

F.7. REPORTING

G. FEDERAL AGENCY POINTS OF CONTACT

G.1. EMAIL ADDRESS FOR QUESTIONS AND APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS

H. OTHER INFORMATION

H.1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION REGARDING ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENTS AT MCC

H.2. KEY WEBSITES, APPLICABLE REFERENCES AND REGULATIONS

H.3. REVIEW OF APPLICATION MATERIALS BY EXTERNAL PARTIES

H.4. DISCLAIMERS TO APPLICANTS

H.5. LIST OF ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENT ANNEXES

ACRONYMS

AO Agreement Officer APS Annual Program Statement CFR Code of Federal Regulations CGM Contracts and Grants Management DCO Department of Compact Operations DPE Department of Policy and Evaluation DUNS Data Universal Numbering System MCA Millennium Challenge Account MCC Millennium Challenge Corporation NOFO Notice of Funding Opportunity SAM System for Award Management USG U.S. Government

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

A.1. AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION

The authorizing legislation is the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended. The award will be subject to 2 CFR §200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards and MCC’s Standard Provisions for Assistance Awards (see Annex A).

A.2. OVERVIEW OF THE MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION (MCC)

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a government corporation as defined in section 103 of title 5, United States Code, established by the U.S. Congress in the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, 22 U.S.C. §7701, et seq. MCC’s mission is to provide assistance that will support economic growth and poverty reduction in carefully selected countries that demonstrate a commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investments in their citizens.

Eligible countries develop, in coordination with MCC, a program agreement (Compact) that is then implemented in five years. MCC also supports programs to assist countries seeking to attain eligibility for Compacts by supporting targeted policy and institutional reforms (“Threshold Programs”). Our model is defined by core principles of selectivity, country ownership, transparency, and a focus on results.

MCC provides selected well-performing countries with large-scale grants, in the form of compacts, to fund country-led solutions for reducing poverty through sustainable economic growth. MCC compact and threshold programs complement other U.S. and international development programs. Countries that receive MCC assistance are referred to as “MCC Partner Countries.”

The accountable entity designated by each country to oversee implementation of its MCC-funded program is often referred to as a Millennium Challenge Account (or “MCA”). During implementation of the MCC-funded program, MCC maintains an oversight role, including a rigorous and transparent program of funds control and monitoring and evaluation. For more information on MCC, please visit www.mcc.gov.

A.3. INTRODUCTION

Partnering is widely recognized as a powerful multiplier of development impact. MCC pursues a variety of co-created and co-funded partnerships at the global and country levels that align public, private, and civil sector resources and acumen to reduce poverty and drive economic growth. Partnerships with businesses enable MCC to align private sector value chains, ecosystems, and innovations with MCC and country counterpart programs. Partnerships with academic and research institutions enable technological advancement in how MCC designs, monitors, and measures the effectiveness of programs. Partnerships with foundations enable MCC to leverage the financial investments and networks of like-minded funders to reduce risk or extend the impact of MCC’s investments. Partnerships with non-governmental organizations enable MCC to align efforts to promote inclusive economic growth and strengthen national systems. MCC seeks to partner with organizations that share our goal of achieving poverty reduction through economic growth.

MCC is issuing this APS in order to develop partnerships2 with organizations that share compact and threshold program and MCC institutional goals and align with the needs of MCC’s current portfolio. MCC partnerships take many forms and benefit both MCC and our partner organizations by increasing our respective access to cutting-edge research, knowledge, data, technologies, networks and expertise, as well as co-funding. Partnerships can help open new markets, scale programs, drive innovation, and

2 MCC’s Policy Regarding MCC Partnerships defines a partnership as “A collaborative relationship between two or more entities -- governmental or nongovernmental -- in which the partners work together to achieve a common purpose or undertake a specific task and to share risks, responsibilities, resources, competencies, and benefits, and mutually determine the goals, structure, governance, roles, and responsibilities of their collaboration.” As used in this APS, the term “partnership” is not intended to mean or be construed as a partnership as defined by law.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=c3a348de5af0be1685ea7424cab2c58e&mc=true&n=pt2.1.200&r=PART&ty=HTML https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=c3a348de5af0be1685ea7424cab2c58e&mc=true&n=pt2.1.200&r=PART&ty=HTML http://www.mcc.gov/ transform the lives of people around the world. Successful partnerships are expected to involve collaboration between MCC and partner staff and support MCC’s ability to achieve its mission and programmatic goals.

