Request for Information:                    RFI No. 7200AA21R00003

Activity Title:                                             Global Civil Society and Media Strengthening (CSMS)

Issue Date:                                                October 13, 2020

Due Date and Time:                              November 6, 2020 at 17:00 (EST)

I.  INTRODUCTION

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) Center, is gathering information related to anticipated activity design in support of the U.S. Government’s efforts to identify and foster effective approaches to strengthen civic engagement, build capacity of local civil society and independent media, and increase the use of these approaches by USAID Missions, civil society, and independent media actors in support of DRG-related and other development results.

This is a Request for Information (RFI).  The intent of this RFI is to conduct market research for planning purposes by: 1) seeking responses from interested individuals and organizations to provide information and recommendations that can help shape USAID’s strategy for strengthening civic engagement and independent media in the countries where USAID works; and 2) identifying interests and capabilities of potential partners.

This RFI is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP), a Request for Quotation (RFQ), an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a Solicitation, a Notice of Funding Opportunity, a Request for Application (RFA), or an indication that USAID will contract or provide assistance for the activity described in this RFI. Thus, USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals/applications at this time. Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary, and USAID will not reimburse respondents for the preparation of information submitted in response to this RFI. Responses to this notice cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or assistance award. This RFI does not restrict the Government’s approach on any future Solicitation or Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Respondents will receive electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response, but will not receive individualized feedback on any suggestions. Submissions in response to this RFI will not be returned and respondents will not be notified of the results of the review. Questions regarding this announcement will not be answered. After USAID reviews and considers any responses, a decision will be made regarding whether and how to proceed with the new potential activity. Not responding to this request does not preclude participation in any future solicitation/opportunity, if any is issued.

II.  ACTIVITY PURPOSE

USAID seeks to partner with a coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) and other relevant stakeholders that can implement programs using innovative approaches to strengthening civic engagement and independent media in the countries where it works. The CSMS activity will advance key Agency priorities, including advancing democracy, human rights, and governance goals and objectives; addressing resurgent authoritarianism and countering foreign malign influences; the promotion of transparent, citizen-responsive governance and democratic norms and institutions; advancing private sector engagement; and working with countries to increase civic capacity as a means to advance self-reliance capabilities.

This activity contributes to USAID’s commitment to advancing developing nations’ journey to self-reliance[1] by fostering best practices for and implementing activities to build the human and institutional capacities of civil society and media actors to advocate for and implement solutions to local development challenges. The level of self-reliance within individual communities and institutions within a country and the complex systems they make up, including the civil society and media sectors, are the determinants of a country’s overall self-reliance.[2] 

Civil society and media that function well, represent a range of citizen voices, and interact constructively lead to more responsive and accountable governments that are more capable of providing broadly beneficial goods and services. And, as local systems become stronger, more cohesive, more adaptable, and more capable of mobilizing the resources needed to sustain themselves, the whole country becomes more self-reliant. Activities will strive to advance and expand local capabilities and partnerships (including emerging or informal forms of civil society and independent media actors and entities), and will prioritize engaging new and local partners for activity implementation, in line with the New Partnerships Initiative (NPI).[3]

Activities under this mechanism will also foster best practices and implementation of interventions to advance private sector engagement (PSE)[4] and financing self-reliance (FSR)[5].  Activities could include local private sector partnerships to address development challenges; community or local philanthropy efforts; social entrepreneurship; and civil society advocacy, transparency, and accountability efforts related to other FSR components, such as public financial management and domestic revenue mobilization.

III.  BACKGROUND

Thriving civic space and active citizen participation, strengthened through advocacy and activism at local and national levels, is a core component of inclusive and representative democratic societies. Citizens’ ability to exercise freedoms of association and expression increases transparency and accountability, energizes government and political parties in policy debate, promotes societal advancements through informed public opinion, and enables media to reflect the rich pluralism of all interests in a society.  In doing so, active citizen participation in political processes and decisions promotes better and more responsive governance that advances a country’s self-reliance. 

Across development sectors, USAID supports a broad range of civil society and media actors. USAID works with formal groups such as civil society organizations (CSOs), community-based organizations (CBOs), independent media outlets and startups, journalists associations, labor unions, and faith-based groups.  USAID partners also include less formal, more loosely affiliated and increasingly critical mass-based groups including social movements, digital and civic activists, citizen journalists, civil society or media coalitions, and civic networks, as well as hybrid groups such as multi-purpose voluntary organizations and social enterprise organizations.  This support enables this broad grouping of civil society to advocate, monitor, and collaborate with governments and private sector actors, as well as promote citizen-centric government accountability.  USAID also supports both formal and informal civic education initiatives to ensure citizens of all ages understand their rights, responsibilities, and roles as active citizens promoting democratic culture and values.  USAID also works to champion emergent methods to engage with youth as "digital citizens" native to online civic spaces more so than other generations.

