The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from qualified U.S. and International Higher Education Institutions (HEI) to implement the USAID Kenya Empowered Youth (KEY) Program.

The purpose of this cooperative agreement is to implement the five-year Kenya Empowered Youth (KEY) activity aimed at improving the lives of all Kenyan youth,35 especially those who are the most marginalized. Those vulnerable youth include the undereducated, the most at-risk adolescent girls, youth with disabilities, and those living in extreme poverty.

Through KEY, USAID/Kenya and East Africa (KEA) will support innovative and sustainable strategies, partnerships, and youth-led approaches that promote youth empowerment and employment, connect youth with each other, and increase access and utilization of social and economic services.

Program Components

Increasing economic prospects for youth by connecting youth with demand-driven training in targeted sectors with high growth potential, life skills and entrepreneurship training, increasing access to finance, and expanding opportunities for youth-led and youth-friendly businesses.
Through a partnership between U.S. and Kenyan HEIs, build the capacity of technical training institutions along high growth value chains to increase workforce competitiveness, conduct research, and increase the use of reliable data to inform youth development training, policy, and investments.
Develop and/or strengthen local, holistic and sustainable youth-serving systems in select counties to measurably and sustainably impact the lives of those youth who are most vulnerable.

Program Results

• Increase Youth Economic Prospects
• Build Kenyan Higher Education Institutions’ Capacity
• Strengthen Youth-Serving Systems

Funding Information

USAID intends to provide total USAID funding of US$15 million over a five (5) year period.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligibility for this NOFO is restricted.
• Eligibility is restricted to US and International Higher Education Institutions.
• Per the 2018 USAID Education policy, a higher education institution is an organization that provides educational opportunities that build on secondary education, providing learning activities in specialized fields. It aims at learning at a high level of complexity and specialization. Higher/tertiary education includes what is commonly understood as academic education but also includes advanced vocational or professional education. This may include public or private universities, colleges, community colleges, academically affiliated research institutes, and training institutes, including teacher training institutes.
• USAID has established a mandatory minimum recipient cost share of 10% of projected award amount for the award.

Other:

• If the applicant proposes to partner with other organizations through sub-awards, it should present a clear structure in terms of roles and responsibilities of each sub-recipient, lines of authority, and managerial decision-making process.
• Applicants must have established financial management systems, monitoring and evaluation processes, internal control systems, and policies and procedures that comply with established U.S.

Source:https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329761