Subject: Request for Applications USAID-Washington- RFA-OAA-11-000001
Issuance Date: October 16, 2010
Deadline for Questions: October 25, 2010, 2:00 pm EST
Closing Date: November 17, 2010, 11:00 am EST, WashingtonDC
Title: Global Labor Program: Promoting International Labor Standards, Improving Workers’ Access to Justice and Supporting Independent, Democratic Labor Unions and NGOs
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications from eligible institutions as described in Section III of this RFA, for a program titled “Global Labor Program” through the award of a Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreement (also referred to herein as “Leader Award”). A description of the program is provided in Section I of this RFA
The authority for the RFA is found in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended. Pursuant to 22 CFR 226.81, it is USAID policy not to include profit of any nature under assistance instruments. However, all other reasonable, allocable, and allowable expenses, both direct and indirect, which are related to the agreement program and are in accordance with applicable cost standards (22 CFR 226, OMB Circular A-122 for non-profit organization, OMB Circular A-21 for universities, and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 31 for for-profit organizations), may be paid under the award.
USAID reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted. Funding details are provided in Section II of the RFA.
For the purposes of this program, this RFA is being issued and consists of this cover letter and the following:
1. Section I Program Description;
2. Section II Award Information;
3. Section III Eligibility Information;
4. Section IV Application and Submission Instructions;
5. Section V Selection Criteria;
6. Section VI Award and Administration Information;
7. Section VII Other Information - References;
8. Annexes A – H
To be eligible for award, the applicant must provide all required information in its application. Applicants must submit the full application package pursuant to the requirements set forth in Section IV of this RFA. Applicants must propose a cost share in an amount not less than 10% -- in cash or in kind – of the total program budget as part of their application (refer to Section IV of the RFA).
For the purposes of this RFA, the term "Grant" is synonymous with "Cooperative Agreement"; "Grantee" is synonymous with "Recipient"; and "Grant Officer" is synonymous with "Agreement Officer".
If you decide to submit an application, it must be received by the closing date and time indicated at the top of this RFA cover letter at the place designated for receipt in the RFA Section IV Application and Submission Instructions. Hard copies of the Technical Application and the Cost Application and any modifications thereof must bear the name and address of the applicant and RFA #RFA-OAA-11-000001.
Issuance of this RFA does not constitute an award commitment on the part of USAID, nor does it commit USAID to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of an application. Further, USAID reserves the right to reject any or all applications received. In addition, final award of any Leader Award cannot be made until funds have been fully appropriated, allocated, and committed through internal USAID procedures. While it is anticipated that these procedures will be successfully completed, potential applicants are hereby notified of these requirements and conditions for award. Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicants, and all preparation and submission costs are at applicants’ own expense.
Thank you for your interest in USAID Programs.
Sincerely,
Mark Walther
Agreement Officer
M/OAA/DCHA/DOFDA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
SECTION I – PROGRAM DESCRIPTION…………….……………………………… 1
SECTION II – AWARD INFORMATION…………………………………………….. 23
SECTION III – ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION………………………………………. 25
SECTION IV – APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS…………… 26
SECTION V – SELECTION CRITERIA ………….………………………………… 51
SECTION VI – AWARD AND ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION…………… 56
SECTION VII – OTHER INFORMATION – REFERENCES ……………………… 57
ANNEXES
A:REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS ……………..………......
B:MANDATORY STANDARD PROVISIONS …………………………………
C:REQUIRED AS APPLICABLE STANDARD PROVISIONS……………….
D:SURVEY ON ENSURING EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR APPLICANTS…
E:PERFORMANCE REPORT – SHORT FORM………………………………..
F.DIRECTIONS TO MOBILE SCANNING FACILITY………………………..
G.REQUIREDCountries and Country-Specific Instructions………
H.Global Labor Sector Analytical Initiative Documents……………..
RFA-OAA-11-000001
SECTION I – PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Global Labor Program:
Promoting International Labor Standards, Improving Workers’ Access to Justice
and Supporting Independent, Democratic Labor Unions and NGOs
A. PROGRAM BACKGROUND
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has a strong tradition of supporting international labor sector programs designed to foster democratic development and broad-based economic growth around the world. These programs include funding for democratic and independent trade unions and worker organizations, labor rights organizations, employer organizations, and labor-related government institutions, including labor ministries and departments, dispute resolution boards, tribunals and labor/industrial courts. Since 1997, USAID’s global labor rights and union strengthening program has been managed by the Office of Democracy and Governance (DG), in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), whose role is to provide technical and intellectual leadership for USAID and its development practitioners, as well as implementing mechanisms, such as grants and cooperative agreements, to support democratic development around the world.
