USAID Request for Information_IDEAL WSSH Activity
U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene (RFS/CWSSH)
Request for Information – Support Services for the Informing Decisions through Evidence and Analytics-Led WSSH (IDEAL WSSH) Activity
Issuance Date: February 8, 2022
Response Date: February 22, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST
To All Interested Parties,
The United States Government, represented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to all interested parties. The RFI is intended to:
Obtain feedback for a planned activity, Informing Decisions through Evidence and Analytics-Led WSSH (IDEAL WSSH). The purpose of this activity is to increase the use of the best available evidence in routine decisions by USAID WSSH stakeholders while also strengthening the WSSH data landscape.
USAID is conducting market research to determine the most suitable procurement strategy for an anticipated award to provide support for the Informing Decisions through Evidence and Analytics-Led WSSH (IDEAL WSSH) Activity. USAID requests that any interested organizations review the draft summary in Attachment One and provide responses to the questions contained in Attachment Two.
This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review.
All information provided will become the property of USAID, will not be returned, and will not be released publicly. USAID reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for USAID’s own purposes. Proprietary information must not be sent. USAID reserves the right to, or not to, incorporate any, some, or none of the comments received from this RFI into any subsequent solicitations or design documents.
Submission Instructions and Response Format:
Please provide one (1) electronic copy of your response in Microsoft Word format as a single email attachment to Taylor Boomer at tboomer@usaid.gov
Please submit responses via email only by Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 12:00PM EST.
The total length of the RFI submission cannot exceed four (4) pages and must be submitted using 12-point Arial font, 8.5 x 11-inch paper (letter-sized), single line spacing, one-inch margins, no graphics, and pages numbered consecutively.
If the submitter has produced relevant reports and/or other written materials or would like to cite other reference materials, then those reports may be included only as embedded links within the page limit.
The respondent should include the following information on the first page:
Name
Title
Organization
Email
DUNS number
Business size
Responses to this notice are NOT considered offers and CANNOT be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. Therefore, USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals at this time. Please do not submit a full proposal as these will not be reviewed and will be discarded.
Thank you for your interest in USAID’s IDEAL WSSH activity. We look forward to receiving your responses.
Sincerely,
Rachel Baltes
Supervisory Contracting Officer
M/OAA/RFS
Attachments:
#1 – IDEAL WSSH Background and Objectives
#2 – RFI Questions
Attachment 1: IDEAL WSSH Background and Objectives
The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme has estimated that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 targets of universal access to water and sanitation will require quadrupling the rate of progress in providing access to these services. Achieving this ambitious goal will require that investments in Water Security, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WSSH) are appropriately targeted, cost-effective, and rooted in evidence. Improving the use of data in routine decisions throughout USAID’s WSSH portfolio can play a key role in accelerating impact in order to meet global WSSH challenges.
Routine use of data can help improve USAID’s targeting of WSSH investments and can measurably increase the impact of those investments.[1],[2] Beyond improving efficiency, improving data use can also advance equity by directing resources to the most vulnerable communities.[3] USAID’s Digital Strategy highlights the opportunity to “improve measurable development… outcomes through the responsible use of digital technology in USAID’s Programming”. The strategy further notes that approaches such as prioritizing investments through geospatial analysis are essential to making development more effective and efficient. The need to increase the use of evidence in USAID’s work has also been recognized by external stakeholders, both for WSSH and in foreign aid more broadly.[4],[5],[6]
The potential to enhance the use of data in USAID’s routine decisions and rapidly increase access to WSSH services is greater now than ever before. Over the past decade and a half, the WSSH data landscape has grown dramatically with new monitoring efforts, new data collection approaches, emerging data standards, and more frequent data sharing between institutions.[7],[8],[9],[10],[11],[12] Additionally, newly available, high-resolution global datasets on topics such as wealth, population, conflict, and climate provide new opportunities to combine and leverage data for even more powerful and nuanced insights.[13],[14],[15],[16] These datasets are generated at significant cost to the global WSSH sector, but often remain underutilized by USAID and its partners.
