AGILE AND HARMONIZED ASSISTANCE FOR DEVOLVED INSTITUTIONS (AHADI)

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY (NOFO) NOFO No.  17-NOFO-AHADI-001

Strengthening Partnerships among Non-State Actors, County Governments and Citizens to

Enhance County Governance Processes and Service Delivery

Issuance Date: 24rd January 2018Deadline for submitting queries: 2nd February 2018

Closing date: 22nd February 2018 at 5:00 p.m.

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Table of ContentsA. OVERVIEW............................................................................................................3DETAILED INFORMATION............................................................................................6

A. Background......................................................................................................6B. Problem Statement........................................................................................6C. Program Description......................................................................................7D. Illustrative Grant Activities.........................................................................13E. Beneficiaries..................................................................................................16F. Relationships and Responsibilities............................................................16G. Sustainability................................................................................................16H. Funding Availability and Grants Modality................................................16I. Eligibility........................................................................................................17J. Application Evaluation and Selection Criteria.........................................18K. Suggested Outline for Applications...........................................................20L. Instructions to Applicants...........................................................................20M. Administration of Awards............................................................................21

ANNEXES.................................................................................................................. 22

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A. OVERVIEWNotice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) 1: Strengthening partnerships between NSAs, county governments and citizens to enhance county governance processes and service delivery

The Agile and Harmonized Assistance for Devolved Institutions (AHADI) Program in a governance program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The program is implemented by the Research Foundation the State University of New York/Center for International Development (SUNY/CID) in Kenya, is seeking concept papers for the implementation of initiatives designed to strengthen partnerships of the non-state actors2 (NSAs), citizens and their organizations, and county governments to enhance citizen engagement in the county governance process.

AHADI is seeking proposals from qualified and experienced NSAs in Kenya to pilot innovative, cost-effective and sustainable citizen participation approaches in the program’s target 22 counties3. The grants will support proposals by NSAs that aim to strengthen citizen engagement in county governance and service delivery.

This funding opportunity is to promote meaningful participation in any of the various steps of the county public expenditure management (PEM) cycle, which range from policy and legislative development, planning, and budgeting to implementation of activities for service delivery, monitoring and evaluation, performance management and oversight. For the purpose of this notice, PEM processes will refer to all of the above listed elements of county governance and we invite proposals relating to one or more of such processes. More specifically, this NOFO solicits concepts under five components as follows:

Component 1: Supporting sub-county and ward mechanisms for enhanced citizen participation This component involves partnering with the county executives and county assemblies to roll out/operationalize and or strengthen performance of their functions at the sub-county administrative levels structures e.g. the villages, wards and sub-counties which are close to and easily accessible to the citizens. Being closer to the citizens, these localized mechanisms have higher potential for motivating and building citizens’ confidence to engage meaningfully with their counties in the county PEM cycle. The interventions should particularly target the marginalized and

1 This Notice of Funding Opportunity refers to an Annual Program Statement (APS) as referenced in the AHADI Grants Manual and follows all associated rules and procedures pertaining to an APS.2 NSAs for purposes of the NOFO shall include CBOs, CzOs, NGOs, professional organizations and think tanks.3 Bomet, Garissa, Isiolo, Kakamega, Kiambu, Kisii, Lamu, Machakos, Mandera, Marsabit, Meru, Mombasa, Muranga, Nairobi, Nandi, Nyamira, Siaya, Tharaka Nithi, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Vihiga and Wajir.

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vulnerable groups4 and link them to the sub-county structures which provide them with appropriate platforms to participate in county governance processes as active stakeholders and/or amplify their voices.

Component 2: Strengthening access to information held by county governments This component involves partnering with or supporting county governments to provide access to and/or disseminate timely and relevant county based information in a simplified form that is accessible by the citizens as envisaged in the County Governments Act, 2012 and Access to Information Act, 2016. The initiatives should emphasize on enhancing access to relevant information in appropriate and user-friendly formats for diverse groups of citizens including those with physical disabilities and literacy challenges - to enable them to make informed decisions and engage meaningfully with the county in county governance processes.

Component 3: Deepening citizens and NSAs engagement on specific county sector issues This component will involve developing new or strengthening existing partnerships between the county governments (both the executives and assemblies) and NSAs as active stakeholders in county sector governance. In this partnership arrangement, the NSAs may contribute to the creation of opportunities for issue-based engagement in county governance, by involving citizens and/or sector stakeholders in determining sector priorities, promoting potential coordination and cost-sharing in the financing of service delivery (co-financing), and/or partnerships in the actual implementation and delivery (co-production). Applications that actively engage the citizens in making tangible improvements in county public services will be prioritized.

Component 4: Piloting purpose-driven civic education about the county PEM processes Starting with the premise that active citizens are informed citizens, this component will support purpose-driven civic education at the local level that enables the citizens to understand and appreciate their specific rights and responsibilities as well as those of the county governments in the county governance and PEM processes. The interventions should focus on facilitating access to timely and appropriate information for those groups that do not typically have sufficient information and avenues/or to engage meaningfully with their county governments.

4 Marginalized and vulnerable groups refers to people or communities that excluded from social and economic life hence are less informed and lack access to their rights, resources and opportunities; this include the ethnic minorities, indigenous communities, pastoralists, numerically inferior and other difficult to reach groups)

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Component 5: Strengthening NSA and citizen engagement with the county assemblies This component involves developing partnerships between NSAs and county assemblies (CAs) that enhance citizen participation and engagement with the CAs in their representational, legislative (including law making and budgeting) and oversight duties and processes.

