ICYD_SOW_for_Public_Comments.pdf

Integrated Child & Youth Development (ICYD) Activity Draft Statement of Work

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation section 15.201 part c, USAID/Uganda is sharing a draft of the Statement of Work with all interested parties for the purpose of soliciting comments on its clarity and feasibility as part of the process of designing the Integrated Child and Youth Development (ICYD) activity. Through this contract, USAID/Uganda seeks to address USAID/Uganda’s development objectives relating to child wellbeing, education, and youth development.

This notice is solely intended to solicit comments on this possible activity and is not a Request for Proposals. Ideas contained herein may change significantly during the Mission’s ongoing program design, consultation and approval process.

Interested parties must submit all comments concerning this draft Statement of Work in writing to KampalaUSAIDSolicita@usaid.gov, by June 7, 2019, 4:00 pm (EDT) Washington, D.C.

Comments sent to any other e-mail address will not be considered. The email transmitting the comments must reference the solicitation number RFI_72061719_ICYD and the title Integrated Child and Youth Development (ICYD) Activity. Please send the comments in an attachment to the email and in MSWord format.

Please note that responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a legally binding contract.

SECTION C - DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 TITLE OF ACTIVITY

Integrated Child and Youth Development (ICYD) Activity.

C.2 PURPOSE

This Statement of Work (SOW) is designed to identify a uniquely qualified Contractor to implement a new five-year contract to support USAID/Uganda’s Integrated Child and Youth Development activity, henceforth referred to as ICYD.

The ICYD activity will address USAID/Uganda’s development objectives relating to child wellbeing, education, and youth development. This activity will be a flagship program administered by the Office of Education, Youth, and Child Development, the unit responsible for the Mission’s education and PEPFAR/OVC funding streams. The Contractor will use basic education, higher education, and PEPFAR/OVC funds to implement an approach that contributes to this activity’s goal of Ugandan children and youth, especially the most vulnerable, receiving the support and services necessary to lead resilient, healthy, and productive lives. The Mission recognizes that there are multiple compelling pathways to achieving this goal, therefore encourages bidders to propose creative solutions within the mandatory parameters outlined in this SOW.

USAID/Uganda intends to award one (1) ICYD contract, the ultimate outcome of which will be an integrated education and PEPFAR/OVC award that supports Uganda on its journey to self-reliance, promotes U.S. foreign policy and development interests, and measurably improves children and youth’s attainment of healthy, productive, and secure lives. A guiding principle of this procurement will be the need to transition service delivery to Ugandan public, civil society, and private sector actors over the course of this award. In particular, OVC direct service delivery must transition to Ugandan partners during the period of performance of this award and the bidders' approach to the local institutional capacity building should be well explained in their proposal.

USAID/Uganda expects the ICYD activity to achieve the following:

1. Children and youth have improved learning outcomes;

2. Children and youth are safe and healthy in their community and learning environments;

and,

3. Youth practice positive behaviors and are able to make informed decisions about their lives and relationships.

Successful proposals will address the mutually reinforcing relationship between improving learning outcomes and improving wellbeing; therefore the Mission seeks a comprehensive approach that merges PEPFAR/OVC’s strengths in acute vulnerability stabilization with education’s broad protective effects.

C.3 BACKGROUND

C.3.1 COUNTRY CONTEXT

Children and youth make up more than 75 percent of Uganda’s population. The median Ugandan citizen is symbolically represented as a 14-year-old girl. The 14-year-old girl is subject to 1 multiple levels of vulnerability, including social isolation, economic insecurity, gender-based violence, forced marriage, and HIV-infection. Her situation is influenced heavily by her relationships with her parents, family, and caregivers; her community; boys and men; her teachers; as well as by larger social forces that perpetuate exploitation, poor health and safety outcomes, and diminished economic opportunity.

Ugandan children and youth, particularly vulnerable populations and girls, face significant barriers to acquiring the skills and assets needed to lead healthy and productive lives and to be resilient in the face of shocks and stressors. Government systems and local institutions have uneven capabilities and commitment to deliver basic education and social protection services.

This leads to failures in meeting minimum standards and puts young people’s long-term futures at risk. As a result, Ugandan families and communities carry a significant burden in ensuring the wellbeing, safety and education of children and youth. The Mission’s approach to integrated development programming in support of the 14-year-old girl is described in its 2016-2021 Strategy; providing a more detailed discussion of the Mission’s view of the Ugandan development context.

C.3.2 OBJECTIVES IN CONTEXT

Children and youth have improved learning outcomes

Since 2012, the Mission has partnered with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) to improve learning outcomes through an intensive focus on early grade reading. ICYD will build on the successes, challenges, and partnerships fostered through the School Health and Reading Program (SHRP) and Literacy Achievement and Retention Activity (LARA), ending in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Both SHRP and LARA have used basic education and PEPFAR-OVC funds to support foundational skills development, specifically early grade reading, in conjunction with curricula fostering greater health-seeking behaviors and reductions in violence in schools and communities. Both programs have been coupled with independent evaluations and final findings, conclusions, and recommendations for SHRP are available on the DEC for public consideration.