Generating actionable, data-driven insights is resource intensive. As the WSSH data landscape has grown, so too has its fragmentation and complexity. Using the available evidence to inform decisions requires extensive research to identify available data sources, a wide range of specialized expertise such as data engineering, geospatial information systems analysis, and data visualization, along with large amounts of time to implement the analysis. Too often, each time a decision needs to be made, this work begins from scratch. Moreover, the significant human, financial, and technical resources required to do the analysis are often not available, and decision-makers must proceed in making the decision without the benefits of data-driven insights.
Ensuring that data use remains a viable long-term component of USAID’s WSSH programming requires sustained support to the broader WSSH data landscape. The global WSSH sector would benefit from a more complete understanding of the current state of the global WSSH landscape, improved coordination and interoperability, advanced standardization, and innovation around closing data gaps.[17],[18],[19] Progress in these areas will be essential to making the WSSH data landscape more effective for all stakeholders - within USAID and beyond.
Draft Concept and Objectives:
USAID seeks to transform the best global WSSH data available into actionable insights that can accelerate progress toward the U.S. government Global Water Strategy and USAID’s Water and Development Plan, help decision-makers leverage insights to enhance decisions, and do so in a way that strengthens the global WSSH data ecosystem for all actors. Based on consultations with stakeholders, USAID has identified nine initial common and/or recurring decisions that are critical to USAID WSSH programming. These include:
Decisions made by USAID Leadership
To what extent should WSSH be prioritized within USAID programming?
To what extent should development approaches to WSSH be prioritized in response to specific shocks (i.e. global pandemic, economic shocks, climate hazards, etc.) relative to other development priorities?
Decisions made by the Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene
Which countries should be prioritized for High Priority Designation and Water Directive funding (aligned with the Water for the World Act)?
Which countries should be targeted by centrally managed mechanisms for support?
Decisions Made by Country and Regional Mission WSSH Leads
To what extent should the USAID Mission prioritize WSSH?
Which WSSH sub-sector(s) should the Mission target with its investments?
Which geographical area(s) should the Mission target with its investments?
Decisions made by implementers
What are the specific locations where WSSH infrastructure investments are needed?
Which service provider(s), government agency(ies), or local institution(s) should receive technical assistance and capacity building support?
The purpose of IDEAL WSSH is to support USAID stakeholders to make evidence-informed routine WSSH related decisions. To achieve this goal, IDEAL WSSH will have four primary objectives:
Objective 1: Compile decision support systems that transform raw data inputs into decision-ready insights for specific USAID or implementing partner decisions. Decision support tools need to be developed or identified for each of the nine key decisions listed above. These tools should aggregate and combine relevant global data sources, facilitate analysis, and provide actionable insights in a form that addresses the needs of the target decision-maker.
Objective 2: Support decision-makers in transforming insights into action. The activity will aim to engage decision-makers to understand their needs, generate and then share relevant insights from the decision support systems, and provide the support and context needed to appropriately integrate these insights into decisions.
Objective 3: Provide customized data solutions to USAID OUs through buy-ins. Recognizing that some decisions may require more than standardized approaches and global datasets, the activity will provide data support to implement tailored analyses, leverage locally-generated datasets, and support in-country engagement with the global WASH data landscape. Through Mission buy-ins, the activity will provide the opportunity for OUs implementing WSSH programs to access customized data support.
Objective 4: Strengthen WSSH data creation, standardization, harmonization, and analysis efforts to fill critical gaps. This activity can only be as successful as the broader WSSH data ecosystem. By improving coordination among existing data efforts, developing best practices for essential aspects of WSSH data such as equity, and investing in transformative data efforts, the activity will strengthen the ecosystem that underpins all WSSH stakeholders’ ability to use data to improve decisions.
Attachment 2: RFI Questions
Please include the title “RFI – IDEAL WSSH” in the subject line of your email. The respondent should provide the following details (in a Microsoft Word attachment) [4 pages max]:
Level of Interest and Organizational Capabilities relative to IDEAL-WSSH:
Level of Interest: Please provide the level of interest your organization has in participating in IDEAL WSSH and indicate your organization type (e.g. U.S, Non-U.S, designated US small business). Please indicate what, if any, agency IDIQ or GSA/MAS/OASIS your organization holds as either a prime holder or team member. The information collected from this RFI will be used to help make planning decisions and will not be released publicly.
