72000AA19F00009 EDC GBAIA Ceiling Increase Package.pdf

Date: April 21, 2021

ACTION MEMO TO THE ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU FOR

DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY, AND INNOVATION (DDI)

To: A-AA/DDI – Karl Fickenscher

From: DDI/EDU – Charles Kiamie III, Acting Director

Subject: Justification and Approval of a Ceiling Increase of the “Global Book Alliance in Action” Task

Order under the Advancing Basic Education-All Children Reading Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite

Quantity Contract (ABE-ACR IDIQ)

Recommendation

That you approve the Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition (J&A) to increase the total estimated cost (TEC) of the “Global Book Alliance in Action” Task Order with

Education Development Center, Inc. (IDIQ No. AID-OAA-I-14-00053, Task Order No.

7200AA19F00009). The proposed modification will increase the Task Order Total Estimated Cost by

$4,800,000.00 (from $4,830,929.97 to $9,630,929.97).

Approve ___________________ Disapprove________________

Date ________________

Summary

On July 5, 2019, DDI/EDU, then E3/ED, awarded the Global Book Alliance in Action (GBAIA) Task

Order (TO) under ABE-ACR IDIQ to the Education Development Center (EDC) in the amount of

$4,830,929.97 to provide technical services to USAID Missions and the Global Book Alliance to ensure that every learner in a USAID program has the books that he/she needs in order to learn to read. The

GBAIA Task Order was awarded on July 5, 2019 with an end date of July 10, 2021, to adhere to section

F.2 Period of Performance of the ABE-ACR IDIQ base award. The base award requires that a Task Order may not go beyond two (2) years after the end of the ordering period of the IDIQ. Second, a Task Order

Contracting Officer may not award a Task Order for a period of performance that goes more than five (5) years into the future at the time the order is either awarded or extended by modification.

GBAIA provides the following mission critical services to DDI/EDU and field Missions: a) training on use of the Global Digital Library, b) analysis and repair of book supply chains, c) training and support for

USAID staff and partners implementing book supply chain interventions, and d) just-in-time assistance to the Global Book Alliance. These services provide essential support to the production and circulation of the education sector’s core commodity: books. Without timely and efficient circulation of books and materials, USAID-funded education programs fall short of their objectives and fail to contribute to

USAID’s strategic development goals. The data and training available through the GBAIA Task Order provide USAID Missions the opportunity to analyze and shape book supply chains so that a maximum number of USAID education beneficiaries consistently receive the learning materials they need in a timely manner. Since the Task Order’s inception, five Missions - Jordan, Cambodia, Malawi, Zambia, and

Tanzania - have processed buy-ins for book supply chain remediation services. These buy in(s) have enabled those Missions to lower the costs and streamline the distribution of the essential reading materials on which the success of their U.S Government education programming depends.

4/21/2021

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 caused unprecedented disruptions to the education sector, putting an estimated 1.6 billion children out of school around the globe, and significantly impeding the implementation of USAID-funded education programs. As a result of these impacts from COVID- 19, and subsequent urgent requests from Missions and Operating Units housing active ABE-ACR Task

Orders, the Center for Education, in collaboration with the Office of Acquisition and Assistance (OAA,) extended the period of performance of active ABE-ACR TOs via modifications of the ABE-ACR base awards under the authority of FAR 52.259-14 Excusable Delays. This allowed cognizant Task Order’s

Contracting Officers to extend their respective TOs by 18 months if deemed necessary.

This extension did not permit issuance of any new Task Orders; it only provided additional time for impacted Task Order to address the activities and deliverables already approved under each respective contract. The 18-month extension was the maximum amount to issue a non-cost extension based on the inquiries received. As part of this process, the period of performance of the GBAIA Task Order was extended, via a bilateral modification - Modification #02 - which extended the period of performance until January 10, 2023. This extension provided EDC with sufficient time to meet Center for Education and Missions’ needs related to book supply chain management activities during the global pandemic.

