Banyan Global wins the Advancing the Agenda of Gender Equality (ADVANTAGE) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) Gender Integration Technical Assistance (GITA) award, a four-year task order that allows the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to easily access a full range of technical services to advance gender equality and female empowerment worldwide. GITA provides on-demand, rapid response short-term technical assistance (STTA) to USAID missions and bureaus across sectors. Under the direction of the USAID Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment’s Office of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev), GITA applies experience in gender research and practice to the process of designing development strategies, projects and activities to reduce the gender and economic empowerment gaps that impede development outcomes.

Rapid response is a key element in this new task order, as USAID operating units and missions can expect to receive a deliverable within four to six weeks after approval of a Scope of Work. The GITA mechanism helps USAID to fill the gaps in staff capacity as well as complements GenDev’s current efforts to respond to mission and office requests at each stage of the Program Cycle:  Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS); Project Design; Solicitations and Procurements; Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning; and Operational Plans (OPs) and Performance Plan and Reports (PPRs).

Experienced technical advisors can provide sector-specific expertise and best practices on cross-cutting issues such as promoting women and girls’ leadership and empowerment; addressing gender-based violence; designing public private partnerships; using science and technology innovatively; constructively engaging men and boys; and addressing sector-specific needs of youth, sexual minorities, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable populations.

GITA is structured to be as flexible and responsive as possible in providing STTA services, including:

• Gender analyses for preparation of CDCS and Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), and assistance in incorporating findings into results frameworks and narrative texts
• Sector-, project-, and activity-specific gender analyses and research on value chains, economic empowerment constraints, utilization of mobile services and technology innovations, access to WASH services, etc.
• Desk studies
• Monitoring and Learning plans for strategy and project activity through development of gender sensitive indicators, scopes of work, engendering results frameworks, etc.
• Technical assistance and improving the capacity of missions and other operating units to incorporate gender- and inclusive development-related issues affecting vulnerable populations such as youth, persons with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people, and indigenous peoples.
• Facilitated staff discussions and/or workshops
• White papers or background briefings on emerging, time-sensitive issues such as sudden-onset refugee crises, resilience coping, fragile states, pandemics, violent extremism, etc.