Independent and programmatic analyses emphasize that future USAID-sponsored programming should focus on improving the fidelity of the early grade reading (EGR) model in practice, likely

1 When the current Mission strategy was developed in 2016, the median age of a Ugandan citizen was 14 and there continue to be marginally more women in the population as a whole with respect to men.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/CDCS_FINAL_26092017.tags_.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/CDCS_FINAL_26092017.tags_.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/CDCS_FINAL_26092017.tags_.pdf in conjunction with greater emphasis on teacher professional development, coaching, and mentoring.

Over the course of SHRP and LARA implementation, Uganda has seen steady, but slow, national improvement in basic literacy achievement in early primary school. Because ICYD will be the first basic education activity designed in Uganda following the release of the new USAID Education Policy and U.S. Government Education Strategy, there is greater latitude than in the past to address factors inhibiting progress inside and outside the classroom. The Offeror will need to situate USAID’s contribution to national progress within existing Government of Uganda (GOU) and other donor initiatives, as well as the bidder’s proposed response to the targeting parameters for service delivery discussed in this SOW. While literacy is not the only learning outcome of interest to USAID, its partners, and the GOU, literacy attainment remains the primary learning outcome of interest, especially in relation to the education system’s capacity to deliver adequate instruction to ensure all students attain basic skills.

Children and youth are healthy and secure in their homes and learning environments

Successful proposals to implement ICYD will build on the Mission’s work with the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development (MGLSD) to develop comprehensive case management tools and support the GOU as it develops social service and case management institutions that can sustainably contribute to a reduction in child-related violence cases and link vulnerable families to critical services. This technical assistance work is currently implemented by the Coordinating Comprehensive Care for Children (4Children) activity. IYCD will similarly learn from and in some geographic areas continue or expand the Mission’s support for OVC service delivery, currently administered through the Better Outcomes for Children and Youth (BOCY) and Sustainable Outcomes for Children and Youth (SOCY) activities, and contributing to the achievement of HIV/AIDS epidemic control. PEPFAR/OVC support to the community and household is meant to strengthen critical services that reduce or respond to issues of HIV infection, abuse and household economic vulnerabilities.

Successful proposals will also build from the Mission’s work in the area of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). The Mission recognizes this area of programming as critical to addressing learning space and community abuse, violence, and intimidation factors that contribute to poor attendance and retention rates in school. USAID, through LARA, has supported the Journeys approach that is also endorsed by the Government of Uganda. ICYD expects to continue support for Journeys and provide implementation and technical assistance support to the Ministry of Education and Sports as it takes over the responsibility of administering the modules in schools and communities.

Youth practice positive health and safety behaviors and are equipped to make informed decisions about their lives and relationships

ICYD will contribute to strengthening young people’s ability to critically engage with their environment, address their health and safety needs, and make it more likely that they reach their potential. Successful proposals will strategically combine learning from the Mission’s current and prior activities described above with innovative approaches to ensure that youth receive comprehensive programming tailored to build their skills, assets and competencies; foster healthy relationships, and create the enabling environment to empower the youth to work along with their families, communities and government in order to reach their full potential. Offerors should be creative in proposing interventions that address the limited opportunities and vulnerabilities of out-of-school children in specific localities. Targeted interventions, on need and locality basis, will be required to enhance the soft skills and spur the entrepreneurial disposition of out-of-school youth to enable them to contribute as productive members of their respective communities. ICYD will apply approaches from the PEPFAR DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) initiative to address the unique challenges that adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) face.

C.3.3 RELATIONSHIP TO CDCS AND OTHER US GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS

The ICYD activity will be responsive to USAID/Uganda’s 2016-2021 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). Key themes such as the Mission’s guiding principles, a focus on the integration of technical sectors, lasting partnerships with Ugandan institutions, and local ownership and transition to Ugandan-led development should be included in any response to this SOW. ICYD will be a flagship activity within the Mission’s Demographic Drivers Project (DO2), which is a grouping of education; family health; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH);

economic opportunity; and child protection interventions that seek structural and institutional change leading to healthier, better educated, and more resilient families and communities. It supports the human development factors that make structural economic transformation possible, leading to lower dependency ratios, increased savings and social safety nets, and the potential to enjoy a demographic dividend. ICYD will work collaboratively, and in a coordinated manner, with other activities falling under DO2 and across the CDCS.

At present, USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of Defense (DOD), are the three agencies responsible for PEPFAR/OVC services in Uganda.

