The United States Agency for International Development (“USAID” or the “Agency”) seeks concept papers from qualified entities for Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development (“INECD”) Activity in Rwanda.

USAID’s Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) methodology is central to the overall project strategy and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) approach. CLA allows a project to maintain a culture of learning that guides adaptation and improves the quality of project design and interventions. The Recipient will promote a strong ethos of generating and disseminating evidence and learning’s that the Recipient expects will lead to improved and inclusive nutrition, ECD and health services.

The overall goal is to improve maternal, infant, child and adolescent nutrition, development, functional and health outcomes. Progress on this has been hampered by sub-optimal technical management and coordination capacity, especially at sub-national level; low quality and poor access to integrated community-based services (inclusive nutrition, health, ECD, rehab/AT, sanitation, protection, parenting); and sub-optimal household resources and skills to provide optimal nurturing care (health, nutrition, hygiene, and responsive care). To achieve this activity has three overall objectives and associated intermediate results it expects to achieve.

Objectives

To achieve this activity has three overall objectives:

• Objective 1: Strengthened governance, coordination, and implementation of the National Strategic Plan for NCDA at the national, district, sector, cell and village level.
• Objective 2: Improved access to and availability of quality services that promote inclusive nurturing care.
• Objective 3: Increased household resources and skills to provide optimal nurturing care and promote healthy growth and development.

Funding Information

• USAID intends to award one Cooperative Agreement pursuant to this NOFO. Subject to funding availability and at the discretion of the Agency, USAID intends to provide $38,000,000 in total USAID funding over a five-year period.
• The anticipated period of performance is five years.

Eligible Applicants

• Eligibility for this NOFO is not restricted. USAID welcomes concept papers from organizations that have not previously received financial assistance from USAID.
• The successful Applicant will be subject to a risk assessment (possibly including a pre-award survey) by the AO. A positive risk assessment means that the applicant possesses or has the ability to obtain the necessary management competence to plan and carry out the assistance program to be funded, and that the applicant will practice mutually agreed upon methods of accountability for funds and other assets provided by USAID.

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