SOO_SBVP_Activity.pdf

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES (SOO)

SCHOOL-BASED VIOLENCE PREVENTION ACTIVITY

A. PURPOSE

USAID/Honduras’ Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) guides USAID/Honduras’ programming and interventions. The School-Based Violence Prevention Activity (SBVPA) is an integral part of a broader portfolio directed to achieve USAID/Honduras’ CDCS Development Objective 1 (DO1):

Citizen Security Increased for vulnerable populations in urban, high-crime areas, Sub-Intermediate Result 1.1.2, “Quality services that protect against violence increased.”

In support of USAID/Honduras’ citizen security strategy, the Mission is introducing violence prevention strategies for youth within school settings. The purpose is 1) to strengthen the role of the school as a vector of community cohesion through broader social service provision and community engagement in order to deter violence in school settings and engage communities in improving school safety; and, 2) to build the capacity of the Ministry of Education (MOE), as the leading institution of the GOH to address School-Based Violence (SBV), in order to strengthen education sector capacity to anticipate, mitigate and respond to school-based violence and rally the necessary actors in the existing child protection system to ensure oversight. The Education Office of the USAID/Honduras mission requires technical assistance to implement the School-Based Violence Prevention Activity (SBVPA) in the DO1 municipalities of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, Choloma and Tela.

B. SCOPE OR MISSION

The $20-25 million activity will establish safe schools that promote positive youth development in high-risk municipalities. This will be achieved through evidence-informed interventions as detailed in the objectives below.

C. DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE

The SBVPA will be implemented over a five year period in selected communities in DO1 municipalities.

Specific community and school selection will be proposed by the Contractor and approved by USAID/Honduras.

D. BACKGROUND

USAID/HONDURAS Country Strategy

DO1 is designed to address an alarming citizen security crisis that Honduras currently faces. Honduras had one of the highest murder rates in the world at 60 homicides per 100,000 people in 2015.1 Violent acts are primarily concentrated in low-income, urban areas and primarily perpetrated by young males against other young males. In DO1 focus areas and amongst these populations, the homicide rate was more than double the national average at 91 per 100,000 in 2015.2 In 2012, 59 percent of homicides in the country were concentrated in five of the country’s 298 municipalities, and 91 percent of homicide victims were males, the majority between 15 and 34 years of age. Femicides in Honduras alone have also far surpassed epidemic levels, with the death of 12 of every 100,000 residents attributed to gender-based violence in 2015.

Drawing from work done in Los Angeles, Chicago, and other US cities and studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Division of Violence Prevention, as well as the work that USAID/Honduras has carried out through the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) strategy to date, USAID focuses on strengthening resilience to chronic violence in specific communities.

This will be done through a combination of primary prevention (focused on reducing risks for populations living in high-crime areas), secondary prevention (focused on specific individuals at highest risk of becoming perpetrators of crime and violence), and tertiary prevention (focused on those who have already committed infractions and/or non-violent crimes) programs.

A high prevalence of community, family/relational, and individual risk factors drive high levels of crime and violence in Honduras. A key hypothesis under DO1 is that if targeted interventions reduce risk factors for criminal/violent behavior and youth development at the community level is improved, fewer individuals will commit violent acts, thus increasing citizen security. Under DO1, USAID/Honduras seeks to increase protective factors that prevent violence and reduce associated risk factors. Protective factors are tied to specifically identified behaviors in four categories: Individual, Family, Peer and Social, and Community. USAID/Honduras is strengthening the role of the school as a vector of community cohesion through broader social service provision and community engagement in order to to further deter crime.

USAID/Honduras is also investing in primary school reading programs in targeted DO1 areas, as research has demonstrated that early grade reading competency is critical for reducing dropouts and improving success in future grades. In addition, USAID is investing in the prevention of pregnancy in adolescence considering that is a contributing factor to dropping out of the educational system by teenage girls.

1 IUDPAS/UNAH 2015 Bulletin from the National Violence Observatory.

2 IUDPAS/UNAH 2015 Bulletin from the Local Violence Observatory for San Pedro Sula.

School-Based Violence in DO1 communities

In 2011, the Honduran Congress passed the Fundamental Law for Education, in which the GOH guarantees universal access to basic education (grades 1-9) for all children. In order for this fundamental right to be realized, children and adolescents require a safe place to play and learn. In Honduras, violence in and around schools jeopardizes access to school and safety of students, teachers and other school personnel.

