Call-for-Applications (NOFO)_CLM_05232022_Final.pdf

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

U.S. EMBASSY ADDIS ABABA, PEPFAR ETHIOPIA COORDINATION OFFICE

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO)

A. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Funding Opportunity Title: PEPFAR Ethiopia Community-Led Monitoring (CLM) Activities

Funding Opportunity Number: 2022-PECO-002

Federal Assistance Listing/Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number: 19.029

Type of Award: Fixed Amount Award

Type of Funding: PEPFAR Community Grant for Community-Led Monitoring

Total Amount Available: $ 300,000

Maximum for Each Award: $ 25,000

Maximum Expected Number of Awards: Twelve (12)

Period of Performance: October 01, 2022, to September 30, 2023

Type of Solicitation: Open Competition

Deadline for Applications: June 24,2022

B. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION:

The U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa / PEPFAR Ethiopia Coordination Office (PECO) is pleased to announce an open Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to solicit applications that implement Community-led Monitoring (CLM) activities for its HIV/AIDS programs.

The CLM program is funded through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

(PEPFAR). One of PEPFAR’s goals in Ethiopia is to support efforts to achieve HIV epidemic control through the implementation of evidence-based interventions in HIV prevention, care, and treatment and ultimately, save lives. Through the PEPFAR Coordination Office, the U.S.

Embassy in Addis Ababa administers this Community Grants Program and is currently seeking proposals from registered local Community-based organizations and other civil society groups, networks of key populations (KP), people living with HIV (PLHIV), women-led civil society organizations and other groups affected by HIV, or community entities that have expertise in gathering quantitative and qualitative data about HIV services, and whose functions covers HIV programs.

The CLM activity is key to ensuring the availability of, access to, and delivery of quality HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. The activity will empower clients and communities to seek out information, increase health literacy, expand engagement with the health service, support demand creation for high-quality HIV services, and demand accountability from the health system to improve the quality of these services.

The CLM activity will collect data using standardized tools. Quantitative and qualitative data collected through CLM will be synthesized, analyzed, and used to gain insights from communities/beneficiaries about problems, barriers, and potential solutions to HIV services delivery at the facility, community, sub-national and national levels. Results from CLM will be presented and analyzed in collaboration between community representatives, service providers, facility managers and relevant implementing partners to ensure dialogue and help all sides identify service delivery gaps and design solutions collaboratively to improve service delivery, continuity of treatment, and retention in care.

PEPFAR-supported community-led monitoring programs must include an explicit focus on key populations or affected populations. This requirement will be met by “Who” is doing the CLM

(e.g., are KP or affected populations leaders’ part of CLM design and processes?), “where” is KP focused CLM being conducted (e.g., are all GO, NGO, KP-Specific and private health facilities that serve KP included?) and “what” KP specific indicators being measured (e.g., competency of health services providers, availability of KP commodities, Availability, Accessibility, acceptability, and affordability of services).

Additional focus areas that the community-led monitoring will prioritize in COP22 include pediatrics clinical cascade and treatment continuity (addressing the programmatic gaps).

OBJECTIVE:

The collective objective of Community-Led Monitoring is to develop a routine and systematic approach to gather input from recipients of HIV services by community-based organizations, civil society groups, networks of key populations (KP), people living with HIV (PLHIV), and other community groups affected by HIV.

CLM should be utilized to develop understanding of the enablers and barriers to quality HIV services in a manner that is community-driven and collaborative, productive, respectful, and translate into action and change.

The program seeks to increase support and encourage KP, and other community groups affected by HIV to undertake similar activities on their own in the future.

The maximum award for a single CLM project is $25,000. The implementation period for CLM projects is one year, anticipated to be October 1st, 2022, to September 30th, 2023.

Successful CLM projects will fulfill the below principles/requirements:

• Monitoring data should reflect an ‘added value’ and not duplicate the collection of routine data already available to PEPFAR through MER, SIMS, or other Quality Assurance approaches. An example of ‘added value’ monitoring data includes information from beneficiaries about their experience with the health facility or community service providers, information about barriers and enablers to access quality services, and factors that increase satisfaction continuity of services etc.

• CLM mechanisms must be action oriented. That is, it is not enough to simply collect patient reports or describe their experiences, but there must be an associated feedback loop and follow-up process with the health facility/community and advocacy for service quality improvement

• CLM mechanisms must be routine to ensure follow up and continuous improvement for sustainability.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Applicants: - CLM funds are meant for activities that are community driven and serve the community at large where they are being funded.

Eligible applicants include registered independent and local/community-based organizations, women-led civil society organizations, PLHIV associations, faith-based organizations, and other community-based groups and/or networks whose functions covers HIV programs. However, PEPFAR implementing partners who currently work on service delivery at the health facility level, government institutions and multilateral bodies are not eligible to apply.

2. Other Eligibility Requirements: - To be eligible to receive an award, all organizations must have an active Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number issued via www.SAM.gov and a current valid registration with the System for Award Management (SAM) on www.SAM.gov.

D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

Content of Application:

Please follow all the below instructions carefully and use application forms specified. Proposals that do not meet the requirements of this announcement or fail to comply with the stated requirements will not be reviewed. All the questions in the application form should be addressed to be eligible.

• The proposal should be aligned with the purpose and requirements for Community -led monitoring program as indicated in this funding opportunity announcement.

• Each proposal MUST include a one-page summary that includes an Executive summary, outlining the project’s objectives, proposed cost, and activities with timeline.