AHADI plans to award grants to registered NSAs in Kenya to implement interventions that contribute to the realization of one or more goals of the above components. The grants will be implemented/managed in accordance with USAID5 and DFID regulations governing grants under contracts6 and with AHADI’s internal grant management policies. AHADI will hold regional pre-application information sessions as follows:Note: These are tentative dates and may change, please visit the discussion forum to get updated dates and times at https://groups.google.com/a/ahadi-devolution.org/forum/#!members/nofoquestions

Kakamega Town for cluster of counties namely Kakamega, Vihiga, Nandi, Trans Nzoia and Siaya) on 30th January 2018;

Marsabit Town for Marsabit County on 5th February 2018; Kisii Town for cluster counties, namely Kisii, Bomet and Nyamira on 31st

January 2018; Lamu Town for Lamu County on 7th February 2018; Mombasa City for Mombasa County on 8th February 2018; Wajir Town for Wajir County on 14th February 2018; Garissa Town for Garissa County on 12th February 2018; Mandera Town Mandera County on 9th February 2017; Lodwar Town for Turkana County on 2nd February 2018.

5 Potential grantees will also be expected to be compliant with the following certifications and guidelines available in various USG rules and guidelines at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grant-making-agencies/agency-for-international-development.html :

• Certification Regarding Terrorist Financing • Prohibition on Assistance to Drug Traffickers • Key Individual Certification Narcotics Offenses and Drug Trafficking (for exceptions see ADS

206.3.6)• Participant Certification Narcotics Offenses and Drug Trafficking.

6 DFID Smart Rules provide further details on how aid funds can and cannot be spent. In case of any doubt, the Partner should consult DFID in advance. Smart Rules are available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-smart-rules-better-programme-delivery.The Partner will seek to ensure that none of the funds or assets provided under this Arrangement are made available or used to provide support to individuals, groups or entities associated with terrorism including those named on the following lists as updated from time to time:

• HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation – Financial sanctions: consolidated list of targets• UK Home Office – Proscribed terrorist groups or organizations • European Union – Consolidated list of sanctions• United Nations – United Nations Security Council Sanctions List• World Bank – World Bank Listing of Ineligible Firms & Individuals

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Meru Town for the cluster of counties, namely Meru, Isiolo and Tharaka Nithi on 6th February 2018;

Nairobi for a cluster of counties, namely Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos and Muranga on 1st February 2018

Please note that AHADI will convene sessions in the listed areas/regions depending on the number and nature of the requests received. The sessions will be held from 10:00 A.M. until 12:00 P.M. and exact venue will be communicated to those who shall register for the sessions. The venues and dates may be revised depending on the interest and confirmations received by AHADI. These sessions will allow eligible and interested applicants opportunity to ask questions about the NOFO and receive the relevant guidance from AHADI.

Those who would like to attend the sessions are advised to confirm attendance by sending the participant’s’ and organization’s name to Shem Juma at NOFO@ahadi-devolution.org no later than 4 days before the date of the forum of their interest. Only one person may attend from each organization. Participants who wish to attend are further advised that AHADI will not meet their costs for travel or accommodation.

AHADI and SUNY/CID employees may not ask for (and applicants are prohibited from offering) any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, item of value or compensation to obtain or reward improper or favorable treatment regarding this solicitation. Any improper request from a project employee should be reported to the AHADI Chief of Party.

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DETAILED INFORMATION A.Background

The AHADI Program has been working in partnership with government institutions and non-state actors to promote devolved governance systems that are transparent, accountable and effective in service delivery; and responsive to citizens’ needs. AHADI works at both the national and county levels of government, with particular focus on the program’s 22 target counties. AHADI’s goals and strategies are aligned with Kenya’s National Capacity Building Strategy and its Vision 2030 development plan. The activities are planned and sequenced in collaboration with the Kenya Government and non-state actors, and in close coordination with other development partners.

AHADI Goal: Accountable county governments effectively functioning in targeted counties

AHADI Objectives:1) County governments effectively functioning in targeted counties. 2) Functionality and effectiveness of the devolved system increased through

improved intra- government engagement and cooperation.3) Improved representation of citizen interests and oversight over targeted county

governments’ performance.

AHADI’s goal is to strengthen county governments to be more competent, transparent, accountable and inclusive in their governance and service delivery. It is AHADI’s conviction that improving democracy and governance systems and strengthening citizen engagement within the counties in their governing processes will contribute significantly to the legitimacy of local governments and their ability to provide improved services across multiple sectors. This will improve the meeting of citizen needs, and forging a stronger link between citizens and their government. The program also seeks to help Kenya contribute towards addressing governance issues such as corruption, increased marginalization, exacerbated conflict, and inequitable service delivery that the devolution reforms are seeking to mitigate.

AHADI Program SectorsIn the 2018 financial year, AHADI’s interventions will broadly be implemented under the governance framework with a number of distinctive sectors:

General Governance, Citizen Engagement, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Anti-Corruption, Political Competition and Consensus Building, Feed the Future (resilience regarding livestock, rangeland management,

climate change), WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), and Education and Youth (EDY).