Partnerships must concentrate on priority development activities which fall within MCC’s mission of poverty reduction through economic growth and align with its core principles of results, good policies, and accountability. MCC funds activities in the public sector where the government role is clear and preeminent, but through partnership hopes to draw more broadly on non-governmental partners to stimulate additional investment and innovative development practices.

MCC recognizes that partnerships offer the possibility of promoting greater effectiveness and sustainability in programming, and thus offer an opportunity to substantially increase the impact of MCC programs. Partnerships may support program priorities and objectives through every stage of the compact and threshold cycle – selection, development, implementation, and closeout – and the organizational effectiveness of the agency.

A.4. ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENT DESCRIPTION

This Annual Program Statement (APS) is issued to enable MCC to advertise, receive, and consider partnership opportunities and ideas for collaboration; and to make grant and/or cooperative agreement awards in an open, fair and competitive manner for the partnership opportunity statements detailed in this announcement. The APS enables MCC and select prospective partners to co-create partnerships around shared objectives and to align effort, resources, and risk.

With this APS, MCC is soliciting interest in innovative, co-funded partnership opportunities. In determining whether to provide such funding MCC will consider the nature of the concept paper and application, available funding, and the appropriate funding mechanism.

This APS will focus on co-funded partnerships in situations where partners would require funding from MCC to engage in partnership activities. MCC aims to create partnerships via this APS that are co-created during partnership formation and highly collaborative between MCC and partner teams in their implementation. MCC encourages applicants to consider what non-financial contributions (e.g., expertise, innovations, technologies, data, networks, etc.) they would bring to a prospective partnership; as well as what forms of engagement or non-financial contributions they would need from MCC in order to make the partnership successful. Additionally, prospective partners are required to provide cost share or matching in line with 2 CFR §200.306 as part of their application. Additional details regarding cost share requirements are found in Section C.2. Applicants are also encouraged to consider additional sources of leverage in addition to the required cost share.

It is important to note that MCC is committed to country ownership, and some partnerships will be subject to concurrence by or engagement with MCC Country Partners. Where appropriate, MCC will support and facilitate this relationship to achieve effective and meaningful partnerships based on mutual interests and objectives. Therefore, applicants are hereby notified that concept papers and complete applications may potentially be shared with MCC Partner Countries during the co-creation and evaluation process.

This APS is designed to facilitate partnerships between MCC and external entities. MCC Partner Countries may also choose to utilize partnerships to facilitate the design or implementation of compact and threshold programs. MCC Partner Country-led partnerships are facilitated via a separate MCA Funded Program Partnership Solicitation process and not via this APS. Additional information about MCC and MCA partnering opportunities can be found on the “Partner With Us” page of MCC’s website (www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships).

The anticipated period for submissions under this annual program statement is 24 months. At its discretion, MCC may issue addenda or updates to this APS, such as when new partnership opportunities arise, and when existing partnership opportunities close.

https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/retrieveECFR?gp=&SID=ce2eacfce6539472b87fc6cd876f3b93&mc=true&r=SECTION&n=se2.1.200_1306 http://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships

A.5. OVERVIEW OF THE APS PROCESS

The APS uses a four-stage, competitive application process for partnership formation that fits within the parameters of USG assistance awards:

Stage I: Concept

Stage II: Co-Creation

Stage III: Application

Stage IV: Award

A.5.1. STAGE I: CONCEPT

Organizations are invited to review the partnership opportunity statements in Section A.6 and to submit a Concept Paper in response to any/all opportunities where your organization’s capabilities and resources would align to or advance MCC’s partnership goals.

Each partnership opportunity statement has a unique and defined time window for response, and MCC will review all concept papers received by the respective partnership opportunity statement due date.

