FOA-ILAB-25-43 Mexico.pdf

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

Program Office:

OTLA

Notice of Availability of Funds and Funding Opportunity Announcement for: Leveling the Field for American Workers in U.S.-Mexico Trade

Announcement Type: _________

Funding Opportunity Number: FOA-ILAB-25-43

Assistance Listing Number: 17.401

Key Dates: The closing date for receipt of applications under this announcement is Friday, September 26, 2025. Applications must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

All technical questions related to the content of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) must be submitted no later than 10 business days prior to the close date of the FOA.

Award decisions are expected to be made between 09/30/2025 and 12/31/2025.

The Department will make its best efforts to make award decisions within this timeframe, but please be aware that there are a variety of circumstances that may result in a later or earlier than expected award decision.

To apply: Submit applications via https://www.grants.gov/ in response to this funding opportunity number.

Please refer to Section IV for application submission instructions.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL, or the Department), announces the availability of approximately $10,000,000 total costs (subject to the availability of Federal funds) for one (1) cooperative agreement to reduce wage suppression and other unfair labor practices in key trade sectors in Mexico to allow American workers to compete on a level playing field in trade. The project should collaborate with state governments, the private sector, and worker organizations in key trade sectors in Mexico to:

https://www.grants.gov/

• Strengthen Labor Law Enforcement: Support state labor authorities to improve enforcement of labor laws and to proactively engage employers and workers on unfair labor practices to promote stronger industrial relations.

• Improve Private Sector Compliance: Provide companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with compliance assistance and clear guidelines to improve compliance with United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) labor obligations.

• Improve Wages and Labor Conditions: Educate Mexican workers in understanding their labor rights, build their collective negotiating capabilities so they have the tools to advocate for competitive wages, fair labor practices, and how to seek remediation when their rights are violated.

The duration of the project will be 54 months from the award date. Applicants may propose a shorter period of performance in line with their proposed strategy.

Eligible applicants include any commercial, international, educational, or non-profit organizations, including any faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, or public international organizations (PIOs). Please see section III of this funding opportunity announcement for complete eligibility requirements.

Faith-based organizations are encouraged to apply, as are all organizations. Those that meet the eligibility requirements may receive awards under this funding opportunity. DOL will not, in the selection of recipients and administration of the grant, discriminate on the basis of an organization’s religious character, affiliation, exercise, or lack thereof, or on the basis of conduct that would not be considered grounds to favor or disfavor a similarly situated secular organization.

Applicants selected for award will be required, within the first six months of award, to carry out additional in-country needs assessments and consultations with partners and relevant stakeholders to assess and identify gaps, risks, and opportunities, analyze stakeholder capabilities and interests and secure buy-in, understand potential harm and refine and/or validate the proposed project design, including performance indicators and targets, assumptions, risk mitigation and sustainability strategies. All post award refinements to the project strategy will be subject to approval by USDOL.

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Table of Contents

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

B. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

C. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD TYPE AND AMOUNT

B. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

2. Number of Applications to be Submitted

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION

1. Technical Proposal

2. Cost Proposal

3. Submission Date, Times, and Process

C. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REVIEW

D. FUNDING RESTRICTIONS

E. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

F. OTHER SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

V. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. CRITERIA

B. REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS

1. Merit Review and Selection Process

2. Risk Review Process

VI. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

A. AWARD NOTICES

B. ADMINISTRATIVE AND NATIONAL POLICY REQUIREMENTS

1. General Requirements

2. Audits and Attestation Engagements

3. Administrative Standards

4. Other Legal Requirements

5. Other Administrative Standards

6. Special Program Requirements

C. REPORTING

1. Quarterly Federal Financial Report (SF 425, FFR)

2. Semi-Annual Technical Progress Reports

3. Final Technical Report

4. Indirect Cost Rates

5. Closeout Reports

VII. AGENCY CONTACTS

VIII. OTHER INFORMATION

A. OMB INFORMATION COLLECTION

IX. APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: Acronyms

APPENDIX B: Definitions

APPENDIX C: Relevant Grant and/or Contract Experience

APPENDIX D: Requirements for Application Submission

APPENDIX E: Past Performance Questionnaire

APPENDIX F: Sustainability Strategy Template

ENDNOTES

I. FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION

A. PROGRAM PURPOSE

The Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) prioritizes the interests of American workers in U.S. trade and international labor and employment policy. ILAB’s mission is to promote a level global playing field for U.S. workers and companies. ILAB seeks to ensure that American workers and businesses benefit from the Administration’s trade agenda by counteracting labor practices overseas that undermine American competitiveness, including vigorously enforcing labor provisions in trade agreements.