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B.Problem Statement Achieving meaningful citizen participation in county governance as envisaged in Kenya’s Constitution, County Governments Act and other attendant legislations has been an enormous challenge over the past four years of devolution in Kenya. An assessment by AHADI in 20177 established that citizen participation is still weak across the counties and that citizen engagement is largely centralized and exercised at the county level under direct control of the county headquarter officials. So far, there has been minimal involvement of the sub county officials e.g. sub-county officials, ward and village administrators and technical staff working at these levels. Counties have also faced challenges in reaching the people and groups with the greatest needs. Similarly, there is low awareness among the citizens of their rights and responsibilities in accessing information and participating in government planning, budgeting and other processes. The Inter-Governmental Relations Committee (IGRTC, 2016)8 reported that citizen participation in governance processes in the counties has been largely tokenistic, that although non-state actors have played some critical role in promoting citizen awareness and participation, many of their efforts are curtailed by limited institutional capacity on advocacy, inadequate resources to research on policy options, limited ability to study complex government documents like county plans and budgets, and inadequate skills to conduct oversight.

Without addressing these challenges, the purpose of devolution could be undermined and funding for the citizens’ priority services might not be assured. This problem can potentially cause passiveness and apathy among the citizens who have high hopes for the success of devolution, but have not fully realized that this success is predicated on their active involvement.

AHADI’s approach to enhancing capacity building of the counties and their performance standards entails integrating citizen engagement throughout the entire public expenditure management cycle by strengthening or creating the opportunities for effective and issue-based engagements between citizens and their county governments. Through this NOFO, AHADI will complement the work under the program’s objective one by contributing to the strengthening of meaningful and innovative partnerships and active involvement in governance by the citizens and all stakeholders throughout the PEM cycle including partnership in service delivery. To achieve this, AHADI will first incorporate citizen engagement and participation in county development planning, budgeting, implementation of approved budgets and oversight processes. Second, AHADI will build and leverage the capacity of non-state actors that can effectively participate across the governance and service delivery value chain. 7 AHADI (2017) Assessment and recommendations for enhancing citizen engagement in county governance8 IGRTC (2016) The status of public participation in national and county governments

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The program aims to address these problems by supporting NSAs to organize the citizens and/or represent them in meaningful partnerships with the county executives and county assemblies, on public expenditure management and service delivery. Through this NOFO, the NSAs will be strategic partners for AHADI in strengthening capacity of the citizens and their organizations to enable them engage effectively with the county governments in governance matters.

C. Program DescriptionNOFO ObjectiveAHADI intends to award grants to non-state actors in Kenya including local civil society organizations (CSOs), community based organizations (CBOs), local non-profit and for-profit entities, social organizations and policy institutes or think tanks to partner with AHADI in delivering AHADI’s objective 3. The grants will complement work under AHADI Objective 1, which entails enhancing counties’ service delivery capacity and performance. The approach involves integrating citizen engagement throughout the public expenditure management process by strengthening the counties capacity to engage in effective, meaningful, and issue-based partnerships with citizens and organized non-state actors in the PEM cycle and other governance processes.

This NOFO seeks proposals for grants that will support AHADI to deliver the program’s Objective 3: “Improved representation of citizen interests and oversight over targeted county government performance” by piloting innovative, sustainable and cost effective citizen engagement approaches that strengthen meaningful partnerships throughout the public expenditure management cycle in AHADI’s target 22 counties.

Component descriptions 1) Deepening sub-county mechanisms for enhanced citizen participation:

The Constitution of Kenya, County Governments Act (2012), Public Financial Management Act (2012) and Urban Areas and Cities Act (2011) envisage that county governments should have forums for citizens engagement in their governance processes at the diverse administrative levels, namely the county, sub-counties, wards and villages. Multiple engagements are important since the forums facilitate accessible and reliable opportunities for citizens to have meaningful participation in the PEM cycle and other governance processes e.g. policy making, development planning, budgeting and oversight. The sub-county, ward and village administrators perform functions within their administrative units of jurisdiction that are decentralized by the counties. The County Governments Act requires that county should facilitate public participation throughout the governance and PEM processes. However, over the past four years, most counties have largely managed citizen participation processes

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through the leadership and facilitation of headquarter-based staff. AHADI recognizes that effective public participation should be held in a conducive environment, which is easily reachable and where the citizens feel comfortable (preferably within their neighbourhoods), in addition to being accompanied with timely and appropriate information. To achieve this provision, the county governments should activate the sub-county structures and actively involve these units in facilitating public participation in PEM processes.

This NOFO seeks applications from organizations that have demonstrable experience in partnerships with and/or supporting county governments, both the executives and assemblies, in strengthening citizen participation in the PEM processes e.g. county policy making, planning, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation as well as oversight including social audits. The emphasis in this component will be on supporting the county executives and county assemblies in AHADI target counties to operationalize and strengthen sub county structures and equip them with the processes and tools that enhance localized and meaningful citizen engagement. Innovative approaches on how the counties can effectively move the consultations to the sub county levels and leverage on the existing platforms will be prioritized e.g. partnerships with the provincial administration that put in place effective oversight and social accountability systems for enhanced partnerships with citizens to ensure delivery of outcomes. However, the proposals should be cost effective and ensure sustainability.

In addition, AHADI will be keen to support processes that are replicable/scalable and will therefore expect the grant recipients to document best practices and learnings on how the developments and emerging challenges are managed during the partnership period for sharing and cross learning. The applicants should demonstrate adequate understanding of the county PEM and service delivery systems and have experience in partnering with or supporting the establishment of community level mechanisms and processes for engagement in governance and service delivery processes i.e. county policy and legislation development, budget formulation and implementation, and social accountability mechanisms for oversight.