In late 2020, as the pandemic worsened around the world, four Missions - Nigeria, the Philippines, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Malawi - submitted time-sensitive, COVID related specific requests to buy into the GBAIA Task Order. In the case of each country, disruptions to book supply chains caused by the global pandemic have impeded the implementation of current education programming and obstructed the Missions’ ability to implement the Agency 2018 Education Policy. The near-total breakdown of commodity supply chains in these four contexts is putting a total of over $200 million dollars of USAID education programming at risk of failure. Each of these four missions has, as a result of Covid impacts in their specific countries, requested access to GBAIA’s unique book supply chain data analysis and remediation services in a timely manner in order to assist their funded education programs to provide teaching and learning materials (TLMs) efficiently to their beneficiaries. However, the current ceiling of the GBAIA Task Order is limited to $4,830,929.97 and as a result it cannot accommodate these four Missions’ buy-in requests. The lack of a ceiling increase under GBAIA Task

Order will contribute to a series of negative ramifications related to programming and deprive millions of

USAID beneficiaries in these countries of the books on which their education depends. Ultimately, this will derail the Missions’ accomplishments of their foreign assistance objectives in education, unless the subject J&A is executed.

Authority

AIDAR 706.302-70(a)(2) states, “Full and open competition need not be obtained when it would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purposes of foreign aid, relief, and rehabilitation.” AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(i) states that the authority may be used for, “an award for which the Assistant Administrator responsible for the project or program makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that compliance with full and open competition procedures would impair foreign assistance objectives and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of the foreign assistance program.” As the cognizant Acting Assistant Administrator for the GBAIA Task Order, you have the authority to approve the attached J&A. In accordance with AIDAR 706.302-70(c)(3), prior consultation with the Agency Competition Advocate is required before execution of this action.

Resource Implications

There are no resource implications for DDI/EDU. Each of the four missions proposing a buy-in will fund the work proposed.

Attachments:

Tab 1 – Determination and Findings

Tab 2 – Justification and Approval for Other than Full and Open Competition

Tab 1

DETERMINATION AND FINDINGS (D&F)

GLOBAL BOOK ALLIANCE IN ACTION (GBAIA) TASK ORDER

1. Nature and description of the action being approved:

This Determination and Findings (D&F) is requested to support a noncompetitive modification to an

ABE-ACR Task Order (IDIQ No. AID-OAA-I-14-00053, Task Order No. 7200AA19F00009) to increase its Total Estimated Cost (TEC). This proposed modification will enable the GBAIA Contractor to respond quickly and effectively to buy-in requests from the USAID Missions in Nigeria, the Philippines, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Malawi that have emerged as a result of the impact of ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and lack of other active USAID mechanisms in Washington or the field. These four Missions require the services of the GBAIA contract to address COVID-related breakdowns in book supply chains in their respective countries that are impeding the implementation of their current education programming. As a result, the proposed modification will increase the Task Order

TEC by $4.8 million, thereby increasing the ceiling of the contract from $4,830,929.97 to $9,630,929.97.

2. Citation of the statute upon which this D&F is based:

AIDAR 706.302-70(a)(2) states, “Full and open competition need not be obtained when it would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purposes of foreign aid, relief, and rehabilitation.” AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(i) states that the authority may be used for “an award for which the Assistant Administrator responsible for the project or program makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that compliance with full and open competition procedures would impair foreign assistance objectives and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of the foreign assistance program.” As provided in AIDAR 706.302-70(c)(3)(i)), the authority in 706.302-7(b)(3)(i) shall only be used when no other authority in FAR 6.302 and AIDAR 706.302 is suitable. DDI/EDU considered the other FAR and AIDAR authorities for other than full and open competition prior to requesting approval of this D&F, and no other authorities were deemed suitable for this action.

• AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(4) is not applicable as this is not an award under Title XII of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

• AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5) is not applicable as, even though GBAIA Task Order is currently the only Agency contract providing book supply chain remediation services, these services do not correspond to the typical definition of “highly specialized services.”

• FAR 6.302-1 is not applicable as, even though the GBAIA Task Order, as mentioned above, is currently the only Agency contract providing book supply chain remediation services, it is possible that other responsible sources for similar technical services could be identified in the future.

• FAR 6.302-2 is not applicable as this action does not represent an emergency or life-threatening situation; therefore, not qualifying as unusual and compelling urgency.

