SIGNED NOFO 720-696-21-RFA-00005_Homes&Communities.pdf

Issue Date: June 29, 2021 Deadline for Questions: July 9, 2021 (17:00 Kigali Time) Closing Date: July 29, 2021 (17:00 Kigali Time)

Notice of Funding Opportunity: 720-696-21-RFA-00005 Activity Title: Homes and Communities Activity Federal Assistance Listing Number: 98.001

Dear Prospective Applicants:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) seeks applications to implement a cooperative agreement with a period of performance of five years from qualified entities to implement the Homes and Communities Activity. Eligibility for this award is not restricted.

USAID intends to make an award to the applicant who best meets the objectives of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) based on the merit review criteria described herein and subject to a risk assessment. Eligible parties interested in submitting an application must thoroughly read this NOFO to understand the desired type of activity, application submission requirements, and selection process.

To be eligible for award, the applicant must provide all information required in this NOFO and meet eligibility standards in Section C of this NOFO. USAID posted this NOFO on www.grants.gov, which it may amend. The applicant must regularly check the website to ensure they have the latest information pertaining to this NOFO.

USAID bears zero responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. If the applicant has difficulty registering on www.grants.gov or accessing the NOFO, please contact the Grants.gov Helpdesk at 1-800-518-4726 or via email at support@grants.gov for technical assistance. Please do not contact USAID as we will not respond to such inquiries.

USAID may not award to an applicant unless the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifiers and System for Award Management (SAM) requirements detailed in Section D. Completion of the registration process could take several weeks. Therefore, applicants must begin registration as soon as practical. If they fail to register by award execution, the Agreement Officer reserves the right to issue the cooperative agreement to another applicant.

Please send any questions to the point of contact identified in Section D by the deadline above. Responses to questions received prior to the deadline will be furnished to all prospective applicants through a NOFO amendment published via www.grants.gov. Issuance of this NOFO neither constitutes an award commitment on the part of USAID nor does it commit USAID to pay for any costs incurred in preparation or submission of comments/suggestions, or an application. Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicant. All preparation and submission costs are at the applicant’s expense.

Thank you for your interest in this USAID development opportunity.

Justin Troy DiVenanzo Supervisory Contracting and Agreement Officer Director, Office of Acquisition and Assistance USAID/Rwanda and USAID/Burundi http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.grants.gov

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION A: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION ………………………………………………….. 3

SECTION B: FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION………………………………………

SECTION C: ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION ………………………………………………. 14

SECTION D: APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION………………………. 15

SECTION E: APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION ………………………………….. 32

SECTION F: FEDERAL AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION …………………. 34

SECTION G: FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACT(S) ………………………….. 42

SECTION H: OTHER INFORMATION …………………………………………………….. 43

ANNEXES:

Annex 1 – Background Annex 2 – References Annex 2 – Standard Provisions

SECTION A--PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

1. OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the Homes and Communities activity is to ensure that all Rwandan children have literacy-supportive, stimulating and safe home and community environments.

The activity will contribute to improved literacy outcomes for all children by the end of Primary 3 (P3) by: 1) improving home literacy environments, 2) increasing community engagement in promoting children’s literacy, and 3) improving literacy learning opportunities for children with disabilities. While the primary activity outcomes will focus on Kinyarwanda literacy, the activity will include addressing the language and social and emotional skills development of children, recognizing that these skills are part of children’s holistic positive development that form the foundation for future learning. The activity will also foster self-reliance, ownership and sustainability by focusing on community-based solutions, as well as relevant institutions and systems.

2. BACKGROUND

Significant improvements have been made over the last few years to improve children’s literacy skills through both school and community-based interventions. Despite this, most children still lack literacy-supportive home environments1 and access to reading materials and opportunities to practice reading outside of school. In 2018, only 13% of parents reported having read to their child in the past week; the majority reported that their child does not read at home at all. Only 10% of children surveyed indicated that they have places in the community where they can go to read or borrow Kinyarwanda storybooks.

Home literacy environment gaps are even more pronounced for children with disabilities who do not have access to reading materials in formats they can use (i.e. large print, Braille) or who are held to lower standards or not believed to be able to learn to read. Only 66% of parents agreed that children with intellectual disabilities can learn to read.2 Children who are blind, deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind face particular challenges in learning to read at home if home environments do not foster the learning of braille or the local sign language (i.e. Rwandan Sign Language). Poverty, malnutrition, lack of access to health care, lack of early stimulation, neglect and abuse, substance use, are all associated with higher rates of disability and developmental delay. The impact of these factors is more severe when referral systems for support services are not in place.

