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Phase III Request for Applications (RFA)
  
Date Issued: January 11, 2007
Closing Date: March 23, 2007
HED anticipates making up to six (6) awards of up to $250,000 each, incrementally funded over a two-year period, contingent on USAID funding.
Last Updated: Jan 2007
Focus Areas for TIES Phase III
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Focus Areas for TIES Phase III
Focus Area 1 – Competitiveness
Focus Area 2 – High Value Added Products & Advanced Manufacturing Processes for Small & Medium Enterprises
Focus Area 3 – Energy
Focus Area 4 – Education
Focus Area 5 – Public Policy
Focus Area 6 – Health
Following are brief descriptions for each focus area. HED anticipates making one award in each of the six focus areas.
Focus Area 1 – Competitiveness
The selected partnership in this focus area will strengthen the bilateral commitment to broad-based economic prosperity. The identified development issue must directly support Mexican competitiveness and the U.S.-Mexico common development agenda as articulated through NAFTA and the Partnership for Prosperity and be in one of the following areas:
- Electronic and High-Tech Industry (including but not limited to Biotechnology, Information, and Telecommunications Technology Transfer)
- Rural and Micro Finance
In recent years in Mexico, the micro finance sector has grown in importance, both in terms of public policy and outreach to an increasingly large number of low-income Mexicans. One result of the rapid growth of Mexico’s micro finance institutions is an emerging human resource challenge. How to ensure a pool of professionals with the education, commitment and understanding of the unique nature of this sector is an area where higher education institutions can support the private sector, to the advantage of these institutions and the millions of clients and members that benefit from their services. Of particular concern is the human resource challenge in rural areas and provincial towns, that have more difficulty recruiting highly qualified professionals as tomorrow’s managers and leaders.
Focus Area 2 – High Value Added Products & Advanced Manufacturing Processes for Small & Medium Enterprises
In order to remain competitive in increasingly national and global markets, small-scale producers need to diversify, add value to their products and seek opportunities in special niche markets. This requires access to a wide range of information on markets, prices and new production techniques, particularly for the rural sector. Universities, in partnership with other actors (private sector, NGOs, and government), can support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by providing or facilitating access to a wide range of sustainable business services, including technical and market information.
A partnership in this area will:
- Strengthen the competitiveness of the trade-led rural economy by linking large numbers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and agricultural producers into new markets;
- Provide or facilitate access to technical and market information to support diversification and niche marketing;
- Develop Mexican capacity for technical production services;
- Identify and facilitate production contracts;
- Facilitate access to low cost and scaleable business services to different producer groups;
- Strengthen master’s-level programs in agribusiness, agricultural production, and extension; and
- Provide practical training for farmers and producers’ groups.
Focus Area 3 – Energy
Strengthening Mexico’s energy security is a
key component of the country’s overall competitiveness. The energy field
is broad and diverse and will require an ever-growing supply of professionals
with strong research, engineering and computer skills. Mexico requires
professionals committed to energy education that can provide informational and
advisory services to government, industry, and civil society. Proposals
should focus on energy-related topics that build technical skills, promote
innovative partnerships, and/or contribute to better understanding of the
complex issues affecting energy in Mexico.
Focus Area 4 – Education
Professional Development for Education Administrators and Teachers
The Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) estimates that only about 15% of all the teacher trainers in Mexico's 156 Escuelas Normales Superiores (which prepare about 70% of Mexico's public school teachers) have a master's degree and less than 1% have a doctorate. In addition, about half are eligible to retire now and SEP expects to see large numbers retire in the next 5-7 years.
Partnerships in this focus area should include plans to strengthen math, science, literacy, and/or English as a Second language curriculum. Preference will be given to partnerships that incorporate a distance learning component.
Focus Area 5 – Public Policy
Partnerships should address one of the two areas outlined below.
1. Improving Quality through Customer Satisfaction
One of the goals of NAFTA and the Partnership for Prosperity has been to improve the competitiveness of the Mexican economy. Several Mexican universities have founded Quality Centers that focus on quality improvement programs as a way to stimulate economic growth and competitiveness. Studies have shown a link between competitiveness of businesses and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, public service delivery can be dramatically improved with a focus on customer satisfaction.
A partnership in this area will:
- Develop a methodology for measuring customer satisfaction that will allow benchmarking among agencies, states and with the U.S. and other countries;
- Support government agencies in focusing service delivery and regulatory transactions on citizen input;
- Create academic awareness of the link between customer satisfaction and competitiveness; and
- Improve quantitative and methodology coursework of master-level programs in Mexico in the areas listed above.
2. Regulations and Competitive Business Advantage
While the political debate on structural reforms continues in Mexico, municipal and state governments have recognized that over-regulation can stifle economic growth. Many governments have begun to work with business owners to see how they can stimulate investment by improving the regulatory climate in their area. North American, Eastern European and Asian countries are pioneering how they can assure regulatory outcomes like clean water and air while maintaining a competitive business advantage and improving their competitiveness rankings on international indices. Much can be learned from these success stories.
A partnership in this area will:
- Strengthen master-level programs in public administration, public policy or business administration in the specific area of national competitiveness and economic development, particularly the microeconomic foundations of competition and enabling regulatory regimes that improve productivity of firms; and
- Build capacity to analyze and highlight the need for regulatory reform in areas such as contract law, labor law, tax and credit policy, property registration, trade policy, and streamlining regulatory transactions for business operations.
Focus Area 6 – Health
TIES higher education partnerships fulfill a key role in the USAID/Mexico health program by promoting bi-national collaboration on mutual health concerns and issues, developing and improving professional skills and capabilities, forging links between academia and health systems, and facilitating the application of academic knowledge and research to community needs, with the potential for improved information, policies, and services at the local, state and national levels.
USAID/Mexico works closely with the Government of Mexico’s Secretary of Health and NGOs to augment the institutional capacity within Mexico to diagnose, treat, and prevent tuberculosis (TB) and to meet the World Health Organization standards for TB, which includes an 85% treatment success rate and a 70% detection rate.
Partnerships should address the challenges and opportunities in support of the following areas:
- Expanded and strengthened quality Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course (DOTS) activities at the national and state levels;
- Expanded TB research; and
- Improved advocacy, communication, and social mobilization
Geographical Focus
Partnerships proposed under the health focus should work in one or more of the following priority states:
Baja California Norte, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Veracruz, Michoacán, Guerrero, Zacatecas, and Chiapas.
Preferred Partners
Preference will be given to partnerships which include the participation of Mexican partners within the Mexico Secretary of Health’s TB network including:
- National TB Program, Dr. Elizabeth Ferreira Tel. (011-52-55) 2614-6433 www.cenave.gob.mx/tuberculosis/
- State-based TB Program Offices
- National Institute for Respiratory Diseases (INER) (Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias), Dr. Miguel Angel Salazar Tel. (011-52-55) 5665-3958 www.iner.gob.mx
- Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference (InDRE) (Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referncia Epidemiológicos), Susana Balandrano Tel. (011-52-55) 5396-5511 www.salud.gob.mx/indre/
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