USAID and the U.S. Government have an extensive history of global support for participatory civil society and independent media (traditional and digital), as key sectors underpinning democratic governance. To further address these issues and adapt to emergent trends, the Global Civil Society and Media Strengthening (CSMS) activity will serve Missions, Regional Bureaus, and Independent Offices by informing the design and implementation of local Mission-initiated and funded civil society and media support programs. Country level work will primarily occur through local civil society and independent media actors to support and strengthen localized needs and actors as well as priorities that fit into USAID Missions’ country strategies and U.S. Government policy interests. Global activities will advance U.S. leadership in international civil society movements by identifying best practices and lessons learned, facilitating learning among civil society and independent media actors, and engaging with relevant global frameworks and norms.

USAID’s CSMS activity aims to focus on the following priority areas:

1. Build Civil Society and Independent Media Capacity to Constructively Engage in Civic Space. CSMS will work with Missions to tailor assistance based on specific contextual needs. While objectives will vary by context, generally, the activity will aim to increase the number and sustainable use of practical models and tools by civil society and media; improve measurement approaches; enhance sharing of learning from prior and ongoing efforts among USAID operating units, donors, and partners; and increase leveraging of the experiences of the DRG Center, USAID, other donors, and global civil society movements in the design of relevant new programs and activities. These efforts should enable civil society and independent media to expand and protect civic space as well as actively improve citizen engagement and state performance to play constructive roles in self-reliant democratic societies.
2. Provide DRG Sector with Cutting-edge Technical Resources and Adaptable Program Options. CSMS will develop and iteratively update state-of-the-art technical resources, tools, and program interventions, including technology-based solutions, to strengthen practices for civil society and media strengthening. Additionally, cross-linkages between civil society or independent media strengthening efforts -- both from one developing country to another and linked to global movements -- provide inherent value over time to civil society and media actors and individuals. Therefore this activity will not only strengthen USAID’s learning and quality of Mission designs, but also provide a value-add of working with international civil society and media to strengthen local civil society and media actors and individuals and build global connections.

The CSMS activity will support USAID’s global work supporting democracy, human rights, and governance initiatives, ensuring that programming in these areas incorporates adaptive and innovative approaches, and takes advantage of opportunities to preserve the enabling environment for democracy, human rights, and governance equities as they operate in physical and digital spaces. The CSMS activity will work closely with USAID missions and implementing partners to enhance capacities and improve responses to expanding and strengthening civic engagement and independent media.

IV.  ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED

In many countries, the various civil society actors described above continue to face capacity constraints related to diversifying and sustaining resources, advancing broad-based advocacy agendas, establishing strong connections to citizen constituencies and social movements, and restrictions to civic space.  Additionally, USAID Missions face regulatory and informational constraints that sometimes inhibit Missions from integrating cutting-edge learning into their programming and responding quickly to unforeseen and urgent needs.

• Limited Civil Society Capacity and Sustainability. Civil society capacity, a primary Journey to Self-Reliance (J2SR) indicator measured by Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)’s civil society and media effectiveness score, and long-term sustainability is foundational to advancing self-reliance, yet remains underdeveloped in USAID partner countries. USAID’s Civil Society Sustainability Index (CSOSI) indicates that partner countries may be making progress in capacity for service provision, but struggle in other dimensions of sustainability such as the legal enabling environment, financial viability, and diversity and inclusion. Based on this data, other existing research, and USAID’s implementation experience, civil society are not yet, in all relevant contexts, consistently and sustainably able to mobilize, advocate, and enact or consolidate democratic changes, including via broader pro-democracy social movements, within relevant contexts, at the local, national, regional, and global levels. Independent media continue to face additional and unique challenges, including but not limited to financial viability and sustainability, professionalization, and domestic and foreign authoritarian influences. Furthermore, ongoing, more traditional challenges to civic space include a weakened enabling environment, administrative and financial impediments to civil society and media organizations, and harassment, censorship, and arrests of civil society and media actors.
• Increasingly Challenging Environment for Civil Society. These challenges are now being further complicated by two emerging issues that risk accelerating these already concerning trends for civic space: transnational autocratic aid and illiberal use of technology.[6] The latter, also referred to as Digital Authoritarianism, includes the use of “emerging technologies” or “technologies of the future,” such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, biometric IDs, facial recognition, and “smart” or “safe cities,” by authoritarian governments and other actors to restrict democratic and civic space.

These emerging issues enhance the capabilities of authoritarian governments to centralize data and information and to use it to control its populations and repress fundamental freedoms many times over, with a need for fewer dedicated financial and human resources. Both persistent and newer threats have become acute around the world as authoritarian and repressive regimes develop methods and tools to share or duplicate coercive practices even beyond their borders.

Two-thirds (66 percent) of FY 2018 USAID bilateral Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) assistance was programmed in restrictive or challenging environments characterized as “closed autocracy” or “electoral autocracy.”[7]  The resurgence of authoritarian practices and methods requires not only defensive measures, but increased proactive efforts to support citizens in asserting their fundamental democratic rights to political voice and government accountability in repressive contexts.