A broad examination of factors that affect student learning highlights the need for continued support of positive, engaged parenting as the foundation not only for children’s success in reading, but success in education and economic life outcomes. Maternal language is one of the most important predictors of literacy, highlighting the need to work with parents on how to improve skills in oral interaction and reading engagement with children.3 Rich, early, engaging adult-child interaction and care predicts children’s later skills. In 2018, 57% of children in Rwanda were exposed to inadequate care, including being left with another child below 10 years old. Nearly half of the respondents believed that children need to be physically punished to “grow up well”.4 As such, there is a significant rate of acceptance of violence against children, 4 UNICEF. Situation Analysis of Children in Rwanda, 2018.

3 Puglisia, M. et al. 2017, “The Home Literacy Environment Is a Correlate, but Perhaps Not a Cause, of Variations in Children’s Language and Literacy Development.” Scientific Studies of Reading.

2 Save the Children Rwanda. Mureke Dusome Midterm Survey Tracking Literacy Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices at the School and Community Level, 2019. Available at:

https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/content/Detail.aspx?vID=47&ctID=ODVhZjk4NWQtM2YyMi00YjRmLTkxNjktZTcxMjM2NDBmY2Uy &rID=NTc4NjI1

1 The home literacy environment refers to the extent to which children have materials at home and are engaged in activities in the home that promote learning, literacy and school readiness.

https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/content/Detail.aspx?vID=47&ctID=ODVhZjk4NWQtM2YyMi00YjRmLTkxNjktZTcxMjM2NDBmY2Uy&rID=NTc4NjI1 https://dec.usaid.gov/dec/content/Detail.aspx?vID=47&ctID=ODVhZjk4NWQtM2YyMi00YjRmLTkxNjktZTcxMjM2NDBmY2Uy&rID=NTc4NjI1 despite demonstrated negative effects of violence and abuse on children’s cognitive development and overall educational trajectories.5

3. RESULTS

The purpose of the Homes and Communities activity is to ensure that all children have literacy supportive, stimulating and safe home and community environments. The table below summarizes the results to be achieved by this activity.

CDCS Development Objective 2: Improved Learning Outcomes

LEARN Project Purpose: Improved literacy outcomes for all Rwandan children by the end of P3.

Activity Purpose: All children have literacy-supportive, stimulating and safe home and community environments.

IR 1. Improved home literacy environments

IR 2. Increased community engagement in promoting children’s literacy

IR 3. Improved literacy learning opportunities for children with disabilities

Sub-IR 1.1 Parent and caregiver use positive parenting practices to support children’s language, literacy and social emotional development improved

Sub-IR 2.1. Quality of community-led activities that promote children’s language, literacy, safety, and social emotional development improved

Sub-IR 3.1. Participation of children with disabilities in community children’s language, literacy and social emotional development interventions increased

Sub-IR 1.2. Children’s access to accessible and high quality educational content and materials at home increased

Sub-IR 2.2. Children’s access to community structures and activities that promote children’s language, literacy, safety, and social emotional development increased

Sub-IR 3.2. Parent, caregiver and community knowledge and skills to support safety, and language, literacy, and social emotional development of children with disabilities increased

Sub-IR 2.3.

Home-community-school partnerships to promote children’s, language, literacy and social emotional development strengthened

Sub-IR 3.3. Home-community -school partnership to promote enrolment and retention of children with disabilities in school strengthened

Cross-cutting themes: Gender, ICT, inclusion of children with disabilities

5 Big Win Philanthropy. 2018. Violence against children: A review of evidence relevant to Africa on prevalence, impacts and prevention-Full report

4. PARAMETERS

The parameters detailed in this section are meant to provide boundaries and focus for the implementation of the Homes and Communities activity.

4.1 Target Beneficiaries

The primary target beneficiaries of the activity are children whose age corresponds with pre-primary and lower primary school grade levels in Rwanda. Generally this will include children ages 4-9, but the activity may include older children who stand to benefit from interventions targeted at those grade levels.6 The Homes and Communities activity will target all children in this age range, regardless of whether they are in or out of school. The age range of children with disabilities, whether or not they are in schools, may differ from children without disabilities because of challenges they face in the communities. Other beneficiaries are parents and caregivers, local leaders at the village, cell, sector, and district levels, community volunteers engaged in social services delivery, school leaders and local education officials.

4.2 Geographical Focus

The Homes and Communities activity is expected to have nationwide reach through home and community children’s literacy systems. There may be geographical targeting and piloting in specific districts throughout Rwanda. The applicant will propose criteria for geographic targeting and/or if applicable, one criterion will be consideration of USAID Hubs districts.7

4.3 Targeted Skills

The ability to learn is the foundation for success in school and life. As children age, literacy becomes one key vehicle through which further learning occurs.8 The activity will target holistic child development, with a focus on the development of foundational language and communication, literacy and social and emotional skills.9 The Homes and Communities activity will improve Kinyarwanda spoken language and literacy skills, Rwandan Sign Language, braille, and support to children with developmental delays. The activity will support necessary skills development for parents, caregivers, and community-based education service delivery structures to support all children’s learning.