Gradually, from 2020 to 2023, the full OVC portfolio will transition to USAID. ICYD is expected to work closely with CDC, DOD, and their partners to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities, especially with respect to beneficiary care. Strong linkages to PEPFAR clinical partners, supported through CDC, DOD, and USAID, are also a critical element of successful OVC programming.

C.3.4 OTHER DONOR PROGRAMS

USAID’s support to Uganda is firmly anchored in partnership with other bilateral and multilateral donors working in the education and child protection sectors. The Education Development Partners group is a useful platform to coordinate programming and present a shared development partner perspective to relevant Government of Uganda Institutions. At a minimum, responses to this SOW should take into account linkages between the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Strengthening Education Systems for Improved Learning (SESIL) program and the Global Partnership for Education’s work in supporting MOES’ implementation of the early grade reading approach in approximately 30 districts. Understanding the landscape of broader sectoral support by donors is a necessary precondition of a strong proposal. Likewise, UNICEF, the World Bank, and several European, Japanese, and Korean institutions are active in the household economic strengthening and child protection sectors, each of which offer ample opportunities for partnership.

The Contractor must ensure that its activities do not duplicate other donor efforts, and, if they are co-located with such other donors, their programs should work together to achieve the stated goals of the ICYD activity.

C.4 SCOPE

Scope of the ICYD Activity:

The Contractor, also referred to as the ICYD Prime Implementing Partner (Prime IP), must use an integrated approach to realize the following objectives.

Objective 1: Children and youth have improved learning outcomes;

Objective 2: Children and youth are safe and healthy in their community and learning environments; and, Objective 3: Youth practice positive behaviors and are able to make informed decisions about their lives and relationships.

USAID/Uganda’s education assistance serves a broad base through its geographic scope (currently 82 districts) and focuses on institutional strengthening. PEPFAR/OVC assistance is used to provide a range of specialized support for vulnerable populations affected by HIV or who are at risk of becoming affected. The Prime IP should also focus on the mandatory integration with PEPFAR clinical partners and other health, education, safety, and economic strengthening service providers supported by U.S. Government, the GOU, civil society, and other donors.

Proposals for the ICYD Activity will need to contend with several mandatory pathways to achieve the three stated objectives. These include:

1. Build from recent EGR support to MOES and target districts.

2. Address primary school retention through a combination of family, community and school-based interventions that address known critical drivers of school drop out.

3. Provide critical OVC services directly for up to two years while building the capacity of local partners to transition to prime awards with USAID/Uganda.

4. Provide technical assistance and coordination to OVC service providers in service delivery districts.

5. Deliver effective technical assistance and support to MGLSD and other public/private institutions to progressively transition OVC service delivery from USG support.

6. Address sub-national constraints to priority outcomes through high-impact local partnerships.

Embedded within each of these six mandatory workstreams are the principles of the USAID Policy Framework, specifically the Vision for the Journey to Self-Reliance. This Vision requires ICYD to be responsive to issues of national commitment and capacity. For ICYD, all pathways proposed must consider the cross-cutting principles of:

1. Family and community engagement increased;

2. Public and private institutional performance improved; and,

3. Institutional commitment increased.

While the six mandatory pathways are reflective of USAID’s existing commitments, relationships, and recent learning, the Mission recognizes that there is ample scope for creativity within these identified pathways and the opportunity to bring additional approaches to bear.

Theory of Change:

Because it is USAID/Uganda’s desire to solicit creative implementation solutions from Offerors, ICYD’s theory of change at present consists of six pathways that must be included in the Offeror’s approach. Proposals should prepare a complete theory of change as part of their design narrative; thereby operationalizing the mandatory pathways and clearly explaining any additional workstreams the Offerors wish to propose as critical to achieving USAID’s stated objectives.

C.4.1 ACTIVITY PATHWAYS

The Mission recognizes that challenges facing children and youth are multifaceted and require intentionally integrated programming in partnership with local institutions. Offerors should reflect on their own expertise and ability to contribute to the following:

C.4.1.1PATHWAY 1: Build from recent EGR support to MOES and target districts.

USAID/Uganda has invested heavily in Uganda’s steady gains in early grade reading. Yet overall progress is held back due to persistent poverty; violence in schools, homes, and communities; absenteeism from learners and teachers; and low standards for teacher training, deployment, professional development, and mentorship among other explanatory and interlinking factors. Successful proposals will apply their global, regional, and/or in-country expertise improving EGR at scale to articulate an approach that builds from Uganda’s recent success and addresses the constraints to foster EGR progress, especially for the high proportion of learners who continue to struggle in achieving basic literacy.

Expected outcomes:

● Improved achievement of basic literacy skills in target district schools by grade 4.