Concept papers are reviewed by MCC technical teams, which are comprised of subject matter experts from MCC, and potentially other entities, including MCC Partner Country Counterparts. The technical teams will review the concept papers on a pass/fail basis and recommend to the Agreement Officer which applicant(s) should be considered for co-creation discussions (Stage II). Applicants who submit a successful Stage I – Concept Paper and who fall within the criteria set forth in this APS will be invited to participate in the next stage of the APS process. MCC may choose to advance one or more applicants (or no applicants) to co-creation for a given partnership opportunity. Details about the required format and content of the concept paper can be found under D.3. STAGE I – CONCEPT PAPER PRE-

APPLICATION SUBMISSION.

MCC will publish the organizational name, address, point of contact, and point of contact email address for all organizations that submit a Concept Paper on https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships.

MCC will not publish the actual Concept Papers. Best efforts will be made to notify applicants of the MCC’s decision regarding their Concept Paper within 90 days of receipt.

A.5.2. STAGE II: CO-CREATION

Successful applicants who pass the Concept stage will receive a notification letter inviting them to participate in the next stage of the process, co-creation. Co-creation is a creative and deliberative stage where relevant teams from MCC and the prospective partner organization(s) work together to mutually shape a partnership project that could meet the objectives outlined in the Partnership Opportunity Statement.

MCC conducts separate partnership co-creation discussions with each organization that successfully moves from the Concept to Co-Creation stage, and may eventually award zero, one, or more than one awards for a given partnership opportunity statement.

During Concept Paper review, MCC may determine that several concepts are worth a co-creation discussion and may contemplate combining multiple concepts. In such case, MCC may request those applicants to form a teaming arrangement (one prime and one or more subrecipients). This is not an obligatory requirement and any of the applicants may opt out of such arrangement at any time before award, at which point the funding agency will reassess how and whether to proceed with the next steps.

Once the team has been formed, MCC will invite the collective team for co-creation. If during the co-creation process, an agreeable project is not reached with the team, MCC may request a re-arrangement of the team and/or may hold individual co-creation sessions with the applicant(s) who individually meet the criteria per subsection E.2. Merit Review Criteria. At any time in the process, MCC may also decide to not move forward with either the team arrangement or the individual applicant(s).

https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships

During co-creation, MCC and the prospective partner(s) explore the “why,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “how” aspects of the prospective partnership to gain a clear understanding of the shared goals and resources each party will provide or facilitate. Co-creation provides an open space for brainstorming, idea sharing, innovation, dialogue, and feedback. During the co-creation session(s), MCC and invited prospective partner(s) will map prospective approaches and challenges to addressing the needs outlined in the Partnership Opportunity Statements detailed under Section A.6. MCC and invited prospective partner(s) will discuss scope and implementation strategies, potential capabilities and contributions each partner might bring to a partnership; risks and challenges to successful implementation; funding and cost sharing expectations, and the envisioned benefits of and approaches to a potential partnership. The co-creation process may be completed in a single, day-long (or multiple days-long) workshop; or progress over a series of shorter technical conversations between MCC and the prospective partner(s). MCC prefers that co-creation include at least one in-person design session at the MCC Headquarters in Washington, DC, though co-creation may also be conducted at a prospective partner’s location, an alternate location, or virtually, as mutually agreeable to the parties.

Following co-creation, MCC will decide whether to invite one or more organizations to submit a full technical application as well as a cost application in Stage III: Application. If a mutually agreeable, compelling vision is not arrived at during the Co-Creation stage, MCC will notify the applicant accordingly and the process will end for that applicant.

MCC will publish the organizational name, address, point of contact, and point of contact email address for all organizations that are invited to co-creation on https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships.

MCC will not publish a summary of nor information shared during co-creation discussions.

A.5.3. STAGE III: APPLICATION

Successful applicants who pass the Co-Creation stage will be invited to submit a technical and cost application as part of Stage III. When the Agreement Officer notifies the prospective partner that they are invited to Stage III, if applicable, MCC will clarify pre-award requirements and any additional instructions and criteria for full application submissions, beyond those detailed under SECTION D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION below. After receipt of the full application package, additional clarifications/negotiations regarding the technical and cost application and/or the terms of the award may be necessary.

Applications are reviewed by MCC technical teams, which are comprised of subject matter experts from MCC, and potentially other entities including MCC Partner Country Counterparts. The technical teams will review the applications and recommend to the Agreement Officer which applicant(s) should be considered for award. The Selection Committee can recommend all, some, or no applications for award.