2) Strengthening access to information held by county governments: Availability of timely and appropriate information in accessible, user-friendly formats for citizens is an important pre-requisite for them to effectively engage in county governance processes. Article 35 of the Constitution of Kenya, and the County Government Act requires that government bodies including the county governments should disseminate information under their custody and give citizens the right to information held by them. Access to Information Act (2016) outlines the framework on how the right to information should be realized by the citizens and the role of the government in facilitating this right. Most county

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governments are however yet to put in place the mechanisms for expeditious and proactive disclosure of information and feedback provision.

The commonly used mechanisms for publicizing information by most counties have been through advertisements in the national newspapers and county websites. This approach is also often used for publicizing public participation events, inviting the citizens to participate in county decision processes and publicizing the documents that are due for discussion such as approved budgets, legislations and policies. These mechanisms are however largely out of reach or inaccessible to the illiterate, the poor and marginalized groups as well as those living in most remote areas or rural dwellers. In some cases, the advertisements and documents which are the subject of public participation/discussion are publicized within short notice which hinders meaningful engagement during the participation forums, even among the elites and technically literate groups. The AHADI Program recognizes the centrality of disseminating the right and timely information as a pre-requisite for effective and meaningful citizen participation in decision making and oversight processes and is keen to support strengthening of the relevant mechanisms that will enhance the promotion of access to information held by county governments.

The AHADI Program will emphasize on and support innovative ideas that focus on enhancing information dissemination in timely and easy to use formats and therefore encourage proposals that meet this criteria. Applicants may also propose strategies that focus on empowering the citizens on their rights and responsibilities on how to access the information held by county governments. Applications may also focus on building the citizens’ knowledge of the legal processes to follow in order to obtain the information held by counties and to monitor proactive disclosure and feedback to their requests as provided in the Constitution of Kenya and Access to Information Act (2016). Emphasis shall be placed on encouraging and incentivizing the citizens to seek for and use the information to enforce their individual and collective rights e.g. to improve their participation in county decision making processes and social audit processes to ensure that the counties adopt and deliver citizen responsive services. Applications may also propose ways of establishing mechanisms for receiving and submitting complaints to the county governments and the Commission on Administrative Justice, when the information requested is not provided to the citizens. Applications may also focus on providing or assisting county governments to establish functional systems on proactive information disclosure and feedback provided that the NSAs submitting such applications demonstrate that they have appropriate skills and experience.

This NOFO will prioritize on the proposals that show innovative and sustainable approaches on how the poor, illiterate and marginalized groups can access and utilize information held by county governments to help them make informed

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decisions in the PEM cycle and conduct meaningful social audits as well as engagement in other county governance processes. Priority will be given to cost effective and popular means such as ICT mechanisms and partnerships with counties for continuous information dissemination.

3) Deepening the citizens and NSAs engagement on specific PEM sector issues: Citizen interest organizations such as community-based organizations (CBOs) and other forms of citizens’ organizations (CzOs) e.g. farmers associations (FAs), water resource users associations (WRUAs) and parents associations (PAs) and their networks or federations are the best placed institutions to engage with the county governments executives on the issues of interest to or affecting their members and communities in order to deliver those needs. Such organizations are the most strategic channels through which the citizens can engage their county governments objectively to address the problems affecting them and improve the services to address their needs through policy and legislative development, development planning and budgeting, implementation of the approved plans and oversight processes. Such engagements are important in ensuring that the approved budgets and funds are used to implement plans within the expected timelines and provide value for money. Citizen’s interest organizations enjoy high levels of legitimacy and sustainability since they are rooted in the communities, are long term in nature and largely depend on financing of their operations on the voluntary contributions of members.

AHADI espouses a shared county governance paradigm in which the local level civil society and county governments harness partnerships and inclusivity in the making and implementing of the county sector policies, service delivery plans and budgets to address locally identified challenges for the benefit of the communities. The proposals should contribute to brokering the change (paradigm shift) in the relationship between the county executives and NSAs (or citizens and their organizations) from the supply and demand dichotomy of good county governance to a shared responsibility in public service delivery processes. In this co-governance model, the local level civil society and county executives become partners in both the making and implementing of the county policies and laws and the decisions on service delivery plans as well as in the oversight during the implementation of the approved service delivery plans. This partnership paradigm posits that to effectively engage their county governments, citizens need to associate together in the organizations they voluntarily form in order to advance and protect their interests, in constructive engagement that is valued by county governments. The proposals that emphasize on the engagements or partnerships that leads to tangible delivery of services that meet the needs of the communities will be prioritized. To achieve this goal, applicants are encouraged to integrate social accountability with participation in decision making processes. The envisioned social accountability

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mechanisms should have effective structures for better communication of the findings and provision of feedback between the county executives and the citizens. It will therefore be important for the applicants to be explicit on building or strengthening capacity of the citizen organizations on social accountability processes and tools i.e. community score cards, citizen report cards and public expenditure tracking surveys. Applications that combine or integrate social accountability with active engagement in decision making process to ensure that participation of the citizens eventually leads to solving their problems through actual provision of services that respond to their needs by county governments will get high consideration.

The applications under this component should clearly show that the interested NSAs have demonstrable skills and experience on building capacity of the CzOs, CBOs and similar interest groups on co-governance, advocacy and networking and mentor them to effectively engage with county executives on specific service delivery issues. These engagements may be through the sector working groups, county budget and economic forums and other relevant platforms that facilitate effective and meaningful engagement in the identification sectoral needs and priorities and their implementation to address these needs. Applications may also propose ways to support county executives to strengthen partnerships with other government agencies e.g. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Controller of Budget and Kenya National Audit Office engaged in oversight.

