RFI A2E - ENGLISH VERSION.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

USAID/Senegal Access to Education

72068524RFI00001

Program Title: USAID/Access to Education (A2E) Subject: Request for Information (RFI) Reference Number: USAID /72068524RFI00001 Issue Date: November 21, 2023 Response Due Date/Time: January 12, 2024 - 17:00 Local Time

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Senegal is seeking comments only on the draft concept for its anticipated USAID/Senegal Accès à L’Education (A2E) Activity.

The objective of the A2E Activity is to provide increased education opportunities to marginalized Senegalese children and youth in target areas. The Activity will accomplish this goal by offering alternative education options that are responsive to the needs of local communities, and enhancing the capacity of local communities, governments and other key stakeholders to support education.

This USAID/Senegal RFI is issued to offer the opportunity for interested organizations and individuals to provide information, opinions, and recommendations on approaches for the implementation of the Access to Education activity and to solicit capability statements.

Any individual and any entity i.e., foundations, for profit and not-for-profit institutions, governmental bodies, agencies of the United Nations etc. may provide comments and/ or critiques.

Interested parties should consider the RFI closing date as well as the submission instructions provided below.

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID/Senegal programs.

Sincerely, Jean-Jacques Badiane Agreement Officer

USAID/Senegal Access to Education (A2E) Activity - Request for Information

A. Background and Context

Over the last 20 years, Senegal has made remarkable progress in improving education access and quality, achieving an 86.1% gross primary and 65% gross middle school enrollment rate with near gender parity. Despite high primary school enrollment rates throughout the Casamance and Kedougou regions, significant pockets exist where children remain out of school, drop out, or fail to thrive unless more flexible, responsive basic education options and pathways are available. The situation is particularly challenging for girls and children with disabilities. Girls have better access to education at preschool and primary levels compared to young boys, however, they have a lower rate of transition to secondary education due to gender- and school-based violence and discrimination, including early marriage and pregnancy.

B. Activity Concept

Since 2008, USAID/Senegal has been working with the Ministry of Education (MEN) to increase access to educational opportunities for out of school youth in Senegal. The USAID Passerelles activity, which ended in September 2023, was a 5-year cooperative agreement that sought to support MEN, regional and local education authorities, communities, and parents to provide quality and relevant basic education opportunities that develop essential life skills for girls and boys aged 9 to 16 in the Casamance (Ziguinchor, Kolda and Sedhiou) and Kédougou regions. In the 2017 USAID and MEN study on out-of-school children and youth in Senegal, the national school-age population (ages 6 to 16 years) was estimated at 4,022,229, of which over 37% were out of school (both dropouts and children who had never gone to school). The Passerelles Activity was established across these four regions in response to this study, which also showed more than 126,759 youth remained out of school in these regions.

Given the diverse institutional/structural, economic and socio-cultural barriers that have been impacting upon children and youth’s access and/or retention in school, Passerelles identified, defined and supported multiple pathways for children and youth to enter or re-enter the formal education or to benefit from basic education opportunities through non formal models.

Passerelles worked to enhance quality and relevance of learning, provide a safe and supportive learning environment free of gender-based violence, and facilitate inclusion of children with disabilities. Passerelles also worked to establish sustainable community-based solutions to support community-based schools, and formal school programming long after completion. The program achieved important results, including providing up to 123,000 children and youth with access to new education opportunities, and allowing 17,200 children and youth, of which 5,500 are girls, to benefit from complementary basic education services or vocational training.

While Passerelles was successful in achieving these important results, 1.5 million children and youth in Senegal, and 66% of children living with disabilities remain out of school, according to

UNICEF.

This new Activity, to be implemented by a locally established partner or local entity, will build on Passerelles’ successes and lessons learned as well as past USAID out of school youth programs, and explore new, innovative ways to bring additional educational opportunities to marginalized and out of school children and youth.

It will also incorporate market-driven interventions, such as skill-building, connections to the local market, or income generating activities to support employability, to address context-specific constraints to youth employment, both at the supply and demand sides.