MCC can eventually issue more than one award if funds are available and partnership objectives align;

there does not need to be only one winner.

Though co-creation should provide ample insight for both MCC and the prospective partner(s) about the goals, governance, milestones, funding, and implementation plan for a given partnership, MCC reserves the right to invite Applicants to make pre-award oral presentations and teleconferences in support of their applications, and also may request to interview the Applicant’s proposed key personnel.

A.5.4. STAGE IV: AWARD

Once MCC has decided to proceed with the award of a cooperative agreement or grant to an external organization based on the results of the Application stage, MCC will work with counterparts from the prospective partner organization to negotiate any unique terms and conditions, finalize and sign the award agreement, and announce the partnership.

MCC will publish the organizational name, address, point of contact, and point of contact email address for all organizations that receive awards via the APS process on https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships. MCC will not publish the actual applications received from prospective partners. MCC https://www.mcc.gov/work-with-us/partnerships and the awardee(s) may also choose to announce or promote the partnership in other forums besides mcc.gov (e.g., via press releases, events/convening, etc.).

MCC will not reimburse prospective partners for any costs associated with developing concept papers, participating in co-creation, or submitting technical/cost applications.

A.6. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENTS

MCC is currently inviting Concept Papers for the following Partnership Opportunity Statements. Additional partnership opportunities may be added over the course of the APS announcement period and partnership opportunities will be closed and removed as MCC’s partnering interests are met.

A.6.1. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT #1

Empowering African Women through Data Skills Concept Paper Due Date: May 15, 2019

A key priority for MCC is to advance the standing, inclusion and economic prospects for women in partner countries. Because of historical and cultural inequities, however, technology and its benefits skew away from providing opportunities for women. In alignment with MCC’s priority, the MCC-PEPFAR Partnership (working as Data Collaboratives for Local Impact, DCLI) has focused on methods to spur the development of technical and practical capabilities of women to analyze and use data, as well as advocating for the availability of better data about women, their circumstances, and their economic contributions.

As seen in the recently-published letter by Bill and Melinda Gates, for the world’s marginalized women, digital connectivity, access to, and use of information can transform women’s lives. In addition, by 2040, it is estimated that 90 percent of jobs globally will require some level of data use and there are at least 30 percent fewer women with such skills in the world. There is therefore a growing interest from private-sector firms, NGOs and multi-lateral organizations to cultivate greater participation of women in data analytics, visualization and data science. Data use can help empower women economically by enabling them to make better decisions – and by preparing them with skills that are increasingly needed in the global digital economy.

MCC is looking for co-funders and consortia to blend resources and work jointly on the enabling the use of data by and for women’s empowerment in partner countries, and initially in Cote d’Ivoire and Lesotho.

The “use of data” in this context pertains to a broad spectrum of activities from simple numeracy and data literacy to data preparation, visualization, and complex data analytics and data science, irrespective of sectors since the tools and methods to process and analyze data at each level are transferable.

Examples of constraints that need to be addressed for more women to join the data revolution include:

insufficient access by women to digital tools and platforms (cell phones, computers, internet), insufficient access to different categories of training, certification program and/or specialized degree-granting programs to mainstream data and tech use – and last but not least, concerted efforts to support female role models at every level so that young girls take an interest in numeracy, coding, programming, statistics, and data science.

While different ideas are welcome, this opportunity statement is a mechanism by which MCC and the DCLI program can contribute to or match resources to augment women’s economic empowerment through access to and use of data. One specific need is in Cote d’Ivoire, where DCLI’s partner, Sejen-CI, is working on extending the use of data science to women and youth with whom to design and launch an annual convening (“Women in Data Science” conference) of female practitioners engaged in data analytics and data science. It is intended as means to spur interest in this field, enable networking and encourage youth to pursue degrees and training in data analytics, statistics and data science. Another area of need is in Lesotho, where MCC is in the process of developing a compact and where there is an interest in partners who can contribute to testing approaches to women’s economic empowerment through digital financial inclusion.

Partnerships would be based upon mutual contribution and benefit, while also seeking to leverage third-party funds and/or capabilities. In particular, partners that can contribute the following will be of interest:

Funders (foundations, governments, or other development organizations) that have an interest in building the skills that women will need to access jobs or to use data generally or in specific sectors; and which may be willing to contribute technical expertise or scaling grants toward this effort.

