Call for Proposals: Global Financing Facility CSO Host Organization: Deepening CSO and Youth engagement, advocacy and accountability in support of Women, Children and Adolescents health

GFF CSO HOST ORGANIZATION CALL FOR PROPOSALS: INFORMATIONAL WEBINAR

THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2021 | 11:30 AM EASTERN TIME (US AND CANADA)

For any questions or issues, please email, GFFcsoengagement@worldbank.org.

Recipient –Executed Grant objective

The Recipient-Executed grant (hereafter called Grant) will support the implementation and operationalization of the Global Financing Facility’s (GFF) Civil Society Engagement Strategy and youth addendum, including the updated Civil Society and youth engagement framework, and management and oversight of the Civil Society Coordination Group (CSCG) to the GFF.

The Grant is intended to provide strategic and sustained resources to support civil society and youth engagement, advocacy and accountability for women, children and adolescents health. The grantee will be tasked with effectively executing the vision, objectives, and day-to-day operation of the CSCG, providing and facilitating both administrative and technical support to CSCG members, civil and youth focal points in GFF countries, the civil society and youth IG representatives, the CS and youth Steering Committee, and partners.

The grantee’s roles and responsibilities will fall into five main categories:

Coordination and alignment, including management and oversight of the CSCG for the GFF, Steering Committee, Working Groups, civil society and youth country focal points, and civil society and youth IG representatives; and meaningful coordination with CSOs and youth engaged in other global health initiatives and platforms.
Knowledge management, communication, information sharing, analysis, and documentation of key tools, resources, reports, case studies, and analyses for CSOs and youth.
Technical assistance and capacity building: facilitate and provide technical assistance, cross-learning, and capacity building for CSOs, youth, and coalitions engaging in the GFF, including through South-South exchange.
Disbursement and management of grants to CSOs and youth in GFF countries to support cross-cutting activities that support health priorities determined in-country and promote alignment among CSOs and youth working across global health initiatives.
Mutual accountability: develop and facilitate accountability structures and mechanisms that engender mutual accountability of all GFF stakeholders, at global and country levels, and ensure that the GFF is equitable, inclusive, and driven by community needs.

Additionally, since the Grant is a World Bank project the selected proposal will be subject to World Bank fiduciary requirements, in addition to all other criteria, as well as the World Bank’s financial management assessment.

GRANT SIZE

The total envelope for this Grant is approximately US$ 5 million, with the totality of funds expected to be implemented by an organization -or consortium of organizations- over a period of two years .

ELIGIBILITY

Applicants must demonstrate the organization or consortium’s capacity to work in GFF-eligible countries as well as financial and regulatory systems in place to be able to sub-grant to CSOs in any and all GFF-supported countries to be eligible. CSOs subject to receiving sub-grants under the grant must include legal entities that fall outside the public or private sectors, such as non-government organizations, not-for-profit media organizations, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional organizations, labor unions, workers’ organizations, associations of elected local representatives, foundations and policy development and research institutes. Application of a consortium of CSOs will also be considered; the lead CSO will serve as primary contact.

Grant selection

Proposals should articulate the organization’s experience in managing and overseeing grants to CSOs and youth in GFF countries, in order to support: coalition building, capacity building, political engagement; advocacy for domestic resource mobilization for health, supportive SRMNCAH+N policies (priorities determined by country CSOs); and accountability.

Proposals will have to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the objectives of the GFF and its updated CSO and youth engagement framework. The framework outlines a comprehensive package of interventions to be taken together to strengthen and effectively leverage CSO and youth engagement to deliver on the GFF partnership goals. Proposals will also have to demonstrate experience or innovative thinking on how to best leverage the engagement and expertise of a diverse range of civil society and youth stakeholders in GFF countries and at the global level.

The Grant recipient or consortium must meet the following criteria:

Criteria	Definition
Issue Expertise / Experience
Deep understanding of the GFF at global and country levels	Demonstrate extensive knowledge and understanding of the GFF, including GFF priorities, processes, evolution, and strategy; as well as challenges, successes, and lessons learned to-date in CSO and youth engagement
Advocacy, communications, and accountability experience	Demonstrate ability to develop and implement advocacy, communications, and accountability strategies and campaigns with proven results, including working in coordination with both health and non-health sectors.
Experience and understanding of health financing at global and country levels	Demonstrate a deep understanding of health financing mechanisms, stakeholders, and donors at global and country levels.
Reputation and expertise in key GFF priority issue areas including SRMNCAH+N	Demonstrate reputation and expertise in SRMNCAH+N, as well as related areas such as health financing, primary health care, WASH, and gender equality
Engagement in Global Health Initiatives and Platforms
Involvement in other global health platforms and initiatives	Demonstrate engagement in CSO activities and platforms related to other global health platforms and initiatives (e.g. PMNCH, Gavi, Global Fund, FP2020, SUN, UHC2030, others).
Coordination and Technical Assistance
Experience providing relevant technical assistance to civil society and youth in a wide range of countries	Demonstrate experience working closely with CSOs and youth in diverse countries to strengthen and support capacity in relevant areas such as: coalition building, advocacy, accountability, budget and commitment tracking, domestic resource mobilization etc. Experience leveraging and facilitating TA providers in GFF countries to support South-South exchange.
Coordinated a large and diverse civil society constituency	Highlight experience coordinating a large and diverse civil society constituency – e.g. from different countries, different stakeholder groups (INGOs, grassroots orgs, youth, faith-based organizations, women’s groups, professional associations etc.), and with different issue priorities (e.g. SRHR, nutrition, MNCH, and WASH) to ensure relevant synergies, eliminate duplication of efforts, and facilitate CSO leadership in leveraging cross-constituency and cross-issue opportunities to advance civil society and GFF goals at country level.
Facilitated engagement between civil society and other stakeholder groups	Provide evidence that the organization has experience connecting supporting civil society engagement with other key stakeholders such as governments, donors, UN agencies, private sector etc.
Work with grassroots CSOs, youth, and representatives from marginalized communities	Experience engaging grassroots CSOs, youth, women’s groups, community groups, and representatives from marginalized communities. Have established partnership with at least one local organization as co-applicant in at least 50 % of the GFF countries.
Grant Management
Sub granting experience	Demonstrated experience in sub granting to local CSOs including grassroots youth and women’s led organization.
Grant management	Experience in managing grants of similar budgets and scope.
Monitoring and evaluation
Measuring progress and results obtained through Advocacy and Accountability activities	Demonstrate knowledge and experience in designing appropriate models to measure change through advocacy and accountability interventions determining indicators and mechanisms that reflect tangible and non-tangible health, social and political factors.
Project Coordination and M&E	Experience in designing a M&E framework based on a Theory of Change, clear and measurable indicators, solid data collection, monitoring and evaluation methods to evaluate progress made against indicators.
Quality Assurance	Demonstrate an extensive track-record in documentation and capture of lessons learned and best practices and implementation of standards for managing quality improvement.
Staff and Leadership
Ability to communicate with partners in multiple languages	Has staff that can communicate fluently in English and French, at minimum; other languages that align with GFF countries, a plus.
Staff and leadership from GFF countries	Has staff and leadership that live in and/or are from GFF countries, and have a deep understanding and knowledge of country contexts.
Youth staff and leadership; values youth engagement	Has staff and leadership that are young people; has policies and/or frameworks in place to facilitate the engagement of young people in decision-making

