Deadline: 20 June 2019

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC) has announced a Notice of FundingOpportunity (NOFO) for projects designed to support women’s economic empowerment initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

With comparable information across the region, this NOFO seeks proposals for funding of a multi-year project to assist economic stakeholders develop action plans that seek to recruit, retain, and promote qualified women in the formal sector and explore ways to improve measures, policies, and practices that control the informal economy in which women are heavily involved.

NEA/AC invites applications that focus on promoting women’s economic empowerment through data-driven initiatives that seek to recruit, retain, and promote women in MENA in the formal and informal sectors. Funding seeks to support proposals that will result in:

• Economic stakeholders in the MENA region increasing their knowledge of comparable information specific to women’s contribution to the economy and workforce participation in the formal and informal sectors;
• Economic stakeholders being able to identify barriers and develop action plans to implement effective initiatives to recruit, retain, and promote women in the formal sector; and
• Women in the MENA region increasing their engagement with economic stakeholders on issues/initiatives related to their contribution to the economy.

Project Design

NEA/AC seeks to support projects that will increase women’s contribution to the economy in the MENA region through two components.

• Component One: Formal Sector Action Plans
  • The development of country-specific initiatives that specifically assist economic stakeholders in implementing initiatives that recruit, retain, and promote women in the formal sector.
  • The development of recommendations for private and public sector economic stakeholders policies, regulations, and practices that address barriers and promote recruitment, retention and promotion of women.
  • A compilation of information collected into a regional comparison assessment to identify best practices of gender empowerment.
    • This must include a barrier analysis conducted using qualitative methods (including interviews and content analysis) on challenges to recruitment, retention, and promotion of women in identified sectors.
• Component Two: Informal Sector Action Plans
  • A comprehensive analysis of the status of women in the informal economies through a detailed and triangulated information collection plan, including desk review, public records, private and public sector human resource information, and/or interviews/surveys.
    • Data should be collected from women in the workforce (at all employment levels), women that are not employed but want to be, and women that have left the workforce.
  • A compilation of information collected into a regional comparison assessment to identify best practices of gender empowerment.
    • This must include a barrier analysis conducted using qualitative methods on challenges to recruitment, retention and promotion of women in identified sectors.

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Project Funding: $6,000,000
• Estimated Initial Increment Award Ceiling: $3,000,000
• Estimated Initial Increment Award Floor: $2,000,000
• Estimated Length of Project Period: 5 years

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants include:

• U.S. or foreign
  • Non-profit organizations;
  • For-profit organizations;
  • Private institutions of higher education;
  • Public or state institutions of higher education;
  • Public international organizations;
• NEA/AC strongly encourages applications from organizations headquartered in the Middle East and North Africa region. International non-governmental organizations with principal bases of operations outside the Middle East and North Africa are also encouraged to apply, but the percentage of total budget actually spent in the region through local partners will be among the elements of evaluation for this competition.
• NEA/AC is committed to an anti-discrimination policy in all of its programs and activities.
• NEA/AC welcomes applications irrespective of an applicants’ race, ethnicity, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. They encourage applications from organizations working with underserved communities, including women, people with disabilities, and youth.

How to Apply

Applicants must submit their application electronically via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=315627