Private-sector companies or academic / research institutions which have resources or capabilities to contribute to expanding opportunities for women in Africa through data, and tech skills - and which are willing to support the development of these capabilities through contributions of grants, equipment and/or tools.

http://dcli.co/homepage-2/ https://www.gatesnotes.com/2019-Annual-Letter?WT.mc_id=02_12_2019_05_AL2019_BG-EM_&WT.tsrc=BGEM#ALChapter4 https://www.sejen.ci/

Governments, private-sector companies, NGOs, or consortia which can make available significant data sets, or which have innovative or advanced processing or analytical capabilities.

MCC, as a partner, has the potential to provide seed funding, to be augmented or matched by partner organizations; to share innovations and small scale efforts that are in need of scaling; to provide expertise in gender-related analyses; and to manage political and cultural connections with partner countries. MCC will be interested to evaluate and launch partnerships for the empowerment of women in the 2019 calendar year and beyond.

A.6.2. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT #2

Environmental Economics Partnership Concept Paper Due Date: May 17, 2019

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is seeking a partnership to enhance analytical capabilities in various subfields of environmental and natural resource economics, including water resources, natural resource accounting, and climate change. The wide array of research findings, experiential knowledge, and analytical and empirical tools in these subject matter areas has expanded dramatically in recent years. Such resources include geospatial data, analytical frameworks and models, computing and communications technologies, and algorithms.

MCC’s investments in its partner countries have included infrastructure, water resource development, sanitation, and agricultural enhancement projects. In addition to such investments, MCC also supports its partners with institutional and policy reforms to achieve more efficient resource use. Given the types of projects and reforms in which MCC commonly invests, MCC wishes to partner to more effectively access cross-disciplinary advances in modeling climate impacts and ecosystems services benefits. MCC seeks, moreover, to more systematically integrate these considerations in the agency’s project assessment methods and economic analyses while contributing to the broader advancement of environmental economics in international development.

Illustrative areas in which MCC seeks a technical partner or set of partners include the following:

Approaches to incorporating climate change and variability into cost-benefit analysis (CBA), including modeling of potential changes in both mean conditions and extreme events, conceptualizing and quantifying country-level co-benefits of climate change mitigation measures, economic valuation of resilience-enhancing investments, and the use of sensitivity analysis to characterize and assess outcomes of extreme events;

Frameworks and data to integrate alternative approaches to environmental accounting into project design and cost-benefit analysis (CBA), potentially including cost and benefit flows from impacts on natural capital and ecosystem services; the underlying natural science phenomena and biogeophysical data that underlie many social science questions in these subject areas may also be of interest in the context of integrated and cross-disciplinary modeling frameworks;

Frameworks for valuing and weighing tradeoffs among alternative uses of water for productive and household uses; and

Economic analysis to support decision making under uncertainty and risk, including insights from the behavioral sciences on conceptualizing, communicating, and managing risks.

MCC seeks partners having social and natural science expertise that may be tailored and applied to problems such as those above. We are particularly interested in working with nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, development assistance agencies, or firms working on similar international development challenges who can bring to the challenges expertise and knowledge in aspects of environmental economics and convene a range of other actors to develop viable tools.

A partnership is best-suited as a foundation for this collaboration for the following reasons:

Typical problems in this area present a high level of complexity and ambiguity; the causal logic connecting these problems with their root causes tends to only gradually become apparent in the course of MCC’s engagement with the partners and the shared project context.

The volatile and unpredictable environments in which MCC works require flexibility in approach and action, including the ability to draw on diverse types of expertise.

Environmental economics is a relatively young and evolving field in which diverse actors possess specialized expertise and modeling experience; significant advances might be achieved through cross-learning and collaboration on shared projects.

These features necessitate an agile approach to the collaboration offered by a partnership, under which various actors bring diverse resources and expertise and co-design and co-implement a shared effort.

MCC would bring to such partnership use cases for designing and implementing cost-effective projects using evidence-based approaches; complementary skills, knowledge, and expertise in planning and implementing development assistance; access to project sites, implementing partners, other relevant contacts, data, and co-funding. MCC’s roles may include participation in problem identification and analysis, research design, planning and execution of fieldwork (including data collection), data analysis, and drafting and presenting results for target countries and other development actors.