Illustrative Indicators : 2

2 Offerors will need to keep in mind all appropriate disaggregates when drafting their MEL plan; at a minumum this will include sex and age-group disaggregations.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/WEB_PF_Full_Report_FINAL_10Apr2019.pdf

● ES.1-1 Percent of learners who attain a minimum grade-level proficiency in reading at the end of grade-2 with USG assistance.

● ES.1-5 Number of learners reached in reading programs/interventions at the primary level.

● Percentage of learners in USG-assisted schools who are unable to read a single word in grade 2 in local language.

● Percentage of learners in USG-assisted schools who are able to read more than 60 words per minute in English in grade-4.

C.4.1.2PATHWAY 2: Address primary school retention through a combination of family, community and school-based interventions that address known critical drivers of school drop out.

ICYD interventions must build from ongoing efforts to create safer and more positive learning environments in schools in the activity’s operating districts. This will include implementing the Journeys HIV and violence prevention curriculum in schools and supporting interventions to reinforce positive learning environments. At present, the Journeys curriculum is provided in a subset of EGR supported districts as well as selected OVC service delivery districts (that do not already overlap). The Mission is currently conducting an impact evaluation of the Journeys intervention. ICYD will need to be responsive to the findings of this evaluation and consider adaptations to the curriculum and/or expanding the program to additional areas of the country;

i.e., all OVC implementation districts, should that be warranted. Results are expected in early 2021.

ICYD will further directly support retention through education subsidies and economic strengthening interventions that enable families to meet school-related expenses. Within the Mission’s current portfolio, this has been achieved through OVC programming. The Activity will also continue to strengthen referral systems that link schools to health and social welfare services, networks for abuse survivors and support through the justice system. The Activity will facilitate community engagement with schools and will sensitize caregivers to the importance of school attendance, retention and completion. Proposals will be evaluated on the quality of their plan to bring education and OVC tools to bear in conjunction with each other; including the data management systems proposed to track households and individuals receiving specific services, as well as the outcomes achieved.

● Increased primary school retention rates in ICYD service delivery districts.

● Increased primary to secondary school transition rates within OVC enrolled households, especially for adolescent girls and young women.

● Improved safety in schools, with teachers that are positive role models and equipped with the skills necessary to reduce school-related violence.

Illustrative Indicators:

● Percentage of teachers/educators who have received in-service training on an approved school-related gender-based violence curriculum.

● Percentage of teachers/educators who have received in-service training on positive discipline teaching methodologies.

● Percentage of OVC enrolled primary school age children beneficiaries retained in school.

● Percentage of OVC enrolled primary school age children beneficiaries at P7 who successfully transition to secondary school.

C.4.1.3PATHWAY 3: Provide critical OVC services directly for up to two years while building the capacity of local partners to transition to prime awards with USAID/Uganda.

ICYD must ensure that PEPFAR/OVC and PEPFAR/DREAMS services are provided according to current guidance from PEPFAR and USAID/Uganda, noting that PEPFAR guidance is adjusted annually. These services must be structured to contribute to reaching and maintaining HIV epidemic control in Uganda.

Key interventions for vulnerable children and their families include HIV and GBV prevention and response for 10-17 year olds; linkages to clinical services; various education support services for adolescent girls; economic strengthening that leads to families graduating from the program;

and stabilizing acute vulnerabilities to HIV infection or falling off treatment. Delivery of these services should be driven by a case management approach that tracks progress against a case plan. Data related to the tracking of these services must be integrated into a case management information system (MIS). The services provided need to be guided by the overarching graduation benchmarks stipulated in PEPFAR/OVC guidance.

USAID/Uganda has also structured the ICYD activity to address the target requirements set by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) for local partner transition of obligated PEPFAR funding (see Section C7 for information regarding local partners). While providing OVC services in years 1 and 2, the ICYD Prime IP must also provide capacity building and technical assistance to its local partner subcontractors. Proposals will be evaluated on the quality of their plan to transition sub-contractor local partners into prime award holders within two years.

The Offeror will at a minimum propose itself along with four to six local implementing partners, to be named and included in the proposal. Proposals will detail the specific efforts of the ICYD Contractor team to provide direct OVC service delivery during the initial two years, and also clearly delineate the Prime IP’s technical assistance, capacity building, and coordination methods to develop and enhance the capacity of its local partners to deliver these services and transition to direct USAID prime partners.

At the end of Year 2 of the ICYD contract, USAID/Uganda intends to make direct awards to the local partners identified under the ICYD contract. The Prime IP will work with the contracting officer’s representative (COR) during this time to put in place the appropriate parameters for the qualification and certification of the sub-contractor as ready for graduation/transition and a direct award from USAID/Uganda. The Prime IP will be responsible for ensuring the continuity of services to beneficiaries as the sub-recipients transition to direct award recipients.

● Reduced economic vulnerability of OVC households.

