Funding Opportunity: AHADI -Strengthening Partnerships among Non-State Actors, County Governments and Citizens to Enhance County Governance Processes and Service Delivery

Deadline: 22nd February 2018 at 5:00 p.m

The Agile and Harmonized Assistance for Devolved Institutions (AHADI) Program is a governance program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The program is implemented by the Research Foundation the State University of New York/Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) in Kenya, is seeking concept papers for the implementation of initiatives designed to strengthen partnerships of the non-state actors (NSAs), citizens and their organizations, and county governments to enhance citizen engagement in the county governance process.

AHADI is seeking proposals from qualified and experienced NSAs in Kenya to pilot innovative, cost-effective and sustainable citizen participation approaches in the program’s target 22 counties listed below.  The grants will support proposals by NSAs that aim to strengthen citizen engagement in county governance and service delivery.

This funding opportunity is to promote meaningful participation in any of the various steps of the county public expenditure management (PEM) cycle, which range from policy and legislative development, planning, and budgeting to implementation of activities for service delivery, monitoring and evaluation, performance management and oversight.

NOFO Components:

• Component 1: Supporting sub-county and ward mechanisms for enhanced citizen participation
• Component 2: Strengthening access to information held by county governments
• Component 3: Deepening citizens and NSAs engagement on specific county sector issues
• Component 4: Piloting purpose-driven civic education about the county PEM processes
• Component 5: Strengthening NSA and citizen engagement with the county assemblies

Program Target Counties

Bomet, Garissa, Isiolo, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisii, Lamu, Machakos, Mandera, Marsabit, Meru, Mombasa, Muranga, Nairobi, Nandi, Nyamira, Siaya, Tharaka Nithi, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Vihiga and Wajir

Funding Availability and Grants Modality

AHADI seeks to award grants to be implemented over a period of six months. The proposals may address/cover one or more of the five components above and should cover one or more of the 22 AHADI target counties. AHADI will award a maximum of USD 250,000 per organization; a grant might cover more than one county or component. While the allocation by component in the table above is indicative, the aggregate award to all partners shall not exceed the total funding available.

AHADI proposes to award the following types of grants – contact nofo@ahadi-devolution.org if not sure of the differences

1. Simplified grants, maximum of USD 150,000 per organization and operated on a reimbursement basis
2. Fixed Obligation Grants, Maximum of USD 250,000 per organization and funds are disbursed on delivery of pre-determined milestones
3. Standard Grant, maximum of USD 250,000 per organization

Organizations are encouraged to provide cross-component and cross-county proposals.

Note: Proposals outlining activities in a realistic implementation plan indicating accelerated and rapid response will be given extra evaluation points.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must meet the following minimum eligibility criteria:

• Applicants shall be legally registered in Kenya
• Consortia may apply, provided they are either already legally established consortia, or that the organizations wishing to work as a consortium for this NOFO sign and submit with their proposal a clear consortium agreement.  A single award would be made to the lead member of the consortium; all members must sign the grant agreement and comply with all grant rules and regulations. Sub awards to consortia members, either by the lead member of the consortia or by AHADI, are not allowed.
• Applicants that are categorized as granting organizations, think tanks, public policy  research organizations, CSOs, and other non-state actors active in Kenya
• Must have competence in the intervention areas which should be clearly demonstrated in the application.
• Demonstrate proven track record of designing activities and interventions that target and empower the marginalized groups to engage governments and decision makers effectively.
• Given AHADI’s call for collaborative engagement, applicants are encouraged to engage in a dialogue and partnership with county governments during the process of developing proposals for this NOFO and where possible show proof of collaboration.
• Must have good track record on managing and accounting for donor funds.

Beneficiaries

Applicants must clearly identify and state the target county or counties where they will work, specify the focus of their initiatives and the number and types of beneficiaries their proposed initiative(s) will serve. Applications should also highlight the approaches they propose to use if they are successful.

Pre-Appplication Information:

AHADI will hold regional pre-application information sessions as follows:

Note: These are tentative dates and may change, please visit the discussion forum to get updated dates and times at https://groups.google.com/a/ahadi-devolution.org/forum/#!members/nofoquestions

• Kakamega Town for cluster of counties namely Kakamega, Vihiga, Nandi, Trans Nzoia and Siaya) on 30^th January 2018;
• Marsabit Town for Marsabit County on 5^th February 2018;
• Kisii Town for cluster counties, namely Kisii, Bomet and Nyamira on 31^st January 2018;
• Lamu Town for Lamu County on 7^th February 2018;
• Mombasa City for Mombasa County on 8^th February 2018;
• Wajir Town for Wajir County on 14^th February 2018;
• Garissa Town for Garissa County on 12^th February 2018;
• Mandera Town Mandera County on 9^th February 2017;
• Lodwar Town for Turkana County on 2^nd February 2018.
• Meru Town for the cluster of counties, namely Meru, Isiolo and Tharaka Nithi on 6^th February 2018;
• Nairobi for a cluster of counties, namely Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos and Muranga on 1^st February 2018

Please note that AHADI will convene sessions in the listed areas/regions depending on the number and nature of the requests received. The sessions will be held from 10:00 A.M. until 12:00 P.M. and exact venue will be communicated to those who shall register for the sessions. The venues and dates may be revised depending on the interest and confirmations received by AHADI. These sessions will allow eligible and interested applicants opportunity to ask questions about the NOFO and receive the relevant guidance from AHADI.

Those who would like to attend the sessions are advised to confirm attendance by sending the participant’s’ and organization’s name to Shem Juma at NOFO@ahadi-devolution.org no later than 4 days before the date of the forum of their interest. Only one person may attend from each organization. Participants who wish to attend are further advised that AHADI will not meet their costs for travel or accommodation.

Resources and Annex

Annex A – Grant Concept Summary Application Form and Instructions

Annex B – Budget Form and Instructions

Annex C – Information on AHADI support to county PEM processes.

For more details including illustrative activities per component, please download the official NOFO from the official NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) No.17-NOFO-AHADI-001