GCSS Associate Awards Offers Unique Procurement Advantages:

• Simplified Procurement Process. Allows Missions to avoid the 2–6 months necessary to design and tender a solicitation.
• Quick Access to World Class Civil Society Implementers. Access to implementers with 290 combined years of experience strengthening civil society and media, complementary capacities across the core program elements of the GCSS LWA and a breadth of geographic coverage and contextual knowledge in each of the five Foreign Assistance Framework country contexts.
• Freedom to Select. Opportunity to select any one or mix of Consortium partners based on their core competencies, regional experience, strategic linkages with local partners, and ability to rapidly provide top notch expert staff for collaborative design of civil society, media and program design and learning programs.
• Access to a Global Information Portal and MIS. The GCSSConnect website will provide real-time access to the Consortium’s Management Information System (MIS), program performance, local partner networks and program resources around the world.
• A One-stop Shop. Program design, implementation and evaluation capabilities are all available under one funding mechanism.
• Flexible Implementation Window. Associate Awards can be issued for anywhere from one week to five years and can be issued at any time during the five-year life of the Leader Award—even up until the last day.
• Responsiveness. The range of partners within the LWA allows for a streamlined process for rapid deployment of technical teams and program start-up.
• Accountability. GCSS implementers are directly accountable to the USAID Mission or Bureau that issues the award.
• Global Coverage. GCSS implementing partners have active programs and/or offices in 139 countries on every continent around the globe.