SFOP0007985_Q&A_6.10.21.pdf

Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Mekong

Opportunity Number: SFOP0007985

(Please note, similar questions have been combined or edited for clarity.)

Proposal Formatting and Technical Questions:

• Can you please advise if there is a proposal template available? Or should we just glean all the necessary requirements out of the Guidelines.

The Department of State does not have a provided proposal template. All proposals should ensure that they include all the information and requirements outlined in the Guidelines.

• Page 1 of the NOFO mentions a period of performance of 2-3 years, while page 4 mentions a period of performance of three years. Can EAP please confirm if a two-year period of performance will be accepted?

A two year period of performance will be accepted, however, a three year period of performance is preferred.

• Will the Department of State consider an NGO as the Lead applicant with a for-profit institution providing technical assistance support (e.g., microinsurance IT systems, insurance product design expertise etc.)?

Applications will only be considered from eligible entities listed in Section C.1. Applicants are welcome to partner with entities not specified in Section C.1. to implement the project, however, an eligible entity must be the lead/prime applicant.

• When we upload the proposal to the SAM Domestic portal can we upload the Word document or is the requirement instead to fill in the designated fields with our information?

Please follow the directions provided on the SAMS Domestic portal. Fill in each required designated field with the applicants information and upload documents as necessary to complete your application submission.

• On page 7 of the NOFO, it states that the Proposal Narrative is not to exceed 15 pages.

On other pages it states that the Proposal Narrative is 10 pages. Can you confirm whether the proposal narrative is to be maximum 10 or 15 pages?

The proposal narrative is to be a maximum of 15 pages.

• According to the NOFO, the process of obtaining a SAM.gov registration may take anywhere from 4-8 weeks, is it feasible for an organization to pursue the funding from the registration standpoint if the organization does not already possess a SAM.gov registration?

The 4-8 week timeline is provided as an estimate only. Organizations may experience a shorter or longer registration time. We encourage interested organizations to being the registration process as soon as possible.

Project and Output Questions:

• We note that the provision of healthcare packages is not included in the outputs. Do healthcare products only need to be included as an option alongside other financial products and services, or do they need to be incorporated throughout the project activities?

A healthcare package should be incorporated throughout project activities. The listed outputs are a selection of standard Department of State indicators. Applicants many include additional project outputs as part of their monitoring and evaluation plans.

• Based on our understanding of output 5, can the USG financial assistance be spent on only female beneficiaries? Our programs assist both male and females in Southeast Asia, but we can track our specific impact on young women and female caregivers.

This NOFO is intended to focus on and benefit female entrepreneurs and MSMEs.

• While the A2. Program Goals state that the project will facilitate access to micro-insurance for women entrepreneurs, the Objectives, A4. Activities and Outputs all reference access to finance and financial services more generally. Does the financial literacy training and access to finance only include micro-insurance, or financial literacy training and access to financial services more generally?

While the proposal must include micro-insurance, activities for financial literacy and access to finance need not be limited to the topic of micro-insurance only. Applicants should propose support that women would need to make meaningful use of the micro-insurance as well as otherwise be successful as entrepreneurs and business owners.

• For the required indicator Output 3, Number of women enrolled in financial services, can you please explain your definition or expectations of financial services?

Financial Services includes the provision of loans, the acceptance of savings deposits, extension of business/agriculture related insurance and payments services, such as, the provision or cashing of money orders, and other similar services.

• Do you have any expectation on how the project should measure output 4? More generally, are you able to share the definitions for the required outcome indicators?

The project is expected to track training days/activities over the life of the project as noted in

Output 4. This can be tracked via a project calendar or another method as determined by the project implementer.