OpportunityTitle: Democratic Engagement at the Community Level
CategoryExplanation: Democratic Engagement
Description: Under this award, and subject to the availability of funds, the USAID/LAC/Office of Cuban Affairs intends to make multiple awards to support this program, with approximately $3 million available for the first year. With these funds, USAID seeks to expand and strengthen the capabilities of existing and emerging CSGs to work with local communities, neighborhoods or other groups and help them identify, prioritize and carry out independent projects and activities. The implementer(s) will also provide training to make community members more aware of their civic rights and responsibilities, develop leadership skills, and prepare people to participate more fully in democratic development activities. The Community Engagement Program will target assistance to individuals and a variety of independent groups of citizens in communities or neighborhoods. Independent neighborhood groups, producer associations, cooperatives, water user groups, professional groups, church groups, and sports clubs are a few of the types of groups that implementers may select as development partners. The program will target independent CSGs that have expressed interest in learning more about democratic principles and procedures and citizen&#239;&#191;&#189;s roles and responsibilities in a democratic society; a willingness to help communities carry out community-based projects or activities; and experience with identification of activities, procedures, or projects which communities could plan and implement. Applicants should maintain a flexible outlook and be willing to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves in order to achieve early successes and show other communities what can be accomplished. Applicants may decide to target support to areas and CSGs that have prior experience with international development or humanitarian programs, or to areas and CSGs that have never interacted with international programs. Implementation activities are likely to move faster with groups that have prior international development experience, but the need for assistance may be greater in areas that have not received prior assistance. Regardless of the degree of prior involvement with international assistance, it is expected that the experience gained from this program will reduce a group&#239;&#191;&#189;s dependence on the state and lay a foundation for democratic government by providing people with tools that will allow them to solve their own problems and by strengthening their confidence and capabilities to plan and carry out independent, self-help projects. To strengthen the capacity of CSGs and promote sustainability of the program, implementer(s) will provide training and mentoring to individuals in leadership positions or with leadership potential to hone their leadership and management abilities. Implementers will work with CSGs to strengthen their organizational, administrative, financial management, outreach, communications and general project implementation capabilities. The program will also provide training in civic rights and responsibilities, participatory development, and citizen oversight of local projects to ensure that people understand their roles and responsibilities in the project implementation process and to prepare people for the experience of working together on self-help activities. This training will be followed up by technical assistance and mentoring support for both the local CSG and the community to ensure that they can work effectively together to identify critical community needs, motivate groups, design new development activities and implement local projects. Implementers will also be on the lookout for emerging CSGs and groups that have potential to become CSGs. These fledgling independent CSGs will be eligible for training assistance and will be encouraged to support additional development activities in order to gradually expand the pool of effective CSGs that can act as catalysts for independent community development activities. The program will attempt to build upon the successes of prior USG projects that have supported independent community development activities in Cuba. If CSGs or individuals that worked on past programs are available, successful applicants may decide to work with or hire these same groups or individuals to assist with implementation of the present program. Cuban technical assistance organizations and personnel will be used to train local CSGs if there are enough qualified organizations and individuals to cover the areas where the project will work. If sufficient expertise is not accessible in Cuba, implementers may recruit community and organizational development experts from other Latin American countries to provide the community development and civil society strengthening expertise that will be needed to improve the organizational, administrative and related capabilities of local CSGs and help them develop into effective catalysts for independent community development.The Implementation Approach There is no required approach for prospective implementers to follow as they prepare an application for the Community Engagement Program. USAID encourages applicants to develop innovative approaches for working in Cuba, and utilize their own expertise, experience and contacts to develop proposals that will support the program&#239;&#191;&#189;s overall objective. Proposed implementation approaches will provide insight into the applicant&#239;&#191;&#189;s familiarity with Cuba&#239;&#191;&#189;s social and political environment and the applicant&#239;&#191;&#189;s prior experience with democratic development and self-help projects. The LAC/Cuban Affairs Office anticipates a variety of approaches in the applications that will be submitted. Innovation and flexibility are particularly appropriate in the case of Cuba where one must operate in a closed and challenging political environment. USAID also recognizes that the way in which resources (small grants, technical assistance, commodities, training, etc.) are provided to independent CSGs is expected to vary depending upon the needs of each specific project/activity, the capabilities of the local CSG, the capabilities of the