Bangladesh America Maitree Activity | 72038823RFA00004

Opportunity Information: Apply for 72038823RFA00004

The Bangladesh America Maitree Activity is a USAID/Bangladesh cooperative agreement designed to push more decision-making power, funding, and implementation responsibility to Bangladeshi organizations. The opportunity is framed around a broader USAID shift toward locally led development, based on the idea that development challenges are deeply shaped by local realities and that durable solutions are more likely when local institutions set priorities, design interventions, and measure results. In Bangladesh, where USAID maintains its largest Asia portfolio and also manages major humanitarian support linked to the Rohingya refugee crisis, this activity is meant to strengthen local capacity so Bangladeshi organizations can lead programs that align with the Mission's 2020-2025 Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and support the country’s longer-term ambition of reaching upper middle-income status by 2041.

At its core, the activity funds one prime local awardee to build and run a grant-making platform for Bangladeshi indigenous, locally formed and registered organizations. The prime awardee is expected to establish a transparent, competitive subgrant process and then award and manage multiple subawards to local groups implementing projects that advance USAID/Bangladesh CDCS objectives. Subgrants are expected to range widely in size, from about USD 25,000 up to USD 1,000,000, specifically to encourage a diverse mix of partners, including smaller or newer organizations that may not have previously managed USAID resources. Calls for applications are planned quarterly or more frequently, and submissions in Bangla are encouraged to reduce barriers to participation, with the prime awardee responsible for translating shortlisted materials into English for USAID review as needed.

The program is not just about distributing money; it is equally about building institutional strength and long-term sustainability among the organizations receiving grants and even among prospective applicants before they receive funding. The prime awardee must develop and deliver a comprehensive capacity-building package that covers the practical systems USAID expects from implementers: governance, proposal and application development, financial management and internal controls, human resources systems, procurement procedures, program performance management and reporting, and environmental compliance. Capacity support is intended to happen both before and after awards so that local groups that are promising but inexperienced with donor compliance can still compete and succeed. The approach described emphasizes assessing each organization’s current capabilities, defining performance improvement priorities and targets with stakeholders, closing gaps through training and hands-on support (such as mentoring and shadowing), and tracking progress through a detailed monitoring and evaluation plan.

Oversight and compliance are a central part of the prime awardee’s role. The awardee must be capable of administering subawards under USAID rules and ensuring that required U.S. Government analyses and safeguards are completed and followed, including gender analysis and environmental and climate risk analysis, and other USAID policy requirements when applicable (for example, ADS 225 and any required “Bumper” analyses). The awardee is also responsible for monitoring subrecipient performance, ensuring earmarks and funding conditions are met, and reporting results to USAID. To manage selection fairly and consistently, the prime awardee must create and run a Grants Evaluation Board that sets technical focus areas and selection criteria and reviews applications. USAID may participate to ensure alignment with funding requirements, but the solicitation, selection, and grant administration are intended to be led locally and with limited USAID involvement. To reduce conflicts of interest, the prime awardee and any subsidiaries are explicitly ineligible to apply for the subgrants the mechanism will award.

Programmatically, the subgrants are meant to support activities across the main sectors in USAID/Bangladesh’s strategy, reflecting both development priorities and persistent structural challenges. In public health, the opportunity highlights Bangladesh’s progress alongside remaining gaps on the path to universal health coverage, including very low public health spending, high out-of-pocket costs, governance and quality-of-care weaknesses, limited urban primary care coverage, and growing threats such as emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. In agriculture and food security, it underscores population growth pressures and the resulting strain on the country’s economic and environmental systems. In environment, energy, and climate resilience, it emphasizes Bangladesh’s extreme vulnerability to natural hazards, heavy dependence on stressed natural resources, degraded ecosystems, and rising energy demand, with USAID aiming to strengthen resilience for communities, institutions, and the broader economy. In democracy, human rights, and governance, the focus includes corruption, barriers to justice, and concentrated authority, set against Bangladesh’s strategic regional position and its economic growth trajectory. In education, the context points to strong gains in enrollment and gender parity, while implying the continuing need for quality and system strengthening. Finally, the humanitarian assistance lens reflects chronic poverty and food insecurity, high exposure to floods and cyclones, and other shocks that can push vulnerable households into crisis, alongside Bangladesh’s unique pressures as a densely populated delta country.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number 72038823RFA00004) is issued by USAID Bangladesh (USAID-Dhaka) as a discretionary cooperative agreement. The listing notes an award ceiling of USD 48,000,000 and anticipates a single prime award (Expected Awards: 1) that will then channel resources onward through multiple local subawards. Eligibility is listed for nonprofits that do not have 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education), reflecting the emphasis on supporting local Bangladeshi entities rather than U.S.-based organizations. The overall intent is to create a practical pipeline of capable local implementers that can design and run development solutions rooted in Bangladeshi priorities, collaborate through stronger networks, and meet international donor standards in a way that sustains progress beyond any single project cycle.

• The Agency for International Development, Bangladesh USAID-Dhaka in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bangladesh America Maitree Activity" 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 Mar 08, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 09, 2023. (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 $48,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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