Let Girls Learn

The purpose of this notice is to announce an upcoming Annual Program Statement (APS) for the new Let Girls Learn/Pakistan activity.This new Let Girls Learn/Pakistan project will address key barriers that adolescent girls and young women face in accessing educational and employment opportunities due to poverty, cultural norms, geographic isolation, and security. Girls are less likely to enter primary school than boys, face greater obstacles to complete their schooling, and are underrepresented at later stages of the education cycle. Adolescent females have limited agency and decision-making authority over their lives. Women's visibility in the workforce and in positions of leadership is also minimal. Evidence of effective solutions for adolescent females in Pakistan is promising, particularly among civil society organizations, but largely anecdotal, and while gender equity policies in education exist, implementation is weak, particularly at the local level.

Specifically, the Let Girls Learn/Pakistan Activity will address the following challenges for adolescent girls:● Difficulty in accessing opportunities to learn; ● Limited or no options that prepare or expose adolescent females to work experiences or female role models in the workplace;● Entrenched social and cultural norms that inhibit parents and communities from prioritizing adolescent girls’ education and women’s ability to participate in the workforce.Subject to the availability of funds, the United States Government intends to fund one or more grants supporting partnerships in each of the challenge areas listed above. Each grant is anticipated to be limited to two years. 1. Project Activities: The purpose of the Let Girls Learn initiative in Pakistan is to create or expand opportunities for adolescent girls to acquire the education and other, related skills necessary to become active, positive contributors within their families, schools and communities. It is envisaged that efforts will advance gender equity and women’s empowerment by widening Pakistani adolescent girls’ opportunities to learn, preparing and exposing them to work experiences and people who can support their efforts, and creating an enabling environment for them to succeed at school, at home, in the workplace, and within their communities.The APS envisions the following results out of the activities proposed by applicants:• Strengthened ability of local governments to develop, implement, and coordinate evidence-based gender equity measures, especially in education;• Increased equitable access for adolescent females to formal and non-formal education and training opportunities;• Improved workforce readiness of adolescent girls and young women;• Increased exposure to work and career opportunities for adolescent girls and young women;• Improved attitudes/greater openness to the role of young women in Pakistan's economic, social, and political development2. APS Release:USAID intends to release the full Annual Program Statement on Grants.gov by end of September, 2016. The APS will provide a detailed program description, instructions on submitting the application, and contact details. 3. Communication with USAID:Questions concerning this notice may be directed to William Sedlak, Agreement Officer, at wsedlak@usaid.gov (with a copy to shumayun@usaid.gov). However, please be advised that substantive questions with respect to the APS will not be answered until the APS is released, at which point all applicants will be allowed to submit questions that will be answered in a “Q&A” document, which will be posted to the APS as an amendment. Prospective applicants may not contact USAID technical staff directly for information on this APS – such contact may be grounds for exclusion from the competition.

This notice in no way obligates USAID to release a solicitation or award. Issuance of a APS will be subject to internal USAID approvals and the availability of funds. Due to the competitive nature of the procurement, unsolicited applications will not be considered. All applications have to be submitted in response to the APS.Thank you in advance for your interest in working with USAID/Pakistan./s/Mohammad Kamal AyubAgreement OfficerNote: PDF format of this description is available in "Related Documents"