ILAB’s Office of Trade and Labor Affairs (OTLA) works to make sure that U.S. trade partners fulfill their promises and play by the rules, and that American workers are able to compete on a level playing field by negotiating strong labor provisions in trade agreements and preference programs, monitoring for compliance, enforcing trade agreement and preference program commitments, and sharing technical expertise. See ILAB’s webpage for additional information:

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab.

This FOA solicits applications to implement one (1) project with the objective to reduce wage suppression and other unfair labor practices in key trade sectors in Mexico to allow American workers to compete on a level playing field in trade. The project will be implemented in three to five states in Mexico and, in each state, will directly engage with:

• State Labor Authorities: To secure the commitment of staff and resources, refine enforcement plans, and strengthen engagement with the private sector and workers.

• Employer Associations, Companies, and Clusters: For the development of proactive compliance plans and effective dispute resolution mechanisms.

• Worker Organizations: To enhance collective bargaining, dispute resolution, and rights violation documentation and reporting capabilities among workers and worker organizations.

The applicant should propose specific, targeted activities aimed at increasing each stakeholder’s capacity to understand and apply Mexico’s 2019 labor law reform in order to address the workplace practices that lead to wage suppression. These activities may look different across states based on needs and the operating environment. The implementer will be expected to make full use of existing educational materials and awareness-raising resources previously developed for the labor reform and take the results of ILAB’s evaluations on USMCA programming into consideration when designing the project0F

1. After award, ILAB will also provide the implementer with additional information to guide the development of project activities.

Additionally, the project should work with state governments to periodically convene all stakeholders to educate and share concrete examples, including from Rapid Response Mechanisms (RRMs), of the most common labor rights violations and ways to prevent and remediate violations. These dialogues should provide space for state labor authorities to

1 SYSTEMS EVALUATION OF ILAB’S TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE IN MEXICO’S AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab demonstrate their leadership and seriousness regarding monitoring and enforcement of Mexican law and USMCA labor requirements, while providing both workers and the private sector with the opportunity to share their own observations, best practices, and challenges. Mexico’s federal government has begun convening the private sector and worker organizations to discuss key provisions of the USMCA in preparation for the six-year joint review of the USMCA operations in 2026. This project should seek to help state governments convene these actors at the state level.

Possible activities include:

Government:

• Link local authorities (labor inspectors, verifiers, conciliation centers, etc.) with federal resources, including training and shadowing on investigations, remediation and sanctioning violations, on the labor reform and USMCA.

• Support coordination between local authorities from various agencies, such as between labor inspectors and law enforcement authorities in order to effectively address widespread issues like violence (against workers exercising their rights) or criminal activities that affect workers.

• Support the development and implementation of labor law compliance tools by state government for workers and businesses.

• Support state governments’ proactive engagement with businesses and worker organizations to orient, monitor, remediate and sanction violations of Mexican labor law and USMCA requirements.

• Support state authorities’ use of referrals to the federal government for cases of unfair labor practices that cannot be addressed locally.

• Leverage RRM results as exemplars for local authorities to work with businesses and worker organizations to monitor compliance, implement remediation and apply sanctions, where appropriate in compliance with Mexico’s federal labor law.

Private Sector:

• Compliance Assistance: Develop tailored labor rights compliance plans that allow individual employers to identify violations and work with labor authorities to remediate, with a goal of generating sufficient body of practice that groups of employers in targeted sectors generate a new culture and practice of respecting labor rights and reduce practices that put them at risk of RRM complaints by the end of the project.

• Proactive Training to Avoid Common Violations: Develop activities to proactively train or educate employers and employer groups on how to uphold elements of the 2019 labor law reform where violations are common, such as appropriate employer-union relations, non-retaliation against workers seeking to organize, drafting and implementing neutrality statements, crafting comprehensive company guidelines, and establishing confidential reporting mechanisms for workers.

• Constructive Dialogue: Involve employer associations, companies, and their supply chain of SMEs in Mexican labor reform discussions alongside worker representatives and government officials.

Worker Organizations:

• Capacity Building: Partner nascent Mexican worker organizations with experienced worker organizations in Mexico and counterparts in the United States through virtual and in person exchanges to share best practices to prevent and resolve labor issues.

• Reporting Training: Equip workers with the tools, knowledge and legal assistance necessary to identify and report labor violations with labor authorities in the United States and Mexico and effectively participate in remediation efforts resulting from investigations undertaken by labor authorities. Provide accompaniment to new worker organizations and democratically elected worker representatives to build the skills and practice of engaging constructively with employers to identify, prevent and resolve labor disputes at the workplace, including around union democracy requirements, annual profit-sharing required under Mexican law, and collective bargaining, which tend to be triggers for labor conflict in Mexico.