The recent shift in language of instruction from Kinyarwanda to English presents an opportunity to support strategies to transfer Kinyarwanda language and literacy skills to English.

4.3.1. Emergent Literacy skills

Healthy cognitive development and early active, engaged oral communication serve as the foundation for the emergence of literacy. Emergent literacy encompasses the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that a child develops in relation to reading and writing throughout the early childhood period, starting at birth and before the onset of conventional reading and writing instruction (usually at school entry). Emergent literacy includes both written communication as well as other forms of symbolic communication, for example, expressive communication through singing/speaking and receptive communication through listening with eyes/ears/hands, understanding that print/braille can carry meaning, as well as basic alphabet knowledge, and

9 This is in line with the USAID Education Policy, available at: https://www.usaid.gov/education/policy. For more details about social and emotional learning, as USAID policy brief is also available at :https://www.edu-links.org/resources/social-and-emotional-learning-and-soft-skills-usaid-education-policy-brief

8 See USAID Education Policy here:

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/2018_Education_Policy_FINAL_WEB.pdf

7 For more information on USAID’s Hubs Approach, see forthcoming briefer.

6 The target age range is meant to guide implementation. Due to various reasons, however, including but not limited to grade repetition and the late enrollment of children with disabilities, USAID expects that there will be children of slightly varying ages reached by the activity.

https://www.usaid.gov/education/policy https://www.edu-links.org/resources/social-and-emotional-learning-and-soft-skills-usaid-education-policy-brief https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/2018_Education_Policy_FINAL_WEB.pdf early phonological awareness. Literacy, as well as all forms of early learning, are enhanced through play-based approaches.10

The Homes and Communities Activity will endeavour to strengthen language and communication, and early and emergent literacy skills for pre-primary age children in play-based ways. This will be in Kinyarwanda, in line with the government’s language of instruction policy.

4.3.2. Social and Emotional skills

The USAID Education Policy (2018) defines social and emotional skills as “cognitive (cognitive flexibility, response inhibition, attention control, and working memory), emotional (emotional knowledge and expression; emotion and behavior management), and social (basic social engagement) among other skills.”11

Evidence shows links between early childhood social and emotional functioning and positive later life outcomes in education, employment, mental health and less likelihood of criminal activity and substance abuse.12

The activity will develop the social and emotional skills of children, parents/caregivers and community literacy providers, providing scaffolding for these adults to help build children’s skills. These enhanced social and emotional skills will lead to the enhanced ability of children to learn and to thrive, which in turn works to maximise children’s reading outcomes.

4.4 Inception Period

Due to COVID-19, the development of the Homes and Communities activity has had limited opportunities for critical co-creation with the GOR or other stakeholders. In order to ensure this takes place, the Homes and Communities activity will include an initial co-creation inception period focused on the consultative process and co-creation discussions between the Recipient, USAID, other relevant USAID-funded activities, and the GOR and other stakeholders at various levels. The inception period will include relationship building with the GOR, joint target setting for the activity’s top-line results, joint decision-making on specific geographic targeting for this activity (if applicable), and co-creating a sustainability plan for the activity that will include particular interventions that are expected to be sustained following the end of the activity and a set of key sustainability milestones over the course of the activity. The inception period may include other key technical decisions for the achievement of sustainable results. All decisions should be rooted in data and evidence and aligned with USG and GOR policies and priorities.

5. GUIDING PRINCIPLES

This section provides details on guiding principles that apply to all interventions in the Homes and Communities activity.

5.1. Sustainability and Building on Local Strengths

Sustainability will be at the core of the implementation approach of the Homes and Communities activity.

The activity will identify and build on existing strengths in communities, local systems, and organizations that may be used as leverage points to support children’s learning at home and in communities. Given that communities and local organizations bring unique strengths and opportunities, USAID expects that there may not be a one-size-fits all approach to strengthening home and community literacy environments. The activity

12 Halle, Tamara G. and Kristen E. Darling-Churchill. 2016. ‘Review of measures of social and emotional development.’ Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, vol. 45, pp. 8-18.

11 For more details, see the Social and Emotional Learning and Soft Skills USAID Education Policy Brief available here:https://www.edu-links.org/resources/social-and-emotional-learning-and-soft-skills-usaid-education-policy-brief

10 Zosh, Jennifer M., Emily J. Hopkins, Hanne Jensen, Claire Liu, Dave Neale, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, S. Lynneth Solis and David Whitebread. 2017. Learning through Play: A Review of the Evidence. Lego Foundation.

https://www.edu-links.org/resources/social-and-emotional-learning-and-soft-skills-usaid-education-policy-brief will, to the extent possible, engage local organizations that contribute to children’s foundational skill development and maximize their capacity to expand and sustain home and community literacy and foundational skill promotion.