Organizational Capabilities: Please provide a summary of your relevant organizational capabilities relative to the draft objectives included in Attachment 1. Respondents may include organizational information such as: past experience developing web tools, supporting the use of evidence in routine decision-making, or supporting data ecosystems, along with any other information relevant to an organization’s ability to successfully achieve the objectives outlined in this RFI. Additionally, please provide any experience you have partnering with a wide range of organizations, including local organizations and smaller organizations with niche expertise and on-the-ground perspectives.
In response to the following questions, please share information on how USAID can best provide the support needed to strengthen use of the best available evidence in routine decisions by USAID WSSH stakeholders while also strengthening the WSSH data landscape. In your responses, please consider the background, problem statement and draft objectives (Attachment 1).
Respondents are free to answer any or all of the questions below. In your responses, please provide any relevant sources for the information, including peer-reviewed or grey literature, expert opinion, project evaluation reports, and other documents.
What feedback or information do you have that could inform the design of the activity and its objectives? Please note whether there are any objectives that you recommend removing, adding, or revising.
How could this activity best prioritize equity, data ethics, data sovereignty, and responsible data use? Respondents should note that the work of this activity will not include primary data collection, but rather accessing existing public data and providing broad support to initiatives that may be collecting primary data.
What types of software solutions, development processes, data sources, and other approaches would most effectively transform disparate raw data inputs into actionable insights? Respondents should feel free to include examples of recommended tools or data sources within the WSSH sector or beyond. Respondents may also share perspectives on whether open-source technologies or proprietary software would be more effective at addressing the proposed objectives.
What are the main challenges you face in using existing data tools available to the WSSH sector, including considerations around topics covered, data limitations, specificity, usability challenges, or other barriers to routine usage?
What strategies and approaches can increase the use of data in routine decisions, especially for decision-makers that do not have data science expertise?
Given your organization’s experience with remote approaches to working, to what extent could the engagement needed for these objectives be completed virtually?
Aside from the common decision support systems identified in the scope, what other types of data-related support services could help USAID stakeholders to improve decisions related to WSSH services or engage with the global WSSH data landscape?
In what ways could the WSSH data landscape be improved to expand the use of data in routine decisions?
What types of activities should be prioritized to improve the coordination and maturity of the overall WSSH data landscape?
Aside from funding, what other types of support would be most impactful in advancing the work of critical emerging data efforts in the sector - especially efforts by NGOs and academic institutions to collect, standardize, model, and aggregate globally-relevant data?
[1] PwC. (2017). Evaluation Akvo PPP Phase 3
[2] WPdx. (2019). How WPDx is Transforming Water Access in Sierra Leone
[3] World Vision. (2021). The Geography of Clean Water for All
[4] InterAction. (2020). Water Security & Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Recommendations for the Biden-Harris Administration
[5] Center for Global Development. (2020). Establishing USAID as a Leader in Evidence-Based Foreign Aid
[6] Center for Strategic and International Studies. (2022). Innovative Data Collection Methods for International Development
[7] SIASAR. Rural Water and Sanitation Information System
[8] UN-Water. Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) Archives
[9] Thomson, P. (2020). Remote monitoring of rural water systems: A pathway to improved performance and sustainability?
[10] Centre for Sanitation Analytics
[11] WPdx. The WPdx Data Standard
[12] Toilet Board Coalition. (2020). Star Rated Public Toilets: TBC Guidelines
[13] Chi, G., et al. (2022). Microestimates of wealth for all low- and middle-income countries
[14] POPGRID
[15] ACLED
[16] Center for Strategic and International Studies. (2022)
[17] World Bank. (2020). Testing, Piloting, and Validation of the Rural Water Indicator Global Framework in the African Context
[18] AGUASAN. (2018). Leveraging the data revolution: Informed decision-making for better water and
sanitation management
[19] UN-Water. (n.d.). Data gaps
7200AA22RFI000TBD US Agency for International Development Bureau for Management
2/8/22, 1:43 PM Request for Information - USAID Water and Development II Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (WADI II IDIQ)
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
Subject: Request for Information (RFI)
Issued Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
Responses Due Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2021, 12:00 PM EST
Title: USAID Water and Development II Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (WADI II IDIQ)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) for interested prime and sub contractors to provide comments, input and recommendations on the WADI II IDIQ planned requirement. The goals of this RFI are two fold: (i) to receive input from the industry on the draft technical scope of work (SOW); and (ii) to receive insights from industry on barriers and opportunities to diversifying partnerships for this IDIQ at both the IDIQ and subsequent Task Order competition levels. Through this RFI, USAID aims to: broaden and diversify its partner base at the prime and subcontractor levels; increase competition as a result of greater understanding of the technical scope; generate new partners and new ideas for USAID; and drive better technical solutions and innovative approaches.