B. PROGRAM AUTHORITY

ILAB is authorized to award and administer grants and cooperative agreements by Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2024, PL 118-47, Division D, Title I, as continued under the FY 2025 Full-year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, PL 119-4.

C. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Since May 1, 2019, Mexico has implemented a groundbreaking labor law reform under its 2017 Constitutional revisions and to fulfill its United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) Labor Chapter commitments. The 2019 reform overhauled the nation’s labor justice system by sharing enforcement responsibilities on matters of union democracy, as well as wages and working conditions, between the federal government and state agencies, which are tasked with local enforcement. The USMCA contains strong provisions that explicitly target wage suppression and uncompetitive labor practices, which empower Mexican workers to, for example, directly report violations of freedom of association and collective bargaining at a specific facility in a covered sector to the U.S. government through the Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM).

Since USMCA’s entry into force, Mexico’s federal labor enforcement agencies have made strides enforcing labor commitments in federal sectors; however, state labor authorities have often lacked the necessary resources, expertise, and political will to proactively engage the private sector to promote good labor practices and to reliably identify and remediate violations when they occur locally. Additionally, SMEs that are key to export firms’ supply chains have struggled to navigate the 2019 labor law reform’s requirements, while a history of unrepresentative Mexican worker organizations, without bargaining capabilities and detailed insight into corporate operations, has limited nascent democratic unions’ ability to effectively negotiate meaningful improvements in wages and working conditions.

This project is intended to create a more robust enforcement framework and improve labor standards in Mexico to combat unfair labor practices that undermine American workers’ competitiveness in trade and improperly incentivize the outsourcing of American jobs.

II. AWARD INFORMATION

A. AWARD TYPE AND AMOUNT

Funding will be provided in the form of a cooperative agreement. Approximately $10,000,000 total costs is expected to be available to fund approximately one (1) award. Applicants may apply for a ceiling amount of up to $10,000,000 total costs. Awards made under this announcement are subject to the availability of federal funds. In the event that additional funds become available, USDOL reserves the right to increase the amount of an award or to use such funds to select additional recipients from applications submitted in response to this announcement.

In addition to its normal consultative role as grantor, ILAB’s substantial involvement in program activities may focus on elements that are essential to meet program requirements and ensure achievement of program objectives and outcomes. ILAB’s involvement may include, but not be limited to:

• Liaising with in-country USG officials and host country governments on matters related to the project.

• Collaborating substantially on the project strategy and implementation, as well as the development of the project document package.

• Collaborating substantially on project monitoring activities, including but not limited to, work plans, progress reports, evaluations, attestation engagements, site visits, conference calls.

• Collaborating substantially on the development and implementation of the monitoring and evaluation plan and all of its components.

• Providing highly specialized input on the design and implementation of activities related to strengthening international labor standards, labor justice institutions, and legal and policy frameworks, among others.

• Being substantially and actively involved in designing research, service provision, and/or capacity building activities jointly with the recipient.

• Reviewing and providing input on project’s planning for sustainability and collaborating to promote sustainability of project efforts, including through replication of good practices.

B. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The required period of performance is 54 months from the award date. This performance period includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities. Only allowable costs incurred during the period of performance may be charged to the federal award (2 CFR 200.1 Period of performance). Applicants may propose a shorter period of performance in line with their proposed strategy.

III. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

A. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

The following organizations are eligible to apply:

• U.S. organizations:

o Nonprofits, including any faith-based organizations or community-based organizations o Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education o Private Institutions of Higher Education o Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) o Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities o Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions o Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions

(AANAPISIs) o Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs) o Minority Serving Institutions o Native American tribal organizations (Federally recognized) o For-Profit organizations

• Non-U.S. organizations:

o Non-U.S. Entities, including PIOs, as described in 2 CFR 200.1.

Applicants selected for award, including PIOs, must abide by DOL's requirements in the term and conditions of the award, in alignment with U.S. appropriation laws and applicable U.S.

regulations.

Applicants do not need previous experience managing federal awards, but they must speak persuasively about their ability to leverage other previous experience and bring it to scale in support of a large federal investment.

The following types of organizations are not eligible to apply nor to participate as subrecipients/contractors:

• Organizations designated by the U.S. Government to be associated with terrorism.

• Organizations designated by the U.S. Government to have been debarred or suspended.

• Organizations planning to charge a fee (profit) associated with a project funded by a

USDOL award.