Further, the activity will address issues of school-related gender-based violence1, specifically, bullying, corporal punishment, and sexual violence and utilize an inclusive development2 approach.

C. Activity Purpose

The goal of the Activity is to strengthen non-formal education opportunities for out of school children and youth in the Casamance and Kédougou to further inclusive social and economic engagement of all children and youth in their communities.

The purpose of USAID/Senegal’s A2E Activity is to support out of school children and youth in southern Senegal to gain access to quality and inclusive learning and training opportunities while simultaneously strengthening community engagement and prevention of school-based gender based violence.

USAID/Senegal’s working theory of change is: If out of school youth have access to quality education and training opportunities aligned with local context and needs, and if local communities, parents, governments, and the private sector are engaged and committed to supporting education and training, then out-of-school children and youth in those communities will be equipped with foundational skills to improve their livelihoods and well-being.

Result 1: Out-of-school youth actively engage in learning and training opportunities to further their foundational skills and economic participation in their communities

A2E will learn from the successes and challenges of the Passerelles’ activity in the provision of effective non-formal instruction to out of school children and youth. The activity will address barriers out of school children and youth face in accessing education, and create innovative ways to reach marginalized children and youth. Proposed approaches must be adapted to the regional and local context and demonstrate effectiveness in reaching a maximum number of children and youth.

1 US Global Gender Based-Violence Strategy 2 Inclusive development is defined as the concept that every person, regardless of identity, is instrumental in the transformation of their own societies and their inclusion throughout the development process leads to better outcomes. USAID promotes a nondiscriminatory, inclusive, and integrated development approach that ensures that all people, including those who face discrimination and thus may have limited access to a country’s benefits, legal protections, or social participation, are fully included and can actively participate in and benefit from development processes and activities. https://www.usaid.gov/inclusivedevelopment https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/gender-equality-and-womens-empowerment/reducing-gender-based-violence

Result 2: Local communities, governments, parents, private sector, and other potential partners’ commitment and support to education and training increased.

A key objective of Passerelles was to work with local communities and stakeholders to build their engagement and support of education. A2E will continue to engage with the most engaged, dynamic and responsive communities, local governments, parents, local private sector, and any other potential local partner to galvanize their commitment and support of out of school children and youth’s education at their level. A2E will work in partnership with local actors and communities to ensure the educational opportunities offered are inclusive of marginalized groups, including but not limited to girls and children with disabilities. The activity will work with Gold+ and other USAID programs already intervening in this area, to synergize efforts and maximize impact.

D. Submission Instructions

Responses should be submitted no later than January 12, 2024 at 5 PM Senegal, local time.

Responses to this RFI should be addressed to Mrs. Dos Santos via Dakarusaidedusolicitations@usaid.gov with a copy to mdossantos@usaid.gov. The subject line should be “Response to RFI No. 72068524RFI000001 - Name of the Responing Entity''and submitted by the closing deadline. Electronic submission is preferred. You will receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response but will not receive feedback.

USAID/Senegal reserves the right to provide responses to comments.

Respondents can answer any or all of the questions below. In your responses, please provide any sources for the information, including peer-review or gray literature, expert opinion, project evaluation reports, or any relevant documents.

Responses should be in Microsoft Word, in English or French, not to exceed six (6) pages. The six-page limitation is structured as follow:

● Four pages addressing the Technical Questions, and

● Two pages addressing the Organizational Capability Statement.

E. Disclaimer

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. It is not a solicitation and is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government or USAID to issue any solicitation or ultimately award a contract or assistance agreement on the basis of this RFI.

The RFI is an attempt to reach out to the market in an effort to obtain feedback and will be treated as information only.

Responses to this notice are not proposals/applications and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding agreement.

Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and USAID will not pay respondents for the information provided in response to this RFI. It should be noted that responding to this RFI will mailto:Dakarusaidedusolicitations@usaid.gov mailto:mdossantos@usaid.gov not give any advantage to any organization in case of any subsequent award decision by USAID.

