The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
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Breakthrough-ACTION

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"Recent years have seen significant changes in behavioral programming generally, and SBCC [social and behaviour change communication] specifically. Widespread access to mobile phones and social media has transformed the communication landscape, enhancing interpersonal connectivity and speeding the spread of new ideas and norms. The number and types of institutions engaged in SBC - including international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local NGOs, local and international creative agencies, and donors - has increased dramatically, introducing new ways of thinking about and describing behavioral programming."

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking applications for a Cooperative Agreement from eligible US and non-US non-profit non-governmental organisations (NGOs), for-profit NGOs, private voluntary organisations (PVOs), institutions of higher education/universities and non-governmental international organisations entitled Breakthrough-ACTION. USAID strongly encourages applicants to propose creative and collaborative partnerships with other US and/or international organisations, NGOs, PVOs, and firms, especially small businesses, to implement activities under this programme.

USAID explains: "SBC [social and behaviour change]'s potential to accelerate the achievement of the ambitious health and development goals of the international donor community hinges on three critical factors: 1) consistent application of high quality, evidence-based technical standards in SBC design; 2) strong monitoring and evaluation of SBC strategies to continue learning and building evidence for SBC interventions; and 3) coordinated policy support and financial investments by donors, host country governments, civil society, and the private sector to create opportunities for program innovation and effective SBC interventions at scale. Despite widespread consensus within the SBC community around these priority factors, how best to address them remains unclear; USAID seeks creative and technically sound leadership from Applicants in proposing best-odds solutions to these critical factors as well as ongoing priority SBC challenges."

The purpose of the Breakthrough-ACTION project is to increase the practice of priority health behaviours and enabling social norms, for improved health and development outcomes around the world, with an emphasis on improving outcomes in family planning (FP)/reproductive health (RH), HIV/AIDS, malaria, and maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH) - with attention to emerging pandemic threats and other infectious diseases as needed. Breakthrough-ACTION will closely coordinate with its sister project, Breakthrough-RESEARCH (see Related Summaries, below), to achieve this shared purpose through complementary efforts. The shared strategic objective of the two BREAKTHROUGH projects is increased integration of proven SBC interventions in health and development programmes, particularly health service delivery platforms. While focused primarily on health, the projects may address SBC needs in other sectors, with particular attention to areas of potential complementarity such as environmental conservation, agriculture, food security, and nutrition.

Specifically, Breakthrough-ACTION will work to increase coverage of, and innovate based on, investments in SBC programming that already have significant evidence, while Breakthrough-RESEARCH will work to disseminate and advance research around SBC technical areas and interventions in which existing evidence is considered insufficient. Breakthrough-ACTION will build upon USAID investment in SBC research and programming, including both global and bilateral projects, to simultaneously guide new learning and drive broad application of proven practices and tools. It will engage a broad range of health and development stakeholders, supporting them in developing, promoting, and operationalising a visionary, consensus-driven agenda for SBC that contributes to measurable global health impact. While USAID recognises SBCC as the cornerstone of its SBC investments to date, it encourages applicants to consider the use of structural and environmental interventions, and to draw upon fields such as behavioural economics, human-centred design, social capital, and social psychology in designing effective solutions to social and behavioural challenges.

Expected outcomes:

  • Country-driven, high-quality SBC interventions implemented.
  • Coordinated global and country leadership mobilised to address priority SBC challenges.
  • Evidence for impact, feasibility, and cost-benefit of SBC interventions applied.
Application Info

To be eligible for award, the applicant must provide all information as required in the request for application (RFA) that is available under the Related Documents tab here and meet eligibility standards in Section C of the RFA. Any questions concerning the RFA must be submitted to Ms. Samantha Corey, Agreement Officer, via email at scorey@usaid.gov.

Applications must be submitted in electronic format only as described in Section D of the RFA. Applicants will need to have available, or need to download, Adobe to their computers in order to view and save the Adobe forms properly. If you have difficulty registering on Grants.gov or accessing the RFA, please contact the Grants.gov Helpdesk at 1-800-518-4726 or via email at support@grants.gov for technical assistance.

Subject to the availability of funds, USAID intends to provide approximately US$300 million in total USAID funding to support countries in achieving desired improvements in health and development outcomes, including: increasing demand for FP satisfied with modern contraception; ending preventable child and maternal deaths (EPCMD); achieving and maintaining an AIDS-Free Generation (AFG); and achieving a malaria-free world. While one award is anticipated as a result of this RFA, USAID reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted. Note: An organisation cannot submit an application to both Breakthrough-RESEARCH and Breakthrough-ACTION RFAs as a prime applicant. If it is discovered during the evaluation phase of the Breakthrough RFAs that an organisation has applied as a prime applicant to both Breakthrough-ACTION and Breakthrough-RESEARCH, the applicant and applications will not be considered for either award. An organisation may, however, respond to one of the Breakthrough RFAs as a prime applicant, and be included as a proposed sub-awardee in another organisation's application to the other Breakthrough RFA.

The period of performance anticipated is 5 years from the date of award. The estimated start date will be upon the signature of the award, on or about July 1 2017.

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Grants.gov, January 17 2017. Image credit: Amy Fowler, USAID