• Foreign governments and entities that are agencies of, or operated by or for, a foreign state or government are not eligible to apply. However, they may be eligible to participate as a subrecipient in certain instances, subject to USDOL approval. NOTE: If an exception to this subrecipient eligibility criterion might be appropriate, the application must include a detailed justification for the possible exception. USDOL funds are not intended to duplicate existing foreign government efforts or substitute for activities for which such governments have already assumed responsibility. USDOL will make eligibility decisions on a case-by-case basis after receiving the application.

Faith-based organizations are encouraged to apply, as are all organizations. Those that meet the eligibility requirements may receive awards under this funding opportunity. DOL will not, in the selection of recipients and administration of the grant, discriminate on the basis of an organization’s religious character, affiliation, exercise, or lack thereof, or on the basis of conduct that would not be considered grounds to favor or disfavor a similarly situated secular organization.

B. COST SHARING OR MATCHING

This program does not require cost sharing or matching funds. Including such funds is not one of the application screening criteria and applications that include any form of cost sharing or match will not receive additional consideration during the review process. Instead, the agency considers any resources contributed to the project beyond the funds provided by the agency as leveraged resources. Section IV.B.2 provides more information on leveraged resources.

C. OTHER INFORMATION

1. Application Screening Criteria

Use the following checklist as a guide when preparing the application package to ensure that the application has met all of the screening criteria. Note that this checklist is only an aid for applicants and should not be included in the application package. It is recommended to use this checklist to ensure that the application contains all required items. If the application does not meet all of the screening criteria, the application will not move forward to the merit review process.

2. Number of Applications to be Submitted Multiple applications from an organization are not allowed. If multiple applications are received, the most recent application submitted by the deadline will be accepted. If the most recent application is disqualified for any reason, USDOL will not replace it with an earlier application.

Applicant entities are not precluded from participating as partners on another entity’s application.

IV. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION

INFORMATION

A. HOW TO OBTAIN AN APPLICATION PACKAGE

This FOA, found at www.grants.gov, contains all of the information needed to apply for funding.

Applicants should note that it includes hyperlinks to external forms and resources. Applicants are required to comply with all parts of the FOA, including those parts found at the hyperlinks.

Application Requirement Instructions Complete?

The deadline submission requirements are met Section IV.B.3.a Eligibility requirements are met Section III.A The components of the application are saved in any of the specified formats and are not corrupt. (USDOL will attempt to open documents but will not troubleshoot any problems related to opening files.)

Section IV.B.3.b

Applicant has registered with the System for Award Management (SAM) and maintains an active account Section IV.B.2.a

Completed and signed SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance, including a Unique Entity Identifier Number Section IV.B.2.c

Funding request on SF-424 does not exceed the ceiling amount of $10,000,000 total costs. Section II.A

SF-424A, Budget Information Form Section IV.B.2.d Technical Proposal Section IV.B.1 Attachments to Technical Proposal

• Abstract

• Work Plan

• Sustainability Strategy Template

• Evidence of Country Presence

• Project Management Organizational Chart

Section IV.B.1

Cost Proposal Section IV.B.2 Budget Narrative Section IV.B.2.e http://www.grants.gov/

B. CONTENT AND FORM OF APPLICATION

SUBMISSION

Applications submitted in response to this FOA must consist of two separate and distinct parts:

(1) a Technical Proposal, including attachments; and (2) a Cost Proposal, including the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance and related forms identified as follows. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the funding amount requested is consistent across all parts of the application. If the funding amount is not consistent, the amount requested on the SF-424 will be considered for the purpose of the award.

1. Technical Proposal Applicants should use their technical expertise to propose how to meet the requirements of the FOA and must provide justification for their choices based on evidence (see definition in Appendix B), analysis of contextual opportunities and constraints, and available resources within the requirements of the FOA. Applicants must include specific citations to the evidence used to support their proposed project strategy. If there is limited evidence to support the proposed intervention(s), applicants may propose to pilot an innovative approach but must include and describe a plan for monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of the intervention(s).

All pages of the application must be numbered. All required documents (including attachments) must be submitted in English. Any additional documentation submitted that is not required or specifically requested under this announcement will not be considered during the merit review process.

Technical Proposals must be no more than 50 single-sided, double-spaced pages (8.5 x 11 inches with 1-inch margins). If any page limits required by this FOA for any part of the application are exceeded, the content that exceeds the page limit will not be considered during the merit review process. Font style must be Times New Roman and font size must be 12-point. The Cover Page, Acronyms List, Table of Contents, required attachments to the Technical Proposal, and the Cost Proposal do not count toward the page limit and do not have any spacing restrictions. Different fonts and font sizes may be used for tables, text boxes, and graphics. However, it is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that they are legible and meet electronic submission requirements. Documents which cannot be read or accessed by the Department will not be considered during the merit review process. Please see section IV.B.3. for the file format requirements for electronic submissions.

