USAID Bangladesh Makes New Partnerships Initiative Award

December 17, 2019

USAID/Bangladesh has made its first New Partnerships Initiative award to Relief International. The three-year cooperative agreement, entitled Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Support, will work in host communities in Cox's Bazar.

Relief International will serve in a mentorship role and will pass a minimum of 50 percent of total funding to local subawardees, with a goal of moving them to qualify for direct awards.

Relief International will work with the following local organizations to implement the activity: Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB), Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), and mPower Social Enterprise Limited (mPower). 

CCDB will lead on mainstreaming peacebuilding and social cohesion-enabling activities across the skills training components. In secondary schools and madrasas, CCDB will develop and deliver special class modules that promote tolerance and support connectors between communities, and help establish Peace Monitors in communities most at risk of conflict. 

YPSA will provide leadership to the selection, training and matching of youth with job opportunities and mPower will conduct the baseline survey and establish the monitoring evaluation and learning (MEL) framework for the project. 

The focus of the activity is to provide vocational skills to youth in the Cox's Bazar, to build the capacity of civil society organizations, the government, and private sector actors so they are more socially and economically resilient, and to address the social and economic drivers leading to conflict between communities. 

The primary focus groups will be unemployed, unskilled, illiterate and out of school youth. This activity seeks to address the gaps between youth skills and market opportunities through tailored technical training, internships and linking small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with credit and finance opportunities. Youth will also be mobilized and trained as peace volunteers to promote dispute resolution and community dialogue in conflict at-risk communities.

The goal of the New Partnerships Initiative is to increase USAID’s development impact by elevating local leadership, fostering creativity and innovation, and mobilizing resources across the Agency’s Programs.