FY-2009 Emergency Assistance to Extremely Vulnerable Populations and Returnees in Iraq - OFDA-FY09-003-APS

USAID/DCHA/OFDA

ANNUAL PROGRAM STATEMENT (APS)

FY-2009Emergency Assistance to Extremely Vulnerable Populations and Returnees in Iraq

(OFDA-FY09-003-APS)

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UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance

Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C.20523

ISSUANCE DATE: April 13, 2009

SUBJECT: USAID/DCHA/OFDA FY 2009Annual Program Statement (APS) for Emergency Assistance to Extremely Vulnerable Populations and Returnees in Iraq.

Pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, the United States Government(USG), as represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), is seeking applications (proposals for agreement funding) from qualified U.S. and non-U.S., non-profit or for-profit Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), or other qualified non-USG organizations (Public International Organization (PIO) or (IO)) to assist USAID/DCHA/OFDA byimplementing activities as described in the following Annual Program Statement (APS) for Iraq.

The purpose of this APS is to disseminate information to prospective applicants so they may develop and submit applications for USAID funding. USAID/OFDA anticipates awarding multiple cooperative agreementsand/or grants as a result of this APS, targeting humanitarian interventions that facilitate and anchor returnees and also maintaining emergency support for displaced and vulnerable communities with special concern for, but not limited to war widows, women and children, and disabled civilians. This APS: (1) provides background on ongoing emergency needs in Iraq as well as the types of interventions that could encourage returns and maintain support for the displaced; (2)identifies the types of activities for which applications will be considered; (3) explains the criteria for evaluating applications; (4) describes the level of funding available and the process and requirements for submitting applications; and (5) refers prospective applicants to relevant documentation which is available on the Internet.

I. BACKGROUND

As of January 2009, more than 2.8 million Iraqis remain internally displaced, and more than 1 million continue to reside in neighboring countries as refugees, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The majority of Iraq’s displaced fled sectarian violence that followed the February 2006 bombing of the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra. Approximately 1 million IDPs suffered displacement during the Saddam era, of whom more than 600,000 were Kurds displaced from central to northern Iraq. Approximately 64 percent of post-2006 internally displaced persons (IDPs) originated from Baghdad and the vast majority of these remained within the boundaries of Baghdad Governorate. Overall, the ethnic mix of IDPs closely parallels Iraq’s overall demographic makeup: 35 percent Sunni, 58 percent Shia, and 5 percent Christian.

New displacement slowed dramatically in 2008, but the overall rate of returns remains gradual, with returns in some neighborhoods outpacing others. In 2008, more than 230,000 displaced persons have returned to areas of origin, primarily in Baghdad, Diyala, Anbar, and Ninawa governorates. Of this population, more than 90 percent are returning IDPs. Various humanitarian organizations have noted that as security continues to improve, as many as 1 million IDPs and 500,000 refugees could return in 2009 and 2010.

According to IOM and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), stable security, economic opportunities, and shelter are the most important motivating factors for displaced families to choose to return. Since early 2008, the Government of Iraq (GOI) has been providing incentives to encourage return, including free transportation to areas of origin, cash grants for returnees, returnee assistance centers, and returnee-friendly housing policies. Difficult living conditions in host countries have also contributed to some refugees’ increased willingness to return.[1]

In the event that large-scale returns commence, both host communities and returning families could face an array of challenges, including the need for immediate income generation activities, transitional and longer-term shelter support, general health assistance, and water, sanitation, and hygiene improvements.

The GOI has estimated that up to 5 million homes will be needed over the next 10 years, but the falling price of oil has stalled government efforts to build affordable housing, and private investment has thus far proven elusive due to uncertain security conditions and a legal framework that generally favors tenants over landlords. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) estimates that 48 percent of economically active working-age Iraqis are either unemployed or underemployed.

In addition to the humanitarian needs related to displacement and returns, the U.N. has noted that broader emergency conditions in Iraq persist in areas vulnerable to the indirect affects of conflict and poverty. Parts of northern and central Iraq are currently experiencing a severe drought, which could affect the 2008/2009 wheat and barley harvest. According to the most recent Food Vulnerability Study undertaken by the Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology (COSIT)[2]and the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) in November 2008, parts of Karbala, Al Diwania, Wassit, Ninewa, Sulaymaniyah, and Diyala governorates are considered either extremely vulnerable or highly vulnerable to food insecurity.

Despite overall improved security, populations such as the displaced, women, widows, children, minority groups, and female-headed households remain particularly vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and extreme poverty. Humanitarian partners have reported that local, regional, or national government authorities in some areas are forcibly evicting families sheltering in temporary residences. Specific incidents of local displacement continue, such as the targeting of minority religious communities in Mosul in early October 2008, which led to the death of 12 individuals and the displacement of 2,465 families. Violence against women and girls is another grave humanitarian concern, with reports of honor crimes and domestic violence on the rise and few services in place to support either survivors or those facing immediate risk.