● Maintained viral suppression of OVC HIV positive beneficiaries.

● Service providers sustainably administer a comprehensive violence prevention and response system.

● At least four subcontractors become direct USAID prime partners, meeting

Non-U.S Organization Pre-award Survey (NUPAS) milestones.

● Percentage of HIV positive children enrolled in OVC services with suppressed viral load.

● Percentage of enrolled OVC households that complete case plan objectives.

● Percentage of OVC households that graduate, meeting OVC graduation criteria.

● Percentage of OVC households that maintain their reduced vulnerability status at least two years after graduation.

C.4.1.4PATHWAY 4: Provide technical assistance and coordination to OVC service providers in service delivery districts.

At the onset of the Activity, the contractor will be responsible for service provision in four to six of the geographic zones illustrated in Figure A3 (Appendix). Over the course of the award, the ICYD IP will be responsible for building the capacity of local subcontractors to gradually transition service delivery out of the ICYD core award. Throughout the entire period of performance, ICYD will maintain a close relationship with all OVC service delivery partners in all service delivery zones. This means that in year 1, ICYD will have a large OVC service delivery responsibility; however by year 5 the nature of this role will have changed to technical assistance, coordination, and quality monitoring across all OVC partners who should by that point hold their own prime awards with USAID through transition agreements.

The various interventions of all OVC service providers need to be based on current evidence and be managed for program fidelity and be responsive to changes in the epidemic. Robust linkages between community programs and clinical services for HIV infected and affected children must be guaranteed according to existing or developing standard operating procedures. Supporting all USAID OVC partners to use a case management system aligned to the national OVC MIS is critical.

The Activity must assist local partners in performance monitoring and reporting in line with the PEPFAR MER Guidance, national reporting requirements and the Ugandan PEPFAR program’s custom indicators.

As the Prime IP’s role will shift over the implementation period to emphasize technical assistance, the Offeror is expected to propose its approach to continuous quality improvement of service delivery in support of all USAID OVC partners, including those already holding Prime awards and those that are receiving technical assistance to eventually qualify. Implementation of ICYD should be characterized by data-driven learning and adaptation, the continuous identification, diagnosis and successful resolution of implementation challenges, and an overall upward trajectory on all performance indicators over time. Continuous learning, adaptation and quality improvement should apply to all technical areas and be systemized for efficient adoption of effective practices.

During the life of the Activity, all USG funded OVC service provision will be transitioning to USAID from the two other Uganda PEPFAR/OVC implementing agencies: CDC and the Department of Defense. The Prime IP must ensure that the transitions of beneficiaries between partners or sub-partners is well managed so that cases are either completed with graduation or taken up by the incoming partner. The ICYD Prime IP will be responsible for facilitating the transition of beneficiaries from PEPFAR implementing partners and mechanisms outside of the ICYD activity as the full OVC portfolio transitions to USAID. The successful Offeror will demonstrate a clear understanding of the significant risks to continuity of care implied by this transition, and present satisfactory strategies for mitigating these risks.

● Each PEPFAR/OVC service delivery district maintains a functional and effective referral network for critical clinical and violence reduction services.

● OVC households receive services according to their case care plans.

● Data-driven, continuous quality improvement practices routinely implemented among local partners leading to OVC and child protection service provision.

● Successful transition of OVC beneficiaries from closing USAID, CDC, and DOD activities to USAID mechanisms.

● Percentage of referrals completed with intended outcome.

● Percentage of OVC beneficiaries successfully transitioned to USAID from other

PEPFAR implementing agency partners.

C.4.1.5PATHWAY 5: Deliver effective technical assistance and support to MGLSD and MOES and other public/private institutions to progressively transition OVC service delivery and EGR in-service training from donor support.

ICYD activities must build on the Mission’s work with the Ministry of Gender, Labor, and Social Development (MGLSD) and the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES) to mainstream and institutionalize effective program approaches. This will likely include support for:

● Institutionalizing comprehensive case management tools;

● Introducing refinements to better address critical child protection cases;

● Improving workforce preparation and orientation for teacher trainees and social workers through the mainstreaming, institutionalization, and/or development and implementation of curriculum at the tertiary level (including pre-service early-grade reading and professional training for social workers in partnership with identified relevant tertiary institutions in the respective sub-sectors).

The Prime IP will need to include approaches that support the MGLSD in formalizing the social welfare workforce in a sustainable fashion so that they are equipped to respond to child-related violence cases and link vulnerable families to critical services. ICYD and the network of USAID OVC partners will work with District Welfare Officers and other child protection service providers to socialize case management and to ensure abuse is identified and all necessary actions are initiated and followed to completion. Technical assistance will be directed at the national and sub-national levels to accomplish this. Working within communities, schools and families, the IP will be positioned to address community norms around harmful gender norms, child marriage, GBV, and school attendance at multiple levels.