The following instructions provide all the information needed to complete the Technical Proposal. Applicants should carefully read and consider each section and include all required information. The Technical Proposal will be evaluated using the evaluation criteria identified in Section V, Application Review Information. Applicants must use the same section headers identified in this FOA for each section of the Technical Proposal:

a. Abstract (Executive Summary)

Applicants must submit as an attachment an abstract summarizing the proposed project including, but not limited to, the project objective, proposed outcomes, sub-outcomes (if included in this FOA), outputs, and activities. The abstract should describe the proposed project in plain language and include the following sections:

1) Applicant’s Name and Title for the Project. The applicant’s name and title for the proposed project.

2) Purpose. A brief description of the purpose for the award, including a description of the geographic area to be served (if applicable), population(s) to be served (if applicable), number and description of individuals, groups and institutions5 to be served (if applicable), and the funding level requested.

3) Activities to be Performed. A brief description of award specific activities and other deliverables.

4) Expected Outcomes. The project objective, proposed outcomes, and outputs.

5) Intended Beneficiaries. Intended beneficiary(ies) or recipient(s) of the project activities.

6) Subrecipient Activities. If sub-awards are proposed, then specify the activities to be provided and the name of each proposed sub-awardee, if known.

The abstract is limited to two double-spaced single sided 8.5 x 11-inch pages with 12-point text font, Times New Roman font style, and 1-inch margins. When submitting in Grants.gov, this document must be uploaded as an attachment to the application package and specifically labeled "Abstract."

b. Table of Contents The table of contents must list all required documents and include their corresponding page numbers.

c. Project Narrative The Project Narrative must describe in detail the applicant's response to the FOA. At minimum, the Project Narrative must contain the following sections:

1) Problem Analysis (up to 5 points)

a) Scope of the Problem (up to 3 points)

Applicants will be evaluated based on their degree of understanding the scope and nature of the problem, in this case the factors that lead to wage suppression and weak enforcement of labor laws in Mexico, that forms the basis of the project design.

Applicants must describe the need for assistance, including the nature and scope of the problems and the consequences of not addressing the need. Applicants must identify how the problem affects American workers and/or businesses. Include relevant cultural, economic, social, labor and/or legal factors contributing to the problem. This information must be supported by relevant empirical data and evaluations, including citations. Applicants must identify significant gaps in laws, policies, programs, and coordination efforts that contribute to the identified problem and that need to be addressed by the project.

b) Proposed Geographic Scope (up to 2 points):

ILAB has identified Mexico City, Baja California, Guanajuato, Jalisco, San Luis Potosi, Puebla, and Queretaro as potential project states and the automotive, aerospace, biomedical, call centers, electronics, steel, extractive industries, and logistics transportation as priority sectors. Of these states, applicants must propose no fewer than 3 or no more than 5 states for project implementation, and within each proposed state, identify the priority sectors for engagement and describe their trade relevance to U.S. workers (in other words, in competitive industries that employ both U.S. and Mexican workers). During the six-month project validation process, the implementer should plan to engage the selected states to determine the political will and level of commitment each state government is prepared to devote to the project, the nature of labor conflict in each state, and the need and openness on behalf of the private sector and workers to participate in project interventions. The applicant may need to scope additional states for participation in case implementation in one or more of the initially selected states is not feasible. Final state selection will be done in close consultation with ILAB and will be made based on the level and nature of commitments from state-level stakeholders. Additionally, other sectors may be identified by ILAB post-award, during the validation stage of the project. Please refer to ILAB’s Meta-Evaluation of Labor Rights Outcomes1F

2 for project design considerations.

The applicant must provide a justification for the proposed project’s states and corresponding priority sectors. Within the chosen geographic scope, applicants must identify the stakeholders and where project interventions will be implemented.

2) Project Design (up to 47 points)

a) Project Strategy and Sustainability Strategy (up to 28 points) The applicant's Project Strategy and Sustainability section will be evaluated based on its responsiveness to the unmet need described in its Problem Analysis.

The project-level objective is to reduce wage suppression and other unfair labor practices in key trade sectors in Mexico to allow American workers to compete on a level playing field in trade.

Requirements Across Technical Proposal

Applicants must propose a strategy to achieve the project-level objective stated above, including a description of all major areas of proposed project interventions.

