Q and A July 2.docx

Department of State Bureau of African Affairs (AF)

NOFO SFOP0006930

July 2, 2020 Regional Harmonization to PVE in Coastal West Africa: Q and A

Q: Would DOS kindly share unclassified DOS-funded assessments and/or research documents of relevance to the country context for all countries of focus, so that all applicants have access to the same information to ensure fair competition practices?

A: The Department of State does not have any public assessments to share.

Q: Would DOS kindly share details on those DOS efforts currently supporting Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism strategies/action plans in any of the countries of focus or through any regional platform?

A: Applicants should base their proposals on publicly available information about ongoing programs, strategies, and action plans.

Q: NOFO, section II, page 3, Objective 1 states: “Identify six border communities (administrative or geographic areas) that are vulnerable to violent extremism and represent a strategic priority for the country/region”. Would DOS kind clarify its definition of a community in this context?

A: Applicants should propose a definition of community. The Department of State is open to different approaches/definitions of communities and will evaluate an applicant’s definition of a community as part of its proposal.

Q: NOFO, section II, “7) Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan,” (page 5) indicates that the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan should be part of the technical narrative. We have the following related questions:

a. Would DOS consider allowing the Logical Framework of the Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan to be included in the attachments, not counting towards the 20-page limit of the narrative?

b. PSI, page 3, “Tab A: Mandatory Attachment Guidelines,” requests a “Performance Management Plan (PMP),” as part of application attachments. Would DOS please clarify if this PMP is the same as the Performance Management Plan mentioned in the NOFO? If not, would DOS kindly explain the difference between the two requirements?

A: The Performance Management Plan was a typo and should refer to the Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Plan. The PMEP can be submitted either as part of the proposal narrative or as an attachment.

Q: Would DOS please consider allowing textboxes and graphics to be in a font size smaller than 12-point Times New Roman font?

A: Applicants may use size 9 font or larger for textboxes and graphics.

Q: PSI, page 2, states that the Financial Management Survey is required “For first-time applicants to the Department of State/or respective Bureau only”. Would DOS kindly confirm if organizations who have submitted applications to DOS before but have not submitted applications to the Bureau of African Affairs, do not have to complete the Financial Management Survey?

A: Only the recommended for funding organization (first-time applicant/recipient ) will be required to fill out the financial management survey that would be provided later directly to the winning organization.

Q: PSI, page 2, indicated that the Attachments should be “5-10 pages, preferably in Microsoft Word”. Would DOS please confirm if the range of 5-10 pages is a suggested range or a mandatory range?

A: This is a suggested range.

Q: The Budget Guidelines, on page 2, instruct that per diem should be based on the GSA.gov website. However, GSA governs domestic per diem. Would DOS please confirm that international per diem shall be based on DSSR guidelines?

A: You should google GSA overseas per diem rates.

Q: We were hoping for clarification regarding Section 4D of the technical narrative "Resources for Timeline for Activities". It states that it should be answered as a "narrative description", does that mean a Gantt chart would not be necessary to depict the project timeline?

A: If an applicant prefers to do a Gantt chart, you may include the timeline in the annexes.