The ICYD Prime IP will support the continuing efforts by PEPFAR to develop and transfer systems, such as the national case management framework and the national OVC MIS, to local institutions.

The Prime IP will also need to include partnership and institutional strengthening arrangements with other U.S.-based higher education institutions that support the MOES to institutionalize early grade reading instructional processes at the pre-service teacher training level. ICYD will work with MOES, Primary Teacher Colleges and a relevant tertiary education institution to formalize the EGR addendum, developed under USAID’s current basic education program, as part of the pre-service curriculum for the initial training of primary school teachers.

● An early-grade reading addendum is formalized and mainstreamed as part of the core curriculum for the initial training and certification of primary school teachers.

● A competency framework and certification processes for social workers is established and institutionalized at the tertiary level.

● Institutional partnerships between a US-based higher education institution and identified local tertiary institution for the initial training of teachers and social workers is established.

● The functions, training, monitoring and support of community para-social workers are systematized and standardized.

● District social welfare offices are fully engaged in planning, delivery, and improvement of OVC services.

● The GOU is equipped to adequately manage and resolve critical child protection and abuse cases.

● Percentage of Primary Teachers’ College trainees who achieve the required competency grade-level in the early-grade reading module of the pre-service teacher training curriculum.

● Percentage of initiated child protection cases completed.

● Number of social and para-social workers obtaining standardized qualifications.

● Percentage of para-social worker workforce supported by non-donor means (i.e., local public or private sector).

C.4.1.6PATHWAY 6: Address sub-national constraints to priority outcomes through high-impact local partnerships.

ICYD activities must take into account that each locality will have a different set of opportunities available to them to reduce vulnerability to HIV, violence, and abuse; strengthen household economic outcomes; retain children in school longer; and foster greater learning outcomes for the broad-base of children. The Offeror’s approach must articulate a plan for Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) that allows for demand-driven and locally prioritized specialized program support for vulnerable households. For example, communities experiencing high levels of gender-based violence may attract more intensive prevention and response programming, areas expecting increased private sector investment or activity may benefit from workforce readiness or workforce development support for youth, and alternative or second-chance education may be needed where large out-of-school populations are present. Constraints of ICYD resources will require innovative approaches that combine direct investments with linkages to other USG and non-USG programs, GOU programs, and private sector opportunities.

Resources and leverageable opportunities will not be available everywhere, but ICYD will be required to propose a framework that is able to detect these opportunities and maintain the flexibility necessary to pivot toward such partnerships where and when they exist. Proposals responding to this pathway will be evaluated on the quality of their plan and the plausibility that it will be able to identify and engage with high-value partnerships.

This pathway is expected to complement the outcomes itemized in the other pathway descriptions.

C.5 KEY PERSONNEL

The list of Contractor personnel considered as key to the successful outcome of the ICYD contract includes the Chief of Party, Senior Technical Advisor, Finance and Administrative Director, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Advisor and an Institutional Development Advisor. Contractor staff hired for these five (5) positions are expected to dedicate 100% of their level of effort to the contract. All five (5) Key Personnel are expected to reside in Uganda to complete their duties.

The minimum requirements for each Key Personnel position are as follows:

Chief of Party

The Chief of Party (COP), determined as Key Personnel, is expected to be responsible for the overall planning, implementation and management of the performance of the ICYD Activity and to provide vision and strategic leadership. The COP leads efforts to collaborate and coordinate with other USAID/Uganda projects, other donor and NGO-sponsored activities, and the efforts of the Government of Uganda (GOU). The COP must possess knowledge and experience with OGAC/PEPFAR processes, and working knowledge of Country Operational Planning (COP) processes, PEPFAR Guidance, and PEPFAR reporting, and ability to provide technical guidance to PEPFAR partners in assessment, development, and implementation of the ICYD Activity’s data quality initiatives. The COP is intended to be a seasoned education and/or health sector professional, thoroughly familiar with the current and historic child and youth education and health services delivery sector in Uganda. He/she must serve as the institutional liaison and must be responsible for chief administrative and technical oversight of the project. The COP must work effectively in teams and collaborate in a multi-agency setting. The COP provides guidance to senior technical staff, ensures the responsiveness and quality of all work under the Activity, and oversees the framework to monitor and assure progress toward the achievement of the Activity’s goals and objectives.

