SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- The objective of this Agreement is to strengthen democratic culture in Uzbekistan by assisting NGOs in their efforts to carry out civic advocacy campaigns at the national level.
- Notice Date
- 6/17/2002
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Overseas Missions, Kazakhstan USAID-Almaty, Dept. of State, Washington, DC, 20521-7030
- ZIP Code
- 20521-7030
- Solicitation Number
- 122-02-007
- Response Due
- 7/17/2002
- Archive Date
- 8/1/2002
- Point of Contact
- Altay Toxanbayev, Acquisition Specialist, Phone 7-3272-507612 ext. 292 , Fax 1-413-771-5698, - Altay Toxanbayev, Acquisition Specialist, Phone 7-3272-507612 ext. 292 , Fax 1-413-771-5698,
- E-Mail Address
-
atoxanbayev@usaid.gov, atoxanbayev@usaid.gov
- Description
- PROGRAM DESCRIPTION USAID/CAR CIVIC ADVOCACY SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR UZBEKISTAN I. PREAMBLE Over the past several months, USAID/Central Asia Republics (USAID/CAR) has witnessed what appears to be a greater openness on the part of Uzbekistan authorities to citizen input in decision-making processes. Coupled with the success of USAID/CAR efforts to promote civic advocacy at the local level, the Mission is cautiously optimistic that these developments warrant the initiation of a civic advocacy support program at the national level in Uzbekistan. USAID/CAR is requesting applications for new civic advocacy support activities at the national level in Uzbekistan. Since civic advocacy at the national level is new territory for USAID/CAR assistance, as well as for most non-governmental, non-commercial organizations (NNOs) in Uzbekistan, recipients are invited to design both an assessment of opportunities for civic advocacy at the national level and an assistance program that supports such civic advocacy. One winner will be chosen to implement both the assessment and assistance program. Funding will be provided first for the assessment. Based on the results of the assessment and the submission of a detailed annual workplan, incremental funding may be provided for the assistance program by the end of the Fiscal Year 2002. USAID anticipates one approximately two-year award (cooperative agreement) resulting from this RFA. II. BACKGROUND Uzbekistan is the most populous of the Central Asian republics and is situated in the geographic heart of the region, bordered by the four other Central Asian countries, as well as Afghanistan. After September 11, Uzbekistan suddenly found itself on the frontline of the war against terror with increased strategic importance to the stability of Central Asia. With its central location, fast growing population, a variety of natural resources, and a potential for a diversified economy, an open, prosperous Uzbekistan is central to economic growth in the region. However, its leadership remains entrenched in a closed and stagnant political and economic system. Part of the USAID strategy in Uzbekistan, thus, is to help build constituencies for political, economic and social change. The unwillingness of the Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) to introduce market-oriented reforms in the financial sector continues to constrain economic development. The GDP per capita income is $488, with 10% official unemployment and rising inflation. According to some estimates, one-third of annual profits from small private enterprises is channeled as protection and bribes. Citizens remain poorly informed, and their participation in economic and political life is restricted, particularly at the national level. Political opposition is not tolerated, and interference with the independent media persists. Despite public statements from the highest level of the GOU promising legal and judicial reform and protection of the independent media, there is little tangible achievement. Nevertheless, progress does continue in building a vocal and effective NGO community, particularly at local levels. Significant judicial reforms were instituted in 2001, stemming from USAID assistance to Uzbekistan?s judges? association. Reforms included the adoption of a new law on the Procuracy and the issuance of a decree by the Cabinet of Ministers removed two of the largest obstacles to judicial independence, namely the prosecutorial right to suspend judicial judgements and the authority of the Ministry of Justice to appoint and remove judges. Over the past several years, the GOU has become more open to including NGOs in policy dialogue discussions. Three or four years ago, the GOU treated NGOs with suspicion and saw them as 'anti-governmental' rather than grappling with the nuances and importance of 'non-governmental' organizations as part of civil society. In March 1999, the Oliy Majlis, the parliament of Uzbekistan, passed a law on Non-Government, Non-Commercial Organizations, commonly referred to as the NNO law. This significantly eased the registration process for civic groups and raised