Applicants must propose outcomes necessary to achieve the project-level objective, how the outcomes are interrelated, and a rationale for how they contribute to the achievement of the project’s overall objective. Outcomes proposed by applicants may be revised during the project validation process post-award in consultation with

USDOL.

The technical proposal should clearly reflect a thorough understanding of the labor reform in Mexico and its complexities. Applicants must demonstrate how their

2 Meta-Evaluation Options Paper April 2023: https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/Meta-Evaluation- Options-Paper-April-2023-508.pdf https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/Meta-Evaluation-Options-Paper-April-2023-508.pdf proposed strategy will address gaps identified in the problem analysis, identify any potential barriers, and describe how the project will work to overcome those barriers.

Applicants must clearly describe how the proposed project interventions will benefit American workers and/or businesses either directly or indirectly.

Applicants must provide evidence of the effectiveness of their proposed strategy. If there is limited evidence to support the proposed intervention(s), applicants may propose to pilot an innovative approach but must include and describe a plan, including appropriate allocation in the M&E budget, for monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of the intervention(s).

In addition, applicants must clearly describe in their proposed strategy how they will integrate sustainability and risk management into their project strategy, beginning in the early stages of project implementation. For the purpose of this FOA, sustainability refers to outcomes and impacts that maintained or expanded after a project withdraws its resources through the exit process. Applicants are not required to develop an integrated sustainability strategy for every outcome, but rather, only where appropriate and needed to maximize long-term impact.

USDOL has informed host government officials of the proposed project. Applicants must propose strategies for collaborating with the relevant government agencies in Mexico.

Efforts must be made to avoid duplication and to build upon relevant previous or ongoing activities in Mexico. Applicants must include a mapping of the landscape of current relevant programming in Mexico. Applicants must also demonstrate how they intend to coordinate with other relevant projects and initiatives, including those funded by the host government (where applicable), USDOL, other USG agencies, and other donor governments and organizations. Applicants must include a brief description of the consultative process undertaken in preparing their proposal.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have undertaken an initial assessment of the needs, resources, interests, influence and capabilities of all stakeholders, institutions, organizations or structures that are deemed vital to sustaining project outcomes, by describing the process of conducting the assessment and the results.

Applicants must plan for long-term sustainability of outcomes in their proposed strategies. The applicant’s description of the project strategy should:

• Explain the flow of inputs to activities, activities to outputs, outputs to outcomes, outcomes to the project objective, and the sustained impact on worker rights that the project will contribute to.

• Fully justify proposed interventions by explaining their purpose and the problems they are intended to address. If available, note any applicable research that establishes evidence of a causal relationship or correlation between interventions and expected outcomes. Proposed interventions, including the activities and outputs that comprise them, should be fully described and should be ambitious but realistic given the implementing environment, scope of the problems to be addressed, and proposed budget.

• Demonstrate knowledge of political, social, and cultural norms in Mexico that may impact the interventions proposed in the target sectors, including how these issues will be considered while implementing project activities.

• Demonstrate the long-term sustainability of all efforts and outcomes in the design of the proposal, including which outcomes have the potential to be sustained after the end of the project and explain how the responsibility for sustaining them is expected to transition to local stakeholders, systems and institutions.

• Identify risks and opportunities inherent in the project design that could impact the likelihood of achieving or sustaining project outcomes and describe appropriate mitigation and response strategies. At a minimum, applicants must include a risk register table that lists potential risks along with strategies to mitigate these risks in this section.

• Recognize possible external factors or shocks and their potential influence on the project, expected outcomes, and their sustainability.

Sustainability must be the centerpiece of the project strategy. “Sustainability” is concerned with measuring whether the benefits of an activity are likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn. Applicants must take into account the likelihood that the benefits or effects of a particular output or outcome will continue after donor funding ends. In developing the project strategy, applicants must consult with key stakeholders to ensure that the proposed strategy takes into account the factors, partners and institutions that are likely to have the strongest influence over, and the capacity and willingness to sustain the desired outcomes and impacts.

After award, the selected recipients will be required to refine the Sustainability Strategy, report on it in each of their progress reports and modify or update the strategy as needed. Although there are restrictions on the awarding of subawards or contracts to government entities, to the extent possible, recipients should consider engaging relevant government agencies through other mechanisms, as well as partnering with other local organizations or associations to strengthen their capacity.

b) Project Milestones and Targets (up to 6 points)

The applicant's Project Milestones and Targets section will be evaluated based on how well it supports the overall project strategy, as well as for how reasonable project targets are with consideration to the allocation of project resources (e.g., budget, staffing) to support the meeting of those targets. In the Technical Proposal, applicants will propose outcomes clearly linked to the project objective. Outcomes should be able to demonstrate benefit to target populations, institutions, systems or processes, including American workers and/or businesses.