In the context of a particular problem or issue, MCC would collaborate with potential partner(s) to develop work plans and identify specific outputs for use by MCC and its country partners or for the broader development community. Such outputs may primarily inform selection, design, or implementation of a particular project within a partner country or, alternatively, aim to develop or adapt more broadly-applicable analytical frameworks, models, and methods for application to a range of current and future MCC investments.

The following MCC partner countries are of particular interest as potential settings in which to develop, test, and apply frameworks and models:

In Tunisia, MCC is seeking to refine its approaches to incorporating climate change into cost-benefit analysis (CBA), conceptualizing and quantifying country-level co-benefits of climate change mitigation measures, and using sensitivity analysis to characterize and assess outcomes of extreme events. Additionally, MCC is aiming to quantify the economic benefits of reducing groundwater overexploitation. Beyond country-level insights, this work may also advance understanding and practice in select subfields of environmental and natural resource economics.

Lesotho is in the early stages of developing a compact with MCC, including an Integrated Land and Catchment Management Project. This Project includes quantifying benefit streams associated with maintaining ecosystem services in the catchments, evaluating trade-offs with different development scenarios in the catchment given the projected impact of climate change, and ultimately, evaluating the potential for ecosystems services payments to be self-sustaining.

In Mongolia, the potential for climate change to increase water scarcity is likely to affect groundwater recharge rates and surface water flows. MCC wishes to better understand the implications of these changes for the operation and sustainability of its planned investments in wells and a wastewater recycling facility.

Nepal is using geospatial information systems to identify and analyze the land-use trade-offs entailed in planning rights-of-way for power transmission lines. The investment analysis needs to balance costs and benefits, appropriately accounting for environmental/ecosystem impacts and potentially sensitive social needs.

The anticipated timeframe for the partnership(s) is three years with the potential for extension up to a maximum of five years total.

A.6.3. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT #3

Women’s Entrepreneurship Partnerships

Women's economic empowerment leads to healthier economies, increased household incomes, and a more dynamic business environment. MCC’s Gender Policy, first adopted in 2006, recognizes the contributions that gender equality can make to achieving MCC's mission to reduce poverty through economic growth. MCC has a corporate priority around women’s economic empowerment, which includes a focus on entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. MCC is currently developing compacts in Lesotho, Tunisia and Timor-Leste. All three have identified barriers to women’s economic empowerment and seek to promote sustainable women’s entrepreneurship as part of their approach to promoting economic growth and poverty reduction.

Women face multiple, inter-related constraints in starting and growing businesses, and successful interventions may need to address barriers ranging from human capital and financial capital, to laws and markets, to socio-cultural and psycho-social factors. Evaluations have shown how different factors are of greater or lesser importance or interact in different ways in different countries. They have also shown that approaches to promoting entrepreneurship and financial inclusion have succeeded or failed depending upon components and contexts.

MCC seeks partners interested in working with us to help MCC successfully and sustainably address the barriers to women’s (and ideally youth) entrepreneurship and sustainable business growth in compact countries, starting with Lesotho, Tunisia and Timor-Leste. In these countries, MCC has or will have initial analysis on barriers to women’s (and ideally youth) entrepreneurship, and some additional analytical work could be needed. In Lesotho and Timor-Leste, the focus is on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including existing enterprises and start-ups with potential. In Tunisia, the focus is on helping growth-oriented entrepreneurs scale their businesses.

MCC would like to work in partnership to adapt and test models and tools in Lesotho, Timor-Leste and potentially Tunisia, contributing to MCC’s due diligence in the development of interventions. MCC is interested in testing options for interventions that could, through subsequent activity, be scaled up and evaluated at a later stage of the compact. Ideally, impact evaluation planning would also be part of this due diligence work so that the work can contribute to a broader learning agenda. This might include economic analysis to estimate ex-ante and ex-poste the benefits to individuals and households from interventions. MCC would then be interested in using this experience to refine the framework, tools, etc.

for countries beyond the three included here.

Interventions of interest to be considered by partners and MCC may include training, mentoring, coaching, and acceleration programs, financial inclusion, and other approaches that respond to the contexts and address policy and institutional constraints to women’s entrepreneurship. MCC is looking for partners with a strong record of clearly demonstrated, rigorous experience in this field, including not only analytical work but also strong business tools and models and demonstrated successful project development and implementation experience.

