CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM

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Through this Addendum, USAID/Pakistan intends to seek new approaches to prevent or reduce the likelihood of conflict and build resilience, in partnership with a wide variety of stakeholders and partners. USAID/Pakistan invites applications to propose innovative approaches that may mitigate conflict and the drivers of conflict emerging from the lack of strong citizen-government engagement, and that will address local challenges to building peace in targeted communities. Applicants must demonstrate that the proposed interventions support improved local capacity for both citizen and government institutions to respond to the emerging changes and citizen needs in the identified areas through a conflict sensitive approach. Building resilient and inclusive local systems requires engagement across multiple levels with an array of stakeholders and influencers. In support of USAID/Pakistan’s Country Development and Cooperation strategy (CDCS) [See Attachment 4], the proposed activities will focus on building trust and a shared vision for a common future among and between communities and government institutions in key geographic areas located in either South Punjab or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Some engagement at the provincial and federal levels may be incorporated into applications as appropriate. Priority will be placed on supporting locally led interventions that aim to promote peaceful communities. A conflict sensitive approach is essential for all activities and implementation approaches. Based on USAID’s practice, gender sensitivity is a key element of conflict sensitivity. Since women, men, and youth play different roles in their communities, applicants must describe how their activities and approaches will be tailored to address the needs of women, men, youth, and other vulnerable populations. USAID intends to complement existing government efforts and source new ideas, by working through a diverse set of stakeholders and partners to achieve the following goal and objectives: Goal: Strengthening citizen engagement in governance to advance peace Objective 1: Effectiveness of citizen-led interventions strengthened Objective 2: Government responsiveness to citizens concerns improved USAID and its partner will further refine the proposed hypothesis during the co-creation process and incorporate the principles of Collaboration, Learning and Adapting throughout implementation. By operating at the national, provincial, and local levels, the new Program will develop and strengthen horizontal and vertical networks of civil society, government, and private sector partners. Activities will have to coordinate closely with relevant government institutions and other relevant interventions by development partners for maximum effectiveness, and most specifically activities implemented by USAID/Pakistan. USAID will prioritize applications that enable USAID to partner with new and under-utilized development actors as described below and in the APS, based on the belief that a larger and more diverse partner base will expand the available ideas, capabilities and networks to address shared development challenges. Any proposed intervention or activity must have an explicit and direct link to the achievement of USAID/Pakistan programmatic objectives as defined herein as well as the objectives set forth in the NPI: CPRP APS.

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