4) Piloting purpose-driven civic education about the county PEM processes: The level and quality of citizens’ engagement in the county governance processes in Kenya has generally been low. This challenge has largely been attributed to the limited knowledge of devolution and lack of understanding by the citizens of their rights and responsibilities, yet these provisions are detailed in the constitution and relevant statutes including the County Governments Act, Public Finance Management Act and county laws. This shortfall is largely because of the lack of or inadequate and purpose driven civic education. To date, most civic education efforts have been broad restatements of constitutional provisions and have not focussed on educating the citizens about how to use the specific opportunities presented by the law and the established PEM processes to pursue their rights. Often, when citizens attend public participation forums they are ill-informed and inadequately prepared to engage effectively. In some cases, their attendance is motivated by the expectation for immediate economic benefit through transport reimbursements and other related financial allowances, further exasperating the cost and difficulties in organizing such events.

AHADI is seeking applications from institutions with the relevant skills and experience to design and administer purpose-driven public civic education as

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opposed to broad-brushed and general civic education. It is anticipated that the applications should adopt innovative approaches that include translating the existing civic education materials into user-friendly versions and guides for with the aim of promoting citizen participation in specific PEM processes by using the materials for strategic and timely civic awareness. The institutions applying for this component should demonstrate that they have previous experience on civic education around devolution particularly targeting the citizens groups such as the illiterate, difficult to reach groups (e.g. pastoralists), the marginalized and other vulnerable groups. Emphasis should be placed on the approaches which will inculcate purpose-driven civic education that encourages or motivates the citizens to participate actively in specific PEM processes by attending the forums and events or through online contributions as informed key stakeholders. The approaches should guide them on how to use the knowledge and evidence gained through awareness processes to influence the decisions of the counties with direct relevance to their lives. It is also expected that innovative civic education processes should use dissemination mediums that have high reach particularly among the marginalized and vulnerable groups in addition to being cost-effective and sustainable.

5) Strengthening NSA and citizen engagement with the county assemblies: County assemblies in their representative roles should represent the voice of the citizens in county governance processes. Citizens interest groups and networks can also partner or collaborate with the county assemblies to have the needs of their members duly channelled within these decision making structures at the right time for consideration during the county decision making process. Collaboration with the county assembly through the relevant sectoral committees or working closely with the individual members of county assemblies have higher potential for promoting the inclusion of the citizens voices and priorities in the county service delivery processes and for strengthening oversight by the assembly. Since county assemblies are legally responsible for approving proposals from the county executives before implementation i.e. draft policies and bills, development plans, County Fiscal Strategy Paper and budget estimates, collaboration between them and the citizens organizations provides the citizens with appropriate opportunity to have their priorities and concerns discussed and considered during the decision-making stage within the public expenditure management process.

The partnership or collaboration in social audit process through continuous sharing of timely information on the issues of concern to the citizens in the service delivery process have higher potential in improving the quality of critique on the performance of the executive by the county assemblies. Partnering with the county assemblies also reduces the risks that citizens may encounter when they engage in own advocacy processes and reduces the chances of them being ignored. The AHADI Program espouses a shared county governance paradigm in

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which the local level civil society and county governments harness partnerships and inclusivity in the making and implementing of the county sector policies, service delivery plans, budgeting and oversight to address the locally identified challenges and needs for the benefit of the communities. The proposals should contribute to building relationships between county assemblies and citizens organizations to enhance a shared responsibility in public service delivery processes in which the local level civil society and county assemblies become partners in the course of the making of the county policies and laws, development plans and budgets as well as in the oversight processes. Under this call, proposals that emphasize the engagement or partnership between the citizens through their organizations and their county assemblies or specific committees of the assembly or office of the members of county assemblies to enhance choice, voice and social accountability in the PEM process will be prioritized. While the participation in the decision-making processes is critical, applicants are encouraged to consider integrating social accountability mechanisms with engagement in the decision-making process to ensure that the budgets are implemented to provide the citizens with tangible services. The beneficiaries will therefore be expected to demonstrate that they are experienced in social accountability and the use of appropriate tools such as community score cards, citizen report cards and public expenditure tracking survey. Applications that show that collaboration of partnership between the citizens and county assemblies will strengthen participation of the citizens in the PEM cycle that eventually leads to solving citizens problems through actual provision of services that respond to their needs by county governments will get high consideration.

AHADI will therefore seeks for applications from organizations that have demonstrable skills and capacity to build capacity of the citizens organizations, CBOs and similar interest groups and mentor them on organizing, advocacy and networking to effectively and objectively engage with their county assemblies on specific issues of interest to their members and communities. The emphasis should be on assisting citizens’ organizations to partner with their county assembly members and committees to build common understanding, prioritize together and monitor implementation of the approved decisions for the delivery of the desired service priorities. Applications may also propose ways to support county assemblies to strengthen partnerships with other government agencies e.g. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, Controller of Budget and Kenya National Audit Office particularly in the oversight processes.

Applicants may propose one or more activities in one or more of the five components outlined above. The applicants are further encouraged to think creatively and may propose new and original ideas and activities different from those suggested in this NOFO, as long as they contribute to the achievement of

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AHADI objectives as detailed in Section A. Activities should be aimed at one or more of the 22 AHADI counties.