The most visible evidence of insecurity in educational settings in Honduras includes the presence of criminal groups, gang members and weapons in and around schools; aggression and violence in schools and classrooms by students and school personnel; extortion of teachers and students by criminal groups and gang members; and destruction of school facilities. These factors lead to restricted physical access to school, risks and threats to teachers and students, increased dropout rates, forced recruitment of children and adolescents into gangs, and unstructured learning environments. In urban areas in Honduras, only 62 percent of youth aged 13-15 are in school and that figure further drops to 39 percent for ages 16-183. For the majority of young people who do stay in school, the system fails to provide them with quality education. Only 42 percent of ninth grade students are able to read at grade level and just seven percent meet grade level learning standards for math4.

Approaches to violence reduction and positive youth development in school aged youth

To better understand how USAID/Honduras can best support the Ministry of Education MOE and other partners, USAID/Honduras analyzed the results of two recent seminal studies that speak to the challenges of community and school violence, as well as trends in youth development.

USAID/LAC’s “What Works in Reducing Community Violence: A Meta-Review and Field Study for the Northern Triangle” identifies Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as leading to strong impact, especially as part of secondary prevention services. Lead researcher Thomas Abt identified this people-based approach as a tent pole around which other activities should be centered in addressing community-based violence.

The study emphasizes the importance of approaches that target people, places, and behaviors to address violence. The study also defines six “elements of effectiveness”: Specificity, Proactivity, Legitimacy, Capacity, Theory, and Partnership.5 The main strategies identified as successful by the study can be applied and reinforced in school environments and community contexts. The tenets of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can assist with managing classrooms, students, and schools, and can be adapted to educational environment management strategies to reinforce fair, consistent, and non-punitive consequences for behaviors, always with a focus on encouraging and positively reinforcing desired behavior.

3 INE, 2013)Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2013). Encuesta permanente de hogares de propósitos múltiples. Retrieved February 11, 2016, from http://www.ine.gob.hn/index.php/25-publicaciones-ine 4 Ministry of Education (2015). Informe de Rendimiento Académico 2015.

5 Thomas Abt, Christopher Winship, (2015), “ What works” in Reducing Community Violence: A Meta-Review and Field Study for the Northern Triangle.

http://www.ine.gob.hn/index.php/25-publicaciones-ine http://www.ine.gob.hn/index.php/25-publicaciones-ine

The “Gender Based Violence Analysis for USAID/Honduras” offers a thorough and recent analysis of Gender Based Violence (GBV) in Honduras, including how it manifests itself in schools. The study found that GBV problems in schools were more pervasive than anticipated; students (especially female students) face strong sexual violence, harassment and abuse from gangs, teachers, administrators, and other students; and female students that are victims of GBV in schools often quit attending due to a lack of effective recourse. The study explicitly recommends that the GOH be made “aware of the risks of overloading teachers with responsibilities given their vulnerability to threats in the community” and states that activities that put teachers at the center of interventions are rarely successful. More successful inroads have been made in using schools as primary points of program referrals to professionals who are community outsiders. Further, given that the majority of GBV against men, women, boys, and girls is perpetrated by a subset of men and boys, the study suggests that interventions include considerations for curriculum development and training to promote new masculinities and approaches for negotiating power within relationships.

Another cornerstone to youth development is viewing youth as positive agents for change in their communities and in their countries. Large youth populations are not a barrier to, but rather create an opportunity for, economic growth and broad social development. Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a development approach that provides services and opportunities to support all young people in developing a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging, and empowerment6.

E. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

The overall goal of the SBVPA is to establish safe schools that promote positive youth development in targeted communities within DO1 high crime municipalities in Honduras.

To achieve this, the SBVPA shall concentrate on the following four specific objectives:

1. Strengthen local networks that increase school7 safety.

2. Increase access to educational opportunities and safe learning environments.

3. Increase capacity of child protection systems to prevent and respond to SBV and GBV.

4. Lower risk factors for students that qualify for secondary prevention services.

Objective 1: Strengthen local networks that increase school safety

Through testing and piloting violence reduction interventions in high crime communities, USAID has learned that schools can be effective platforms for communities and the government to come together to reduce violence. Under Objective 1, SBVPA shall work with and/or form local networks to identify

6 Based on the definition of positive youth development as developed by USAID’s YouthPower Learning with contributions from other YouthPower IDIQ holders.

7 Shools include those that are in the formal education system and are regulated by the Ministry of Education as well as vocational training centers.

issues, conditions, structures and behaviors that contribute to violence and insecurity in selected schools. SBVPA shall improve awareness, capacity, coordination, and resources of relevant national Institutions and community based organizations (CBOs) to effectively respond to, reduce, and prevent school-based violence. Relevant national Institutions may include, but are not limited to, the Honduran National Police, Ministry of Education, and Municipal Governments. Local Community Based Organizations (CBOs) may include, but are not limited to, teacher/school boards, parents associations, youth groups, student governments, faith based associations, civil society groups, women’s groups, and community leaders, among others. It is expected that work under this objective will lead to communities and relevant national actors that are more aware of school-based violence and are collectively organized to address the violence. As a result, students and teachers will be safer in school.

