This USAID/Senegal Request for Information (RFI) is issued for the purpose of providing stakeholders an opportunity to review, comment, suggest, and enhance areas in the attached draft program description (PD) for the USAID/Senegal activity: Equitable Access to Education in Southern SenegalThe Equitable Access to Education in Southern Senegal Activity is expected to be a five-year program with an approximate ceiling of $20,000,000 to $25,000,000, subject to availability of funds. It will aim at providing increased equitable access to education to girls and boys aged approximately 9 to 16 living in the crisis-affected Casamance regions (Ziguinchor, Sedhiou, Kolda) and Kedougou region. Specifically, this activity seeks to: • Offer complementary education services that provide basic education that is responsive to communities’ needs,• Ensure that formal basic education is responsive to communities’ needs,• Increase transition from primary to middle school, and • Support efforts that enable families and caregivers to enroll out-of-school children in responsive education servicesAs appropriate, USAID/Senegal will incorporate responses to the RFI into the development of the PD that may lead to a formal solicitation. The attached draft PD presents the current draft objectives and key elements of the activity. USAID/Senegal may significantly revise this proposed new activity and planned solicitation resulting from the comments received and further internal discussions.This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Applications or Proposals (RFA/RFP). Responses to this RFI shall not be portrayed as proposals and will not be accepted by the U.S. Government (USG) to form a binding agreement. This RFI is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any solicitation or ultimately award of an assistance agreement on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.If the requirement is released in the form of an RFA, it will be synopsized in, but not limited to, grants.gov and Agency websites. It is the potential responder’s responsibility to monitor the above forums for the release of any further information.It should be noted that responding to or providing comment on this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. USAID/Senegal will not provide answers to any question submitted in response to this request.By issuing the draft for comment, USAID/Senegal aims to consult with the broad community of actors involved with democracy and governance services. Your comments are requested to help refine the PD to ensure clarity, maximum development impact, sound coordination with existing activities, and alignment with the Government of Senegal’s top priorities. Please ensure your comments are concise and specific to information included within the draft PD. While there are no limits on the length of submissions accepted, we value concise, issue-specific responses with reference to page and section numbers in the draft PD.Areas of particular interest include:1) Is our theory of change clear and inclusive of the key challenges for access to education for children in the target regions? From your perspectives, are there any gaps that we have not addressed?2) Are the expected outcomes clear and realistic? If not, please elaborate3) How do you see the use of complementary basic education services, in support of the formal education system, as a way of addressing the challenges of access to education for out of school youth in our targeted areas?4) How do you see the use of life skills as a way of making education more relevant and responsive to communities’ needs? 5) Have we identified useful M&E approaches to accurately reflect our programmatic results? Are there different or further approaches we could consider to strengthen our ability to collaborate, learn, and adapt?Please address your comments and questions to Khady Sadio and send them no later than March 20, 2017 to
[email protected] with a copy to
[email protected] .