UK Aid Direct: Support to small and medium sized Civil Society Organisations

File reference number attributed by the contracting authority: 7036

Contract Number: PO 7393

Title attributed to the contract: UK Aid Direct

Short description of the contract or purchase(s):
Contract Notice for Fund Manager for UK Aid Direct — DFID's programme of support to small and medium sized Civil Society Organisations (previously known as the Global Poverty Action Fund). The Department for International Development (DFID) is seeking a Fund Manager for DFID's programme of support to small and medium-sized Civil Society organisations (CSOs) working to reduce poverty. UK Aid Direct is the 2 phase of Global Poverty Action Fund (GPAF) and will invest up to 150 000 000 GBP through funding rounds over 5 years until 2019/20. Grant management could continue until 2024. Therefore the services are sought for a period of 10 years,. The tender opportunity will include the launch of new funding rounds, grant set-up, due diligence and management of all grants issued through UK Aid Direct. It will also include the management of all existing GPAF grants. UK Aid Direct is designed to be an adaptive, demand-led, fund with the ability to respond to UK and International Development Priorities in the context of a rapidly changing world. It requires a robust value for money management mechanism that fully meets the UK's requirement for managing public finances. Funding rounds will be agreed by DFID Ministers on an annual basis and will require a Fund Manager that is able to work dynamically in order to respond to opportunity and changing contexts. UK Aid Direct will also need to take on lessons and evidence coming out of the GPAF. The Fund Manager will also deliver capacity building support to enable Civil Society Organisation's to meet the requirements of the Fund and will have a central role in generating and sharing high-quality evidence and learning. A digital platform for information management and communication with DFID and Grant holders will also be an important part of the requirement. There will be a strong focus on communications and raising awareness of the Fund among a broad range of eligible organisations and stakeholders. The GPAF (established in 2010) has now fully committed its 140 000 000 GBP budget. The management of the approximately 200 grants in implementation (and expected to end by 2018) will be part of the new Fund Manager contract. A period of handover is envisaged between Fund Managers. The establishment of UK Aid Direct, as the 2 phase of the GPAF, demonstrates DFID's ongoing commitment to the role of Civil Society in poverty reduction and recognises the important contributions of small and medium sized CSOs. CSOs are able to reach the most poor and marginalised populations. The Fund will make the most of smaller charities' grass roots knowledge, local contacts and specialist expertise and promote learning and evidence on how civil society works best and how best to work with civil society. The intended impact of UK Aid Direct will be to support the achievement of the MDGs and post-2015 sustainable development goals, through financing civil society programmes in the following areas: I. Increasing access to services by specific groups; II. Enable citizens to overcome the barriers to demand; III. Changing social attitudes; IV. Increasing economic empowerment.