Objective 2: Increase access to educational opportunities and safe learning environments

Under Objective 2, SBVPA shall seek to address issues that decrease access to education for at-risk youth, such as restricted access to schools and absenteeism caused by SBV and gang related conflict and control over territories, permanent dropouts and weak reinsertion efforts for children/youth that are out of school. This objective shall also set up mechanisms that help schools to become safe places for students to play and learn. The learning environment shall integrate cognitive, social and emotional elements. As part of this component, the contractor shall be expected to develop expertise among teachers, directors and supervisors to deliver education and youth development opportunities in high risk urban areas and prevent, cope and respond to potential violence. The contractor shall also build the capacity of children and teachers to resolve conflicts in a non-violent manner develop self-esteem and interpersonal skills to cope with group pressure, harassment and aggression.

Objective 3: Increase capacity of child protection systems to prevent and respond to SBV and GBV

Under Objective 3, the SBVPA shall address weak national capacity of child protection systems (including central government, municipal government, security forces, NGOs, and school administration, among others) to identify, track, respond and cope with SBV and GBV within and around schools. Interventions under this component shall strengthen systemic capacity to improve supervision of and support to schools to detect danger, threat problems and identify and promote effective protocols and clear staff procedures that respond to SBV and GBV. This component shall elevate safety in schools as a high priority at the national and municipal level and be a catalyst in providing relevant stakeholders with the capacity to address this issue in sustainable and lasting ways. The SBVPA shall improve the capacity of the education sector, especially the Ministry of Education, to anticipate, mitigate, and respond to escalated, aggressive, or violent behaviors and situations, rally the necessary actors in the existing child protection systems, and ensure oversight and hold parties responsible when relevant. This component shall provide the methodologies and strategies for the GOH at the national and municipal level to replicates interventions in similar communities.

Objective 4: Lower risk factors for students that qualify for secondary prevention services

Through this Objective, SBVPA shall provide secondary prevention8 services to students who have been empirically identified through a risk assessment tool. SBVPA shall build capacity of teachers, counselors, and other qualified staff to appropriately identify behaviors in targeted youth and apply the risk identification tool in order to enhance schools’ abilities to prevent violence and address the needs of the highest risk youth. This shall also entail raising awareness and generating understanding of these services among the stakeholders. Coordination and collaboration with other USAID-funded interventions carrying out secondary violence prevention activities in targeted locations shall be essential to increase sustainability for these efforts.

Expected Results

Community based organizations (CBOs) and national institutions effectively respond to, reduce, and prevent school based violence.

Parent organizations develop and implement concrete strategies and take on tangible rolls related to involvement, participation, and accountability in schools.

Children and youth in target communities have safe access to local schools and vocational learning centers.

Schools are safe spaces for students, faculty and community members.

Schools proactively address issues related to all form of violence, drugs, disruption, harassment, victimization and discrimination or other types of SBV.

Schools are free from GBV.

Schools are gender equitable.

The Ministry of Education effectively responds to and addresses SBV.

Sustainable structures support effective SBVP activities in the foreseeable future.

Special Considerations

Gender: The SBVPA shall incorporate approaches and actions to reduce gender based violence, as well as advance gender equity, female empowerment, and strategies for equality between boys and girls including new masculinities within the SBVP activity.

Sustainability: The SBVP activity shall consider sustainability a priority. Local partners shall be empowered to assume leadership of school based violence prevention initiatives in the medium and long-term. The implementer is encouraged to creatively explore collaborative relationships that shall ultimately increase the capacity of local partners, including GOH institutions such as the MOE, to continue to deliver services that protect against school-based violence after the conclusion of SBVP activities.

8 For the purposes of this component, secondary prevention is defined as targeting youth who show early signs of aggression and antisocial behaviors, or those who are at risk of developing such problem behaviors (Connor, 2002).

Infrastructure: Small-scale infrastructure and rehabilitation initiatives that contribute to the fulfillment of activity goals can be considered under SBVPA. Examples of small-scale infrastructure include cosmetic improvements and refurbishments and installation of equipment that increases schools security (e.g.

improved lighting, playground equipment and intercom systems, improving bathroom facilities among others). For structural improvements and the development of new infrastructure, the activity shall be expected to coordinate with other USAID/Honduras activities that shall implement complementary community-based infrastructure activities.

