Deadline: 30-Sep-2024

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s West Africa Regional Peace and Governance Office (RPGO) seeks to award funding to prevent, mitigate, and/or respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and/or trafficking in persons (TIP) in West Africa under an Annual Program Statement (APS).

SGBV

Some common forms of SGBV present in West Africa include the following:

• Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
• Forced, Early, and Child Marriage (FECM)
• Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
• Conflict-related Sexual Violence (CRSV)
• Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA)
• School-related Gender-based Violence (SRGBV)
• Targeting of Persons with Disabilities
• Targeting of LGBTQI Individuals

TIP

• Some common forms of trafficking in persons include the following:
  • Forced Child Begging
  • Other forms of Forced Child Labor
  • Domestic Servitude
  • Sex Trafficking
  • Forced and Child Marriage

Funding Information

• The APS intends to award up to five (5) awards in either Cooperative Agreement or Grants (including but not limited to Fixed Amount Awards [FAA]). The maximum award amount is not expected to exceed $4,000,000 and to last no longer than 36 months.

Geographic Focus

• Activities under this APS should be implemented within or across the following six (6) countries:
• Benin
• Cameroon
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Guinea
• Niger
• Togo

Outcomes

• Program outcomes and guidance governing this program are specified below.
• The goal of this APS is to better equip local organizations to work together to prevent, mitigate, and/or respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and/or trafficking in persons (TIP) in West Africa at the local, national, cross border, and/or regional level. However, this APS is not meant to be prescriptive. Rather, Applicants are encouraged to propose their own solutions – they want you to tell them what works best. Some illustrative outcomes of activities under this APS are listed below, though the list is not definitive:
  • Reduced levels of SGBV and/or TIP.
  • Increased capacity of civil society to address SGBV and/or TIP.
  • Strengthened SGBV and/or TIP international/regional networks (victims’ networks or otherwise).
  • Stakeholders mobilized to affect policy and societal-level change around SGBV and/or TIP.
  • Effected norm and societal change around SGBV and/or TIP.
  • Strengthened TIP and/or SGBV legal frameworks and their implementation within and among West African Countries.

Requirements

• Applicants must consider the following recommendations and requirements:
  • Because SGBV is not exclusively a female issue, but affects individuals of all gender and sexual identities, activities should engage populations across gender/sexual lines.
  • Activities should take into account the gendered aspects of TIP in West Africa, such as that overall, more boys/men than girls/women are trafficked for labor and more women/girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation.
  • Both SGBV and TIP are highly context specific and change from country to country and community to community. Applicants must use context-sensitive approaches, tailoring them to best address the issues as they exist within particular communities.
  • Activities must take into consideration the layers of potential discrimination, inequalities, and related barriers faced by populations due to their intersecting and overlapping identities, including but not limited to gender, disability, LGBTQI+ status, ethnicity, age, religion, and socio-economic level, among others, and must address their unique needs and interests throughout activity design and implementation. For example, a woman who is physically disabled and LGBTQI+ will need meetings to take place in locations that are easily accessible and safe.
  • Addressing identity-based gaps and barriers requires staff with adequate expertise, not only in SGBV and TIP, but also in gender and inclusion topics more generally. These staff, particularly those whose identities fall into marginalized groups, must be included in leadership structures and decision-making processes within projects.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicant
  • Eligibility for this NOFO is restricted to local organizations in Africa. This APS is issued worldwide as a public notice to ensure that all interested and qualified organizations have a fair opportunity to submit applications for funding.
  • Eligible organizations include:
    • Registered African private non-governmental organizations with experience in West Africa,
    • Registered African non-profit organizations with experience in West Africa, and
    • For-profit African organizations with experience in West Africa willing to forego profit
  • Types of local organizations that are welcome to apply could include foundations, faith-based organizations (FBOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), civil society organizations (CSO), colleges and universities, private organizations, professional associations, networks, and other international organizations.
  • Other U.S. Government departments and agencies may not apply for USAID funding under this APS
    • African Non-Profit Organizations: Qualified African not-for-profit NGOs with experience in West Africa may apply for funding under this APS. Foreign government-owned parastatal organizations from countries that are ineligible for assistance under the FAA or related appropriations acts are ineligible.
    • African For-Profit Organizations: Qualified African private for-profit organizations with experience in West Africa may apply for funding under this APS. Foreign government-owned parastatal organizations from countries that are ineligible for assistance under the FAA or related appropriations acts are ineligible.
    • African Colleges and Universities: Qualified African colleges and universities with experience in West Africa may apply for funding under this APS. U.S. Government and USAID regulations generally treat colleges and universities as NGOs, rather than governmental organizations; hence, both public and private colleges and universities are eligible. Non-U.S. colleges and universities in countries that are ineligible for assistance under the FAA or related appropriations acts are ineligible.
    • African Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs): A local or indigenous private voluntary organization (PVO), which by definition is a non-U.S. PVO operating in the same foreign country in which it is organized, with experience in West Africa may apply for funding under this APS. Local PVOs are not required to register with USAID

For more information, visit Grants.gov.