This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review.
All information provided will become the property of USAID, will not be returned, and will not be released publicly. USAID reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for USAID’s own purposes. Proprietary information must not be sent. USAID reserves the right to, or not to, incorporate any, some, or none of the comments received from this RFI into any subsequent solicitations or design documents.
RFI Responses
USAID invites interested parties to respond to the below questions and comment on the draft SOW. Please provide a maximum of four (4) pages, size 12 font, standard one inch margins. Responses should be structured in the following way:
Section 1: Responses to the RFI Questions
Section 2: Comments on the Draft SOW
Section 3: Questions to the Draft SOW / Process
Please provide one (1) electronic copy of your response in Microsoft Word format as a single email attachment to Ms. Rachel Baltes (rbaltes@usaid.gov) and Ms. Leah Leach (lleach@usaid.gov). Please identify “WADI II RFI Response” in the subject line. Responses must be received via email by Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12:00PM EST.
Pre-Bidders Conference
USAID is pleased to announce that it expects to organize a pre-bidders conference around the week of February 22, 2021. USAID will provide more information in a subsequent communication. Part of the conference will be to respond to any questions posed in Section 3 to the RFI responses from industry.
Background
Water supply is stressed, undervalued, and not always prioritized. From floods to droughts to overuse to pollution, billions of people struggle on a daily basis because of challenges related to water access and competing demands. Further, over 890 million people globally do not use basic sanitation and practice open defecation—often in gutters, open water bodies, or fields. Open defecation and poor sanitation generally, pose enormous threats to a community’s health and cost the global economy at least $260 billion annually. Climate change will also affect access, quantity and quality of water, and will make sanitation systems vulnerable to shocks, such as increased frequency and severity of floods, compounding potential environmental health risks. Billions of people lack reliable access to safe water and sanitation, particularly in poor countries where needs are often the greatest. Without access to sustainable services, nations will continue to experience increasingly stalled economic growth, food insecurity, disease, and poverty. Addressing both the persistent and emerging challenges to sustainable access to water, sanitation, hygiene and strengthened water resources management helps nations improve the health of people, along with their prosperity, and security. The World Bank estimates that many countries could see their economic growth decline by as much as 6 percent of GDP by 2050 as a result of water stress, a vicious circle that can increase state fragility and conflict. While progress on improved drinking water has been pronounced in recent years, especially compared to gains in sanitation, critical gaps remain including having consistently available drinking water of appropriate quality with reliable service delivery.
As noted, one of the most persistent challenges in the sector is the slow progress in increasing access to and use of basic and safely managed sanitation. Political prioritization; expense; cultural norms; and a lack of desirable, available, affordable sanitation products must all be addressed to catalyze more significant progress on sanitation and to realize associated health and environmental benefits. To achieve universal access to safely managed water and sanitation services by 2030, capital expenditures of $114 billion per year will be required, which amounts to three times current global investment levels. However, investments in water and sanitation services have the potential to be highly cost effective, with expected returns of between $2 and $5.50 for every U.S. dollar invested due to reduced health care costs and increased economic productivity for communities and individuals around the world.
The Water and Development II IDIQ (WADI II) is the Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene’s central field support acquisition mechanism for missions and other operating units to access critical technical services in support of the U.S. Global Water Strategy (GWS) and the appended USAID Water and Development Plan.
The purpose of this IDIQ is to carry out Task Orders that reflect USAID’s strategic direction and focus on water security, sanitation, hygiene and water resources management (WRM) programming. This IDIQ Contract is meant to be a successor (and not a direct follow-on) to the previous Water and Development IDIQ (WADI) and builds on lessons learned over the past years.