• FAR 6.302-3 is not applicable as the action does not pertain to a national emergency, essential engineering, research, or development.

• FAR 6.302-4 is not applicable as the action is not precluded by the terms of an international agreement or a treaty between the United States and a foreign government or international organization.

• FAR 6.302-5 is not applicable as it is not expressly authorized or required by a statute.

• FAR 6.302-6 is not applicable as the disclosure of the agency’s needs, as part of a full and open announcement, would not in itself compromise national security.

• FAR 6.302-7 is not applicable as it has not been determined that full and open competition would be counter to the public interest.

• FAR 16.505(b)(2)(ii)(B) to (G) are not applicable as this action is outside the terms of the basic IDIQ ordering period.

3. Findings that detail the particular circumstances, facts, or reasoning essential to support this determination:

The Center for Education specifically designed the GBAIA Task Order under the ABE-ACR IDIQ to allow Missions to buy-in to its book supply chain analysis and remediation services, as a function of their individual contexts and data needs. The GBAIA Task Order is the only current central mechanism that plays this role for USAID Missions and the only instrument in the Agency’s education portfolio that provides supply chain analysis and market shaping services for the development, production, distribution, and delivery of high-quality TLMs.

However, during the design and planning stage of the GBAIA Task Order, due to the restrictions under the IDIQ base award (Section F.2 Period of Performance) related to the period of performance, the independent government cost estimate (IGCE) was limited to only 24 months and five days, despite the technical need for a much longer timeframe. Nevertheless, the GBAIA Task Order was still able to successfully address the needs of five Missions - Jordan, Cambodia, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania -through buy-ins for book supply chain remediation services. These buy-ins have enabled those Missions to lower the costs and streamline the distribution of the essential reading materials on which the success of their U.S Government education programming depends.

The chaos and unprecedented impact of COVID-19 in the education sector has created new and urgent needs for buy-ins to GBAIA to obtain book supply chain remediation services. Specifically, USAID

Missions in Nigeria, the Philippines, the DRC, and Malawi, have identified technical needs under the

GBAIA Task Order which would support their respective ongoing basic education programming. Each

Mission continues to reach out to the Center for Education because the lack of access to the GBAIA’s services via the buy-ins would impair the implementation of their respective education portfolio and, therefore, the delivery of foreign aid within each country. The challenges and unprecedented impacts related to COVID-19 and book supply that these missions now face were unforeseeable at the design and planning stage of the GBAIA contract. These challenges are as follows:

• USAID/Nigeria: In the Northern Nigerian states where USAID invests, the pandemic has shuttered small-scale publishers and printers, and impeded several million learners from accessing points of book distribution such as schools. To sustain education activities, the mission needs a rapid analysis of book chain opportunities to identify viable options for ensuring that learners receive either print or digital teaching and learning materials (TLMs) through alternative access points (i.e. medical facilities) or modalities (i.e. remote learning).

• USAID/Philippines: In the areas of the Philippines where USAID invests, COVID-19 has disrupted the supply chain of essential products for the development of books (i.e. paper, ink, glue, industrial printers, etc.). The Philippines is an island nation dependent on the import of these core commodities for book production. Decreases in the speed of international commerce and shipping cause near-total incapacity to print and distribute books at scale. The services the Philippines mission is requesting from the GBAIA contract will provide the market analyses to identify local solutions to these supply chain disruptions, so that the mission’s planned education interventions do not have to proceed with far fewer TLMs than planned.

• USAID/DRC: Prior to the pandemic, the DRC’s book distribution processes were largely government-based, with government-run printing and distribution services delivering TLMs to schools. The pandemic has closed or slowed many government services, including those within the Ministry of Education related to book distribution. In addition, the pandemic has closed a large number of schools nationwide, making the prospect of delivering books to schools a less promising investment for USAID programs in the education sector. Therefore, the Mission is requesting that GBAIA undertake a national analysis of the remaining private sector options for book chain operations, in order to plan rapidly for new private sector engagement agreements to move books and TLMs to students and teachers in community centers and homes. The fact that the DRC is an enormous territory with costly transport, security, and operations requirements for research raises the proposed dollar value of the mission’s buy-in to approximately $1 million. DRC programs consist of roughly $40+ million dollars of education investment per year, and the Mission estimates that buying in to GBAIA is the most efficient way to gain the data needed to ensure that the use of those millions of dollars of Government funds achieves the mission’s education objectives.