5.2. Behaviour Change

A behavior change approach in early child intervention has resulted in two times more time spent reading with children, as opposed to information sharing approaches.13 The Homes and Communities activity will build the capacity, knowledge and skills of parents, caregivers, local stakeholders and partner organizations, alongside relevant Government of Rwanda (GOR) actors. Acknowledging that results will require significant attitude and behavior shifts among stakeholders and beneficiaries, the Homes and Communities activity will utilize a behavior change approach to achieve sustainable results, incorporating the evidence base and implementation science on what has been effective in making behavior change at the home and community level.14 Rigorous research techniques will be used to evaluate behavior change outcomes.

5.3. Partnership with the Government of Rwanda

Effective partnership with the GOR is critical to the success of this activity. The Homes and Communities activity will collaborate with the Ministry of Education and Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB), the Ministry of Youth and Culture, the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA), the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF), the National Child Development Authority (NCDA), and the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD). Village, cell, sector, and district leaders’ support and leadership is essential for the activity to achieve meaningful results.

5.4. Private Sector Engagement

The activity will engage the private sector to facilitate access to reading materials. The engagement will consider how to leverage the private sector to increase the availability of accessible reading materials in homes and communities, as well as expanding or improving community literacy facilities.

5.5. COVID-19 Adaptations

The Homes and Communities activity will be implemented in compliance with the Government of Rwanda's COVID-19 precautions. In addition, the activity should be designed to be responsive to how children have already been affected by COVID-19, including the extended period of school closure in Rwanda that may have led to learning loss, and should address potential ongoing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for the delivery of services and achievement of results under this activity.15

5.6. Cross-Cutting Issues

5.6.1. Gender Equality

In Rwanda, gender differences have been noted in children’s participation in home and community reading activities, where girls participate more than boys. The Homes and Communities activity will endeavour to

15 See the following for some initial findings on the impact of school closures in Rwanda:

https://www.educationdevelopmenttrust.com/our-research-and-insights/research/school-closures-in-the-context-of-covid-19-an-ineq

14See the following sources for review of the evidence base and examples of programming based on behavior change:

Britto, Pia Rebello, L. Angelica Ponguta, Chin Reyes, Romilla Karnati, Frances Aboud, Marc Bornstein, 2015. A Systematic Review of Parenting Programmes for Young Children. UNICEF.

https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/parenting-for-lifelong-health

13 See Behavioural Science and The Early Years: A policy brief. Bernard van Leer Foundation, 2019 - for key guidance on integrating behavior change approach into programming for young children.

https://issuu.com/bernardvanleerfoundation/docs/bvl19_pb_behaviouralscience_digital__002 https://issuu.com/bernardvanleerfoundation/docs/bvl19_pb_behaviouralscience_digital__002_ ensure that all children benefit from and participate equally in reading interventions. The activity will continue to support girls’ active participation, while including a greater focus on removing all barriers that prevent boys from benefiting from home and community learning interventions.

Gender differences have also been noted in caregivers’ participation in school activities and support for children’s development and learning outside of school. Male caregivers participate in communicating with teachers and school staff more than mothers, among other areas,16 while female caregivers play a more engaged role in children’s language and literacy development outside of school. Evidence indicates that increased engagement of fathers in child-related activities has significant beneficial effects on children’s cognitive, linguistic, and socioemotional development.17 The Homes and Communities activity will address these gender differences and support both female and male caregivers in children’s lives, be they mother, father, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or community member.

The activity will endeavour to ensure that all children benefit and participate equally in reading interventions.

While girls and women will be encouraged to sustain their active participation, a greater focus will also be made to remove all barriers that prevent male students and parents/caregivers from increasing their participation.

To achieve gender parity, the activity will be required to conduct a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) analysis within the first months of implementation, and use the findings to identify strategic interventions to increase female empowerment and gender equality, and to encourage the equal participation of men and women, girls and boys in interventions. Given this activity’s focus on benefiting all children, including children with disabilities, the GESI analysis must also address the intersection of gender and disability for both children and parents. The findings will be incorporated into Annual Work and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plans throughout the implementation.

5.6.2 Inclusion of Children with Disabilities

The activity will place a focus on children with disabilities. While disability inclusion cuts across all components, Intermediate Result 3 focuses specifically and intentionally on increasing the participation of children with disabilities in reading interventions. The activity will provide parents, caregivers and community stakeholders with knowledge and skills on how to support learning and wellbeing for children with disabilities. Relatedly, this activity recognizes that some parents, caregivers and community members may have disabilities. To that end, this activity will provide equal opportunities for parents, caregivers and community members with disabilities to engage so that they can equally support their children. As appropriate, the activity will also leverage the knowledge and experiences of adults with disabilities to inform activities benefiting all children, including children with disabilities.

