USAID Civil Society and Media Activity
Request for Application (RFA)
Development of Policy Portal to address concerns of Women, Youth and Marginalized (WYM) Communities
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
This Request for Application (RFA) is to solicit applications from prospective grantees to support The Asia Foundation (hereafter referred to as the “Foundation”) in the implementation of the USAID Civil Society and Media (CSM), funded by USAID (Award # 72036722LA00001) through CSM-STAND.
The Civil Society and Media Program, funded by USAID through the Civil Society and Media – Standing Together and in New Directions (CSM-STAND) Leader with Associates Award, is led by The Asia Foundation in partnership with Pact. USAID-CSM is a five-year program (2022-2027) to support ongoing and emerging civic engagement in areas that advance the interests of sub-national communities, particularly those with a history of challenges in engaging women, youth, and marginalized sections of their populations. USAID CSM focuses on civic and media engagement related to good governance (accountability, transparency, participation, equity and inclusion); and access to and quality of education. Most activities focus on providing grants to those organizations and communities outside of Kathmandu in Lumbini and Madhesh Provinces, with some activities implemented in Kathmandu.
CSM’s overarching goal is to support independent civil society and media led by and for women, youth and marginalized (WYM) communities to advance public interest, fundamental freedoms, and accountability. The program works to achieve this through mutually reinforcing activities under three inter-related objectives while contributing to USAID’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS):
To foster an enabling environment for civic space where issues and interests of WYM communities are addressed.
Increase WYM's engagement in civic and public spaces and advance their interests through better access to resources, assets, and skills.
Improve availability of credible information and diverse narratives within media that better represent WYM issues and perspectives.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE
The Constitution of Nepal (2015) institutionalized federalism in Nepal and created three levels of government – federal, provincial (7), and local (753) – to encourage equity-based democratic governance. Aligning with the constitutional provisions of the federal structure, the three levels of government accomplished the successful execution of elections in 2017 and 2022. The underlying goal of federalism in the Constitution is to devolve power and resources and create an enabling environment for everyone to participate in social, economic and political activities.
Women, youth, and marginalized (WYM) communities constitute a significant portion of our society. However, it appears that the vulnerable people from various groups such as WYM are still either not part of the institutional processes of the state or find it difficult to navigate their engagement in the state institutions given the complex web of interconnectedness and patron-client relationships that exist and is shaped by political, economic and social powers. The various ways in which the power relationship interacts make it further complex for WYM to navigate for their share in the system. The practice of inclusion of WYM in government interventions remains problematic. The policies framed to include WYM in development endeavors are either not implemented or only give tokenistic representation than active participation of WYM in the change process.
In this regard, access to information and resources related to policies, regulations, and opportunities is crucial for their empowerment, inclusion, and active participation in various spheres of the socio-political cycle. Unfortunately, these groups often face barriers to accessing and comprehending relevant laws, policies, and guidelines as well as their implication. Creating a one-window multimedia policy portal for addressing the concerns of Women, Youth, and Marginalized (WYM) communities is a powerful and dynamic approach to engage, inform, and empower these groups. Such a portal would leverage a variety of multimedia formats, including videos, podcasts, infographics, analytics, and interactive tools, to effectively convey information and advocate for inclusive policies and their implementation. It offers a range of interactive and informative tools to inform, educate, advocate, and promote equity for the WYM community. By leveraging the power of multimedia, this portal contributes to a more inclusive environment for policy formulation and reforms and empowers WYM communities to advocate for their rights and improve their lives.
At the same time, a one-window policy portal will be a platform that offers a potential government-citizen engagement making information on policies more accessible and understandable to all concerned stakeholders. Moreover, developing and implementing such a portal in Nepal can provide numerous benefits while addressing various challenges and improving the overall efficiency and transparency in government and citizen engagement and interactions while drafting, implementing, and executing policies in Nepal.
In addition, the portal will also become a valuable platform and repository with policy-related information and analysis, easing the access to better data and information sources that empower WYM communities, government agencies, civil society organizations, think tanks, academia, media outlets, and the general public to engage in informed policy discussions, advocacy efforts, research and policy formulation, ultimately contributing to a more transparent, inclusive and accountable governance system in the country.
Objective
Develop a multimedia portal to serve as a repository for all policy-related information such as records/ documentation of policy discussions, draft policy papers, videos of events and activities, analytics, and findings from research studies, particularly related to concerns and issues of WYM, PWD, LGBTQIA+ communities which will increase the accessibility and the availability of evidence-based information and materials.
To achieve the objective, the portal adopts the following strategies:
Identify and onboard a lead CSO for the development and management of a multimedia policy portal to address the issues and priorities of WYM communities.
Formation of an editorial committee for delivering new policy solutions through inspiring policy analysis and reviews
Identify pertinent issues in the policies and find an amicable solution through dialogue with different stakeholders to create a meaningful impact for advancing the public issues of WYM communities.
Enable and promote a culture of policy reform within and offer a platform for informed policy formulation through infographics, briefs, interactive sessions, podcasts, op-eds etc.
Supports building the knowledge of lawmakers, government officials, policy professionals, scholars, CSOs, community leaders and researchers to identify and address the issues of WYM communities.
Provide a research environment and encourage scholars to do policy research through the publication of review articles, columns, publications, reports, analysis.
Sharing training, initiatives and programs through government plans and policies to create a pool of the next generation of policy leaders for bringing hidden and unheard voices of WYM communities at the subnational level.
For Detailed RFA, Please Click Here
For Annex A- Scope of Work, Please Click Here
For Annex B- Cost Proposal Template, Please Click Here
