The USAID “Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation” project issues the Annual Program Statement (APS). Grants can be up to 30,000 USD in the following areas: (1) Local capacity for long-term impact built; (2) Democracy, governance, and civic education strengthened; and (3) Vulnerable populations’ participation more fully in society improved. Concept projects will be evaluated and the selected ones will be transformed into full project proposals.
Issuance date: June 15, 2017
Closing date: June 15, 2018
The USAID Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation Project in Albania seeks to award grants to Albanian civil society organizations (CSOs), working alone or in partnerships with other CSOs, to promote anti-corruption and good governance in Albania. The goal of Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation Project in Albania is to support and strengthen the capacities and accountability of civil society organizations (CSOs), government bodies, and private sector entities in Albania to foster and sustain democratic processes. To achieve this goal, the Project will focus in the following three areas:
Component I: Assessment of Albanian organizations. In the framework of Component 1, the project will identify beneficiary organizations working in the democracy and governance sector, assess those organizations and develop interventions to improve their ability to effectively work for public participation and government oversight, improved governance services, efforts against corruption, civic education and capacity-building activities, and improved management of organizational resources. The project will work with beneficiary organizations to identify specific areas for organizational improvement and develop an action plan to address the needs.
Component II: Grants under contract. In the framework of Component II, the project will award grants to Albanian CSOs focusing on (but not limited to) areas of election oversight, women’s empowerment, marginalized population rights, anti-corruption, and increased citizen oversight and/or provide practical experience for the capacity building training they will receive. The grants must further one or more of the three objectives: (1) Local capacity for long-term impact built; (2) Democracy, governance, and civic education strengthened; and (3) Vulnerable populations’ participation more fully in society improved.
Component III: Technical Assistance. The project will design and provide additional technical assistance based on the organizational assessment conducted and accepted under Component I. The support will be in different forms of training and technical assistance. It will focus on (but not limited to) organizational development, financial management, strategic planning, program design and management, networking and fundraising, etc.
The USAID Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation Project seeks creative, innovative and collaborative applications in support of activities that willdirectly further one or more of the three objectives: (1) Local capacity for long-term impact built; (2) Democracy, governance, and civic education strengthened; and (3) Vulnerable populations’ participation more fully in society improved.
Types of activities that can be supported through the grants include:
- Capacity building activities aiming at building the capacities at the individual, institutional, coalition/network, and systems level, especially of associations for marginalized people;
- Advocacy, stakeholder dialogue, and joint action initiatives to build trust and foster democracy and inclusive socio-economic growth;
- Training, exchange, and dissemination activities aiming at dissemination of international best practices, introduction of new technologies, and “learning by doing”;
- Organization and functioning of the community service delivery oversight committees to enhance government accountability;
- Good governance monitoring (including surveys, production of analysis, corruption assessment reports);
- Activities aiming at establishing and institutionalizing the citizen-government engagement;
- Oversight of election processes;
- Oversight of political processes;
- Participation of vulnerable populations;
- Activities aiming at improving the situation of people living with HIV/AIDS, LGBT, women and other marginalized groups.
CSOs that represent women, sexual minorities, disabled persons, remote regions, and ethnic minorities are encouraged to apply.
The USAID Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation Project plans to award multiple grants for projects spanning 12-18 months. Albanian civil society organizations will be asked to submit concept ideas proposing the types of activities that will be supported through the grants (as mentioned above) that will be evaluated on a quarterly basis. It is expected that 5-6 concept ideas will be developed in full project proposals. About 2-3 projects will be granted each quarter (10 projects in total for the APS). The maximum grant amount is 30,000 USD. Approximately 300,000 USD will be allocated to this type of grants. The actual number of awards under this APS is subject to the availability of funds and the interests and requirements of USAID Albania as well as viability of applications received.
Only CSOs legally registered in Albania are eligible to apply under this RFA. Applicant organizations should also meet the following criteria: Have at least one year of operational experience; Have a governance structure that ensures proper rotation of leadership and delegation of power, including, at least: a Board of Directors, a Chairperson, and/or an Executive Director; Have a transparent system of bookkeeping that complies with Albanian legislation and International Accounting Standards (IAS); Must not be a debtor, and must have cancelled any debt to the state or arranged for full debt payment prior to receiving the first disbursement of the USAID Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation project grant funds; Must operate as an independent non-politically affiliated organization; Must not be debarred, suspended, excluded or otherwise ineligible to receive US Federal funding; Members of public administration and/or leaders of political parties cannot participate in a grant project, as a director or as grant-remunerated participant.
This APS will be open for the period of one year from June 15, 2017 to June 15, 2018. The initial cutoff date for submission of concept papers is September 15, 2017. Timelines are presented below:
Issuance date: June 15, 2017
Deadline for questions: July 15, 2017
Closing date for round 1 concept paper submission: September 15, 2017
Closing date for round 2 concept paper submission: December 15, 2017
Closing date for round 3 concept paper submission: March 15, 2018
Closing date for round 4 concept paper submission: June 15, 2018
Closing date for Annual Program Statement: June 15, 2018
Applications should be submitted via email at [email protected]. Interested applicants may submit questions related to the APS by e-mail to [email protected] through July 15, 2017 for the first round and January 15, 2018, April 15, 2018, and July 15, 2018 for other rounds. Responses to queries and questions will be posted on the website at http://anttarc.albania-discover.com. No requests for meetings or phone calls with any project staff will be accepted during the application process.
The submission process will include two steps:
1) submission of a concept paper including the Concept Paper Application Form (download CPAForm) and Concept Paper Budget Form (download CPB Form) and required certifications. For required certifications and evaluation of concept papers, see APS Announcement;
2) if instructed by USAID Accelerated Civic Development and Cooperation project, submission of a full-blown application including the Full Project Proposal Application Form (download PPA Form) and Full Project Proposal Budget Form (download PPB Form) and required certifications. For required certifications and evaluation of project proposals, see APS Announcement. Information about budget is included in Project Budget Guidelines