USAID/Senegal may use the information provided to refine the Program Description. Therefore, please do not include proprietary information in your submission.

Responses to this RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the result of the review.

If a Request for Concept Notes is issued, it will be synopsized on Grants.gov (www.grants.gov) as well as in the local Senegalese newspapers: Soleil and Observateur. It is the respondent’s responsibility to monitor the above website for the release of any further information.

http://www.grants.gov/

F. Appendix 1: Input Response Template

Appendix 1: Request for Information (RFI) Response Template USAID/Senegal

Access to Education (A2E) Activity

72068524RFI00001

Organization:

Address:

Email:

Name of Contact Person:

Organization Type (i.e.private, public sector, educational institution, NGO etc.):

USAID/Senegal is interested in responses to the following specific questions. Respondents are encouraged to review the questions and include responses to the most relevant questions in their submissions. Respondents do not need to respond to all the questions listed below. The input requested consists of two parts: A.) Technical Questions and B.) Organizational Capability Statement.

A. Technical Questions

Please carefully review the above program background and concept and respond to some or all of the following questions. Page limit: No more than four (4) pages.

1. What are the biggest challenges preventing youth in the Casamance (Ziguinchor, Kolda, Sedhiou) and Kedougou regions in Senegal from accessing education and realizing their full socioeconomic potential? Please consider in your response how these challenges may differ for youth living in urban or rural areas, male and female youth, or other segments of youth that may fit within USAID’s definition of inclusive development.3

2. What key challenges have you encountered implementing out of school youth educational and/or training programming? Please consider specific experiences that may be relevant to the Casamance (Ziguinchor, Kolda, Sedhiou) and Kedougou regional contexts.

3. This anticipated program will work with out of school youth in non-formal education settings. Which non-formal education options would provide the potential for the biggest impact on the increase of foundational skills and improvements to the lives of out of school children and youth?

4. What types of approaches, models, or good practices should USAID consider for

3 Inclusive development is defined as the concept that every person, regardless of identity, is instrumental in the transformation of their own societies and their inclusion throughout the development process leads to better outcomes. USAID promotes a nondiscriminatory, inclusive, and integrated development approach that ensures that all people, including those who face discrimination and thus may have limited access to a country’s benefits, legal protections, or social participation, are fully included and can actively participate in and benefit from development processes and activities. https://www.usaid.gov/inclusivedevelopment promoting the inclusion and retention of out of school girls and youth with disabilities in the program?

5. What complementary models or approaches should USAID consider to improve the employment outcomes of youth after participating in the anticipated program?

6. What approaches should USAID consider to enhance partnerships and improve capacity of local actors and entities to prevent and respond to school-related gender-based violence?

7. What other considerations should be included in the program description?

B. Organizational Capability Statement

USAID is also seeking brief organizational capability statements from organizations who believe they are capable of performing the activity described in the attached summary. USAID requests you to provide the following information. Page limit: No more than two (2) pages.

1. Describe the organization's capacity to work with youth and/ or in gender-based violence prevention.

2. Describe the organization's capacity to receive and manage bilateral/multilateral or other donor funding, as well as the type of award mechanism for the past five years.

3. In which of these regions (Kedougou, Ziguinchor, Kolda, Sedhiou) do you have experience working? Briefly describe your activity(ies). If you do not have experience working in the above-listed regions, will you be able to mobilize and how?

4. If you are currently working in the Casamance and/or Kédougou, what types of youth education and workforce development programs do you have there?

5. Describe the overall budget and annual budget, list independently conducted financial audits if any, and provide any other relevant information such as funding sources in the past five years.

6. Describe the overall management capability and leadership structure. You may provide your Organizational Organogram in a one-page annex.

7. Provide the names and contact information of up to five local institutions you have partnered or collaborated with in the past, or that you can partner with to successfully implement this activity.

8. Does your entity have an active registration in System for Awards Management (SAM)?

9. Identify any needs your entity has or may have for organizational capacity building

(management, strategic planning, etc.) support.

10. Are you likely to participate in this procurement or any opportunity from the US Agency for International Development?