5.6.3. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

The Homes and Communities activity will strategically leverage ICT to increase the reach, efficiency and effectiveness of interventions. Incorporation of ICT will facilitate use of all users, including women and people with disabilities, to promote equal access to information and reading materials. Furthermore, all ICT interventions will fully integrate principles of universal design for learning to ensure accessibility for all.18

18 For more on ICT and UDL, see here:

https://www.globalreadingnetwork.net/resources/using-information-communications-technologies-implement-universal-design-learning

17McMunn, et al., 2017 as cited in: Harris Professional Development Network Fatherhood Engagement Committee, The Power of Fathers. Irving Harris Foundation, 2021.

16 Save the Children. Mureke Dusome Impact Evaluation Endline Report, 2020. Available at:

https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00W61H.pdf

ICT interventions will take care not to replace nor infringe on the primacy of the serve-and-return,19 adult-child interactions that are associated with long term gains in learning and skills.

6. MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING

The success of the activity will be defined based on progress towards achievement of the activity purpose and intermediate results. The exact indicators and measures of these results will be finalized during the activity’s inception period, and will be based on the following:

● Activity purpose: Percentage of children that have participated in stimulating and literacy-supportive activities in their homes and communities.

● IR 1: Percentage of parents and caregivers demonstrating positive parenting and literacy/language-supportive practices

● IR 2: Percentage of children who utilized community-based literacy structures in the past week

● IR 3: Percentage of children with disabilities who have adequate learning opportunities in their communities

Approaches to monitoring and evaluation will be rooted in principles of Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation20 and aligned with USAID’s Foundational Skills Development Learning Agenda.21

6.1. Monitoring

The Recipient will conduct regular ongoing performance monitoring, implement data quality assurance procedures, and conduct regular performance review and learning activities. The Recipient will produce and follow a MEL Plan that facilitates adaptive management practices, creating feedback loops that will translate data and learning into implementation improvements. This will include regular ‘pause and reflect’ moments throughout implementation and especially during joint work planning periods.

The Recipient will propose additional indicators as needed to monitor the progress of the activity, which should include at least one standard gender indicator. All person-level indicators, unless otherwise indicated in the Performance Indicator Reference Sheets,22 must be disaggregated by sex and disability status23 so that any disparities are analyzed and addressed.

In particular, the Recipient will develop appropriate and innovative tools and approaches to identify children with disabilities and their needs, and use the findings to inform tailored strategic interventions that will be included in the MEL and annual Work Plans to remove barriers that prevent children with disabilities from fully participating in the literacy interventions.

6.2. Evaluation

An external midline performance evaluation will be funded and managed by USAID. This will be the opportunity to validate activity results so far achieved, document lessons learned, challenges encountered, 23 USAID currently does not have a standard tool for identifying young learners with disabilities with anyone other than parents/caregivers as respondents. The activity would need to build on the existing work in the wider sector or develop such a tool and/or approach.

22 Full list of standard indicators available here:

https://www.edu-links.org/resources/USAID-Education-Reporting-Guidance

21 Full Learning Agenda available here:

https://www.globalreadingnetwork.net/sites/default/files/media/file/USAID%20FSD%20Learning%20Agenda.pdf

20 For more on CLA, see here: https://usaidlearninglab.org/library/cla-factsheet

19 Serve and Return, Harvard Center for the Developing Child, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/ https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/serve-and-return/ best practices and make recommendations or adjustments that lead to the successful completion of the activity.

6.3. Learning

Implementation of the Homes and Communities activity will include adaptive management practices, creating feedback loops that will translate data and learning into implementation improvements. This will include regular ‘pause and reflect’ moments throughout implementation and especially during joint work planning periods.

The MEL Plan will include Standard and Custom Indicators included in the Performance Management Plan.

Below are illustrative indicators:

Standard indicators

● ES.1-3 - Number of learners in primary schools or equivalent non-school based settings reached with USG education assistance.

● ES.1-12 - Number of education administrators and officials who complete professional development activities with USG assistance.

● ES.1-13 - Number of parent teacher associations (PTAs) or community-based school governance structures engaged in primary or secondary education supported with USG assistance.

● ES.1-53 - Number of learners in pre-primary schools or equivalent non-school based settings reached with USG education assistance.

Supplemental indicators

● Supp-7 - Number of parents or community members trained to support children's education with USG assistance.