their visibility level in Uzbekistan. Thick layers of bureaucracy hamper the NNO registration process, but in general most groups are eventually registered. The vast majority of NNOs in Uzbekistan are vehicles for social service provision. Very few maintain agile advocacy skills; however, an increasing number of NNOs lobby local authorities on key issues. Local administrations are in turn more cooperative and open to suggestions from local organizations. In a few instances, city authorities requested civic groups to carry out assessment on certain social condition in the region, realizing that NNOs are often better equipped with assessment tools than government authorities. USAID supports advocacy, sustainability and mobilization efforts for civil society groups in Uzbekistan through a wide range of projects. Counterpart Consortium, for instance, works with community groups and NNOs through its network of seven civil society support centers in the country. The centers provide training to NNOs to improve their advocacy skills and financial sustainability. The American Bar Association/ Central and East European Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI) works with a wide range of legal advocacy groups including a student bar association, an association of judges and an Association of Advocates to improve advocacy on legal reform issues and judicial independence. The International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) carries out a program promoting NNO dialogue with government institutions regarding the development and implementation of NNO legislation. Through the ICNL program, civic groups are provided an opportunity to participate in advocacy at the national level. This opening represents a window of opportunity for a civic advocacy activity. III. OBJECTIVE Work performed under this award will contribute to the achievement of Strategic Objective 2.1, Strengthened Democratic Culture Among Citizens and Targeted Institutions, as outlined in the USAID Assistance Strategy for Central Asia 2001-2005. The primary objective of this Agreement is to strengthen democratic culture in Uzbekistan by assisting non-governmental, non-commercial organizations in their efforts to carry out civic advocacy campaigns at the national level. Secondarily, this activity will serve to engage citizens in the democratic process by involving them in such campaigns. IV. PROGRAM OVERVIEW USAID/CAR envisions an activity consisting of two main parts: (1) an assessment to determine opportunities for civic advocacy at the national level, including the identification of potential non-governmental, non-commercial organization (NNO) partner(s) and campaign issues, and (2) the development of national advocacy campaigns, including the provision of technical assistance, training, and financial support to NNO partner(s) in order to assist them with implementing such advocacy campaigns. Though the advocacy efforts should be focused at the national level, namely ministries, parliament, and/or other government entities, NNO partners need not be restricted to those based in Tashkent. For instance, the recipient could partner with an NNO or network of NNOs to conduct an advocacy campaign on issues specifically related to a particular region but that would be conducted at the national level. USAID/CAR expects 1-2 expatriates to work under this program. In combination, the one or two expatriates proposed must demonstrate considerable experience in civic advocacy and knowledge of the Central Asia region. No later than 30 days prior to the expiration date of the Cooperative Agreement, USAID/CAR will determine the feasibility and usefulness of continued civic advocacy beyond the end date of the Cooperative Agreement. At that point, determination will be made regarding extension of the Cooperative Agreement and any other changes within the scope of the program. The recipient will be asked to design a civic advocacy program suited to the intricacies of the environment in Uzbekistan. The design will incorporate at least the following components in the two main parts of the activity. The components are listed below. Assessment: USAID/CAR envisions a maximum two-week feasibility/ design assessment, beginning at the latest in mid-August 2002, which will allow the recipient to identify specific potential partners and to develop a detailed annual workplan. Based on the results of the assessment and upon the submission of an annual workplan, USAID/CAR will fund the remainder of the cooperative agreement for twenty-four months. The assessment should address at least the following questions:  Who are the potential NNO partners?  Which NNOs are presently involved in civic advocacy at the national level and what kinds of issues do they advocate?  Which NNOs have the potential to take the next step from advocacy at the local level to the national level?  With which NNOs does the recipient expect to partner?  