Years of sanctions, conflict and urbanization have placed a huge strain on Iraq’s water and sanitation facilities. The 2009 U.N. Consolidated Appeal states that approximately 40 percent of Iraqis suffer from poor water and sanitation services due to dysfunctional systems, network breakdowns, ageing infrastructure, and frequent power supply interruptions. Outside of Baghdad, fewer than 20 percent of families are estimated to have access to functional sewage facilities due to lack of electricity and damaged sewage treatment plants, which routinely discharge large volumes of untreated waste into the drinking water sources for many rural communities. According to the WFP, seven percent of Iraqi households depend on rivers and lakes and four percent reported water tankers and vehicles as being their main source of drinking water; one in three Iraqis living in rural areas report relying on water tankers, streams, lakes and rivers as a source of drinking and cooking water.[3] Diarrhea as a result of poor hygiene and contaminated water is one of the two main causes of death for young children in Iraq, and cholera has again emerged as a serious threat.[4]

Increased security has improved food distribution through the GOI’s Public Distribution System (PDS), but soaring global food prices paired with the falling price of oil have challenged the viability of the PDS, which is the largest public food distribution system in the world. Several WFP reports indicate that the PDS is a major food source for Iraqi households, with one studying finding that 9.4 percent of Iraq’s population are extremely dependant on the food ration.[5] The regular shortfalls and disruptions of PDScommodities disproportionately affect poorer households due to higher degrees of dependency and lack of access to alternate markets to purchase missing commodities.

Since 2003, USAID/OFDA has provided $328 million in humanitarian assistance and presently assists more than 1 million of the country’s most vulnerable, with programs in health, water and sanitation, relief commodity distribution, shelter, income generation, host community support, protection, and data collection and analysis on IDPs conducted by IOM and NGO partners.

Following the February 2006 bombing of the Samarra Al-Askari Shrine, and a dramatic escalation of sectarian violence, OFDA drafted a three-year Iraq strategy focusing on response to the massive internal displacement. The strategy assumed that by 2009, violence would abate, returns would be well under way, and that the Government of Iraq’s (GOI) ability to assist returnees would improve. This APS is in congruence with this assumption in the three-year strategy to continue addressing Iraq’s most critical issues related to chronic displacement, and improve conditions for return.

II. PROGRAMMATIC GUIDANCE

USAID/OFDA’s mandate is to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the social and economic impact of humanitarian emergencies worldwide. In order to achieve these goals in Iraq, USAID/DCHA/OFDA’s program strategy will be twofold: (1) support activities to facilitate and anchor returns by addressing immediate needs for emergency support, and (2) provide emergency support to internally displaced and vulnerable Iraqis and the host communities in which they reside.

A. Desired impact of program submissions will meet two or more of the following outcomes:

  • Improvement of the conditions in areas of likely return as to encourage subsequent, voluntary and sustainable returns;
  • Reduction in the destabilizing impact of current returns on vulnerable communities;
  • Provision of assistance to vulnerable IDPs to enable them either to return home with minimal impact on host communities or sustainably integrate into areas of displacement; and
  • Provision of emergency assistance to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of highly vulnerable groups throughout Iraq.