Custom indicators

● Average time a parent/caregiver/community member spent engaging in any kind of learning activity with children in the last week.

● Prevalence of violence or harsh discipline or in the home environment.24

● Average time parents report children spend reading or learning about reading outside of school in the last week.

● Proportion of children with disabilities participating in home and community literacy interventions.

● Number of parents, caregivers and community volunteers with increased knowledge and skills to support children with disabilities.

The Recipient will propose additional indicators as needed to monitor the progress of the activity, which should include at least one standard gender indicator. All person-level indicators, unless otherwise indicated in the Performance Indicator Reference Sheets,25 must be disaggregated by sex and disability status26 so that any disparities are analyzed and addressed. Furthermore, indicators focused on children with disabilities, 26 USAID currently does not have a standard tool for identifying young learners with disabilities. The activity would need to identify or develop such a tool and/or approach.

25 Full list of standard indicators available here:

https://www.edu-links.org/resources/USAID-Education-Reporting-Guidance

24 To measure change in psycho-social adversity in the home environment, one option is the Childhood Psychosocial Adversity Scale tool. Berens, Anne E., Swapna Kumar, Fahmida Tofail, Sarah K. G. Jensen, Masud Alam, Rashidul Haque, Shahria H. Kakon, William A. Petri, Charles A. Nelson. 2019. “Cumulative psychosocial risk and early child development: validation and use of the Childhood Psychosocial Adversity Scale in global health research” Pediatric Research. 86: 766–775.

Also see: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891524518301342 https://www.edu-links.org/resources/USAID-Education-Reporting-Guidance https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891524518301342 such as the proportion of children with disabilities participating in home and community literacy activities/interventions, must be disaggregated by type of disability so that disparities among children with disabilities participating in activities can be analyzed and addressed.

7. OUTCOMES AND MODALITIES

This section describes outcomes for each Intermediate Result (IR) of the Homes and Communities activity results framework and provides guidance for modalities to achieve the results of the Homes and Communities activity.

IR 1: Improved Home Literacy Environments

USAID envisions the end results for this intermediate result to include the following: a) parents and caregivers effectively support their children’s learning and wellbeing with a focus on the development of language and communication, literacy and social emotional skills; b) children have access to high quality educational content and materials at home; c) parents demonstrate positive parenting and responsive caregiving skills.

The Recipient will seek modalities to: equip parents, caregivers, and other family members with knowledge and skills required to build their confidence and ability to support their children’s language, literacy and social and emotional skills in playful ways and support the implementation of components of relevant GOR policies supporting Homes and Communities results.

IR 2: Improved community engagement in promoting children’s literacy

USAID envisions the end results for this intermediate result to include the following: a) community-led literacy activities are equipped with the resources and skilled personnel to support children’s language, literacy, and social and emotional skills development; b) children have access to community structures such as early childhood development facilities, community libraries, and regular community-based reading activities; c) home-community-school partnerships function effectively to promote children’s literacy.

The Recipient will seek modalities to: build the capacity of community volunteers to facilitate high-quality, play-based literacy activities in communities and; strengthen community structures that promote literacy and children’s development.

IR 3: Improved learning opportunities for children with disabilities

USAID envisions the end results for this intermediate result to include the following: a) children with disabilities participate fully in home and community reading interventions; b) parents, caregivers and community volunteers have improved knowledge and skills to support children with disabilities; c) home-community-school partnerships effectively promote school enrolment and retention of all children with disabilities.

The Recipient will seek modalities to: ensure safe and supportive learning environments for children with disabilities; contribute adapted and accessible reading materials for children with disabilities during home and community literacy interventions; strengthen methods for parents and community members to identify early developmental delays and disabilities; facilitate linkages to relevant referral systems; work with schools and community leaders to identify children with disabilities who are not enrolled in schools and facilitate their enrollment.

END OF SECTION A

SECTION B--FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

B.1. Estimate of Funds Available and Number of Awards Contemplated

USAID intends to award one cooperative agreement pursuant to this NOFO. Subject to funding availability, and at the discretion of the Agreement Officer, USAID intends to provide up to $17,750,000 in total USAID funding over the period of performance.

USAID reserves the right to fund activities incrementally over the cooperative agreement’s period of performance, if necessary, depending on the availability of funds, the level of performance against approved indicators, and their continued relevance to USAID programs.

B.2. Expected Performance Indicators, Targets, Baseline Data, and Data Collection

NOFO sets forth expected performance indicators in Section A above.

B.3. Period of Performance for Federal Awards

The anticipated period of performance is five years. The estimated start date will be October 15, 2021.