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

Technical proposal including draft results framework
Financial proposal

Proposals must be submitted in English. Management and administrative cost related to the implementation of the sub-grants must not exceed 10%.

The deadline to submit proposals is Tuesday, July 13, 2021

ORIENTATION SESSION

The GFF will host an orientation session for potential applicants, and will post an update once the date is set. The session will cover application guidelines, grant selection process, and further details about the Call for Proposals, and respond to questions from participants who attend the session.

We encourage you to visit the Grant Making Process page to know more about the selection process and read the Guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below. You can always contact the GFF Help Desk by e-mail: GFFcsoengagement@worldbank.org

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why is GFF putting out this Call for Proposals for a CSO Host Organization now?
Since the GFF’s inception in 2015, it has invested in CSO engagement by building capacity, grants and technical assistance to CSOs to ensure and improve CSO participation. In partnership with CSOs, the GFF has been working to reduce fragmentation and ad-hoc structures and to improve and streamline structure to enable more effective coordination at the global, regional and country levels. A Host Organization can help consolidate the various structures by assuming responsibility for the implementation and operationalization of the Civil Society and Youth Engagement Strategy, including providing technical assistance and grants, and the daily management and coordination of the Civil Society Coordination Group (CSCG).
How does the Host Organization fit in the updated GFF CSO and Youth Engagement Framework, approved in October 2020?
The updated CSO and Youth Engagement Framework (2020) has considered the challenges as well as opportunities identified with respect to CSO and youth engagement at global and country levels, and it aims to provide for more consistent, coherent, and long-term support. The new framework is built on 3 pillars:
1. Support for multi-stakeholder country engagement
2. Strengthened GFF secretariat, internal systems, and teams in country to integrate CSO and Youth engagement in GFF processes and programmes.
3. Independent Host Organization to provide coordination and information sharing, technical assistance and capacity building, and grants to the CSO and youth constituency.
  The Host organization will directly contribute to the envisioned outcomes on capacitating and resourcing CSOs and youth across GFF countries to play their independent role in advocacy and accountability. And, indirectly the Host organization will also contribute to improve the culture of civic dialogue, transparency, mutual accountability and joint action.
How will the new structure impact existing arrangements such as the GFF Civil Society Coordination Group (CSCG) hosted by PMNCH, the Small Grants Mechanism hosted by MSH, and the GFF CSO Hub hosted by PAI?
The Host Organization aims to streamline the different structures, taking over the oversight and coordination of the CSCG and granting to CSOs and youth. However, there will be a transition period between the installation of the new host organization and the existing structures.
How much funding will be available for the coming years?
The total envelope for this Call for Proposal (CfP) is approximately US$ 5 million, with the totality of funds expected to be implemented by an organization -or consortium of organizations- over a period of two years (FY22-FY23)
How will the Host Organization engage in the CSO Joint Learning Agenda?
The Joint Learning Agenda to build the capacity of CSOs and youth on health financing is aligned with the updated GFF CSO and Youth Engagement Framework. The learning agenda falls under pillar one of the strategy (support for multi-stakeholder engagement). However, the financial support in the form of grants for the implementation of the country advocacy and accountability action plans will be provided through the Host Organisation.
Will there be fixed allocations per country or per tier?
No
Who is eligible for the new grants mechanism managed by the Host Organization?
Civil society and youth organizations from the36 eligible countries will be invited to apply for the grants mechanism. Eligible countries include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The eligibility and funding criteria are similar to the current mechanisms, but will be determined by the Host Organization, with input from the CSCG Steering Committee.
Can current grantees of the MSH-hosted small grants mechanism and PAI-hosted GFF CSO Hub grants apply for the new grants mechanism?
Yes
When we will learn more about the new grants mechanism application process, requirements, and selection criteria?
A webinar on the new grant mechanism will be organized as soon as the new Host Organization is installed.