Request for Information RFI-USAID-ES-21-01 CS & Media Strengthening English signed.pdf

Document Type: Request for Information (RFI) Number: RFI-USAID-ES-21-01 Issuance Date: April 13, 2021 Closing Date: April 22, 2021 Closing Time: 17:00 Local El Salvador Time

This USAID/El Salvador Request for Information (RFI) is issued for the purpose of providing academia, industry and stakeholders an opportunity to comment, suggest, and enhance areas related to civil society and media strengthening in El Salvador. As appropriate, USAID/El Salvador will incorporate responses to this RFI into the development of future activity designs that may lead to a formal solicitation or announcement.

This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP) or Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as proposals or applications, and will not be accepted by the U.S.

Government (USG) to form a binding agreement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any solicitation or ultimately award of a contract/agreement on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request.

Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.

If the requirement is released in the form of an RFP or NOFO, it may be synopsized in, but not limited to, the USG procurement information site beta.sam.gov, grants.gov, and USAID websites. It is the potential responder’s responsibility to monitor the above forums for the release of any further information.

It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. USAID/El Salvador will not provide answers to any questions submitted in response to this request.

By issuing this RFI, USAID/El Salvador aims to consult with the broad community of actors involved with or affected by the civil society and media space, including but not limited to civil society organizations, academic institutions, grassroots movements, local or community groups, youth, journalists, or media platforms in El Salvador. In addition, the primary focus of this RFI is to obtain a better understanding of the organizational capacities of both civil society and media entities, identify opportunities and challenges these actors face within the current environment, and also make sense of the main issues faced in terms of investigative journalism and digital literacy.

Your comments are requested to help refine a potential intervention and to ensure maximum development impact, resolve a clear development challenge or need as expressed by the private or public sectors, facilitate sound coordination with existing activities, improve or promote relationships with key system enablers, share global best practices with the highest potential local impact, and align with the Government of El Salvador’s priorities.

Your comments must include information that is publicly available. Please do not submit any proprietary or confidential information. While there are no limits on the length of submissions accepted, we value concise, issue-specific responses.

Areas of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

1. ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITIES

a. What are your organization’s main challenges in terms of institutional capacities?

You can consider a variety of areas, such as management, research, advocacy and communications, partnerships, funding, etc. Please mention specific weaknesses and, if possible, specific needs to address these.

b. How does your organization differentiate from the rest? Please list concrete activities that your organization has recently conducted in specific areas or sectors that are not covered by other organizations, or that are carried out through innovative approaches.

c. What is the capacity/experience of your organization to address transparency, anti-corruption, open government, human rights, or rule of law challenges in El Salvador?

d. Is cybersecurity a major concern for your organization? If so, which efforts has your organization put in place to address this, and what are your organization’s needs regarding that issue?

2. PARTICIPATION ENVIRONMENT

a. What are your organization’s main challenges in the current context? What tools or capacities do you need to develop to navigate in this context?

b. In terms of the legal framework in which your organization operates, what improvements are necessary to facilitate your operations? If your organization is not legally registered yet, please mention specific challenges you have faced in that process.

c. What interventions can be implemented to increase and strengthen citizen participation, especially when it comes to youth?

3. MEDIA SPACE

a. Do social media platforms represent an opportunity, a threat, or both for your organization’s work? Please elaborate on how social media affects your work in any of those categories.

b. What interventions can be carried out to increase digital literacy within your organization’s target audience?

c. What are the main challenges independent media organizations currently face, and what would they need to address these? Please mention both internal and external challenges.

Please address your responses, either in English or Spanish, to Alejandra Quiñónez and send them to aquinonez@usaid.gov, with a copy to Kerry West at kwest@usaid.gov, no later than the closing date shown above. Please include the title: “Civil Society and Media Strengthening in El Salvador” in the subject of your email.

Sincerely, Kerry West Contracting and Agreement Officer Regional Office of Acquisition and Assistance USAID/El Salvador