V.  ACTIVITY GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Journey to Self-Reliance, including Financing Self-Reliance
• Focus on Inclusion, particularly related to Gender,[8] Persons with Disabilities,[9] and other  Traditionally Marginalized Groups
• Sustainability
• Local Ownership and Partnerships
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Commitment to Iterative Learning
• Conflict and Context Sensitive Approach
• Cross-sectoral approaches
• Private Sector Engagement
• Do No Harm
• Ability to lay the groundwork to mitigate harm and to provide rapid assistance in case of urgent situations
• Reach beyond capital cities and elite or formal civil society and media groups
• Coordination with other USG-supported initiatives to advance civic engagement and independent media

VI.  INFORMATION REQUESTED:

USAID invites interested parties to submit a written response providing feedback on the activity and/or capability information as described below:

1.  Suggestions/recommendations on any or all of the following questions:

• Do USAID’s priority areas for this activity capture the key elements to achieve USAID’s intended purpose? Are there other elements that should be included in order to achieve outcomes under this activity?
• What approaches or innovations should USAID consider for supporting behavior change activities to support the success of local capacity building and development as it relates to civic space?
• How should there be differentiation of approaches in varying country contexts ranging from relative open to highly restrictive civic space environments?
• What are the key issues or concerns that USAID should consider to address activities to better promote diversity, inclusion, and engagement with gender, youth, disabled populations, LGBTI and/or other traditionally marginalized populations?
• What considerations should USAID make to ensure that a new activity is able to respond to the broadest geography, based on where needs arise?
• How can this activity identify and address civic engagement and media threats or constraints from a range of actors, including from China, Russia and nonstate outside actors as well as national governments?
• What are effective approaches for ensuring local and regional stakeholders are in the lead for activities, while ensuring that state-of-the-art technical knowledge is shared?
• How can any recommended efforts ensure greater sustainability of investments?
• Are there specific global trends, innovations, or new thinking relevant to strengthening civic engagement and independent media that should be prioritized in a future activity?
• Is there anything we haven’t already touched on that you would like to add?

       2.  Capability Information

Interested parties may submit a Capability Statement of up to two pages, which should include information such as:

             A.  Business Information

• Organization Name and Address
• DUNS number and CAGE code
• Point of Contact including Name, Title, e-mail address, and phone number
• Identify your organization’s status:

□ 8(a)

□ HUBZone Historically Underutilized Business Zones

□ WOSB Women Owned Small Business

□ EDWOSB Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Business

□ SDVOSB Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

□ VOSB Veteran Owned Small Business

□ SDB Small Disadvantaged Business

□ SB Small Business

□ Other (Large Business, University, NGO, Public International Organization, etc.): _______________________________

             B.  Institutional Capability

• Describe your organization’s capacity to work in the subject area described in this RFI.
• Describe any relevant past experience, including experience working with and empowering relevant local stakeholders.

VII.  SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

All interested parties are welcomed and encouraged to submit responses to this RFI.  Responses must be in writing and must be in English, in Microsoft Word compatible formats, font size 12 pts, on letter sized (8 ½ x 11) paper.  Responses should be sent as an email attachment to [email protected], with a copy to [email protected], and received not later than November 6, 2020 at 17:00 hours Washington, DC local time.  Please include “Response to CSMS RFI No. 7200AA21R00003: [Respondent Name]” in the subject line of your email. 

Responses are limited to no more than ten (10) pages and must include, at a minimum, the following:

1. the name and address of the organization;
2. primary point of contact, phone number, and email address;
3. answers to the questions provided in Section VI.1 of this RFI.

Attachments: Please attach any documents that support your comments to the above questions.

Focused answers and materials will be appreciated.  Please do not submit applications, proposals, resumes, or promotional materials.

After USAID/DRG reviews and considers responses, a decision will be made regarding whether and how to proceed.

Sincerely,

Mir Ershadullah

Contracting/Agreement Officer

[1] USAID, The Journey to Self Reliance, https://www.usaid.gov/selfreliance.

[2] USAID Policy Framework, https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1870/WEB_PF_Full_Report_FINAL_10Apr2019.pdf.

[3] USAID New Partnerships Initiative, https://www.usaid.gov/npi.

[4] USAID, Private Sector Engagement, https://www.usaid.gov/work-usaid/private-sector-engagement.

[5] USAID Strategy for Financing Self-Reliance, https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1869/USAID-Report-Congress_Financing-Self-Reliance_Post.pdf.

[6] National Endowment for Democracy, Firming up Democracy's Soft Underbelly: Authoritarian Influence and Media Vulnerability. February 2020. Available at: Firming Up Democracy's Soft Underbelly

[7] Varieties of Democracy, 2002. "Autocratization Surges - Resistance Grows, Democracy Report 2020." Available at: https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/f0/5d/f05d46d8-626f-4b20-8e4e-53d4b134bfcb/democracy_report_2020_low.pdf

[8] USAID, Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy, 2012. Available at:  USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy.

[9] USAID, Advancing Disability-Inclusive Development. Available at: Advancing Disability-Inclusive Development | US Agency for International Development.