Communities for Gender Equality (CGE) Activity under Addendum to JRS APS: 7200AA22APS00007 | 72038824RFA00009

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72038824RFA00009

The Communities for Gender Equality (CGE) Activity is a USAID Bangladesh funding opportunity designed to strengthen how local communities and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence (GBV), with a particular focus on violations affecting women and girls, while also advancing broader gender equality. The central logic of the program is that meaningful reductions in GBV and lasting gains in gender equality are more likely when communities, civil society, and government institutions work together, and when people who are most at risk (especially women and girls) and GBV survivors can reliably access protection and comprehensive support services. In practical terms, the activity is meant to improve both prevention (changing the conditions that allow violence and discrimination to persist) and response (ensuring survivors can get safety, services, and remedies without further harm).

The opportunity is structured around one overall objective: improving gender equality, reducing the prevalence of GBV, and supporting at-risk populations and survivors. To get there, USAID lays out two main intermediate results (IRs). IR-1 centers on strengthening community advocacy and the broader enabling environment for gender equality and GBV prevention and response. This includes efforts to help people understand and use laws and protections in their daily lives, and to support community-led remedies that address violations and reduce the likelihood of recurrence. The program anticipates wide engagement across the social ecosystem that shapes norms and decisions, including family members, students in mainstream and religious schools (Islam and other faiths), youth, religious leaders, social and community workers, teachers, service providers, and local authorities. A major emphasis is building social support for survivors through community dialogues and other locally driven interventions, while also pushing back on harmful cultural and social norms that perpetuate violence.

IR-1 also explicitly recognizes that men and boys can be victims of GBV and that these cases are often under-reported due to stigma. CGE therefore expects targeted work with men and boys to promote positive masculinities and encourage them to actively champion gender equality. Another important prevention area is child, early, and forced marriage. The activity plans to activate GoB-led local committees tasked with preventing child marriage and GBV, strengthening local protection and response at the point where many risks first emerge. Programming under this result may also include legal literacy and civic education so community members can better recognize abuse, seek help, and demand accountability. In addition, the activity is expected to support already married girls at the community level, including helping them connect to comprehensive services, recognizing that marriage can increase isolation and reduce access to protection.

A newer and increasingly urgent focus under IR-1 is technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV). The activity expects to work with youth on safer use of social media and digital platforms and to address online harassment that targets women and girls and can restrict their freedom of expression and participation in public life. The activity also intends to engage the private sector, including businesses and educational institutions, to raise awareness about GBV and gender equality and to expand access to response mechanisms so workplaces and learning environments are safer and violence-free. Across all these community-focused efforts, the aim is to ensure that disadvantaged, marginalized, and vulnerable groups gain stronger protections and greater influence over the systems and services that affect their lives.

A significant feature of CGE is its emphasis on evidence and learning. The awardee is expected to conduct a baseline survey to measure GBV reduction efforts, particularly for at-risk populations, and then carry out periodic evaluations. USAID also anticipates analytical work such as Political Economy Analysis (PEA), risk analysis, and rights-focused gap analyses, alongside other research conducted in partnership with Bangladeshi universities. This research is intended to clarify trends, drivers, and the magnitude of GBV and related issues, and to produce credible evidence that can be used for informed advocacy with government and non-government stakeholders. The activity also expects to strengthen advocacy with aligned civil society organizations to monitor and report on implementation of existing GBV and child marriage laws, helping identify gaps between law and practice and pushing for better protection of survivors.

IR-2 shifts from community norms and advocacy to strengthening the capacity of service institutions, both public and private, to protect and respond to survivors and people most at risk. The activity is expected to expand survivor-centered access to comprehensive services such as shelters, safe spaces, health support, legal remedies, case management, and mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS). USAID notes that applicants may deliver some services directly, but they can also work through local partners and, importantly, strengthen referral networks and improve service quality and sensitivity. This reflects an understanding that survivor outcomes often depend on whether services are coordinated, accessible, confidential, and trauma-informed, not simply whether they exist on paper.

Livelihood and life skills support is a major part of IR-2 and is framed as practical, market-driven assistance that helps women and adolescent girls, including survivors and those affected by child marriage, rebuild stability and increase resilience. The opportunity describes potential training areas such as financial literacy, livestock management (with a clear restriction that no livestock will be purchased or distributed), homestead gardening to improve nutrition and economic resilience, growing saplings in existing homestead areas, business development, and other skills aligned with local market needs. In addition, the activity may procure small-scale machinery and tools that can help participants launch or strengthen income-generating activities, with examples including sewing machines, toolboxes, computers, and mobile phone repair equipment. The emphasis here is that these supports can be immediately relevant to survivors needs and may be more attainable and helpful in the short term than formal justice processes, which can be difficult, risky, and unpredictable.

IR-2 also anticipates improved coordination across government and non-government systems responsible for protection and response, including stronger inter-governmental coordination on GBV. While the activity recognizes that survivors may or may not choose to pursue judicial remedies, it still includes a justice component, especially in coordination with the USAID Ain Shohayota activity. This includes activating GoB-led legal aid committees at the local level to facilitate access to legal aid services for survivors and improving collaboration among formal and informal justice actors to improve the experience and outcomes for justice seekers. The activity may also contribute to strengthening normative and legal frameworks, complementing broader systems reform efforts.

Capacity building under IR-2 extends to a wide range of justice and accountability actors, including judges, lawyers, prosecutors, law enforcement (police), journalists, civil society organizations, and other support groups, with the goal of preventing GBV and improving responses when it occurs. A specific expectation is supporting gender-responsive prosecution and protections for all gender-diverse populations, signaling an intent to improve fairness and inclusion across the system. The activity may explore partnerships with institutions such as the Bangladesh National Human Rights Commission to strengthen capacity and reporting mechanisms for rights violations. It also plans to work with established government-led GBV support services to improve institutional accountability and survivor-centered service delivery, including one-stop service centers, victim support centers, national trauma counseling centers, and Police Cyber Support for Women, alongside civil society providers. Finally, CGE plans to strengthen civil society and private sector capacity to document GBV-related issues and to build the ability of activists, journalists, educators, and private organizations to advocate for citizens rights, including providing rapid response support and safety or risk-mitigation assistance when needed.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary funding opportunity managed by USAID-Dhaka (Bangladesh) under a cooperative agreement, meaning USAID expects substantial involvement during implementation. The opportunity is open to unrestricted eligible applicants, has a stated award ceiling of $16,000,000, and anticipates making one award. The funding opportunity number is 72038824RFA00009, tied to the Addendum to JRS APS 7200AA22APS00007, with an original closing date of 2024-11-05. Overall, CGE is designed as a combined prevention-and-response effort: changing community norms and strengthening local advocacy on one side, while improving survivor-centered services, institutional coordination, and access to remedies on the other, with research and evidence used throughout to guide learning and accountability.

• The Bangladesh USAID-Dhaka in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Communities for Gender Equality (CGE) Activity under Addendum to JRS APS: 7200AA22APS00007" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 98.001.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-09-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-11-05. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $16,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for 72038824RFA00009

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: