Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth

The total amount of funding available under the “Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth” call for proposals is $12.75 million Canadian dollars for projects with a duration of five years. Global Affairs Canada may fund any number of proposals, or none, up to the maximum funding available.

You must submit your proposal to this call through the online portal Partners@International. Global Affairs Canada will not accept any late submissions or submissions submitted outside the portal. Be sure to review the instructions in How to apply for funding through a call for proposals before beginning your application.

Objective

Under this call, your project proposal must contribute to the achievement of this ultimate outcome:

• Ultimate outcome: Increased economic empowerment for women and youth, especially from Indigenous communities, in Alta Verapaz, Chimaltenango and Sololá departments.

Your project proposal must also contribute to the achievement of two or three intermediate outcomes, including at least one of the following intermediate outcomes:

• Intermediate outcome 1: Strengthened innovative, clean and sustainable business practices in small-scale enterprises, especially those headed by women and youth, from Indigenous communities in particular.
• Intermediate outcome 2: Increased decent job opportunities for women and youth, especially from Indigenous communities.

You must not alter the ultimate outcome statement or the selected intermediate outcome statement.

If your proposal is selected, Global Affairs Canada will ask you to include an indicator linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the performance measurement framework, to be completed when designing the project implementation plan. Global Affairs Canada will work in collaboration with organizations whose proposals have been selected to define this indicator, which will be used to measure the achievement of the final outcome.

Proposals must also meet gender equality and green economic growth objectives.

Gender equality: Priority will be given to proposals that fully integrate gender equality issues in their design. This means that gender equality issues raised in the gender comparative analysis will be integrated in the theory of change and are addressed specifically through concrete activities, resources, outcomes and indicators.

Proposals must also clearly indicate how:

• women and girls have been consulted during the project design;
• the needs voiced and suggestions made by women and girls in these consultations have influenced decisions on the project orientation and design; and,
• women and girls will be involved in the activities implementation and monitoring, as well as in the project assessment.

Green economic growth and climate change: This call for proposals seeks to foster green economic growth by promoting sustainable environmental practices, such as the responsible use of natural resources, protection of ecosystems, promotion of low-carbon-emission economic activities, efficient use of energy, use of clean and/or renewable energy sources, management of waste and effluent, smart farming practices adapted to the climate, sustainable water and soil management, and strengthening communities’ capacities for resilience in adapting to climate change. These examples are provided solely as an illustration; proposals may include other sustainable practices that also meet the challenges linked to green economic growth. Proposed projects must also present an analysis of the potential impact of climate change on the populations and areas targeted by the project and, where applicable, propose measures to reinforce capacity for adaptation.

Definitions:
By “economic empowerment,” Global Affairs Canada means increased access for persons to financial resources and better economic perspectives, including jobs, financial education, financial services, property and other productive assets, acquisition of skills and market information. See also the guidance note on Women's Economic Empowerment.

By “youth,” Global Affairs Canada means any person between 18 and 30 years old.

By “innovative business practices,” Global Affairs Canada means the use of new methods, whether for business models, strategic practices, technologies, behavioural insights or marketing strategies for products and services, that benefit and empower the poor in developing countries while being adapted to the local context.

By “clean and sustainable business practices,” Global Affairs Canada means the incorporation of social and environmental responsibility to strive toward a minimal negative impact on people and the local and global environment. This specifically includes, but is not limited to, integrating sustainability in business decisions, using environmentally friendly products or services to replace non-environmentally friendly versions, and addressing quality of life issues in the local community.

By “small-scale enterprises,” Global Affairs Canada means micro, small and mid-sized enterprises (MSME), as defined by Guatemala’s Ministry of the Economy, whether in the agriculture sector or not.

By “decent jobs,” Global Affairs Canada means the productive work of women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, safety, security and human dignity, as defined by the International Labour Organization.

Organization eligibility

Global Affairs Canada will not pre-assess or comment on the eligibility of specific potential applicants. Carefully review the following eligibility screening requirements that Global Affairs Canada will use on submitted application packages for this particular call. To be eligible, you must be able to respond to each requirement and, where stipulated, provide supporting documentation:

• Type of organization: Your organization must be Canadian and legally incorporated under the provincial, territorial or federal laws of Canada, and you must provide proof of legal status (in English or in French).

  Please note that this call for proposals is not open to a sovereign entity (a government of a country) or multilateral institution.

• Registration in Guatemala: Your organization must be registered to operate in Guatemala or must work with at least one local partner organization registered to operate in Guatemala. You must provide your organization’s legal registration document in Guatemala or, if applicable, that of your main local partner organization as part of your application package.
• Experience in the targeted sectors: Your organization must have at least five years of project management experience in the areas of local economic growth and of gender equality, and you can demonstrate this experience in Section 9.3 of the application form by providing examples of past projects you have managed.
• Relevant experience in Central America: Your organization must have project management experience with Indigenous communities in Central America, and you can demonstrate this experience in Section 9.3 of the application form by providing examples of past projects you have managed.

If you are unable to respond to any of the above requirements, your organization is not eligible to apply under this particular call.

Consortium: An eligible Canadian organization may choose to form a consortium with other Canadian and/or non-Canadian organizations, as well as with members of civil society, academia and the private sector. The Canadian organization must be the lead partner in the consortium and must meet all the eligibility criteria. The other members of the consortium are only required to submit proof of their legal status in the country where they are registered.

Private-sector organizations: Private-sector organizations may submit an application if they meet the eligibility criteria, or they may decide to join a consortium. Organizations may not generate profits from implementation of a project funded by Global Affairs Canada.

Number of proposals: An organization may only submit a single proposal, whether individually or as lead partner in a consortium. However, there is no limit to the number of applications in which an organization that is not the lead partner in a consortium may participate. However, this organization must have the ability to simultaneously carry out the work in all the proposals in which it is a participant, in the event all these proposals should be accepted.

Project idea conformity

Carefully review the parameters of this call and judge whether your project idea will fit. You must be able to answer “yes” to all of the following statements in order for your application to be considered for funding under this call:

• Contribution requested to Global Affaires Canada: You are requesting Global Affairs Canada funding of at least $4 million and no more than $7 million dollars.

  Please note that Global Affairs Canada will not fund any activity that includes repayable contributions, micro-financing or reflows.

• Contribution of the organization: Your organization will provide, in cash, at least 5 percent of the total eligible direct project costs over the life of the project.
• Duration: Your proposed project will last five years.
• Geographic focus:The geographic focus of your project must be limited to Guatemala and must target one or a combination of the following departments: Alta Verapaz, Chimaltenango and Sololá.

  Please note that your organization is nevertheless encouraged to include activities at the national level, such as those involving central institutions, to facilitate dissemination of the outcomes and ensure long-term sustainability.

• Objective of the call: The proposed project seeks to increase the economic empowerment of women and youth, especially from Indigenous communities, and includes one or more components intended to reduce inequality between women and men. The theory of change and logic model for the proposed project uses the exact wording of the ultimate outcome statement and at least one of the intermediate outcomes statements provided in the Objective section above.
• Documents: Your application package documents are complete and presented in either English or French, except the legal registration document in Guatemala, which may be in Spanish.

If your proposed project does not conform to the above statements, it will not be assessed because it cannot be considered for funding under this call.

Available resources

There are a number of resources available online to help you develop your application package. Global Affairs Canada strongly encourages you to read all of the following tools and guidance before beginning your application process. Failure to meet the mandatory requirements, minimum standards and deadlines detailed therein will result in your application package not being considered for funding.

• Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth: Backgrounder
• Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth: Assessment criteria
• Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth: Questions and answers
• Global Affairs Canada’s development strategy in Guatemala
• 2016 International Assistance Review: What we heard
• Global Affairs Canada's Development Sustainable Economic Growth Strategy
• Global Affairs Canada’s policy on advancing gender equality
• Global Affairs Canada’s Guidance Note on Women's Economic Empowerment
• Global Affairs Canada’s Strategic Papers on the Crosscutting Themes for Canada’s International Assistance: Gender Equality, Environmental Sustainability and Governance
• Política Nacional de Desarrollo - K´atun, Nuestra Guatemala 2032 (Guatemala’s National Development Policy), 2014 (Spanish)
• Política nacional de producción más limpia (Guatemala’s National Clean Production Policy), 2010 (Spanish)
• Documento base del pacto ambiental en Guatemala (Guatemala’s Environmental Program), 2016 to 2020 (Spanish)
• Funding tools
• Questions and answers about applying for funding
• How to apply for funding through a call for proposals

How to submit your application package

In order to be considered in this call, you must submit your completed application package through the online portal Partners@International by June 9, 2017, before 4 p.m. Eastern Time (UTC-4).
Your application package must include all of the following documents:

• Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth: Application form (completed, with Validated label showing on first page)
• Anti-corruption declaration (completed and signed)
• Declaration Regarding Outstanding Debts due to Her Majesty (completed and signed)
• Proof of legal status (scanned)
• Financial statements from the last two most recently completed fiscal years (signed)
• Legal registration document in Guatemala of your organization or of your main local partner organization.

Questions

The deadline to submit questions concerning this call for proposals was May 19, 2017. Global Affairs Canada will not respond to questions on specific organizational circumstances or on specific project proposals. Answers will appear on the “Guatemala: Green and Inclusive Economic Growth for Indigenous Women and Youth” Questions and answers page.