B.4. Substantial Involvement

USAID will be substantially involved during the performance of the Cooperative Agreement. This substantial involvement will be through the Agreement Officer (AO), except to the extent that the AO delegates authority to the Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) in writing. The intended purpose of the AOR’s involvement during the implementation of the Activity is to assist the Recipient in achieving the supported objectives. It is expected that the AO will delegate the following approvals to the AOR, except for changes to the Program Description or the approved budget. Such changes should only be approved by the AO. Substantial involvement will be limited to:

B.4.1 Approval of Recipient’s Implementation Plans

If at the time of award, the program description does not establish a timeline in enough detail for the planned achievement of milestones or outputs, USAID may delay approval of the Recipient’s implementation plan for a later date. USAID may not require approval of implementation plans more often than annually. The AOR will review and approve the Annual Implementation Plan including planned interventions for the current year and any subsequent years including revisions thereto.

B.4.2 Approval of Specified Key Personnel

USAID may designate as key personnel only those positions that are essential to the successful implementation of the Recipient’s Activity. USAID’s policy limits this to a reasonable number of positions, generally no more than five positions or five percent of Recipient employees working under the award, whichever is greater.

USAID designated the following positions as key personnel, i.e., essential to successful implementation:

1. Chief of Party

2. Deputy Chief of Party

3. Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

4. Technical Advisor

The applicant may not propose different or additional key personnel positions.

B.4.3 Agency and Recipient Collaboration or Joint Participation

When the Recipient's successful accomplishment of program objectives would benefit from USAID's technical knowledge, the AO may authorize the collaboration or joint participation of USAID and the Recipient on the program. There should be enough reason for Agency involvement and the involvement should be specifically tailored to support identified elements in the program description. When these conditions are met, the AO may include appropriate levels of substantial involvement such as the following:

● Collaborative involvement in selection of advisory committee members, if the program will establish an advisory committee that provides advice to the Recipient. USAID may participate as a member of this committee. Advisory committees must only deal with programmatic or technical issues and not routine administrative matters.

● Concurrence on the substantive provisions of sub-awards. 2 CFR 200.308 already requires the Recipient to obtain the AO’s prior approval for the subaward, transfer, or contracting out of any work under an award. This is generally limited to approving work by a third party under the agreement. If USAID wishes to reserve any further approval rights for sub-awards or contracts, it must clearly spell out such Agency involvement in the substantial involvement provision of the agreement.

● Approval of the Recipient's monitoring and evaluation plans.

● Monitor to authorize specified kinds of direction or redirection because of interrelationships with other projects. All such activities must be included in the program description, negotiated in the budget, and made part of the award.

B.5. Authorized Geographic Code

The authorized Geographic Code for this Activity is 935. This means any area or country including the recipient country, but excluding any country that is a prohibited source. The list of countries designated as prohibited sources is found at http://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/300/310mac.

B.6. Nature of the Relationship between USAID and the Recipient

The principal purpose of the relationship with the Recipient and under the subject program is to transfer funds to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation of the Homes and Communities activity which is authorized by Federal statute. The successful Recipient will be responsible for ensuring the achievement of the program objectives and the efficient and effective administration of the award through the application of sound management practices. The Recipient will assume responsibility for administering Federal funds in a manner consistent with underlying agreements, program objectives, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award.

END OF SECTION B

http://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/300/310mac

SECTION C--ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

C.1. Eligible Applicants

Eligibility for this NOFO is not restricted.

Qualified applicants may be U.S. private voluntary organizations (U.S. PVOs) and/or U.S., Rwandan or other non-U.S. non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or private, non-profit organizations (or for-profit companies willing to forego profits), including universities, research organizations, professional associations, and relevant special interest associations. Public International Organizations (PIOs) and faith-based and community organizations are also eligible for the award. In support of the Agency’s interest in fostering a larger assistance base and expanding the number and sustainability of development partners, USAID welcomes applications from organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.

C.2. Cost Sharing, Matching or Leveraging

There is no cost share or leveraging requirement. However, applicants are encouraged to contribute resources from their own, private or local sources for the implementation of this activity.

C.3. Exclusivity

To maximize the number of competitive applications, prime applicants must not enter into exclusivity agreements with proposed sub-awardees. In other words, sub-awardees must be allowed to be listed on multiple applications by multiple applicants as they choose. Exclusivity agreements between the prime applicant and proposed key personnel are also not required.

C.4. Number of Applications

Applicants may submit only one application under this NOFO. Additional applications will not be reviewed. If correction of a submitted application is required prior to the submission deadline, please utilize the Agency Point of Contact.

END OF SECTION C

SECTION D--APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION

D.1. Agency Point of Contact:

Name: Elvira Kassimova Title: Senior Assistance Specialist Email: ekassimova@usaid.gov

The above contact information is for informational purposes only. This NOFO itself and any subsequent amendments can be found at www.grants.gov. All applications must be submitted according to the instructions contained in this NOFO.

