The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (“EGPAF” or “Foundation”), a non-profit organization, is the world leader in the fight to eliminate pediatric AIDS. Our mission is to end pediatric AIDS through groundbreaking research, advocacy, and prevention and treatment programs. For more information, please visit http://www.pedaids.org. Alongside our work to fight HIV in children, the Foundation has been actively implementing activities to fight pediatric tuberculosis – first as a co-infection to HIV, and since 2018 as a standalone approach within the (below described) CaP TB project.

Introduction

EGPAF is seeking applications from legally registered civil society organizations (CSO) and/or community-based organizations (CBO) to facilitate community-led advocacy and demand creation for national tuberculosis (TB) policy reforms for the implementation and scale up of pediatric TB care, including screening, diagnostic, adherence support, treatment of active TB and TB preventive therapy. Catalytic small grants will be made available through the support of the CaP TB project to help create an enabling policy and regulatory environment to support the work of the CaP TB project and improve pediatric TB management as a whole.

Background

About CAP TB (Catalyzing Pediatric Tuberculosis Innovation):

CAP TB is a four-year project funded by UNITAID and is being implemented by EGPAF in 10 countries including Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and India. The CAP TB project helps save children’s lives by introducing and using innovative models of care, diagnostics and drugs for pediatric TB. More information from CAP TB can be found here:  https://www.pedaids.org/resource/catalyzing-pediatric-tuberculosis-innovations-cap-tb-  implementation-integration-new-tb-care-treatment-models/

CAP TB aims to:

• Ensure the rapid uptake of innovative approaches and changes in international and national guidelines and recommendations to better manage pediatric TB from diagnostic to treatment and prevention.
• Strengthen the knowledge and capacity of health-care workers and community health volunteers.
• Increase the community knowledge and awareness about pediatric TB infection, treatment and prevention.
• Support the screening for TB in non-TB entry points of health facilities, such as pediatric wards and outpatient departments, vaccination units, nutrition units, etc.
• Support allocation of funding for pediatric TB, including first line drugs and improved diagnostic assays in national budgets, Global Fund proposals, PEPFAR Country Operating Plans (COPs), and other donor grants.
• Develop education and advocacy materials for CSOs to build capacity to advocate for country uptake of pediatric TB drugs, and to hold governments accountable.

By the end of the project (2021), CAP TB will:

• More than double the number of children diagnosed with active TB;
• Double the number of children initiated on first-line TB treatment and treat more than 16,000 children with active TB;
• Ensure that 90% of children diagnosed with active TB are initiated on treatment and that 90% achieve treatment success;
• Increase the proportion of children who are initiated on TB preventive treatment (TPT) for latent TB infection (LTBI), treat more than 52,000 children with LTBI, and increase the share of children completing LTBI treatment from 50% to 80%.

Eligibility

This is a closed call for proposals. Only organizations who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply:

• Applications must be from civil society and/ or community organizations working on or having an interest in increasing their work scope to work on TB, with a preference for pediatric TB, even beyond this small grant.
• Applications from consortiums may also be considered.
• Organizations must be based in the CAP TB project countries to be eligible to apply: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe. If applicants are proposing activities at the community level, they must be working within EGPAF CAP TB project districts.

Organizations should have demonstrated experience and success advocating at the national level.

General Guidelines

Applicants are expected to develop a proposal that includes a policy and advocacy work plan with goals and tactics to address the barriers at the community and/or national level to achieving the objectives of the CAP TB project of increasing diagnosis and treatment of pediatric TB through innovative models of care.

This proposal should include specific targets for advocacy activities, actions to be taken to achieve those targets, and outline how reaching those targets will help to achieve CaP TB desired outcomes.

Proposals will be reviewed by EGPAF at both country and HQ level. Direct communication regarding the application process will only be with the indicated country focal point.

Key Grant Terms

The anticipated grant type is a Fixed Obligation Grant (FOG). A FOG is a type of grant that pays for the delivery of milestones or outputs rather than reimbursing based on actual costs incurred. Payment will be based on the completion of agreed-upon milestones during the term of the grant. When preparing a budget for this Request for Proposals, please keep in mind that you are proposing a fixed budget for the total costs necessary to deliver the scope of work proposed.

All deliverables provided to the Foundation must be furnished for the use of the Foundation without royalty or any additional fees.

Grant Ceiling and Scope

Grants will be awarded according to the scope and grant ceiling, for a period of up to 12 months. Grants will be awarded in funding levels up to $15,000 USD per grantee. Proposals may be for any amount up to this ceiling. A maximum of two grants will be awarded for the entire country with a grant ceiling of $25,000 USD total funding for the country.

