Search for Common Ground – Afghanistan Request for Proposal

Financial assistance to local NGOs to support community-based mechanism

to provide mediation and conflict resolution services

RFP-Asia REF

RFP Publication Date:

January 05, 2023

Deadline for Submission of Applications:

January 31, 2023, 04:00 pm (Kabul time)
Applications submitted later than the above noted date and time will not be considered.

Submission guidelines:
● All applications must be submitted through email to Afghanistan@sfcg.org
● Subject line of your email must be “Search Asia REF Financial Assistance”.
Otherwise, your application will not be evaluated/considered.
● Applications must be submitted in English language.
● Application documents should not exceed a total size of 2MB.
● Only NGOs considered for next stage of the awarding process will be
contacted.
● Applicants who will not receive any notification by February 15, 2023, from
Search Afghanistan means that their applications have not been successful.
● Applicants should submit the following documents:
1. A technical proposal using the Application Form, see attachment 01.
2. A detailed budget using the Detailed Budget template, see
attachment 02.
3. An M&E Plan using the M&E Plan template, see attachment 03.
4. A scanned copy of your registration certificate/license.

Locations/Geographic Focus:
Search Afghanistan invites applications to implement activities in the 7 provinces of
Kabul, Bamyan, Daikundi, Balkh, Herat, Ghazni, and Wardak (target areas). Each
organisation can submit one application only.

Grants Amount and Timeline:

Under this funding opportunity for local NGO, Search Afghanistan will award a total of
14 small grants (2 in each of the target provinces), each amounting up to $12,000 with
a grant period of 7-8 months. The winning organizations are expected to begin their
activities on March 01, 2023.

Questions:
Interested applicants should address all their questions through email to
ssharafat@sfcg.org. Please use “Inquiry re Asia REF Financial Assistance” in the

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subject of your email. No phone calls will be entertained. We will continue to answer
your questions regularly from the start of this announcement until January 31, 2023.

Project Background:
Search for Common Ground (Search) is implementing an overall 14-month project
in 7 provinces of Afghanistan to increase the capacity of Afghan registered NGOs to
support community-based mechanisms in targeted provinces. To achieve this, Search
Afghanistan will work in partnership with registered NGOs to promote community
initiatives for conflict resolution through localized mediation processes and taking
collaborative and non-adversarial approach. Additionally, Search will work with NGO
partners to capacitate the key community members as “insider mediators” to facilitate
localized and community-based mediation processes to reach shared-solutions in
resolving local conflicts.

Goal and Objectives:

The goal will be to increase the capacity of Afghan registered NGOs on mediation and
conflict resolution to support community-based mechanisms.

Activity and Methodology:

Registered NGOs will be capacitated on mediation, conflict resolution, and community
dialogue to be engaged in the following activities:

● Cascading Capacity Building Sessions: partner NGOs to lead cascade

capacity building trainings for a wider pool of NGOs and community group
representatives.
● Community Engagement: partner NGOs to conduct outreach in their local
communities to apply their learning from the training, identify community’s
issues, and work with them to address it.
● Common Ground-based Engagement with Stakeholders: partner NGOs
to work with other community members, including local leaders to conduct a
series of outreach actions that may include direct meetings and dialogues
sessions.
To implement the above activities/strategies, Search financially supports the
registered NGOs that further the objectives of the project, with a maximum amount of
$12,000 USD per grant. The selected NGOs will be encouraged to provide in-kind
contributions and additional sources of funding to support their activities.

Eligibility Criteria:
To be eligible for selection the applicant must:
1. Be a registered Non-government Organization (NGO) in target locations listed
above that has access to rural areas.
2. Be an NGO focusing on conflict resolution and community engagement and
active in the target districts/provinces.

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 3. Proposal projects must benefit community groups in the target areas under its
scope of work.
4. NGOs must be present in the target province they are applying for.

Key selection criteria:

● Relevance: Is the proposed project relevant to the project’s objectives
(mediation, conflict resolution and community dialogue)?
● Programmatic Capacity: What is the applicant’s track record of program
implementation in the community dialogue and conflict resolution fields?
● Financial and Operational Capacity: What is the applicant’s financial and
operational capacity and experience managing similar projects?
● Content: Are the activities cost-effective, feasible, well-defined, and realistic?
Does it demonstrate that the applicant is supporting an identified gap or
problem of the target communities regarding the mediation and conflict
resolution?
● Structure and Targeting: Does the proposal demonstrate collaboration
between relevant authorities, local leaders, and NGOs?
● Sustainability: Does the project have a long-term sustainability plan?
● Monitoring & Evaluation: Does the project include an M&E plan to track
project progress and impact?

Activities that ARE eligible for grants:

● Training
● Mediation and conflict resolution.
● Community dialogues sessions with local stakeholders.
● Reporting

Activities that ARE NOT eligible for grants:

● Actions concerned only or mainly with individual sponsorships for participation
in workshops, seminars, and conferences.
● One-off conferences, travel expenses to conferences
● Actions concerned only or mainly with individual scholarships for studies or
training courses.
● Actions intended to raise funds or promote the visibility of the applicant or its
partner(s).
● Actions consisting mainly of research or of study.
● Actions which consist exclusively or primarily in capital expenditure, such as
infrastructure, land, equipment, repairing buildings.
● Actions which discriminate against individuals or groups of people on grounds
of their gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or lack of them, or their
ethnic origin.
● Actions supporting directly political parties.
● Actions requiring special license of a government.
● Grants are not given as salaries that are out of project outputs scope or for
individual business support.

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Reporting Requirements:
Reporting and Monitoring: Narrative and financial reports will be required monthly.
A reporting template will be provided and should include a progress update and
challenges and success stories, if any. Selected organizations will also be required to
send a monthly financial report supported by original invoices/receipts, and supporting
documentation (attendance lists, photos of the goods purchased or of the activities
undertaken, final products, etc.) Search Afghanistan will conduct site visits to monitor
progress of the projects.

Coaching and mentoring: Search Afghanistan Program Team will provide necessary
and on-the-job coaching and mentoring to the supported grantees. Coaching and
mentoring will be focused on mediation, community dialogue, and all aspects of the
project cycle management, especially the financial management, accountability rules,
and reporting.

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