To maintain a fair and transparent funding opportunity USAID maintains strict guidelines on who within USAID may be contacted regarding applications or questions about the opportunity. Applicants must only contact USAID via the email address provided above.

D.2. Questions and Answers

● The prospective applicant must submit questions regarding this NOFO to the individual identified in Section D.1 above.

● The prospective applicant must submit questions by the time and date indicated on the cover page of the NOFO.

● The prospective applicant must submit all questions by email and include the NOFO number in the email’s subject line.

● The prospective applicant must submit only one set of written questions in Microsoft Word. The submission must not exceed two pages. USAID will not respond to any questions or information after Page 2.

● Note that USAID may share the questions to all prospective applicants through a NOFO amendment.

D.3. General Content and Form of Application

Each applicant must furnish the information required by this NOFO. Applications must be submitted in two separate parts: the Technical Application and the Cost Application. This subsection addresses general content requirements applying to the full application. Please see subsections D.5 and D.6, below, for information on the content specific to the Technical and Cost Applications. The Technical Application must address technical aspects only, while the Cost Application must present the costs, and address risk and other related issues.

Both the Technical and Cost Applications must include a Cover Page containing the following information:

● Name of the organization(s) submitting the application;

● Date of Submission;

● Identification and signature of the primary contact person (by name, title, organization, mailing address, telephone number and email address) and the identification of the alternate contact person (by name, title, organization, mailing address, telephone number and email address);

● Activity name;

● Notice of Funding Opportunity number;

● Name of any proposed sub-recipients or partnerships (identify if any of the organizations are local organizations, per USAID’s definition of ‘local entity’ under ADS 303; and

● DUNS number for prime applicant.

mailto:ekassimova@usaid.gov

Any erasures or other changes to the application must be initiated by the person signing the application.

Applications signed by an agent on behalf of the applicant must be accompanied by evidence of that agent’s authority, unless that evidence has been previously furnished to the issuing office.

Applicants may choose to submit a Cover Letter in addition to the cover pages, but it will serve only as a transmittal letter to the Agreement Officer. The Cover Letter will not be reviewed as part of the merit review criteria.

The Technical, Budget and Budget Narrative and Cost Applications must comply with the following:

● USAID will not review any pages in excess of the page limits noted in the subsequent sections.

Please ensure that applications comply with the page limitations.

● Written in English.

● Use standard 8 ½” x 11”, single sided, single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font, 1” margins, left justification and headers and/or footers on each page including consecutive page numbers, date of submission, and applicant’s name.

● 10-point font can be used for graphs and charts. Tables however, must comply with the 12-point Times New Roman requirement.

● The technical application must be a searchable and editable Microsoft Word format.

● The Cost Schedule must include an Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with all cells unlocked and no hidden formulas or sheets.

Applicants must review, understand, and comply with all aspects of this NOFO. Failure to do so may be considered as being non-responsive and may be evaluated accordingly. Applicants should retain a copy of the application and all enclosures for their records.

D.4. Application Submission Procedures

Applications in response to this NOFO must be submitted not later than the closing date and time indicated on the Cover Letter, as amended. Late applications may be considered at the discretion of the AO.

Applicants must retain proof of timely delivery in the form of system generated documentation of delivery receipt date and time/confirmation from the receiving office.

Applications must be submitted by email to the individual identified in Section D.1 above. Email submissions must include the NOFO number and applicant’s name in the subject line heading. In addition, for an application sent by multiple emails, the subject line must also indicate whether the email relates to the technical or cost application, and the desired sequence of the emails and their attachments (e.g. "No. 1 of 4", etc.). For example, if your Cost Application is being sent in two emails, the first email should have a subject line that states: "[NOFO number], [organization name], Cost Application, Part 1 of 2".

USAID’s preference is that the Technical Application and the Cost Application each be submitted as consolidated email attachments, e.g. that you consolidate the various parts of a technical application into a single document before sending it. If this is not possible, please provide instructions on how to collate the attachments. USAID will not be responsible for errors in compiling electronic applications if no instructions are provided or are unclear.

After submitting an application electronically, applicants should immediately check their own email to confirm that the attachments were indeed sent. If an applicant discovers an error in transmission, please send the material again and note in the subject line of the email that it is a "corrected" submission. Do not send the same email more than once unless there has been a change, and if so, please note that it is a "corrected" email.

Applicants are reminded that email is NOT instantaneous, and in some cases delays of several hours occur from transmission to receipt. Therefore, applicants are requested to send the application in sufficient time ahead of the deadline. For this NOFO, the initial point of entry to the government infrastructure is the USAID mail server.

Applicants must not submit *.zip files due to anti-virus software. File size must not exceed 25 MB.

D.5 Technical Application Format

The…