Small grants are approved in USD. Unfortunately, we cannot do anything about fluctuating exchange rates between your currency and the USD. Currency losses or gains in comparison to the original proposal will be borne by the grantee, but we will work with grantees to ensure that all budget and work-plans are accurately managed.

Grants cannot include equipment costs (e.g., laptops, phones, vehicles, etc.). Budgeted expenses should be project-specific and may include a proportion of staff time.

Inclusion of overheads/ administrative expenses is possible as long as they are in line with the practice from the organization for other similar submissions. They need to be included within the overall budget and are not provided in addition to the approved budget.

Evaluation Criteria and Submission Instructions

Please complete the attached three application forms and submit all documents to: to the following e-mail address: cameroonprocurement@pedaids.org

The Foundation will accept the proposal that presents the most interesting approaches, at

costs both realistic and of optimal value. All proposals will be evaluated against the following Evaluation Criteria. Each proposal must contain the items listed in the Submission Requirements column in the following chart. Please submit your Submission Requirements in the order that they appear below.

*The link to the documents can be requested at cameroonprocurement@pedaids.org

How to apply

Grants will be awarded according to the scope and grant ceiling, for a period of up to 12 months. The submission package should include the following documents all in PDF and submit in the order that they appear below.

• Past performance of similar work. If available or if possible, professional references from similar past projects with phone and email contact information and one or more examples of prior similar work. Organization that has a trackable experience on pediatric TB and/ or advocacy for health will be will be considered more favorably
• A grantee’s proposal including specific targets for advocacy activities, actions to be taken to achieve those targets, and outline how reaching those targets will help to achieve CaP TB desired outcomes. A maximum 5-page written proposal explaining the key milestones, deliverables and timeline for implementation (use attached proposal template)
• Up-to-date CV/Resume of proposed individuals to work on this project showing their qualifications and 2 references per individual and copy of the individual ID card
• Detailed budget per intervention (the attached budget template should be used). Grants will be awarded in funding levels up to $15,000 USD per grantee. Proposals may be for any amount up to this ceiling. The anticipated grant type is a Fixed Obligation Grant (FOG) (see attached term of reference for more information)
• All applicants are required to be registered and authorized to perform the scope of work in the place of performance. A copy of valid registration must be submitted with each proposal. 

​​​​​​​Deadline:

Proposal can be submitted at any time within the day. In order to be allowed for 12 months of implementation, the proposals should be submitted by no later than April 04, 2020 in order to be considered. Grantees will be notified by April 30th, 2020. Proposals submitted after April 02, 2020 may be considered (pending availability of funds) but would not be eligible for activities to run beyond April 2021.

DATE: April 02, 2020 - Completed proposals must be delivered electronically by the deadline mentioned on page one to the following e-mail address: cameroonprocurement@pedaids.org with a “cc” to (Dr Léonie SIMO, Country Implementating Manager CaP-TB, lsimo@pedaids.org).

Additional Information

All proposals and communications must be identified by the unique RFP# reflected on the first page of this document.

The proposal submitted should be as complete as possible, as the selection will be made on the documents submitted. However, after providing an initial positive feedback on a given submission, the submitting organization and EGPAF may still work on the project proposal, to clarify some of the elements, such as description of the milestones to be achieved, and attached budget.

This RFP is not an offer to enter into agreement with any party, but rather a request to receive proposals from organizations interested in providing the services outlined. The Foundation reserves the right to reject all proposals, in whole or in part, enter into negotiations with any party, and/or award multiple grants.

The Foundation shall not be obligated for the payment of any sums whatsoever to any recipient of this RFP until and unless a written grant between the parties is executed.

Equal Opportunity Notice. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and represents that all qualified bidders will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Ethical Behavior

As a core value to help achieve our mission, the Foundation embraces a culture of honesty, integrity, and ethical business practices and expects its business partners to do the same. Specifically, our procurement and granting processes are fair and open and allow all vendors/grantees equal opportunity to win our business. We will not tolerate fraud or corruption, including kickbacks, bribes, undisclosed familial or close personal relationships between vendors and Foundation employees, or other unethical practices. If you experience of suspect unethical behavior by a Foundation employee, please contact fraud@pedaids.org or the Foundation’s Ethics            Hotline at www.reportlineweb.com/PedAids/ Any vendor/grantee who attempts to engage, or engages, in corrupt practices with the Foundation will have their proposal disqualified and will not be solicited for future work.