What are the potential partners? needs?  What types of activities are the potential partners engaged in currently?  What is their organizational structure?  What training, technical assistance and financial needs are required for potential partner(s) to reach the point where they can develop advocacy campaigns at the national level?  What other resources and assets could be drawn upon?  To what extent is the local media interested in reporting on advocacy campaigns?  Who are possible government counterparts?  What type of collaboration is envisioned with other international organizations?  What is the potential for success?  What is the current environment for NNOs vis-à-vis the government?  What constraints in the NNO-operating environment exist that may hinder activity implementation?  What are potential strategies to deal with these constraints?  Realistically, what can be achieved after one year, after two? Assistance Program: USAID/CAR envisions at least the following three aspects to the assistance program:  General training on advanced advocacy techniques open to all interested NNOs. This aspect will be particularly important at the early stages of the activity because it will help identify/confirm specific partners. It will allow the recipient to gauge the seriousness of interest on the part of potential partners identified during the assessment, identify new partners that may have been overlooked during the assessment, and make any adjustments as necessary. These training activities could take of the form of seminars, workshops, conferences, and/or round tables. To maximize the reach of the project, without losing focus on the main partner(s), and to explore the addition of new partners, subsequent general trainings open to various NNOs could be conducted occasionally (at least twice a year) during the course of the term of the Cooperative Agreement.  Targeted technical assistance and training for the NNO partner(s). Given the limited exposure that NNOs presently have to advocacy at the national level in Uzbekistan, considerable training and hands-on technical assistance will be necessary. Training activities and consultations will need to be tailored for each partner and to the specific topics of the selected advocacy campaigns. In addition, the recipient will be expected to provide organizational development training to the main NNO partner(s) to ensure that they not only are capable of conducting advocacy campaigns but also develop into strong NNOs that will be able to continue operations beyond the life of this Cooperative Agreement. In this regard the recipient is encouraged to partner with existing NNO support projects to meet specific developmental needs of the partner(s). Training activities could take the form of ?on-the job? training, seminars, workshops, or third-country trainings. The recipient is also encouraged to develop a small cadre of trained individual members of the partner NNOs, who could train new members as needed.  Development of advocacy campaigns. The recipient will work closely with the NNO partner(s) to identify specific, issue-based topics for advocacy campaigns that have grassroots and broad-based appeal among the public. The campaigns will involve not only the NNO leadership and membership but also volunteers and the general public. Involvement of the public is key and could take the form of providing information, collecting petition signatures, holding town hall type meetings, or a variety of other forms. The recipient will assist the partner(s) throughout the entire process, facilitating with the organization and implementation of the campaigns and the actual one-on-one advocacy with government officials in parliament, the Ministries, or other national bodies. Funding for the campaigns could be provided either via sub-grants or by paying costs directly. Campaigns could focus around a number of issues, such as consumer rights, environmental issues, student needs, condominium reform, education reform, children?s rights, agrarian reform, or other issues. Two issue-areas where USAID/CAR is already heavily involved in Uzbekistan and would not want to focus on under this Cooperative Agreement are gender issues and human rights. Likewise, USAID/CAR is not interested in supporting advocacy work with political parties or political movements in Uzbekistan under this Cooperative Agreement. Special emphasis should be placed on affecting young Uzbekistan citizens, who hold the key to their country?s democratic future. The recipient will be expected to coordinate activities with other USAID democracy assistance providers, as well as with the activities of relevant non-USAID-sponsored international organizations. V. EXPECTED RESULTS Work performed under this award will contribute to the achievement of Strategic Objective 2.1, Strengthened Democratic Culture Among Citizens and Target Institutions, as outlined in the USAID/CAR Assistance Strategy for Central Asia 2001-2005. This objective