The goal of USAID’s Global Labor Union and NGO Strengthening Program (2002-2010) and its predecessors has been to assist the Agency to: strengthen the observance of internationally recognized core labor standards by advocating their adoption into law and regulation and promoting effective enforcement once adopted; support the development and strengthening of free and independent labor unions and other labor related organizations in their efforts to support and enhance democratization, equitable economic development and a democratic political culture through supporting effective citizen participation; develop and strengthen national and local union leadership and programmatic capacity, with particular emphasis on providing leadership opportunities for women and youth; and improve and enhance the institutional and financial capacity of labor unions and labor civil society organizations and help them develop means of financial support, both internal and external, that will result in the reduction and eventual elimination of the need for donor funding.
This new LWA for a “Global Labor Program: Promoting International Labor Standards, Improving Workers’ Access to Justice and Supporting Independent, Democratic Labor Unions and NGOs” (hereafter, “Global Labor Program”) will continue the important work of promoting international labor standards and strengthening democratic labor unions and NGOs, with an increased focus on the following areas: the promotion of labor justice and the rule of law in the labor sector, gender considerations, continuing improvements in the monitoring and evaluation of program results, and the integration of program objectives with USAID’s regional and country-specific development goals. The principle aim of the new program is to increase the capacity of independent, democratic labor movements worldwide to promote core labor standards, effectively represent their members and improve working conditions and workers’ livelihoods. The new program will also be expected to explicitly address other cross-sectoral development goals including the development of democratic institutions, broad-based economic growth, and healthy and productive workforces and communities.
1. Previous Global Labor Program
The purpose of USAID’s previous global labor program was to “support transitions to and the consolidation of participatory democratic processes worldwide through a labor organization-strengthening program and other labor related activities” that addressed the following ten objectives:
- Promote the adoption and effective enforcement of core labor standards
- Establishment of legal frameworks to protect and promote civil society
- Increased citizen participation in policy processes, implementation and oversight of public institutions
- Increased institutional and financial viability of labor unions and labor NGOs
- Enhanced free flow of information
- Strengthened democratic culture and gender equity
- Support to anti-sweatshop activities
- Promote broad-based, equitable economic growth
- Human capacity built through education and training
- Improve health through workplace and peer-to-peer health education and prevention.
Leader Award program activities were implemented on the basis of annual workplans in approximately ten to twenty-five countries per year. In addition, several USAID Missions provided funding for country programs through buy-ins and associate awards (denoted by an * below). Activities were implemented during the 2002-2010 program in the following countries:
Africa / Asia / Latin America / East EuropeBotswana / Bangladesh* / Argentina / Bulgaria*
Ethiopia / India / Bolivia / Georgia
Kenya / Indonesia / Brazil / Kosovo*
Lesotho / Malaysia / Colombia / Macedonia*
Mozambique / Philippines / Dominican Republic / Montenegro*
Nigeria / Sri Lanka / Ecuador / Serbia*
Rwanda / Thailand / El Salvador / Ukraine
South Africa / Guatemala
Swaziland / Honduras
Tanzania / Mexico
Zimbabwe* / Nicaragua
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
2. Historical Data by Geographic Region
This request for application will replace the expiring LWA encumbered by the last Leader Award. From the start of the award in February 2002 through its end-date in December 2010, funds going to the Leader Award came primarily from Washington-based offices within USAID and State Department,whereas funds going towards Associate Awards came primarily from USAID field missions. From 2002-2010, USAID/Washington funding to the Leader Award totaled about $76 million and supported several Washington-based Global Programs as well as programs in the Africa, Asia Europe & Eurasia, and Latin American regions. In addition to these funds, State/DRL provided $1.8 million in 2002 for anti-sweatshop programming through a buy-in to the Leader Award. Mission Associate Awards ($4.6m) and buy-ins ($5.9m) to the Leader Award during the same period totaled about $11 million, with the following regional break-down: Africa $1.6 million; Europe & Eurasia $7.4 million; and Asia/Near East $2.1 million. Annual funding provided through this award averaged $12-15 million in the first few years of the award agreement (of which $9 million was funding through the Leader Award and the remainder was funding through Associate Awards and buy-ins), and $7.5 million in the final years (all of which was funding through the Leader Award).
3. Findings of the Global Labor Sector Analytic Initiative (GLASAI)
This request for applications (RFA) for a new Global Labor Programis in part informed by the Global Labor Sector Analytic Initiative (GLASAI), a new and innovative effort to establish the technical foundation and development practitioner tools necessary to demonstrate where and under what conditions investments in the labor sector can produce clear and measurable development results. Initiated in mid-2007, the GLASAI establishes a cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary framework for understanding the labor sector and its contributions to U.S. foreign assistance goals.
The central premise of the conceptual framework presented in this work is that a well-functioning labor sector promotes key development objectives, and requires:
- An established legal foundation that promotes the rule of law and respect for human rights, including labor rights;
- Labor sector organizations, especially the “social partners”, i.e. the trade unions that bargain collectively on wages and working conditions at the firm or industry level and advocate for workers’ interests in social and political arenas , and employers’ associations that do the same for business and the private sector. Labor sector organizations also include many types of non-governmental and civil society organizations that provide services and engage in advocacy efforts in the labor sector.