In this narrative section, applicants must propose outcome measures and tangible, annual milestones to track progress of proposed outcomes. Applicants must describe how American workers and/or businesses will be impacted by the project directly or indirectly, as well as the underlying criteria informing the applicant’s choice of proposed outcomes and milestones. Outcomes, milestones and associated targets will be finalized post-award, during the validation phase. In the narrative, applicants should explain their rationale for the milestones and outcome measures and targets. Applicants are encouraged to use both qualitative and quantitative milestones, and qualitative milestones should be objectively verifiable.

Applicants must put forward a proposed approach to ensure the safety of participants and implementers within Mexico. Applicants must describe how they will administer services in a safe environment.

3) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Agreement and Capacity Statement (up to 5 points)

The applicant's M&E Agreement and Capacity Statement will be evaluated based on how well it addresses USDOL’s M&E requirements (outlined below). Applicants must confirm in their proposal their commitment to strong project M&E. They must also confirm their agreement to collaborate with USDOL in developing and revising required M&E deliverables, including the project’s Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (M&E Plan).

M&E requirements include:

• development of the M&E Plan, in collaboration with USDOL, to include a logic model or results framework, performance monitoring plan (PMP) with milestones and indicators, Excel-based data reporting form, and Learning Agenda;

• development of baseline values and establishing targets for milestones and indicators;

• implementation of the M&E plan which includes the collection, disaggregation, quality assessment, analysis, and reporting of milestone and indicator data throughout the period of performance as required by USDOL;

• ensuring adequate M&E staffing capacity with clear roles and responsibilities to support monitoring, evaluation and learning activities throughout the project’s period of performance;

• development and refinement of a Sustainability Strategy post-award, including a Stakeholder Register and Risk Management Plan; and

• collaboration with USDOL on required performance evaluations, audits, studies, or other learning activities to pursue specific evidence-building activities that will help advance learning and accountability.

After the award is made, USDOL will work with the recipient to refine project outcomes, develop the M&E Plan and to identify project-specific indicator definitions, targets, units of measure and data disaggregation. All agreed upon indicators and disaggregation must be reported in the semi-annual progress reports in a spreadsheet format. USDOL will also work with the recipient on plans for data collection, analysis, learning, and usage.

4) Work Plan (up to 8 points) The applicant's Work Plan must be submitted as an attachment. It will be evaluated based on how clearly and realistically it outlines major activities and milestones and their related deadlines. The Work Plan must identify major project activities and milestones, deadlines for completing these activities, and person(s) or institution(s) responsible for completing these activities for the entire life of the project, as well as a sustainability plan. The Work Plan must correspond to activities identified in the Project Design, Budget and Budget Narrative. Applicants may choose an appropriate format for their Work Plan, but the format must include a field/column where the applicant, if funded, would report on the status of plan items (e.g., not yet started, on track, delayed, completed).

d. Organizational Capacity (up to 36 points) This section must describe the qualifications of the proposed applicant and/or any proposed subrecipients to implement the project.

1) Country Presence (up to 10 points)

The applicant's Country Presence must be submitted as an attachment. It will be evaluated based on how well it demonstrates the applicant’s ability to effectively meet USDOL requirements for start-up and implementation of the proposed project.

Applicants must describe their organization’s (and/or subrecipients’) existing presence in-country and ability to start up project activities in the target area(s) upon receiving an award (see section IV.B.1.d.3 for more information on partners). Any documents that demonstrate country presence (e.g., official registration of the applicant’s organization and/or subrecipient in the host country, a current Memorandum of Understanding between the applicant and/or subrecipient and the host government) must be included in the Country Presence document included as an attachment to the Technical Proposal.

Applicants must describe their ability and plans to collaborate directly with relevant national, regional and/or local government and non-government agencies, and other organizations as relevant to this project in each country, and their past experience working with these stakeholders.

2) Partners (up to 12 points)

The applicant's Partners section will be evaluated based on how well it supports effective implementation of the applicant’s project strategy and the needs outlined in their problem analysis section. Applicants must describe their approach for working with organizations in the target country(ies) to implement project activities to advance the objective of the project. Where they exist, applicants must describe any established partnerships and how they will be leveraged (either formally or informally) during project implementation, including with local organizations that have capacity and experience working on issues related to the objective of the project. Applicants without established in-country partnerships must describe how they will build local partnerships and/or describe any other partnerships that will be leveraged to achieve the project objective.