MCC is interested in partners who can bring an evidence-based framework, strategies, operational tools, proven implementation tools and approaches and methodologies and work with MCC to apply or adapt them to the MCC model and context, resulting in strong programmatic approaches and evaluations. For partners, this is an opportunity to apply approaches and ideas to address critical issues in MCC countries.

MCC expects to work collaboratively and co-creatively with qualified applicants to co-design partnership activities that leverage the unique capabilities of each organization and that achieve outcomes around aligned goals. Applicants may address one or more of the themes cited above in their applications.

The partnership duration will be determined in co-creation but is anticipated for a period of one year.

http://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/gender-policy

A.6.4. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT #4

Collaborative for Data Science in Africa

MCC program experience (in Cote d’Ivoire, Lesotho, and Togo, amongst others) and our partnership with PEPFAR (working as Data Collaboratives for Local Impact, DCLI) continue to show that there are insufficient data skills and an insufficient data culture to support a healthy data ecosystem in many of our partner countries. This constraint limits the potential for greater country participation in decision-making in the development, implementation and sustainability of our investments. Nonetheless, there are signs of progress:

• In Cote d’Ivoire, the local National Statistics School (ENSEA), ORANGE and the Ivorian Polytechnic Institute (INPHB) developed a Master’s degree in Data Science and an MCC- PEPFAR DCLI Investment in data fellows with our partners Sejen CI and Des Chiffres et des Jeunes are creating a center of capacity building in data science.

• In Tanzania, DCLI investments have led to the establishment the Tanzania Data Lab, a Tanzanian NGO that is building the capacity to analyze, visualize and use data for development; the Lab has also partnered with the University of Dar es Salaam and the University of Virginia Data Science Institute to launch a Master’s in Data Science.

• In Kenya, efforts are underway to launch a hub for virtual data use training.

There is an urgent need to connect these emerging efforts to empower country-based stakeholders to become greater protagonists in their own development through the use of data for decision-making at all levels. At the same time, these efforts could greatly benefit from financial, technical and organizational contributions of organizations, companies or academic institutions involved in building data cultures and data science skills in the United States and/or globally.

MCC is looking for partners that would be interested in enabling greater collaboration among emerging data science training efforts and centers in Africa, such as the Tanzania Data Lab, the Sejen Virtual Lab in Cote d’Ivoire, a similar such center being considered in Lesotho, and the Kenyan data hub amongst others. Specifically, the partnership would seek to leverage third-party funds, resources of intangible value and/or capabilities to support collaboration amongst these centers of data skill-building, standardize the technology (systems, telepresence capabilities) approaches and/or curriculum to help optimize cost and efficiency of training, scale these efforts by supporting or seeding additional locations of data skill-building in strategic locations, and ensure social inclusion. As data supply, technology, mobile assets continue to increase, this partnership would provide a much needed coordination and scaling of efforts to build a data culture and data science skills in Africa. Specifically, the following kinds of partners would be of greater interest:

1) Academic institution with significant data science programs and seeking to support (in-kind, expertise and/or funding) the establishment of data science training in Africa.

2) Private sector IT and/or technology companies seeking to expand business in Africa as part of longer term strategy; and therefore willing to support (through funding, equipment and/or technical expertise) efforts to build country-based or regional data culture and skills.

3) Foundations or NGOs interested in contributing grants to connect and scale ongoing efforts to empower youth through education in data science as a means of preparing them for opportunities of the future.

Ideally, MCC would want to launch this partnership in the 2019 calendar year. This partnership is one of the several sustainability strategies of the DCLI program – but would also (through its regional effort to build data science skills among key stakeholders in Africa) contribute to sustaining MCC program efforts in partner countries in the region, particularly where those involve building greater use of data for decision making (e.g. Cote d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Togo).

The partnership duration will be determined in co-creation but is anticipated for a period of year.

A.6.5. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT #5

Geospatial and Earth-Observation Analyses for Africa

Rapidly improving capabilities to process and analyze geospatial and earth-observation data, coupled with opening of significant data sets, have set the stage for important advancements in the use of this data for making better development decisions and driving economic outcomes. MCC has the opportunity to participate in these advancements and to use them to enhance its work by being open to partnering with those already working in this space, and to providing some co-funding for these opportunities.