- A competitive and well-regulated labor market that allows for the smooth allocation of appropriately educated and skilled labor in response to both private and public sector needs in agriculture, industry, and service sectors of an economy; and
- Support from government institutions for a progressively improving set of labor laws and policies, their implementation and continuous improvement, and effective systems of adjudication and dispute avoidance and resolution.
Analysis conducted under this assessment suggests that:
the labor sector can be a highly relevant arena for foreign assistance programming and can provide a practical framework for understanding labor issues in an international development context;
a strong and sustainable labor sector can be important especially for the protection of key human rights and the promotion of freedom of association and core democratic principles; and
labor sector programming is most effective when strategic goals are country-specific and programs integrate relevant activities in the labor sector in new and innovative ways that respond to emerging global issues.
Such integrated activities might span a country’s legal institutions (legal code, judicial system, arbitration mechanisms, and courts), government bodies (e.g. the Ministry of Labor and specialized labor courts), non-governmental organizations (labor unions and NGOs, employers’ associations), and labor markets (both labor supply factors such as workforce training, health and safety, as well as demand factors such as employment-intensive private sector development and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). While this solicitation is focused specifically on promoting international labor standards, improving workers’ access to justice and supporting independent, democratic labor unions and NGOs, USAID seeks applications which reflect and build upon the findings and recommendations emerging from this work, while proposing innovative approaches targeted toward producing clear and measurable results. Applicants should consult the documents on the GLASAI website in preparing Applications (see Annex H).
B. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
1. Development Context
This Request for Applications seeks Applications for a five-year Global Labor Program, which will take place in challenging times both for the promotion of democracy and the contribution of labor movements to democratic transitions, as well as for the furtherance of international labor standards[1]and the attainment of “decent work[2].” The latest “Freedom in the World”[3] series reports that “For the fourth consecutive year, global declines in freedom outweighed gains in 2009… This represents the longest continuous period of decline for global freedom in the nearly 40-year history of the report.” Similarly, the most recent annual Human Rights Report (February 2010) produced by the US Department of State reported significant challenges in 2009 in the protection of human and labor rights worldwide. The Report shows that while progress has been made in a few countries, in many parts of the world abuses and tremendous challenges for workers striving to have their rights in the workplace respected continue; furthermore, women, migrants, and low-wage workers in the informal sector are especially vulnerable to exploitation and dangerous working conditions. Finally, significant economic challenges threaten the development gains achieved over the past several decades, particularly regarding labor standards and labor rights. As a result of the global financial crisis, many countries, developed and developing alike, are seeing poverty levels increase, livelihood opportunities for their citizens diminish, and the social protection systems that might help citizens survive varying levels of economic downturn falter. Especially of concern is the continuing employment crisis which is expected to outlast the financial crisis by several years,[4] threatening not only the availability of jobs but potentially also recent progress made toward global achievement of core international labor standards, especially the freedom of association.
Despite these challenges, USAID remains committed to promoting and strengthening effective democracies and helping them move along a continuum toward democratic consolidation through support to key strategic interventions in the areas of governance, competitive processes and consensus-building, civil society, and the rule of law. As demonstrated through previous USAID experience and recent analysis of the role of the labor sector in achieving U.S. foreign assistance goals, labor sector organizations comprise a significant element of civil society in many countries and can be key to promoting effective democracies and sustainable development for several reasons.
The full, effective participation of vibrant, democratic labor unions and other labor related nongovernmental organizations[5] (labor NGOs) can be vital to democratic civil societies asindependent labor unions are invariably broad based, bringing otherwise disenfranchised citizens into the political and development process. Labor unions and other organizations working on behalf of worker interests have historically given voice to disenfranchised and other vulnerable groups, the very ones often excluded from the political system by other institutions. Women, in particular, have benefitted from having a representative voice speaking on their behalf. Issues of pay discrimination, sexual harassment, and maternity leave are frequently road blocks that keep women from bettering their own financial outlook or from providing resources to their children. Given extreme disparities in wealth and power in many developing countries, independent and democratic worker organizations especially can be critical vehicles for promoting interest-based competition in public policy arenas as well as ensuring that the voices of the working poor and marginalized groups are heard. When women and youth especially are taken into account in decisions in the workplace and in the national arena, they gain greater control over their livelihoods and those of their families and communities.
In many low-income countries, the legal enabling environment and the public institutions responsible for guaranteeing and enforcing the rights of workers to form unions are poorly developed and inadequately resourced. Rule of law issues such as rights advocacy and improvements in access to justice are thus critical to ensuring the basic freedoms and rights necessary for workers to organize and maintain their own independent and representativeorganizations.[6] Promoting the rule of law in the labor sector is thus both a development goal in itself and a means of providing broader support for the rule of law. Independent labor unions and NGOs especially have essential roles regarding the promotion of these core labor standards, labor rights and access to justice in the labor sector, given their focus on educating workers, advocating for changes in laws and practices consistent with the fundamental principals of labor rights, representing their members’ interests in both individual and collective bargaining and dispute resolution; and promoting improvements in democracy, governance, and economic policy that serve the interests of their members, workers in general, and, the public at large.