REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA) FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY HEALTH THROUGH AWARENESS RAISING AND BEHAVIOR CHANGE ACTIVITIES IN TURKEY
Relief International (RI) is inviting applications from interested local non-governmental organizations to collaborate as an implementing partner in a planned program to promote community health through awareness raising and behavior change among refugees and host community members in Istanbul. One implementing partner is expected to be selected as part of this process (contingent upon donor approval). The deadline for submission of applications is October 29, 2019.
BACKGROUND
RI is a humanitarian, non-profit, non-sectarian agency that provides emergency relief, rehabilitation, and development services throughout the world. RI operates in 16 countries across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and has extensive past performance responding to emergencies. RI’s goal is to empower the most vulnerable communities to develop lasting solutions to their most pressing challenges and to build an environment that creates permanent well-being.
In Turkey, the objective of RI’s programming is to support the Government of Turkey (GoT) to provide niche health services for refugees that are not included in the migrant health centers, such as physical rehabilitation and mental health services. RI currently supports six mental health centers and six comprehensive physical rehabilitation centers across Turkey through five local partners with funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the US Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM), as well as community health and leishmaniasis prevention programming.
As part of RI’s anticipated follow-on PRM program, RI will partner with a non-governmental organization (NGO) to promote community health through awareness raising and behavior change activities. Applications are invited from qualified NGOs to undertake the activities described below.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Turkey hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country. As of October 2019, more than 3.67 million Syrian refugees were registered with the GoT (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), 96% of whom live among the host community in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas (Turkey Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan [3RP]). Although the temporary protection status gives access to health care for eligible Syrian refugees, it also presents a large burden on Turkey’s national healthcare system. The GoT and implementers have made strides in bolstering the national healthcare system to support service provision, but there is a need to strengthen the capacity of public health infrastructure to cope with the large caseload of Syrian refugees and to provide direct and targeted support to the most vulnerable refugees who lack access to critical health services.
In late 2018, RI conducted a needs assessment in the six districts of Istanbul with the highest number or Syrian refugees, reaching 501 households. Thirty-six percent self-reported that there is at least one person with disability at home. This assessment also found that the most common barriers to accessing physical or other rehabilitation centers were a lack of information about centers, cost of rehabilitation services, no physical access to these centers, and a lack of any rehabilitation services in the area. Lack of awareness was found to have a more negative effect on access than stigma and other cultural beliefs, indicating that service providers should stress awareness campaigns and outreach to refugee communities to disseminate information about availability. Over half of respondents stated that they cannot access mental health/psychosocial support services when needed, with awareness the biggest barrier, which has also been highlighted in the 3RP as gap in the provision of preventive services for refugees.
Moreover, RI’s community health needs assessment in October 2018 found that there are knowledge gaps among the refugee communities about essential reproductive health issues such as pregnancy warning signs and the importance of pre- and post-natal medical check-ups, with noticeably lower level of awareness demonstrated by male respondents.
SCOPE OF WORK
RI is preparing for an anticipated PRM-funded program as a follow on to its current work. The goal of this program will be to contribute to building a more resilient and informed refugee community in Turkey through provision of specialized and preventive health services and increased access to livelihood opportunities, while reducing the burden on the Turkish healthcare system. RI and its partners will pursue four objectives to reach this goal: 1) improve access to comprehensive mental health services for refugees; 2) improve access to physical rehabilitation services for refugees; 3) promote community health through awareness raising and behavior change activities, and 4) improve access to livelihood opportunities.
Through this RFA, RI is seeking to identify a partner who will be responsible for Objective 3, Promote community health through awareness raising and behavior change activities. The scope of work of the local implementing partner is expected to include the following:
- Train and deploy at least eight teams of two community health workers (CHWs) in the catchment areas of RI or partner-supported centers in Istanbul to disseminate community health messaging.
- Comprise CHW teams of both Syrian and Turkish CHWs to foster social cohesion and ensure that both refugee and host community needs are being met.
- Ensure that CHWs are from the communities that they serve to increase trust, access, and uptake of messaging.
- Include a combination of community health awareness topics identified through beneficiary and key informant feedback, such as reproductive health, infant and young child feeding, breast cancer self-detection, personal and household hygiene, dental hygiene, and vaccinations.
- Raise awareness among the community about centers providing healthcare services and access to the Turkish healthcare system, including Migrant Health Centers.
- Equip CHWs with mobile devices to allow for real-time data tracking on sessions and with demonstration tools for use in sessions.
- Liaise with local partners’ centers to ensure that recipients of awareness sessions also benefit from center activities as needed.
- Train CHW teams on basic referral mechanisms to ensure that beneficiaries receive comprehensive care for services not provided through this project.
- Integrate activities and responses with RI’s other partners on this program, who provide mental health/psychosocial support and physical rehabilitation, to the greatest extent possible for more comprehensive support for beneficiaries.
- Conduct a knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) survey among target populations in order to measure improvement in awareness on targeted health topics.
The implementing partner is expected to conduct at least 480 community health education sessions, reaching at least 3,840 unique beneficiaries. These beneficiaries will be reached by CHWs at least four times during a year in order to cover all the indicated community health topics. An estimated 15,360 family members of the direct beneficiaries are expected to indirectly benefit from this activity thanks to improved health awareness of the targeted individuals. RI encourages applications that include innovative ways of increasing community health awareness, such as use of volunteers and community leaders.
The targets stated here are minimum targets, and applicants are encouraged to increase them if feasible as per their proposed approach, budget, and work plan.
The duration of the proposed project should be 12 months, with the possibility of a 7-month extension depending on performance and funding.
TARGET POPULATION and GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS
The program activities is expected to be implemented in Istanbul, Turkey, where 559,033 Syrians under temporary protection reside (Directorate General of Migration Management).
Applicants are expected primarily to prioritize districts within the catchment population of currently supported centers which operate in and around the districts of Fatih, Kucukcekmece, Sultanbeyli, and Ümraniye in Istanbul for the implementation of community health programming, but additional areas may be proposed as well if justified by needs. Applicants are requested to provide a clear rationale for the selection of the locations and present a needs assessment at the district level if possible.
As healthcare is provided in accordance with need, host community members may also participate in the community health initiatives to incorporate the principle of Do No Harm and strengthen social cohesion. However, at least 51% of those served should be Syrian refugees. RI also anticipates providing support to a range of ages of beneficiaries, though beneficiary selection should be based on best practices.
To ensure that female and male beneficiaries have equal access to community health services, the implementing partner is expected to ensure a gender balance among the project staff, especially CHWs, to make sure that messages reach women and girls. Applicants should identify the age, sex, and nationality disaggregation of the targeted beneficiaries per proposed topic and to identify a coherent approach to reach out to them.
MONITORING AND EVALAUTION (M&E)
Applicants should propose an M&E plan including objectively verifiable quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure the program outcome, including those listed in the Key Performance Indicators section. The partners will conduct baseline and endline surveys to measure the change in the target communities’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). RI will provide necessary technical support to the partner during the design, application, and analysis of the surveys. For sessions conducted with children, an age-appropriate questionnaire will be designed to be conducted in an interactive verbal manner.
The applicants expected to work towards the objective below and must include the following indicators:
| Overall Objective: Promote community health through awareness raising and behavior change activities | |||
| Indicator | Indicator type | Minimum target # and/or % | How measured/ documented/ collected |
| Indicator 1: # of unique beneficiaries who receive targeted messages on health-related services available to them, disaggregated by gender, age, location, and nationality | Output, standard
|
3,840
|
Attendance sheets
|
| Indicator 2: % of community members who demonstrate improved awareness and practices regarding health and hygiene topics, disaggregated by gender, age, location, and nationality | Outcome, custom | 50%
|
Baseline and endline KAP surveys |
| Indicator 3: # of community health promotion sessions provided, disaggregated by topic | Output, custom | 480
|
Activity reports, data collection tools |
In addition to those outlined above, applicants are encouraged to propose additional indicators in the required logframe.