RFI Questions
USAID is interested in hearing from potential bidders (potential prime or sub-contractors) on a number of questions regarding the draft SOW (Annex 1) as well as a set of questions:
General Questions
Is your organization / company interested in priming or being a sub-contractor for WADI II? If so, which role?
Was your organization / company in a WADI consortium? If so, what role? Did your organization receive any work or assist in the implementation of a WADI Task Order?
Any feedback on the breakdown of technical services? Are these adequate categories? Are there any missing elements?
Questions for Interested Prime Bidders
What are the challenges to priming an IDIQ?
How can USAID lessen the challenges or reduce barriers?
Do you have any takeaways / lessons from WADI or other IDIQ that you could share?
Questions for Interested Sub-Contractors
What barriers are there for being included into consortia? Do they differ if you are selected as a major sub-contractor or just a member of the consortia team?
What barriers are there to receiving funds via a Task Order implementation and business agreement with the prime?
How can USAID lower the barriers?
Comments on the Draft SOW
USAID is interested in receiving any comments regarding the draft SOW, particularly related to the division of services, the performance technical areas, or recommendations of areas/services that should be included.
Questions on the Draft SOW/Process
USAID will collect any questions regarding the draft SOW (Annex 1) and the procurement process of WADI II. These questions will be sorted and answered through the pre-bidders conference and/or through an amendment to the RFI.
7200AA21RFI00TBD US Agency for International Development Bureau for Management
1/28/21, 2:43 PM Request for Information - WASH-FIN 2
U.S. Agency for International Development
Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene,
Request for Information – WASH-FIN 2
Issuance Date: March 15, 2022
Response Date: March 30, 2022 at 12:00 PM EST
To All Interested Parties,
The United States Government, represented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to all interested parties. The RFI is intended to:
Solicit information from industry and determine what type of firms/organizations are capable of doing the work described herein. Specifically, USAID seeks to provide stakeholders an opportunity to review the attached documents, and offer information and suggestions related to an anticipated activity, WASH-FIN 2. In the new activity, USAID seeks to strengthen governance, improve performance and mobilize financing for sustainable and climate-resilient water and sanitation services.
USAID is conducting market research to determine the most suitable acquisition strategy for an anticipated award for WASH-FIN 2. USAID requests that any interested organizations review the draft summary in Attachment One and provide responses to the questions contained in Attachment Two.
This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Respondents will not be notified of the result of the review.
All information provided will become the property of USAID, will not be returned, and will not be released publicly. USAID reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for USAID’s own purposes. Proprietary information must not be sent. USAID reserves the right to, or not to, incorporate any, some, or none of the comments received from this RFI into any subsequent solicitations or design documents.
Submission Instructions and Response Format:
Please provide one (1) electronic copy of your response in Microsoft Word format as a single email attachment to Mr. Kyle Davis at kydavis@usaid.gov.
Please submit responses via email only by Thursday, March 31, 2022 at 12:00PM EST.
The total length of the RFI submission cannot exceed three (3) pages and must be submitted using 12-point Arial font, 8.5 x 11-inch paper (letter-sized), single line spacing, one-inch margins, no graphics, and pages numbered consecutively.
* An Additional “Capability Statements” (applicable to U.S. Small Businesses only) is requested from small businesses only with a maximum page limit of two (2) pages. Please note the two page capability statement does not count towards the three page RFI submission.
Interested Small Businesses having the skills and capabilities necessary to perform this work should submit a supplemental response of no more than two (2) pages in length. This page limitation includes any attachments. USAID will not review any information, including attachments, in excess of the two (2) pages. Small Businesses should provide clear and unambiguous evidence to substantiate their capability to fulfill any or all of the areas of work sought. Please describe the firm’s in-house experience addressing the objectives described in this RFI. Please describe to whom, for what length of time and the tangible outcomes/results as a result of your experience. If interested firms are only able to perform some or one of the posted activities, they should indicate that in their response to this RFI and describe the areas of expertise for which they are capable of performing.
If the submitter has produced relevant reports and/or other written materials or would like to cite other reference materials, then those reports may be included only as embedded links within the page limit.