Coordination with other DO1 Activities: USAID/Honduras implements interventions in the DO1 zone of influence through a Place-Based Strategy (PBS), defined as concentrated, evidence-informed interventions by multiple stakeholders in strategic high-crime areas focused on reducing homicides, preventing violence, and improving citizen security. The PBS enables a variety of interrelated activities to focus on a wide range of violence-related issues confronting communities, tackling those issues in concert to improve citizen security dynamics. The SBVP activity shall be expected to actively engage and coordinate with other existing and future activities in order to fulfill the objectives of the SBVPA and the broader DO1 strategy. See Annex 1 for a full list of current and future DO1 activities related to SBV.

F. OPERATING CONSTRAINTS

USAID has identified key issues that shall be considered by the contractor when designing the technical approach and implementing the SBVPA.

1. Relationship with the Government of Honduras (GOH)

Collaboration and coordination with the GOH is a requirement for success and sustainability. In addition to interactions with GOH institutions detailed above, the Contractor is expected to propose strategies that support Honduras in priorities established through the Alliance for Prosperity, specifically as it relates to citizen security. The GOH intends to strengthen violence prevention programs through the following lines of action:

Strengthen violence prevention programs at family and community level Promote safe schools programs Support centers for youth at risk

2. Internship Program

The Contractor shall develop a paid internship program for the duration of this SBVP activity. The intern(s), who will work along with staff on the activity, both in the contractor’s office and the field, must be youth (male or female) from high-risk neighborhoods, of afro-Honduran or other ethnic descent, members of the LGBTI community or living with disabilities, and have at least a High School degree or equivalent. It is expected that the work that interns are tasked with be substantive in nature.

3. Survey Datasets

The Contractor shall submit raw data collected through the activity monitoring and evaluation process in an appropriate format to USAID/Honduras. USAID/Honduras will retain ownership of the survey and all datasets developed. The Contractor must follow the standard and ethical practices of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (http://www.aapor.org/Standards_and_Ethics.htm) in developing and conducting survey work. The Contractor must also comply with USAID’s Human Subject Protection Policy and other survey relevant policies, including those of the GOH, as applicable.

Safeguarding the rights and welfare of human subjects involved in the survey research supported by USAID is the responsibility of the Contractor. USAID has adopted the Common Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, Part 225 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations (the "Policy"):

http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/200mbe.pdf.

4. Submissions to the development data library (DDL)

The Contractor must submit to the Development Data Library (DDL), at www.usaid.gov/data, in a machine-readable, non-proprietary format, a copy of any Dataset created or obtained in performance of this award, including Datasets produced by a subcontractor at any tier. Datasets must be submitted through the DDL Website in accordance with the instructions provided at the site (ADS 579). The types of data submitted to the DDL may include, but are not limited to data collected as part of a performance monitoring or a USAID-funded evaluation, survey data, research data, and USAID information system data. The submission must include supporting documentation describing the Dataset, such as codebooks, data dictionaries, data gathering tools, notes on data quality, explanations of redactions, and data gathering methodologies. Unless otherwise directed by the Contracting Officer (CO) or the Contracting Officer Representative (COR), the contractor must submit the Dataset and supporting documentation within thirty (30) calendar days after the Dataset is first used to produce an Intellectual Work or is of sufficient quality to produce an Intellectual Work. Within thirty (30) calendar days after award completion, the contractor must submit to the DDL any Datasets and supporting documentation that have not previously been submitted to the DDL, along with an index of all Datasets and Intellectual Work created or obtained under the award. The contractor must also provide to the COR an itemized list of any and all DDL submissions.

5. Geographic data and cartographic product reporting requirements

Throughout data collection (where practical and economical) for both, context and performance indicators, the Offeror must include geographic information. USAID/Honduras shall have a dedicated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database. The GIS database could support geographic mapping and representation of geocoded performance information under the Activity and MESCLA’s system. The Offeror must support this GIS function to ensure that relevant performance information is geocoded.

Once the Offeror, USAID, and implementing partners agree on which indicators can be geocoded, USAID shall require implementing partners to include this additional information in their regular reporting processes.

http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/200mbe.pdf

When Geographic Data is acquired through data use or ownership agreements with the host-country government or other entity, the Offeror must ensure that the agreement makes it permissible for the Geographic Data to be submitted to, and used by, USAID.

(a) Standards

(1) Geographic Data:

(i) Geographic Data must be submitted in industry standard formats such as Shapefile (.shp) or

GeoTIFF, or in a File Geodatabase.