D. Illustrative Grant Activities The following is an illustrative list of the types of activities to be funded through this Notice of Funding Opportunity.  It is by no means exclusive and creativity is encouraged from applicants. All grants proposals should include rapid assessment/situation analysis to identify the inception (pre-project implementation) status, effective entry points, potential champions or foreseen impediments to participation, and steps that will be needed to improve citizen participation. It is encouraged that the proposals demonstrate that applicants have discussed the proposed interventions with county governments and that the basis for a collaborative process will be ensured.

Illustrative activities per component:1. Deepening sub-county mechanisms for enhanced citizen participation

a. Situational analysis: Conduct a rapid assessment of sub-county mechanisms and structures in place, what they do, and determine if they are functioning, fully capacitated and resourced. Also identify the gaps and needs, potential entry points and champions for citizen engagement where available.

b. Build partnership with the county governments to establish or strengthen the structures and/or mechanisms for citizen engagement at diverse levels of the county and equip the county officials with the relevant tools to facilitate participation at the sub-county units.

c. Support the training or mentoring of the relevant county level and sub-county staff on management of sub-county public participation processes and mentoring them on application of the relevant guidelines, strategies and tools on public participation.

d. Build linkages between the citizens’ organizations and the county public participation platforms as well as preparing and mentoring the organizations to effectively represent or negotiate for consideration of their issues and priorities during public participation events.

e. Support/broker partnership building between the county governments sub-county and ward structures and citizens organizations in the governance processes at the sub county levels.

f. Support the partnership building between the county government and other local level government agencies e.g. provincial administration on public participation processes.

2. Strengthening access to information held by the county governments a. Situational analysis: Rapid assessment of the county to establish the

existing systems and mechanisms for proactive disclosure and provision of feedback on request for information held by the county governments.

b. Build capacity of and partner with county governments on common areas identified and support the counties to set up systems on proactive disclosure and feedback mechanisms e.g. ICT platform for continuous provision of public information to the citizens about county decision

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making processes, broaden access to government documents and provide timely information about opportunities for participation.

c. Support the dissemination, production and active disclosure of user-friendly versions of county documents that should be discussed with citizens, e.g. draft CIDPs, sector plans, budgets, and county M&E reports.

d. Build capacity and mentor the citizens’ organizations to monitor the provision of information by the county governments to their members and the public and how to support the citizens to seek for legal redress against non-compliance with the law e.g. reporting to relevant county officials and the Commission on Administrative Justice.

e. Conducts purpose-driven public civic education on the citizens on rights and responsibilities on access to information and the relevant county government processes.

3. Deepening Citizens’ Organizations Engagement With the Counties on Specific Sector Issues

a. Situational analysis: Map the citizens’ organizations in the identified sectors of focus and assess their capacity.

b. Build capacity of the citizens’ organizations on the legal provisions regulating the rights and responsibilities of the citizens on public participation, NSAs’ partnership with county governments in governance and positive advocacy processes.

c. Support the citizens organizations in the identified sector(s) to analyse their issues of relevance to them and priorities in consultation with their members

d. Support networking of the citizens organizations in the villages and wards the and across the counties to concretize their governance and development issues and priorities.

e. Guide and mentors the citizens organizations to share the information with their members and other community members on the available sector opportunities for engagement e.g. annual development planning and support them to mobilize and assist their members to participate effectively in those processes.

f. Facilitate effective engagement/link of the citizens organizations with the county sector working groups and departments responsible for managing their identified issues and development priorities to enable them present their issues for consideration in the PEM processes and establish mechanisms to monitor implementation and hold the county government accountable.

g. Build capacity of the citizens’ organizations on social accountability and the relevant tools e.g. community score cards, citizens’ report cards and public expenditure tracking survey and mentor them to use the processes and tools to monitor the implementation of the commitments by the county governments.

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h. Link community organizations with county and national CSOs for partnership and mentorship to strengthen their participation in county decision making and oversight processes.

i. Link community organizations with relevant state agencies e.g. the Controller of Budget’s Office, Kenya National Audit Office and Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission for partnership and liaison to strengthen their participation and oversight in service delivery by the county governments.

4. Piloting purpose-driven civic education about the county PEM processes:

a. Situational analysis: Rapid assessment of the previous and existing civic education efforts by the government and NSAs on devolution as well as planning documents including the materials and mediums in use, the strategic approaches and institutions in the target counties as well as their effectiveness and gaps.

b. Design and apply innovative approaches (which have been proven to work) enhances the translation of the available civic education materials for purpose driven civic education on devolution that emphasizes on the citizens' and governments’ rights and responsibilities in the county PEM processes.

c. Using civic education as the means for mobilization of the citizens, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized groups, to appreciate their rights and responsibilities to participate in the county PEM processes as key stakeholders and not demanders or handouts.

d. Building partnerships with the county executives and county assemblies in civic education process that leads to financial contribution in the process by the counties for legitimacy and sustainability.

e. Building partnerships with institutions that have sustainable and cost effective platforms or strategic objectives on civic education such as the religions organizations and the media for continuous and sustainable mass awareness on devolution.

f. Continuous documentation of the civic education activities with emphasis on how citizens use the knowledge to advance their interests in county governance processes including the positive outcomes and gaps.

5. Reinforcing citizen and county assembly engagement to enhance the representative and oversight functions.

a. Situational analysis: Rapid assessment of the relationships, the level and quality of engagements between the county assemblies and citizens as well as their organizations in the PEM processes.

b. Build capacity of the citizens’ organizations on their rights and responsibilities in PEM processes under the county assemblies and approaches on engaging with CAs.

