USAID/Djibouti Early Childhood Education Activity | 72060322RFA000001

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - USAID/Djibouti Early Childhood Education (ECE) Activity

1) What is the USAID/Djibouti Early Childhood Education (ECE) Activity?

The USAID/Djibouti Early Childhood Education (ECE) Activity is a USAID funding opportunity focused on expanding and strengthening early childhood education services in Djibouti. The intent is to help more young children access ECE programs that are high-quality, equitable, safe, inclusive, and effective, while also improving the systems that sustain ECE over time.

2) What is the overall goal of the opportunity?

The overall goal is to increase the number of children who benefit from strong early childhood education services, with particular emphasis on reaching children who are underserved due to poverty, location, displacement, or other barriers. The opportunity also emphasizes improving children’s experience once enrolled by raising service quality and building long-term ECE capacity.

3) What is the central objective USAID uses to frame this activity?

USAID frames the work around one central objective: improving access to, quality of, and the capacity and effectiveness of safe and inclusive early childhood education services.

4) What are the Intermediate Results (IRs) included in the opportunity?

The opportunity outlines three linked Intermediate Results:

• IR1: Improved access to equitable, safe, and inclusive ECE services.
• IR2: Improved quality of ECE services.
• IR3: Improved enabling environment for Djibouti’s broader Early Childhood Development system of services.

5) What does IR1 (improved access) mean in practice?

IR1 focuses on reducing barriers that keep children out of ECE and helping ensure enrollment opportunities are equitable, safe, inclusive, and protective for all children.

6) What does IR2 (improved quality) focus on?

IR2 focuses on improving the quality of ECE services. The notice describes this as typically involving strengthening teaching and learning practices, improving early learning environments, and enhancing the day-to-day delivery of age-appropriate programming.

7) What does IR3 (enabling environment) aim to improve?

IR3 focuses on improving the enabling environment for Djibouti’s broader Early Childhood Development system of services. This points to work that supports the policies, coordination, institutions, and overall system conditions needed to maintain and scale improvements beyond individual ECE sites.

8) Where will this activity take place?

The activity is focused on Djibouti. The opportunity notes that the population is heavily concentrated in and around Djibouti Ville (roughly three-quarters of residents), which is part of the country context described in the notice.

9) Why does the opportunity emphasize equity, safety, and inclusion?

The notice emphasizes equity, safety, and inclusion because some children face greater barriers to accessing and staying in ECE, including children affected by poverty, geographic location, displacement, and other constraints. The operating environment also includes refugees living in settlements and urban areas, reinforcing the importance of inclusive and protective services.

10) How does the opportunity describe Djibouti’s demographic context?

Djibouti is described as a lower-middle-income country with a population around one million. The notice highlights a young population profile (36% under age 14 and 51% under age 24), which increases pressure on education and social services and underscores the importance of early childhood investment for long-term human capital outcomes.

11) What poverty context is provided in the notice?

The notice states that poverty remains significant, citing the 2018 EDAM4 household survey: about 30% of the population lives in poverty and about 21% lives in extreme poverty.

12) What displacement and refugee considerations are mentioned?

The notice states that Djibouti hosts approximately 35,000 refugees, largely from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Yemen, living in three main refugee settlements and in urban areas. It also notes asylum claims may rise due to ongoing crises in neighboring Ethiopia, suggesting ECE programs may need to be flexible and inclusive as needs change.

13) What type of funding opportunity is this?

This is a discretionary funding opportunity issued by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

14) What is the funding instrument for this opportunity?

The funding instrument is a Cooperative Agreement. The notice indicates this generally implies substantial involvement by USAID during implementation compared with a standard grant.

15) What is the opportunity number and CFDA listing?

The opportunity number is 72060322RFA000001 under CFDA 98.001.

16) Which USAID office is associated with this opportunity?

The notice lists the agency as USAID, with the agency listing tied to USAID Addis Ababa.

17) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning it is open to a wide range of applicant entity types, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full notice.

18) What is the maximum funding amount available (award ceiling)?

The award ceiling is USD 14,000,000.

19) How many awards does USAID expect to make?

USAID anticipated making up to three awards, suggesting implementation may occur through multiple partners and potentially across different geographies or technical components aligned to the Intermediate Results.

20) When was the opportunity posted and what was the closing date?

The posting was created on July 6, 2022, with an original closing date of August 15, 2022.

21) What is the main theme of the activity across all three Intermediate Results?

Across the Intermediate Results, the activity centers on expanding access while ensuring services are safe and inclusive, improving the quality of what children experience in ECE programs, and strengthening the broader system conditions (policies, coordination, institutions) needed to sustain and scale progress.

22) How does the opportunity connect ECE improvements to long-term outcomes?

The notice links early childhood investments to long-term human capital outcomes, particularly given Djibouti’s young population and the resulting pressure on education and social services.