USAID seeks African NGO for $1.8 million malaria and tuberculosis project.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for an Assistance Agreement from qualified African regional organizations and institutions for funding a $1.8 million program to expand Best Practices for Malaria and Tuberculosis in eastern and southern Africa. USAID defines African Regional Organizations in the following manner: “African Regional Organizations are ones that are established and with offices based in Africa and run primarily for and by Africans.”

The countries that they define as “Malaria priority countries” are: Angola, Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. “Tuberculosis priority countries” are: DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

USAID states that it intends to provide the approximately $1.8 million in total USAID funding to the successful applicant over a 2 year period.

The Request for Applications (RFA) was issued on July 27, 2005 and the Deadline (“Closing Date”) for submission of those applications is September 6, 2005 at 3:00 PM, Nairobi local time.

The RFA is identified as: Request for Applications (RFA) Number 623-A-05-037 and the portal to it may be found at the following web address: http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/AID/OM/KEN/623-A-05-037/Attachments.html


In brief, USAID wants to provide a Grant to an

- African Regional Organization, with
- Proven technical competence in malaria and tuberculosis, that is
- Able to conduct the project in two or more areas in two or more countries in Eastern and Southern African region

The infectious disease components of the project can be done in the same or different locations, with a Population base of 300,000 to 500,000 per area, and the selected project areas should be chosen to show a range of diverse situations: ethnicity, mobile or vulnerable populations, in order to identify the maximum numbers of lessons learned.

Finally, the Organization is to: Disseminate lessons learned at the national and regional level.

The program objective is to strengthen health systems in the region and implement concerning the prevention and control of malaria and tuberculosis.


Malaria Best practices

- Prompt recognition and effective treatment for malaria in children under five;
- Use of long lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLITNs) to prevent infection
- The expansion of malaria in pregnancy activities (MIP) through the use of LLITNs to prevent infection, and Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) in areas of stable malaria transmission.

Tuberculosis Best practices

- Increase case detection of tuberculosis at the community level
- Provide Community-Based, Directly Observed Treatment (CB-DOT) for TB
- Increase access to services for co-infected TB/HIV patients.


Needless to say that the organization must be a non-profit NGO, but according to USAID’s RFA, “all reasonable, allocable, and allowable expenses, both direct and indirect, which are related to the grant program and are in accordance with applicable cost standards … may be paid under the grant.” (The RFA sets out what those cost standards are.)

In trying to decide whether your organization would be a good applicant for this project, keep in mind that the primary objective of the Cooperative Agreement (CA) sought by USAID is to obtain the services of an African Organization with a multi-country regional presence, that has proven technical, managerial, and financial capability to implement and expand malaria and tuberculosis best practices in the ESA (eastern and southern Africa) Region. USAID expects that the organization will work with both the public and private sectors, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs), and other stakeholders to implement malaria and tuberculosis best practices:

The application form is rather detailed, and will discourage anyone who is not serious about applying for this funding. For example, organizations that have not had any involvement with USAID in the past will need to provide it with certified financial reports for the previous 3 years. On the other hand, it is relatively easy to access the RFA and any amendments to it by the internet in order to determine whether you wish to apply. And a word to the wise is that anyone who is serious about this application process should register for updates and amendments to the RFA and also check back periodically RFA’s web site to see if any updates have indeed been posted. Also, the names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of the contact persons for the RFAs are found on the RFA’s web site as well.


Questions concerning the project and the application process should be directed to the contact individuals, who are in Nairobi, Kenya. But it would be advisable to carefully read the RFA before asking any questions. And any interested person should take note that the deadline for asking questions is August 16, 2005.

The Request For Applications may be found at:
http://www.fedgrants.gov/Applicants/AID/OM/KEN/623-A-05-037/Attachments.html where you can take a link to the RFA in PDF format or load the RFA with all of the Amendments in a Zip Compression.

And if you would like to look for other possible U.S. federal grants and funded projects you should go to: http://www.fedgrants.gov/