B. The following general programmatic guidance is provided to potential applicants:

  • The 2009 Emergency Assistance to Extremely Vulnerable Populations and Returnees in Iraq will consider interventions that initiate and/or advance activities at local and district levels to engage and support the international community’s humanitarian relief efforts. To this end, proposed activities will address emergency needs of returning Iraqis in the areas of greatest current and potential return and/or tackle broader humanitarian issues throughout Iraq.
  • The returnee component of the 2009 Emergency Assistance to Extremely Vulnerable Populations and Returnees in Iraq program will focus on those governorates receiving the bulk of returns: Baghdad, Diyala, and al Anbar. Additional governorates will be considered should returns increase or the proposed activities provide sufficient justification.
  • Returnee activities should be designed to support the ability of communities to support and absorb returning populations, such as through addressing economic livelihoods, transitional shelter, and other related sectors, such as WASH and health. Programs should also address protection needs associated with return, and at a minimum protection should be mainstreamed within other sector activities.
  • Shelter programs for returnees will increase shelter quality through the repair or upgrade of existing damaged housing and expand housing supply through retrofitting existing, underutilized non-residential structures to create both rental and ownership housing. Programs will adopt a community-based approach to beneficiary selection. Proposed activities should maximize livelihood generation and economic opportunities in all aspects of housing production such as through supporting the local production of construction materials; training and hiring returnees for construction activities; and/or promoting local furniture and appliance production. Proposals will reflect appropriate Sphere guidelines for shelter, including all relevant environmental impact criteria, such as materials sourcing and waste management. Proposals to create large numbers of new houses are beyond the scope of this APS and will not be considered.
  • Economic Recovery and Market Systems activities will improve the resiliency of host communities, returning families, and other vulnerable populations through a livelihoods-based approach comprised of the following objectives: 1) increased ability to access pre-displacement livelihoods; 2) restoration of household assets; 3) diversification of asset bases; and, 4) development of market linkages. Examples of activities can include support for community market rehabilitation, vocational training, re-certification programs, increasing demand for skilled labor and professional services, and short-term jobs creation, etc..
  • Other humanitarian assistance for vulnerable populations across the country will be considered based on sufficient justification for how proposed activities address acute emergency needs and the technical merits of the proposed sector activities as explained in the October 2008 Guidelines for Unsolicited Proposals and Reporting. The focus of non-returnee and non-host communityactivities in this APS will include those areas with outstanding emergency needs, as justified by specific assessments and surveys.
  • All proposals will clarify how the proposed activities work through and build upon existing GOI disaster response implementation structures, U.N. coordination mechanisms, and other U.S. government activities based on an objective to increase and expand the information management and disaster response capacity of the GOI. Proposals must also demonstrate awareness of other emergency-response activities, including those implemented by USAID, that may provide complementarities to proposed activities.
  • Beneficiary target populations include returnee and IDP families as well as those communities hosting large numbers of returnee or IDP families. Other vulnerable communities in need of emergency assistance will also be considered based on sufficient justification. Of particular interest and need of attention are widows, vulnerable women and children, elderly, and disabled civilians.
  • In addition to individual applicant submissions, applications may be submitted by introducing a teaming arrangement with a common set of objectives, activities, and outcomes with a consolidated monitoring and evaluation plan to ensure that program progress and impact are measurable, and that funded organizations are accountable for their programs.
  • Program designs for this APS should include a combination of short-term and longer-term interventionswith a desired performance period of up to 12 months. Implementation plans for interventions must demonstrate aprogression based upon appropriate benchmarks.

III. GENERAL APPLICATION GUIDANCE

  • OFDA Guidelines:All applications must adhere to USAID/OFDA’s Guidelines for Unsolicited Proposals and Reporting (October 2008), including the submission at time of application of all relevant, supporting documentation. Applicants that do not adhere to these guidelines and are missing supporting documentation will not be considered for funding. To the extent that this APS supplements information from the Guidelines, this APS prevails. The USAID/OFDA Guidelines are posted at Applicants are also encouraged to review “Results-Oriented Assistance: A USAID Sourcebook,” which may be found at: The program description section of the application will become the program description of any resulting award.
  • APS Distribution: Beginning November 1, 2005, the preferred method of distribution of USAID APS' is electronically via Grants.gov, which provides a single source for Federal government-wide competitive grant opportunities. This APS and any future amendments or additions can be downloaded. The Internet address is In order to use this method, an applicant must first register on-line with Grants.gov. If you have difficulty registering or accessing the APS, please contact the Grants.gov helpdesk at 1-800-518-4726 or via e-mail at for technical assistance. It is the responsibility of the recipient of the application document to ensure that it has been received from Grants.gov in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. Interested organizations should sign up with Grants.gov to receive email updates as changes may be posted to this and other APS solicitations.
  • International Organizations: USAID/OFDA encourages international NGOs and PIOs to support, mentor, partner, and collaborate with local organizations. USAID/OFDA will consider funding activities under technical sectors that improve local organizations’ capacity to achieve the technical objective. It is the responsibility of applicants to ensure that local partners do not appear on the Excluded Parties List which includes the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control “Specially Designated and Blocked Persons List” which can be found at: International agencies working through local partners are encouraged to ensure that partners have the capacity to carry out expanded programs, and should consider a capacity-building component which will leave a lasting impact on local partner agencies.
  • Protection: USAID/OFDA strongly encourages implementing partners, wherever possible and appropriate, to incorporate protection principles into the design and implementation of their assistance programs in order to help protect populations from violence, abuse, harassment, or exploitation. Humanitarian programs funded by USAID/OFDA should be designed, implemented and monitored to ensure that they do not harm or endanger beneficiary populations because of negative unintended consequences, nor should programs aggravate local tensions or inadvertently empower those who are responsible for conflict or abuse. Provided that this does not pose a risk to beneficiaries and implementing staff, partners should regularly share information on these and related matters. For more detailed guidance on the protection sector, please refer to USAID/OFDA’s Guidelines for Unsolicited Proposals and Reporting.
  • Conflict Mitigation: All USAID/OFDA-supported programs should also seek to mitigate conflict among or between beneficiary populations, between displaced persons and their host communities, and between those receiving assistance and those who are not. A “Do No Harm” approach should be evident in program implementation plans. Successful applicants will identify possible conflict trigger points and outline steps taken in the program planning process to mitigate potential conflicts.
  • Sustainability: Proposed programs should, to the extent possible, reflect an approach that will meet critical needs in a sustainable manner.