(ii) Geographic Data submitted shall include metadata following the XML schema, ISO 19139, which was developed to provide a consistent manner for presenting the ISO 19115 standard.

(iii) Geographic Data must be projected to the Geographic Coordinate System World Geodetic System 1984 (GCS WGS 1984). All data must use the World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 1984) datum.

(2) Cartographic Products:

(i) Cartographic products shall be submitted in Adobe PDF format.

(ii) Cartographic products generated using GIS technology shall be submitted in the industry standard formats of an Esri Map Document (.mxd) or Quantum GIS Project (.qgs). Use of any other format requires the express written approval of the contracting officer.

(b) Definitions

(1) Activity Location Data

The Offeror must submit Activity Location Data which indicates the geographic location or locations where an activity is implemented. Activity Location Data shall be compiled and submitted electronically in Microsoft Excel format using the USAID/Mission Activity Location Template. If Activity Location Data exists in a GIS data format, it shall be submitted in accordance with the Geographic Data formatting requirements outlined in Section C.5 in addition to the USAID/Mission Activity Location Template. Activity Location Data shall be submitted as part of the second (2nd) and fourth (4th) quarterly reports.

(2) Geographic Data The Offeror shall submit Geographic Data that is acquired or created from an analysis during the implementation of the activity. Geographic Data that is acquired during the process of implementing an activity refers to geographically-referenced data such as demographic and health indicators, infrastructure, and land use land cover that is obtained by the Offeror during the implementation of the activity. Geographic Data that is created during the process of implementing an activity refers to geographically-referenced data that is generated as the result of an analysis, survey, or by any other means by the Offeror. This includes geographically explicit indicators included in the MEP. Geographic Data shall be submitted to the COR digitally or on a DVD or an external hard drive, as a part of annual reports.

(3) Cartographic Products Cartographic Products refer to maps or geographic data visualizations that are generated using Activity Location Data or Geographic Data during the implementation of an activity. All

Cartographic Products must be clearly labeled with the source of the data and a legend that defines the symbols used. When submitting cartographic products in industry standard formats such as an Esri Map Document (.mxd) or Quantum GIS Project (.qgs), all data contained in the .mxd or .qgs must be also be submitted according to the Geographic Data standards specified above. Cartographic Products shall be submitted as part of annual reports.

(c) Data Security Data security protocols may apply to the contract. These requirements should address topics including but not limited to data access and use limitations. Coordinate with the cognizant Regional Security Office (RSO) to determine if any restrictions are imposed locally on the gathering, aggregating or publicizing of geographic information.

ANNEX 1

USAID/HONDURAS CURRENT ACTIVITIES

Name, Implementing Partner, Timeframe Technical Focus Fortalecimiento de la Salud Sexual y Reproductiva en Adolecentes (PASMO), Panamerican Social Marketing Organization, 2012-2017

Improves health outcomes of adolescents (ages 10-24) in vulnerable urban areas who are at risk of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Works in schools to prevent teen pregnancies.

Fortalecimiento de la Capacidad Local para Construir una Cultura de Paz (FORPAZ), Save the Children Honduras, 2013-2017

Promotes school- and community-based violence reduction by working with youth, schools, and parents to create a culture of peace and to establish community-run youth centers as safe spaces for learning and recreation.

Comunidades con Riqueza, Educación y Oportunidades en Honduras (CREOH), Glasswing International, 2013-

Transforms schools into multipurpose spaces and provides education, recreation, enrichment, and community service opportunities for youth, parents, teachers, and other community members in a safe and familiar context.

CONVIVE Supports efforts to reduce homicides and other violent crime by disrupting the systems, perceptions and behaviors that support violence. Promotes safer schools in target communities by building relationships between school, community, and government stakeholders and supporting violence reduction efforts inside and outside target schools.

Padres y docents Uniendo Esfuerzos por la Niñez a través de Espacios Sociales (PUENTES), ChildFund International, 2015-2017

Promotes school-based violence prevention by working with both parents and school personnel to identify and address problem behaviors and increase protective factors in youth.

FHIS community Infrastructure (2016-2020) Carries out infrastructure projects to: 1) increase access to primary and secondary education by rehabilitating existing schools, building new classrooms, and creating safer spaces; 2) improve access to comprehensive health services; and, 3) provide safe community spaces in high-crime areas to build resilience and reduce violence and criminal activity among vulnerable populations.

Proponte Más, Creative Associates International, 2016-

Identifies and appropriately engages higher-risk youth, providing family counseling services for the individuals and their families, establishes a cadre of family counselors, strengthens alternative justice measures, and establishes a community-based secondary prevention model.