Time-series earth-observation analyses are most beneficial to environmental and readily-observable situations. For MCC, this includes areas such as agriculture, land management, roads and other transportation networks, and water and integrated catchment management. Compact development and project implementation decisions, as well as monitoring and evaluation of these activities, could all be well-served, and potentially revolutionized, through use of these new data sets and processing methods.

Working with partner country counterparts to understand the results of data analyses, and the related environmental and social impacts, presents the potential for greater participation in decision making.

Executing on a priority of improving data use in partner countries, and informed by its already-established connections through the MCC-PEPFAR Partnership (working as Data Collaboratives for Local Impact, DCLI), MCC would like to establish one or more partnerships to improve innovative use of earth-observation and geospatial data to support priorities in African partner countries such as Cote d’Ivoire or Lesotho.

MCC is interested in collaborating with partners to put to use earth-observation and geospatial data sets, as a way to innovate the methods used by the agency and its partner countries. These partnerships would be based upon mutual contribution and benefit. In particular, partners that can contribute the following will be of interest:

• Governments, private-sector companies, NGOs, or consortia which can make available significant data sets, or which have innovative or advanced processing or analytical capabilities.

• Private-sector companies or academic / research institutions which may be interested to expand their reach in Africa as part of a longer-term strategy, and which are therefore willing to support the development of partner-country capabilities in earth-observation or geospatial analysis.

• Foundations, governments, or other development organizations which have an interest in either the greater use of geospatial or earth-observation data; or in potentially-affected development sectors; and which may be willing to contribute facilitation or scaling grants toward this effort.

MCC, as a partner, has the potential to provide some funding, to be augmented or matched by partner organizations; to put new technologies or methods to use in decision-making for development projects;

and to manage political and cultural connections with partner countries.

MCC will be interested to evaluate and launch geospatial and earth-observation partnerships in the 2019 calendar year. These partnerships can contribute to enhancing the way MCC partner countries develop, implement, monitor and evaluate projects, based on improved analytical information.

A.6.6. PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT #6

Strengthening Evidence and Economic Modeling Partnership Concept Paper Due Date: May 17, 2019

MCC faces a demanding, yet opportune challenge: In order to effectively implement its core methodology

– evidence-driven decision making – it must continually absorb and apply a burgeoning body of external evaluation and scientific evidence to inform and improve its investment decisions. MCC is recognized for its analytic rigor and the quality and adaptability of its program development around the use of rigorous evidence-driven design and decision making. This has been a key factor in generating bipartisan political support and in building a strong reputation among other development agencies and think tanks engaged in international development. The question ‘What works in economic development’ is a constant quest of the agency. MCC allocates 3% to 5% of compact funding to M&E and is committed to remaining current and innovative in the field.

However, since MCC’s founding, the global practice of rigorous program evaluation has expanded dramatically, both in terms of enhanced evaluation methods and data collection modalities, and in terms of the generalizable evidence that can and should inform MCC’s investment decisions. Since MCC’s small size limits its internal capacity to keep abreast of and internalize these rapidly evolving external developments, it must continually partner with organizations that are actively expanding the frontiers of the practical knowledge and the professional literature and use these partnerships to take stock of cross-cutting work drawn from evaluations, research and contexts well beyond MCC’s immediate field of focus.

Partnering with one or more leading institutions to provide real-time engagement on available evidence and expertise (such as systematic reviews, compilation of relevant literature, application of new, but proven analytic tools and evidence, as well as ongoing engagement with thought leaders in the field) and drawing on such a partnership to gain access to an international network of experts in evaluation and applied development economics, will serve to raise the quality and quantity of evidence used to inform MCC’s evaluation and investment practices in a low cost effective manner. Such a partnership with these experts is critical to ensure that economic modelling, project design, and evaluation approaches remain at the cutting edge of development science and help to sustain MCC’s strong reputation for high quality, evidence-driven decision making.

The partnership has multiple aims, corresponding to the multiple uses of evidence in MCC:

Develop a low-cost and demand-driven pathway for evaluators and economists to access available repositories of rigorous…