Applicants that propose formal project implementation partners (i.e., as subrecipients) must include a brief description of such partners, including a description of the partners’ role in implementing the proposed project strategy and how this approach will strengthen the overall proposal. Applicants must provide documentation demonstrating these partners' support and commitment to the project.

3) Personnel (up to 5 points)

a) Key Personnel

Key personnel positions are deemed essential to the successful operation of the project and completion of all proposed activities and deliverables. Key personnel resumes or curriculum vitae are not required for the application. Should the applicant be accepted for award, they must request and be granted approval before hiring candidates for key personnel openings, ILAB, the Federal awarding agency, retains the authority to approve all key personnel changes throughout the life of the award as stated in 2 CFR 200.308(f).

Approved key personnel must be available to staff the project no later than 45 calendar days after the date of award should the applicant be selected for award.

Upon selection of the award (during the post award phase), the applicant must summarize the candidates’ past experience and qualifications to perform the duties of the position and execute the project strategies proposed by the applicant. ILAB encourages applicants to hire national/local staff for key personnel positions.

Recipients assume full responsibility for ensuring that all key personnel have a clear and thorough understanding of USDOL policies, procedures, and requirements and that all documents submitted to USDOL are in fluent English.

ILAB has designated the following three positions as key personnel. Other requirements for each individual position follow:

Project Director:

• Must be directly hired by the recipient, not a subrecipient.

• Devote at least 90 percent level of effort to the project (0.9 full-time equivalent position).

• Minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience in project management and managing operational and administrative duties for USG-funded projects or other donor-funded projects of similar complexity.

• Knowledgeable about Mexico’s labor reform, the USMCA, and the current state of labor relations in the country.

• Proven experience establishing and maintaining systems for managing project operations, including overseeing the preparation and submission of project deliverables, stakeholder and risk management processes, cost and schedule controls, and sustainability planning and implementation.

• Demonstrated experience using adaptive management, evidence, and innovation approaches to lead USG-funded projects or other donor-funded projects of similar complexity.

• Proven success in building and maintaining working relationships with all project stakeholders; engaging in coalition building; and empowering stakeholders to take ownership of key project outcomes for post-project sustainability of progress.

• Strong facilitation, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills.

• Oral and written fluency in Spanish required

• Oral and written proficiency in English required.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer:

• Must be directly hired by the recipient, not a subrecipient.

• Devote at least 90 percent level of effort to the project (0.9 full-time equivalent position).

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in statistics, demographics, public policy, international development, economics, other social sciences or related fields.

• Minimum of five years of professional experience in a senior M&E position responsible for implementing monitoring, evaluation and learning activities for international projects.

• Proven success in designing, implementing and operating project M&E systems from project initiation to closeout stages. Experience in facilitating and leading strategic planning and performance measurement, including indicator design, target setting, reporting and developing M&E and performance monitoring plans.

• Demonstrated ability to facilitate and coordinate learning and adaptation processes, create and use tools to elicit and leverage learning, and lead cross-team learning or sensemaking workshops.

• Experience developing and refining data collection tools and analyzing data.

• Experience working in or supporting projects in Mexico and experience related to the project’s focus areas are preferred.

• If one individual does not meet the requirements, the recipient should propose alternate solutions to meet the experience and level of effort for the M&E Officer.

• Oral and written fluency in Spanish required

Industrial Relations Specialist:

• Devote at least 75 percent level of effort to the project.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in law or a related field, preferably with a specialization in industrial relations, labor law, or international trade.

• 7+ years of experience in labor law labor relations and/or industrial relations

• Proven expertise about Mexico’s labor reform, the USMCA, and the current state of labor relations in the country.

• Proven success in the management of technical cooperation activities.

• Experience convening government, the private sector, workers and worker organization on labor issues.

• Strong analytical, communication, research, and presentation skills.

• Must be employed by the recipient, not a subrecipient.

• Oral and written fluency in Spanish required.

Upon award, the selected applicant must submit a resume (4 pages maximum) for each individual being proposed for each position designated as key personnel in this FOA. Each resume must include:

• Educational background, including highest education level attained;

• Work experience covering at least the last five years of employment to the present, including such information as employer name, position title, clearly defined duties, and dates of employment;

• Special experience, capabilities, or qualifications related to the candidate’s ability to implement the proposed strategy and perform effectively in the proposed position; and

• Evidence of English fluency and other relevant language skills, if required (includes speaking, listening, reading, writing). For non-native speakers, evidence of fluency may include a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score or transcript showing completion…