• Applicants should submit ONE project proposal that does not exceed TEN pages

• All documents should be in English

• All budgets and proposed costs should be in U.S. dollars

• All pages must be numbered, including budgets templates and attachments

• All documents should be formatted 1.5 spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font http://www.sam.gov/ http://www.sam.gov/

The following documents are required need to be submitted along with the application forms:

1. Mandatory application forms (Forms can be obtained from www.grants.gov)

• SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance – organizations).

• SF-424A (Budget Information for Non-Construction programs).

• SF-424B (Assurances for Non-Construction programs).

2. Summary Page (1 page): Cover sheet stating the applicant’s name and organization, proposal date, program title, program period proposed start and end date, and brief purpose of the program.

3. Proposal (10 pages maximum): The proposal should contain sufficient information to describe the project and it must include the items listed below.

• Proposal Summary: Short narrative that outlines the proposed program, including program objectives and anticipated impact.

• Introduction to the Organization applying: A description of past and present operations, showing ability to carry out the program, including information on all previous grants from the U.S. Embassy and/or U.S. government agencies.

• Problem Statement: Clear, concise, and well-supported statement of the problem to be addressed and why the proposed program is needed

• Program Goals and Objectives: The “goals” describe what the program is intended to achieve. The “objectives” refer to the intermediate accomplishments on the way to the goals. These should be achievable and measurable.

• Program Activities: Describe the program activities and how they will help achieve the objectives.

• Program Methods and Design: A description of how the program is expected to work to solve the stated problem and achieve the goal.

• Proposed Program Schedule and Timeline: The proposed timeline for the program activities. Include the dates, times, and locations of planned activities and events.

• Key Personnel: Names, titles, roles, and experience/qualifications of key personnel involved in the program. What proportion of their time will be used in support of this activity?

• Program Partners: List the names and type of involvement of key partner organizations.

• Program Monitoring and Evaluation Plan: Plan how will the activities be monitored to ensure they are happening in a timely manner, and how will the program be evaluated to make sure it is meeting the goals of the grant?

• Future Funding or Sustainability Applicant’s plan for continuing the program beyond the grant period, or the availability of other resources, if applicable.

http://www.grants.gov/

4. Budget Justification Narrative: After filling out the SF-424A Budget, use a separate sheet of paper to describe each of the budget expenses in detail.

5. Attachments:

• 1-page CV or resume of key personnel who are proposed for the program

• Letters of support from the respective GoE entity where the CLM activity planned to be conducted

• Valid official permission or registration letter/certificate

6. Funding Restrictions

The Community-Led Monitoring Program fund cannot be used for salaries, project vehicles or other overhead costs. Please note that Federal award funds cannot be used for alcoholic beverages.

7. Submission of PEPFAR Community Grant application:

Before applying, applicants should review all the terms and conditions which will apply to this award to ensure their compliance. Applications can be submitted at any time during application period but no later than June 24th, 2022, to be considered for next steps.

All application materials must be submitted by email at AddisAbabaPEPFAR@state.gov

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

1. Criteria

Each application will be evaluated and rated based on the evaluation criteria outlined below.

• Quality, sustainability, and Feasibility of the Program Idea - 35 points: The program idea is well developed, with clear description of the problem, target community, geography, type of intervention and implementation strategy on how program activities will be carried out. Program activities will continue to have positive impact after end of the project and effectively addresses identified needs and have lasting impact on the lives of the beneficiaries. Mechanisms to ensure community ownership during implementation and after completion of the project are in place. The proposed project can be completed within one-year project period.

• Organizational Capacity and experience - 20 points: The organization/group has the know-how of proposed intervention and has completed some preparation steps for effective implementation of the proposed project. The project implementation team is organized with required set of skills. Proposal demonstrates good stewardship and accountability for managing project financial and materials resources, including setting up of a proper bank account.

• Alignment with Country-Operation Plan (COP22) guidance - 15 points: The designed project is in line with COP22 guidance (https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/COP22-Guidance-Final_508-Compliant-3.pdf) including the focus on KP and affected population– who/what/how the CLM implementation is mailto:AddisAbabaPEPFAR@state.gov https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/COP22-Guidance-Final_508-Compliant-3.pdf https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/COP22-Guidance-Final_508-Compliant-3.pdf planned out, the nature of the organization i.e., led by KP or affected people like PLHIV, women, etc.

• Experience - 15 points: Experience in CLM activities or related community-led initiative including monitoring service quality by clients and track record of ability to advocate for actions or solutions

• Budget - 15 points: The budget provides detail cost breakdown. Costs are reasonable in relation to proposed activities and anticipated results. The budget is realistic, accounting for all necessary expenses to achieve proposed activities.

2. Review and Selection Process

Initial eligibility screening will be made by the PEPFAR Ethiopia Team. A review committee will conduct in-depth technical review of the applications, evaluate all eligible applications, and select the top 12 organizations that meet the eligibility and selections criteria.

F. FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

Federal Award Notices

The grant award will be written, signed, awarded, and administered by the Grants Officer. The assistance award agreement is the authorizing document, and it will be provided to the recipient for review and signature by email.

If a proposal is selected for funding, the Department of State has no obligation to provide any additional future funding. Renewal of an award is based on performance and at the discretion of the Department of State.

Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the U.S.

government, nor does it commit the U.S. government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, the U.S. government reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

G. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

If you have any questions about the grant application process, please contact the PEPFAR

Ethiopia Coordination Office (PECO)

Tel. (Office): 0111-30-62-13 / 0111-30-71-25

E-mail: AddisAbabaPEPFAR@state.gov mailto:AddisAbabaPEPFAR@state.gov