reflects USAID?s emphasis on building an active constituency for democracy. This activity will also serve to further the following intermediate and lower-level results: IR 2.1.1 Stronger and more sustainable civic organizations LLR 2.1.1.1 Improved advocacy skills LLR 2.1.1.2 Increased institutional and financial viability of NGOs LLR 2.1.1.3 Improved ability to find and represent constituency LLR 2.1.1.4 Community-based civic action programs expanded/ initiated The activity should also indirectly contribute toward the following intermediate and lower-level results: IR 2.1.3 Enhanced opportunities for citizen participation in governance LLR 2.1.3.2 Improved openness of public institutions to NGO and citizen involvement in the policy process LLR 2.1.3.4 Increased transparency of government in target sector As part of the proposal, the applicants should develop tangible results-oriented indicators that measure progress toward the SO 2.1 and the Intermediate and Lower Level Results noted above. In addition, USAID expects the following benchmarks to be met: - Relationship with partner NNOs established within the first three months - First trainings held within the first two months of implementation - First campaign to start within the first five months - At least three campaigns held in year one - At least four campaigns held in year two VI. PARAMETERS FOR PROPOSALS Recognizing that various approaches may have merit, this RFA seeks an implementing partner that, on the basis of its experience, can propose cost-effective ways of strengthening democratic culture through civic advocacy campaigns at the national level. In sum, while exercising full creativity and innovation in program design, applicants are asked to address the following fundamental issues in their proposals: 1) describe, in quantitative terms, the expected impact of the proposed program and relate this expected impact to the way the program will be structured; 2) describe how client feedback is obtained and used including the methodology used for performance measurement and how the collection and analysis of relevant and reliable data are used for more effective management and better provision of services to customers; 3) clearly define how the organization will maximize the cost effectiveness and efficiency of the program, including but not limited to programs of conferences, workshops, seminars, and round tables and efficient planning and scheduling of technical assistance and other inputs; and, 4) describe how the program will actively identify partners for training and for advocacy campaigns. Following a maximum two-week assessment, the proposed life of the assistance program is twenty-four months, to begin on or about October 1, 2002. Towards the end date of the Cooperative Agreements, USAID/CAR will determine the feasibility and usefulness of extending the agreement period. Within a general twenty-four-month and two-week budgetary envelope of between $800,000 to $900,000, applicants are requested to present a budget that is results-based, includes costs covered by other entities (cost-sharing arrangements or matching funds), and links costs to projected impact. The cost of the two-week assessment (up to a maximum of $50,000) must be included within the total budget of between $800,000 and $900,000. Cost sharing is required. USAID may reject all applications if they are not deemed sufficiently responsive or may determine after the assessment is completed that the activity is not feasible and terminate the agreement. VII. EVALUATION CRITERIA Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria: The maximum possible combined - Technical & Cost - score is 120 points. Technical (100 points maximum) 1. Organizational Experience and Past Performance 40 points A) Demonstrated strong track record in civic advocacy programming 25 points B) Previous experience in Central Asia 10 points C) Previous experience in Uzbekistan 5 points 2. Qualification of Proposed Chief of Party and expatriate advisor 30 points A) Experience in civic advocacy 10 points B) Relevant educational background 5 points C) Russian/Uzbek language skills 5 points D) Relevant experience in Uzbekistan and Central Asia 5 points D) Relevant overseas experience 5 points 3. Quality and appropriateness of the overall strategy 30 points A) Assessment framework 10 points B) Technical assistance and training component 10 points C) Appropriateness of quantifiable targets 10 points Cost (20 points maximum) A) Cost-efficiency, e.g. cost reasonableness and strategy for the allocation of resources 10 points B) Amount of cost sharing or matching funds 5 points C) Overall proposed cost 5 points
- Place of Performance
- Address: 41, Kazybek bi Street, Park Palace, Almaty
- Zip Code: 480100
- Country: Kazakhstan
- Zip Code: 480100
- Record
- SN00094358-W 20020619/020617213059 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
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