assisted community and the preferred modality of each grantee. The project(s) that each community chooses to implement will provide members and leaders of the group with an opportunity to use the training they have received and work together to achieve a desired project objective. Each applicant should explain how they plan to work with independent individuals, CSGs, groups or communities to identify, select, implement and evaluate projects/activities that will contribute to the overall objective and which promote the use of participatory democracy methodologies and principles. In order to gain a fuller understanding of the implementation approach that will be used, applicants should briefly explain how they plan to carry out the following activities: &#239;&#191;&#189; CSG selection: Does the applicant have a methodology in mind that will be used to assess the CSG&#239;&#191;&#189;s leadership, managerial, organizational, planning, and financial management capabilities? How does the applicant plan to identify and select the CSGs that will be the project&#239;&#191;&#189;s primary contact with communities or groups that will be assisted? &#239;&#191;&#189; Community Selection: How will applicants identify the communities where they plan to work? Which factors will be emphasized in determining a community&#239;&#191;&#189;s suitability for project assistance and the likelihood of success? &#239;&#191;&#189; Training Plans: What types of training does the applicant expect to provide for CSG personnel and for the leaders and members of the communities or groups that will be assisted? &#239;&#191;&#189; Confidence Building Activities: How do applicants plan to establish trust with the leaders and members of groups they plan to assist? How long does the applicant expect that it will take to establish trust with these groups? Will training or other activities be used to maintain or strengthen the groups&#239;&#191;&#189; trust during the life of the project? &#239;&#191;&#189; Tools or Methodologies: What tools or methodologies will the applicant use to identify problems and issues, select development projects for each community, establish trust, or carry out implementation activities with assisted groups or communities? Will the tools or methodologies need to be reviewed or field tested before the implementing CSGs are trained in their use? How long does the applicant expect it will take for the implementing CSGs to become comfortable with these tools and methodologies and be able to use them effectively in selected communities?Common Features of Successful Small Grant Projects USAID experience with local development projects suggests that successful community engagement grant programs often include many of the following features: &#239;&#191;&#189; Members of the assisted community are provided ample opportunities to participate in the identification of problems as well as the selection and design of subprojects;&#239;&#191;&#189; Sub-projects include a grantee contribution that may be provided in labor, land, materials, and/or cash; &#239;&#191;&#189; The budget for the first sub-project in an assisted community includes all of the technical, material, legal, labor and other support that will be needed and shows clearly what the community will contribute as well as what the USG will contribute. &#239;&#191;&#189; Leadership skills are strengthened through a combination of training and mentoring that is focused on each individual future leader;&#239;&#191;&#189; A stronger organizational structure is achieved through a combination of mentoring and training sessions that are focused on the group. &#239;&#191;&#189; Small projects are preferred when a group begins to work in a new community, because they allow the community to build organizational and administrative experience, structures and confidence through achievement of small victories. &#239;&#191;&#189; Sub-projects are selected that are important for the entire community, can be planned and constructed quickly and that have a tangible, visible benefit;&#239;&#191;&#189; Sub-projects are selected that respond to a common felt need and have potential to be catalytic in both design and impact; &#239;&#191;&#189; Sub-projects may begin with only a few people, but are quickly expanded to include additional people in order to mobilize community support; &#239;&#191;&#189; Sub-projects are selected that have a non-partisan purpose and are carried out by non-partisan groups. &#239;&#191;&#189; People in assisted communities begin to play active roles in decisions that affect their lives, because they have been empowered and their perceptions have changed. They have begun to believe that their actions can make a difference.Expected Outcomes&#239;&#191;&#189; Communities, neighborhoods or other assisted groups will complete self-help projects without government assistance; &#239;&#191;&#189; Leadership skills of CSO and community groups will be enhanced through successful completion of small self-help projects.&#239;&#191;&#189; Community confidence and social capital will increase as communities are trained in the use of self-help methodologies and begin to use their skills to complete small projects;&#239;&#191;&#189; Communities will select and implement larger projects and take on larger challenges as their confidence and capabilities are increased by small victories. &#239;&#191;&#189; Community understanding of democratic principles and procedures will be increased as people are trained and given opportunities to practice the concepts they have learned during implementation of self-help projects.&#239;&#191;&#189; Communities which are initially passive observers of self-help and democratic development activities will be impressed by the accomplishments of communities that receive project assistance and will eventually become active implementers of independent self-help activities. &#239;&#191;&#189; Participating CSGs will become stronger, better organized, and more capable of assisting communities that wish to learn more about democratic principles, practices and participatory development.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Paul Burford&apos;s email address
GrantorContactText: Paul Burford &lt;br/&gt;Contract Specialist &lt;br/&gt;Phone 202-567-5303