The respondent should include the following information on the first page:
Name
Title
Organization
Email
DUNS number
Business size
Responses to this notice are NOT considered offers and CANNOT be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. Therefore, USAID is not seeking technical or cost proposals at this time. Please do not submit a full proposal as these will not be reviewed and will be discarded.
Thank you for your interest in USAID’s WASH-FIN 2. We look forward to receiving your responses.
Sincerely,
Rachel Baltes
Contracting Officer, M/OAA/RFS
Attachments:
#1 – WASH-FIN 2 Background and Objectives
#2 - RFI Questions and Submission Instructions
Attachment #1: WASH-FIN 2 Background and Draft Objectives
BACKGROUND
Globally, 771 million people do not have access to basic drinking water and 1.7 billion people lack access to basic sanitation (JMP 2021). While the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water sets ambitious universal access targets for the year 2030, their achievement will require unprecedented mobilization of funding for WASH. A 2020 analysis by World Resources Institute estimates that $263 billion per year is required to meet universal access to safely managed water and sanitation by 2030 (WRI 2020). Despite these high costs, investment in WASH is central to ending extreme poverty and achieving broader development outcomes in health, education, gender equality and the environment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), on average, every $1 invested in water and sanitation provides a $4 economic return (Hutton 2013). With access to WASH, people are both healthier and wealthier: people get sick less and are more productive, and girls and boys become better educated. In order to close these financing and service gaps, there will need to be a coordinated effort from the public sector, water service providers (WSPs), and development and commercial finance institutions.
PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
In support of the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy, USAID’s Agency Plan, and USAID’s Draft Climate Strategy, WASH-FIN 2.0 will increase sustainable management and financing of climate-resilient water and sanitation services. This will be accomplished through four distinct but interrelated objectives as follows.
Objective 1: Strengthen governance of and increase public funding for water and sanitation services
This objective focuses on strengthening the governance of and increasing public funding for water and sanitation services. Lessons from WASH-FIN and other programs[1] point to the need to address poor sector governance, which result in unclear roles and weak accountability of public sector actors, combined with a lack of public capacity to effectively plan, budget, design and procure the development of a stable pipeline of capital projects in order to better utilize current public funding and justify the required increases. The policy, legal, and regulatory environments in many of USAID’s WftW High Priority and Strategy Aligned Countries are not currently conducive to mobilizing private finance or expanding services. Despite having policies in place to address water and sanitation challenges, many countries do not have the tools and capacity to effectively improve the sector. Increased capacity of sector institutions, combined with a strengthened policy and regulatory environment should contribute to maximizing value from existing public resources, therefore justifying further public investment.
Public funding allocations have fallen short of the needs and are poorly targeted to those that need them the most. Understanding what are the challenges and potential solutions to unlocking public investments, including public climate finance, and maximizing the value of existing investments is key to mobilizing finance in the water and sanitation sector. Illustrative tasks include:
Working with line ministries, regulators, policymakers, and civil society to improve the environment for effective service delivery. Conducting assessments such as political economy analysis (PEAs), climate risk assessments, or other related analyses to participate in and inform sector reform processes, new funding opportunities, or address service delivery issues.
Supporting the development or revision of a regulatory framework and other related activities that would help provide incentives for better performance of service providers.
Supporting the development and/or implementation of sector financial strategies or plans, establishing or improving sector budget and expenditure tracking, promoting equity, improving transparency and accountability, or combating corruption in the sector.
Carrying out institutional strengthening activities for improved WASH services and/or water resource management
Promoting transparent and accountable targeting of public funding to poor and marginalized groups, and for public climate finance to support water and sanitation projects in select countries.
Objective 2: Improve performance of water and sanitation service providers by enhancing climate resilience and financial and operational efficiency
While the financing challenge remains and more funding needs to be mobilized to help water and sanitation providers improve and expand their services, experience by USAID and many other development partners show that improving the financial, technical and management performance of these providers is critical to maximizing the value of existing funding and unlocking more public and private investments. Better business models, improved corporate governance, and improved business and investment planning that take into account the impacts of future shocks and stressors are also crucial to strengthening provider performance and increasing creditworthiness. Illustrative tasks include:
Improving the financial management, technical, and operational efficiency of water and sanitation service providers (i.e. improving billing and collection efficiency, improving customer management, reducing non-revenue water, reducing other significant cost categories, etc.).
