Request for Grant Applications (RFA) No. 1.3.8-GUC

Company: Armenian Branch Office of Chemonics International Inc.
Deadline: 18 February 2025
Location: Yerevan, Armenia

COMPETITION TYPE : Grants
DETAIL DESCRIPTION : The USAID Strategic Communications Support Activity (hereinafter referred to as the Activity), implemented by Chemonics International, is seeking grant applications aimed at improving communications around state reforms, enhancing public understanding and participation in the initiatives of the Government of Armenia (GOAM).

The suggested activities should:
- Enhance awareness on diverse policy areas and key institutional reforms to ensure citizen-centered communications and public outreach efforts of GOAM aimed at fostering its transparency;

- Promote effective two-way communications channels that address feedback gaps and facilitate informed interactions in an effort to encourage citizen engagement and improved GOAM responsiveness in relation to a specific aspect of government reform and/or public engagement.

Successful applicants will support the Activity by complementing existing and planned technical assistance efforts provided to GOAM.

The grant projects will be awarded and implemented in accordance with USAID and US Government regulations governing grants under contracts and the Activity’s internal grant management policies.

The Activity will hold an online pre-application workshop, which will give eligible and interested applicants the chance to get more detailed information about the Activity, the scope of the grants’ component, as well as ask specific questions about the RFA. Interested applicants that meet the eligibility requirements defined in Section IIIA and would like to attend the workshop must confirm their attendance by sending the participant’s name(s), email (s), organization’s name to the email SIF@ArmeniaSCSA.com with a subject line “1.3.8 Participation in the Pre-application workshop” by 20 January 2025.

Besides, you can submit all questions concerning this solicitation via email to SIF@ArmeniaSCSA.com by 20 January 2025. Answers to all questions will be posted on the same website as the RFA by 22 Jan 2025. All questions asked will be shown with the answers immediately following. The responses will also be emailed to the individuals who submitted the questions․

The RFA packages in English and Armenian languages can be found in the attached files.

The deadline for submitting full applications is 19 February 2025.

The Activity and Chemonics employees may not ask for, and applicants are prohibited from offering, any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, thing of value, or compensation to obtain or reward improper favorable treatment regarding this solicitation. Any improper request from a project employee should be reported to the chief of party or BusinessConduct@chemonics.com
REQUIREMENTS : ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS
- Applicants must be registered in the Republic of Armenia as:
a) non-governmental organizations,
b) media outlets,
c) academic entities,
d) private sector entities directly contributing to the RFA objectives and with a demonstrable social impact.
- The applicants must be recognized by and in good standing with Government of the Republic of Armenia by adhering to all applicable civil and fiscal regulations.
- Consortia (joint partnerships of more than one organization) may apply (per Section 1C); however, one organization must be identified as the “lead applicant”. The lead applicant will be primarily responsible for all grant activities – including administration, programmatic and financial reporting, ensuring adherence to implementation timeline and achievement of key performance indicators, etc. The Activity will assess the lead applicant’s capabilities as part of the pre-award risk assessment and reserves the right to request backup documentation related to the solicitation and selection of consortium partners.
- The applicants that apply with consortia may only submit one application per lead applicant under this RFA. Importantly, there cannot be any subaward anticipated in the grant (that is outlined in the proposal or grant budget).
- Applicants may submit multiple grant proposals and while unlikely, may receive multiple awards.
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate successful past experience in the implementation of integrated development programs related to the Activity’s priority areas.
- Applicants must have established outreach capabilities with linkages to the beneficiary group(s) identified in the program description. This should be reflected by the incorporation of the beneficiary perspective in the application.
- Applicants must display sound management in the form of financial, administrative, and technical policies and procedures and present a system of internal controls that safeguard assets; protect against fraud, waste, and abuse; and support the achievement of program goals and objectives. The Activity will assess this capability prior to awarding a grant.
- Applicants must sign certain required certifications prior to receiving a grant.
- Applications from or with engagement of the partners from different marzes (regions) of Armenia are strongly encouraged.
- Grantees will be required to provide a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) at the time of award. If the applicant already has a UEI number it should be included in their application. Otherwise, applicants will be expected to get a UEI number before an award is made. The Activity will assist successful applicants with this process. More information on UEIs can be found here։ https://sam.gov/entity-registration.
- The Activity will work with the successful grantee to draft a marking and branding plan which will be annexed to the grant agreement.
- Faith-based and community groups will receive equal opportunity for funding in accordance with the mandated guidelines laid out in ADS 303.3.28 except for faith-based organizations whose objectives are for discriminatory and religious purposes, and whose main objective of the grant is of a religious nature
APPLICATION PROCEDURES : .
INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS:
Applicants must propose strategies for the implementation of the program, introducing innovations that are appropriate to their organizational strengths.

IVA1. PRE-AWARD RISK ASSESSMENT

All organizations selected for award are subject to a pre-award risk assessment conducted by the Activity, to ascertain whether the organization has the minimum management capabilities required to handle US government funds. The applicant self-assessment is the first step in the pre-award risk assessment process. The Applicant Self-Assessment Form is contained in Annex E.

IVA2. GRANT APPLICATION

Templates to be utilized when developing the application are provided in Annex A-E. Applicants shall present their technical application and budget in the formats provided and shall follow the instructions and guidelines listed in these annexes.

All grant activity costs must be within the normal operating practices of the Applicant and in accordance with its written policies and procedures. For applicants without an audited indirect cost rate, the budget may include direct costs that will be incurred by the Applicant to provide identifiable administrative and management costs that can be directly attributable to supporting the grant objective.

The application must be signed by an authorized agent of the Applicant.
Please clearly mention in your application letter that you learned of this job opportunity through Career Center and mention the URL of its website - www.careercenter.am. Thanks.