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c. Support or mentor the citizens and their citizens’ organizations to identify and prioritize the issues of importance to them and for partnership or engagement with the county assembly or the sectoral committees that handle their priorities.

d. Guide the citizens’ organizations on the strategies for reaching out the county assembly to deliver the information and continuously engage with the assembly.

e. Build capacity of citizens and their organizations on how to engage with the assembly on legislative and public expenditure processes.

f. Support the capacity building of the county assemblies and sectoral committees together with the citizens’ organizations on social accountability and mentor them to jointly undertake the process on specific PEM and service delivery processes.

g. Support strategic engagements between the citizens and their organizations with the county assemblies or the relevant county assembly committees or members of county assemblies to discuss and address their issues and priorities including partnership in the legislation processes and oversight.

E. Beneficiaries Applicants must clearly identify and state the target county or counties where they will work, specify the focus of their initiatives and the number and types of beneficiaries their proposed initiative(s) will serve. Applications should also highlight the approaches they propose to use if they are successful.

F. Relationships and Responsibilities Upon the signing of a grant agreement, the applicant becomes the “Recipient” and will begin implementation of approved project according to the grant agreement. Consistent with the terms and conditions set forth in the grant agreement, the Recipient agrees to comply with all policies, procedures, and stipulations. The Recipient must give full cooperation to AHADI in its oversight of the grant. The Recipient will submit requests for reimbursement or advance funds and liquidation reports on a periodic basis as specified in the grant agreement.

Also upon signing the agreement, the AHADI Team will begin to exercise its management responsibilities. The responsible grants manager and a designated AHADI technical/capacity development staff member will oversee the performance of the grant through a review of deliverables, site visits, and a regular review of financial reports. The grants manager will oversee financial and contractual compliance, while the AHADI staff designated for the grant will monitor programmatic performance including, but not limited to, the achievement of the benchmarks and objectives specified in the grant agreement and the milestones/targets set out in the capacity development plan. AHADI will support the

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recipient with periodic payment of reimbursement tranches or advances of funds against the budget agreed to in the grant agreement.

G. Sustainability While the immediate impact on community lives through integrated development is the primary consideration, sustainability in terms of strengthening co-governance and partnerships between the county governments and the citizens through their local organizations by supporting or influencing the establishment of functional systems, institutions, process and rules that ensures continuity in citizen engagement in the county governance processes will be very important. The activities funded under this program must have a clear sustainability plan. Preference will be given to applications that clearly establish the justification and priority of the proposed intervention, their potential impacts, and sustainability.

H.Funding Availability and Grants Modality

NOFO Component Area Maximum Available

1. Deepen sub-county mechanisms for enhanced citizen participation USD 300,000

2. Strengthen access to information held by the county governments USD 350,000

3. Deepen Citizens’ Organizations Engagement With the Counties on Specific Sector Issues USD 200,000

4. Active Citizens are Informed Citizens USD 300,0005. Reinforcing citizen and county assembly engagement to

enhance the representative and oversight functions USD 200,000

Total funding available for NOFO in USD$ USD 1,350,000

AHADI seeks to award grants to be implemented over a period of six months. The proposals may address/cover one or more of the five components above and should cover one or more of the 22 AHADI target counties. AHADI will award a maximum of USD 250,000 per organization; a grant might cover more than one county or component. While the allocation by component in the table above is indicative, the aggregate award to all partners shall not exceed the total funding available.

AHADI proposes to award the following types of grants – contact nofo@ahadi-devolution.org if not sure of the differences

1. Simplified grants, maximum of USD 150,000 per organization and operated on a reimbursement basis

2. Fixed Obligation Grants, Maximum of USD 250,000 per organization and funds are disbursed on delivery of pre-determined milestones

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3. Standard Grant, maximum of USD 250,000 per organizationOrganizations are encouraged to provide cross-component and cross-county proposals.Note: Proposals outlining activities in a realistic implementation plan indicating accelerated and rapid response will be given extra evaluation points.

I. Eligibility To be eligible for consideration, applicants must meet the following minimum eligibility criteria:

Applicants shall be legally registered in Kenya Consortia may apply, provided they are either already legally established

consortia, or that the organizations wishing to work as a consortium for this NOFO sign and submit with their proposal a clear consortium agreement. A single award would be made to the lead member of the consortium; all members must sign the grant agreement and comply with all grant rules and regulations. Sub awards to consortia members, either by the lead member of the consortia or by AHADI, are not allowed.

Applicants that are categorized as granting organizations, think tanks, public policy research organizations, CSOs, and other non-state actors active in Kenya

Must have competence in the intervention areas which should be clearly demonstrated in the application.

Demonstrate proven track record of designing activities and interventions that target and empower the marginalized groups to engage governments and decision makers effectively.

Given AHADI’s call for collaborative engagement, applicant are encouraged to engage in a dialogue and partnership with county governments during the process of developing proposals for this NOFO and where possible show proof of collaboration.

Must have good track record on managing and accounting for donor funds.

Additionally, grants may not be awarded to: Any entity whose name appears on the “List of Parties Excluded from Federal

Procurement and Non-Procurement Programs”; Any “public international organization”; Any military organization; Any political party organization or organization with a political party affiliation

To be eligible for a grant, the applicant organization and staff must not be included in Consolidated List of Debarred, Suspended, and Ineligible Awardees, found at www.sam.gov, the System for Award Management which has been consolidated from the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS), nor in listed in the sanctions lists of

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the: HM Treasury Office, UK Home Office, European Union, United Nations Security Council or World Bank.