BUDGET
The maximum allowable budget is TRY 1,456,000; applicants are expected to submit a competitive financial application that balances cost efficiency and quality of programming. Indirect cost rates/overhead will only be granted if supported by a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) with the U.S. government or external audit report verifying the organization’s indirect cost rate. If an indirect rate is requested, the supporting documentation (NICRA or external audit) should be included with the application package. If no documentation is provided, RI will consider the application based on only the direct costs.
All costs should be in line with PRM donor rules and regulations (see also 2 CFR 200); only costs that are necessary, reasonable, allocable, and applicable will be permitted under this project.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Interested organizations are invited to submit the following documents in English to [email protected] by 17:00 Tuesday, October 29, 2019. Any applications received after the deadline and/or incomplete applications will not be considered. Documents in the incorrect format or in languages other than English will not be considered. Applications must include ALL of the following documents:
- A concept note using the template provided in Annex A.
- A detailed budget using the template provided in Annex B.
- A budget narrative using the template provided in Annex C.
- A work plan using the template provided in Annex D.
- A logframe using the template provided in Annex E.
- Declaration of Eligibility using the form provided in Annex F.
- CVs of up to five key personnel who will work for or provide oversight of the program, such as Program Manager, Country Director, Health Manager, M&E Manager, etc.
- Proof of registration in Turkey.
- If applicable, supporting documentation for requested indirect costs (NICRA or external audit report).
For questions, please contact [email protected] before 16:00 Friday, October 18, 2019.
WHO CAN APPLY? / ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Only NGOs can apply. For the purpose of this RFA, an NGO is defined as an organization:
- which is independent of the state as regards to its establishment and/or appointment of its personnel and administrators, and
- which has an autonomous and democratic structure in its financial and administrative affairs, and
- which is a non-profit legal entity.
Within this frame applicants should be registered as an association, foundation, or union in Turkey and provide proof of registration at the time of application.
Applicants are also excluded from participation in the RFA or the award of grants if, at the time of the RFA, they:
- are subject to a conflict of interests with RI or PRM.
- are guilty of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by RI as a condition of participation in the RFA or fail to supply this information.
- have attempted to obtain confidential information or influence the evaluation committee or RI during the evaluation process of current or previous RFAs.
Applicants must have or be willing to obtain a DUNS number prior to award, and be willing and able to comply with all relevant rules and regulations applicable to U.S. government funding upon award. This includes branding and marking and audit requirements.
Only eligible organizations that submit a complete application before the deadline will move on to the evaluation phase.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Application will be evaluated on the following categories, as outlined in the concept note template:
- Project objectives (10 pts)
- Organizational experience (16 pts)
- Methodology and approach (20 pts)
- Performance management framework (14 pts)
- Financial proposal (16 pts)
- Technical capacity (16 pts)
- Work plan (8 pts)
APPLICATION PROCESS and TIMELINE
- Deadline for applications: 17:00 Tuesday, October 29, 2019
- Contact [email protected] for questions before 16:00 Friday, October 18, 2019. Answers will be published on this site on Tuesday, October 22, 2019.
- Applications must be received by the email address [email protected] by the date and time listed above to be considered under the RFA.
- If you wish to apply for this opportunity, please specify that you saw it on vacanciesinturkey.com
- Shortlisted applicants are estimated to be informed by mid-November and may be asked for clarifications. Upon notification of being shortlisted, RI will conduct a due diligence evaluation with the selected organizations, which may include site visits.
- Notification of selection is expected to be completed by December 8, 2019.
- The project is expected to start on January 1, 2020, contingent upon the availability of funding and successful negotiation of a subagreement.
Please note that signing of a subagreement is contingent upon RI’s receipt of award from PRM, successful project negotiation, and donor approval.
DISCLAIMER
Issuance of this RFA does not constitute an award commitment on the part of RI, nor does it commit RI to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of an application. Furthermore, RI reserves the right to reject any or all applications received. Similarly, an invitation for further negotiation is not a commitment to fund that application.
PRM-Y3_Community-Health_Annex-A_Concept-Note
PRM-Y3_Community-Health_Annex-B_Budget
PRM-Y3_Community-Health_Annex-C_Budget-Narrative
PRM-Y3_Community-Health_Annex-D_Work-Plan