Senior Technical Advisor

The Senior Technical Advisor, determined as Key Personnel, functions in a leadership capacity to staff, manages performance and provides mentoring, coaching and training. The Senior Technical Advisor contributes to the strategies for all the technical requirements of the ICYD Activity, and provides technical expertise to ensure the fulfillment of project deliverables. The Senior Technical Advisor builds relations with key stakeholders, and actively collaborates with the USAID/Uganda COR to effectively support program implementation and address operational and programmatic questions and challenges. The Senior Technical Advisor demonstrates an understanding of best practices, and contributes to knowledge capture and dissemination of key learnings to key stakeholders within the ICYD Activity and promotes innovation, improved methodologies, and project implementation through the USAID Collaborating, Learning, & Adapting (CLA) approach. The Senior Technical Advisor actively engages with local partners, private sector and other humanitarian and development organizations and promotes effective collaboration and cooperation across the Contractor teams. The Senior Technical Advisor works closely with the COP to ensure that technical direction for the ICYD Activity is fully disseminated among staff, the Contractor partner team and other key stakeholders.

Finance and Administrative Director

The Finance and Administrative Director, determined as Key Personnel, directs the overall financial activities of the project, including the accounting, invoicing, contracts management, procurement and administrative activities, and ensures that adequate and appropriate internal controls are in place in compliance with USAID and PEPFAR policies and procedures, to meet generally recognized accounting standards. The Finance and Administrative Director manages all bookkeeping, bank accounts and cash flow, and manages project funds for the appropriate execution of the project. The Finance and Administrative Director also has the responsibility to track project expenses and to prepare monthly financial reports and annual budget projections to ensure full compliance in accordance with USAID and PEPFAR rules and regulations.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager, determined as Key Personnel, will provide leadership and technical guidance to the ICYD program team on all MEL related issues and has primary responsibility for establishing and managing a data processing environment responsive to USAID reporting and learning requirements, including PEPFAR reporting expectations. The MEL Manager will lead the development, implementation, refinement and harmonization of ICYD’s MEL system, including developing and operationalizing indicators, setting targets, monitoring ICYD’s implementation progress, ensuring timely data collection;

and determining and implementing a learning agenda across all the technical components of ICYD, including HIV/AIDS, OVC, basic education, youth engagement and local partner institutional capacity strengthening. The MEL Manager will contribute to ICYD’s program efforts to build the technical, systems and operational capacity of local partner organizations and other relevant stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development on the development and implementation of program data management systems that are credible and responsive to PEPFAR and the reporting requirements of other donor institutions.

Institutional Development Advisor

The Institutional Development Advisor (IDA), identified as local staff, determined as Key Personnel, will have technical oversight of ICYD’s efforts to build the institutional capacity of partner local organizations to evolve and transition to USAID prime awards. The IDA will lead the conduct of institutional capacity needs assessments of ICYD’s partner local organization(s);

develop and implement an institutional development plan (IDP) specific to each participating local organization. The IDP for each of the participating local partner organizations will include a determination of institutional growth milestones across institutional performance functional areas, including contracting, finance and administration, technical, monitoring and evaluation, collaboration and partnerships and governance structures. Working with a team of other institutional development specialists, the IDA will lead the development and harmonization of operational tools and other standard operating procedures (SOP) across all participating local partner organizations, including the management of sub-grant arrangements between the ICYD participating local partners and other local organizations.

C.6 GEOGRAPHIC TARGET AREA

The ICYD Contract will build from current investments implemented throughout Uganda. Annex A provides detail on the current geographic coverage of U.S. Government education and OVC assistance.

- Figure A1 illustrates current USAID PEPFAR/OVC coverage.

- Figure A2 illustrates all PEPFAR/OVC implementation areas across all Agencies, with all implementation transitioning to USAID over the performance period for ICYD.

- Figure A3 illustrates the six OVC Service Delivery Zones that correspond to PEPFAR clinical regions.

- Figure A4 shows the breakdown of current EGR coverage across Uganda.

- Figure A5 shows the current SRGBV coverage in Uganda

- Figure A6 shows the combined EGR, SRGBV, and PEPFAR/OVC coverage areas.

The Offeror is expected to, at a minimum:

1. Apply their proposed EGR support in the areas of overlap between current implementation of USAID basic education programs (SHRP and LARA districts) and delivery of PEPFAR/OVC services (see Figure A6).

2. Deliver PEPFAR/OVC services in the OVC districts in the Capital, West-Central, Northwest, and Northeast zones, phasing in districts currently covered by CDC and DOD (see Figures A2 and A3).

3. Provide technical assistance to local partners delivering PEPFAR/OVC services in the OVC districts in the East-Central and Southwest zones (see Figures A2 and A3).

4. Expand support for the Journeys curriculum to cover all OVC implementation districts in all zones (see Figures A2 and A5).

Annex B Table B1 provides specific minimum treatment expectations for Offeror consideration when developing service delivery aspects of their proposal. Offerors are encouraged to weigh the potential benefits and costs of additional service delivery and technical assistance programming in their proposal, as long as the minimum parameters are met.