Supporting business and investment planning, taking into account long-term resilience of water and sanitation services and creating guidance to help utilities identify weaknesses and cost-effective investments to better adapt to shocks and stressors, particularly climate change.
Developing case studies of service provider improvements, building on existing frameworks used by USAID and other development partners.
Objective 3: Mobilize finance by providing project preparation, transaction advisory and facilitation services for public and private finance
Mobilizing finance requires a strong understanding of relevant actors and their needs as well as the different opportunities. Financial institutions, both public and private, private investors, and other suppliers of finance are not necessarily familiar with the water and sanitation sector and the potential opportunities for investments. Even when they are more familiar with the sector, transaction facilitation services and other technical assistance are needed to unlock additional public and private funding. Water and sanitation providers, even well-performing ones, do not always know all of their different financing options and/or how to select the best one(s) and access them. Even when the financial institutions and investors have a better understanding of each other, it is sometimes necessary to design and structure new financial products and/or services as well as funds and other financial instruments. Given the expected outcome of climate resilient water and sanitation services, it is also important to explore ways to mobilize public and private climate funding. The role of government and having the necessary business enabling environment are critical to mobilizing finance, particularly in the water and sanitation sector. Illustrative tasks include:
Carrying out financial landscape assessments, where appropriate, and facilitating dialogue between suppliers of finance and water and sanitation service providers.
Assessing the feasibility of funds and/or financing options and supporting the design and implementation of such financing mechanisms.
Improving communication and relationship with the investor community by helping develop or improve teasers and pitch decks and refine business and financial models.
Providing viability gap funding or grants to help facilitate blended financing transactions.
Objective 4: Advance global learning and partnerships through improved coordination and knowledge sharing
Under this Objective, this Activity aims to strengthen the capacity and influence of USAID and broader development partners actors in mobilizing finance to increase sustainable management and financing of climate-resilient water and sanitation services. Systematic and rigorous data collection and knowledge management will be key in helping advance the work in the governance and finance space. In addition, USAID will select global, regional, and national/local partners and, where appropriate and necessary, provide technical assistance and/or small grants or in-kind support to help achieve the goals set forth in this activity. Illustrative tasks include:
Developing knowledge products for different audiences, as agreed upon with USAID.
Collecting and managing data on water and sanitation service providers and transactions, in close partnership with other sector actors.
Organizing and/or contributing to knowledge and learning events at the global, regional, and national levels on key topics to help advance USAID’s governance and finance agenda, in line with achieving the SDGs by 2030.
Partnering with key organizations such as the World Bank, OECD, regional development banks, industry associations, private companies, NGOs, etc. to achieve the overall purpose of the award and the aforementioned objectives (Objectives 1-3).
Attachment #2 RFI Questions and Submission Instructions
Please include the title “RFI – WASH-FIN 2” in the subject line of your email. In response to the following questions, please provide information (in no more than 3 pages) on how USAID can best improve governance and financing available for sustainable water and sanitation services. Respondents are free to answer any or all of the questions below. In your responses, please provide any sources for the information, including peer-reviewed or gray literature, expert opinion, project evaluation reports and other documents relevant to this concept note.
What opportunities should USAID prioritize to mobilize climate finance for water and sanitation services? What partnerships are possible between climate mitigation/adaptation project sponsors or accredited entities and water and sanitation service providers?
The concept note illustrates a number of barriers to mobilizing finance. What recommendations can you provide to overcome these barriers while meeting inclusion, equity and diversity objectives and promoting locally-led development?
The concept note illustrates the need to improve governance and performance in addition to activities directly related to mobilizing finance. How should USAID go about determining what to focus on in a given country? What kinds of tools or analyses should USAID carry out?
What aspects of the WASH-FIN 2 concept require clarification?
[1] These programs include Sustainable Water and Sanitation for Africa (SUWASA) program; USAID/India FIRE-D Program; and the Philippine Water Revolving Fund, among others.
7200AA22RFI00TBD US Agency for International Development Bureau for Management
3/15/22, 2:41 PM