J. Application Evaluation and Selection Criteria Concept paper applications in response to this NOFO may be submitted to AHADI on any day from the date of publication of this NOFO and will remain open till 22nd

February 2018 at 5:00 p.m. for consideration for funding. Review and evaluation of the concept papers will commence on be conducted on 23rd

February 2018. Interested applicants are encouraged to submit concept papers at the earliest possible time as the review panel will review the concepts as they have been received and may decide to obligate more funds to compelling projects submitted in the earlier dates. AHADI will establish a review panel that includes representatives from USAID/Kenya/East Africa Office. Evaluation will be based on the criteria set forth below.

AHADI will appoint a technical review committee to evaluate all applications; all technical reviewers will be subjected to a screening process to eliminate any conflict of interest. Evaluations will be carried out according to the following criteria and weights:

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Evaluation Criteria Max Score

Feasibility of Design and Technical ApproachThe reviewers will evaluate whether the concept responds to the overall goals of the AHADI project, description of input-out mix of technical interventions and activities and a clear demonstration of the logic of interpositions and results. Concepts must also demonstrate : That they address one (or more) of the five areas for intervention outlined in

the NOFO. Sound knowledge of devolution in Kenya and the importance of citizen

engagement in the process A clear theory of change and the expected results and impact on target

groups Capacity for partnering with county government in carrying out the activities. Forethought about risks associated with implementing their design – both

technically and politically, and how these risks will be mitigated. A plan to reach the most vulnerable people in the county and achieve

inclusion as well as mainstream gender and climate change (if relevant). Concepts that can address co-planning, co-financing and /or co-production of

services with county governments will be given extra evaluation points. Proposals which are innovative and have potential for replication and scaling

up will be given extra evaluation points.

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Implementation PlanThe implementation plan will outline sequencing, timelines and responsibilities. Reviewers will evaluate whether the implementation plan is reasonable and achievable as designed by the applicant. Proposals must describe the situational analysis step clearly and demonstrate why this step is important.

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Monitoring & Evaluation (M & E) planThe grant proposal M&E plan will demonstrate the applicants’s M&E capabilities, systems and processes. The M&E plan will show consistencies with the AHADI project objectives, expected results (USAID and DFID) and should incorporate at least one of the following indicators: (1) Number of civil society organizations (CSOs) who engage with the government as a result the intervention; (2) Number of public policies, laws and procedures introduced, adopted, repealed, changed or implemented consistent with citizen input(s); (3) Number of individuals receiving voter and civic education. M&E plans should also use additional indicators/milestones and targets as appropriate Results should be measurable and there should be clear indicators and milestones/targets for the expected results. The M&E plan should articulate how the grantee will document and report on changes occurring as a result of the intervention.

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Budget and Budget NarrativeThe summary budget will be reviewed for its reasonableness, and cost realism, cost sharing and how the budget relates to the proposed objectives and activities and its feasibility to achieve the results articulated.

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Management capacityThe applicant should demonstrate evidence of responsibility and a history of transparent and effective resource management. The applicant must provide an organigram of staff expected to implement the grant and a summary of their Résumé.

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Past performance referencesThe reviewers will evaluate if the applicant has prior experience and success in implementing similar initiatives/activities and if the concept shows evidence of previous experience working in the areas stated in this NOFO and commitment in serving as a champion for reform, allocating resources for innovation and advocating for good governance

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K. Suggested Outline for Applications The Concept Papers shall consist of:• A completed program concept five pages maximum (Annex A - click icon below) • A one page summary budget (Annex B - click icon below); and• A copy of the organization’s registration certificate

Applicants shall submit their grant concept summary form (paper), in English, in font no smaller than size 12, to nofo@ahadi-devolution.org.All concept papers must be sent from the email address of a representative authorized to commit the resources of the organization. Applicants are encouraged to write clearly and concisely and limit the narrative program concept to no more than 5 pages with a one (1) page summary budget and one page for summary resume of key staff.

L. Instructions to Applicants Applicant Self-Assessment Applicant whose concepts are reviewed and found satisfactory shall be subjected to self-assessment. All applicants will be subjected to a pre-award responsibility determination by AHADI, to ascertain whether the organization has the minimum management capabilities required to handle US government funds. This self-assessment is a first step in the responsibility determination process.

Please submit all correspondence regarding this request (including reservations to the pre-application sessions and any questions or procurement matters) IN WRITING, to the attention of Shem Juma at NOFO@ahadi-devolution.org no later than 2nd January 2018.

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Issuance of this NOFO does not constitute a commitment on the part of SUNY/CID OR AHADI to award grants in the absence of funds from USAID for this purpose. Further, AHADI reserves the right to reject any or all applications received. Applicants are hereby notified of these circumstances and conditions for awards, and encouraged to bear this in mind in preparing their concept papers. Furthermore, AHADI makes no commitment to reimburse applicants for costs incurred in responding to this NOFO. Participating in and responding to this NOFO is at the risk and expense of the applicant.

Following application review, applicants will be advised if discussions are to be initiated to allow the applicant to develop a full proposal for funding, additional information is required, or if a decision has been reached not to fund the application.

M.Administration of Awards Awards will be made in accordance with the USAID Standard Provisions and other applicable U.S. Government regulations, and DFID Smart rules.

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ANNEXES

Annex A – Grant Concept Summary Application Form and Instructions

Annex B – Budget Form and Instructions

Annex C – Information on AHADI support to county PEM processes.

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