C.7 LOCAL PARTNER(S) ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSITION

In April 2018, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator issued guidance for all countries receiving PEPFAR funds to transition HIV program implementation to local partners. The guidance states that the “move to local partners is critical and must be at 25% by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, 40% at the end of FY 2019, and 70% by the end of FY 2020” . In June 2018, USAID also launched its Acting on the Call 2018 3 report: Journey to Self-Reliance outlining its vision for country partners to plan, finance and implement solutions to their own development challenges. The ICYD activity will contribute to

3 Ambassador Deborah Birx’s Country Operational Plan (COP) 2018 approval meeting presentation, April 2018 these efforts by intentionally preparing local partners within its consortium to gradually take over prime service delivery responsibilities. Annex B Table B1 provides geographic and temporal requirements for this transition; most critically, the transition of OVC service delivery to local partners by what year and in what districts.

For the purposes of this award, “local partner/entity” is defined as follows:

(1) An entity (e.g., a corporation or partnership):

a) must be incorporated or legally organized under the laws of, and have its principal place of business in, Uganda;

b) must be at 75% for FY 2018 beneficially owned by individuals who are citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of Uganda, per sub-paragraph (2)(a), or by other corporations, partnerships or other arrangements that are local partners under this paragraph or paragraph (3);

c) at least 75% for FY 2018 of the entity’s staff (senior, mid-level, support) must be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of Uganda, per sub-paragraph (2)(a), and at least 75% for FY 2018 of the entity’s senior staff (i.e., managerial and professional personnel) must be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of Uganda; and,

d) where an entity has a Board of Directors, at least 51% of the members of the Board must also be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of Uganda.

(2) In case of Sole Proprietorship, must be fully owned by a citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident of, and having principal place of business, in Uganda.

The Prime IP should utilize the USAID/Uganda Non-U.S Organization Pre-award Survey (NUPAS) tool to determine what areas must be considered for local entities’ capacity building.

In the event that the Prime IP’s sub-award with the local entity includes multiple funding streams, the Prime IP may continue its sub-award with non-PEPFAR funding streams, in accordance with Section C as well as the Contract Terms and the Limitation of funds clause.

USAID/Uganda continues its substantive efforts to strengthen local capacity in civil society, government, and the private sector to design, implement and monitor programs for improved outcomes for all Ugandans. Strengthening the overall technical, managerial, financial, contract management, and institutional capacity of Ugandan local entities is already a priority within ICYD’s core mandate of enhancing the quality of targeted services in child development, basic education and youth development. From the inception of the ICYD contract, the Prime IP will develop the institutional strength and technical capacity of its existing local sub-awardees for sustainable programming. The Prime IP will identify up to four (4) local sub-awardees under this contract that have a high potential to become direct funding recipients with USAID.

This capacity building and strengthening of current or new local entities/partners is anticipated to be achieved by the end of Year 2 of the ICYD contract.

C.8 CO-DESIGN AND CO-CREATION

ADS 201.6 defines co-creation as “a design approach that brings people together to collectively produce a mutually valued outcome, using a participatory process that assumes some degree of shared power and decision-making.”

Upon award, USAID/Uganda will expect the Contractor to develop the ICYD Year One Work Plan through a multi-stakeholder co-design work planning workshop per ADS 201.3.4.8. It will be the responsibility of the Prime IP to coordinate and host this conference, in consultation with USAID/Uganda.

By involving a variety of stakeholders, including local organizations, local experts, the private sector, other USAID implementing partners, host country government officials, and other international donors during the process, co-creation can greatly enhance opportunities for increasing local ownership of USAID programming. In addition, co-creation can also lower the programmatic risk that USAID/Uganda will not achieve the intended results. That is because the activity design and implementation will be informed by a broad cross-section of engaged stakeholders. USAID/Uganda envisages an open, creative back-and-forth process with the Prime IP, and external experts and implementers, to:

1. Build a strong analysis rooted in multiple, diverse perspectives and forms of expertise;

2. Promote multiple viewpoints that will help to identify parameters, prioritize focus areas, or identify opportunities for system collaboration;

3. Solicit the feedback, validation, and buy-in of multiple stakeholders;

4. Better understand local needs and constraints and encourage local communities to engage and act; and,

5. Approach development through a more inclusive, collaborative, creative and open process.

C. 9 COLLABORATING, LEARNING, ADAPTING (CLA)

C.9.1 CLA AT USAID/UGANDA

Development work presents many opportunities to collaborate and engage with a broad set of stakeholders, to learn from both evidence and experience and to adapt iteratively to unexpected results or changes in context. This is why USAID places “Collaborating, Learning and Adapting” at the center of its Program Cycle, both as a connector between, and an integrated part of the components.

C.9.2 COLLABORATING

Collaboration enables cross-sector integration, convergence, and effective interventions to maximize development resources and enhance development results.