• USAID/Malawi: In Malawi, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lock-downs have crippled the national economy, caused many of the national printing houses to close, and greatly slowed the circulation of supplies. These Covid-related effects have unfortunately coincided with corruption in the education sector that has left USAID/Malawi particularly challenged in providing the TLMs meant to achieve its education objectives. USAID/Malawi had planned to distribute USAID-financed TLMs to support the national reading program by having the pooled donor fund, (in which USAID does NOT participate), subsidize the printing and distribution of the USAID designed materials.

However, a 2020 donors’ conducted audit yielded findings about mismanagement of the fund. As a result, those donors (the World Bank, UNICEF, and other bilaterals such as Norway) have placed a stop work order on the operations of the fund. USAID/Malawi now has no current options for ensuring the distribution of the USAID-sponsored materials, intended to be the bedrock of the USAID-funded learning interventions in 5000+ schools.

The GBAIA Task Order, as the Agency’s only currently-funded source of book supply chain remediation services, can provide these four USAID Missions with the analyses, recommendations, and technical assistance they require to identify and implement cost-effective, rapid responses to resolve the blockages they are experiencing in book delivery to millions of students. (More detail on the specific services proposed is contained in the attached J&A, Tab 2). Without the services of the GBAIA contract, there is high likelihood of waste of U.S Government resources for TLMs through investment in processes, (like person-to-person book distribution), that are no longer safe and viable while the virus is active, (and mutating), and while many schools remain closed. Furthermore, there is a high likelihood that the sunk costs in the education programming in all four contexts will have been of little or no use and result in little overall impact, if book supply cannot be maintained. Failure to increase the GBAIA contract ceiling to allow these four Missions to access book supply chain support services will significantly impair these Missions’ basic education programming, which is dependent on essential book procurement and distribution functions.

USAID’s 2018 Education Policy priorities (1. improving access to high-quality education for marginalized children and youth; 2. improving foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes; 3.

improving economic and employment opportunities for youth, and 4. improving the quality of higher education services) fundamentally depends on TLMs being able to reach learners in good condition, and on time. Compliance with full and open competition procedures to obtain book chain analysis and remediation would impair the four Missions’ accomplishment of their foreign assistance objectives under Agency policy. The book supply chain disruptions being experienced by each of the Missions are impacting current programming. Soliciting and competitively awarding new contracts in each mission to procure similar supply chain management services will be impossible, especially within a timeline that will allow challenges to current programming to be addressed. Being forced to precipitously transition to new contracts will impair these Missions from meeting their current foreign assistance objectives in education and would be highly detrimental to the U.S Government’s best interests.

4. Determination:

The GBAIA Task Order was originally designed to serve USAID Missions’ needs to analyze and correct dysfunctions in their respective host countries’ book supply chains. As detailed above, due to the restrictions of the base award at the time, the length of such services was limited to 24 months and five days. However, due to ramifications of COVID-19, the exercise of FAR 52.259-14 Excusable Delays at the IDIQ base award allowed the cognizant Task Order Contracting Officer to determine that an 18-month no-cost extension to the GBAIA Task Order was necessary to allow the Contractor sufficient time to address the Performance Work Statement. Unfortunately, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world has continued, and the education sector to specifically include schools, continues to suffer multiple COVID-related challenges.

As a result, four USAID Missions - Nigeria, the Philippines, the DRC, and Malawi- have reached out to the Center for Education for timely and effective support to address their respective significant disruptions to their national book supply chains. Such disruptions are impeding the ability of the Missions and their funded partners to deliver urgently needed TLMs in a timely manner. Given that the cumulative proposed buy-ins from the four Missions exceed the current available ceiling of the GBAIA Task Order, a ceiling increase is necessary. Failing to raise the ceiling of the GBAIA Task Order to accommodate the four Missions’ buy-ins will impair the achievement of USAID’s foreign assistance objectives in each of the country contexts and will cause the U.S. Government to risk a substantial duplication of cost.

Impairment of Foreign Assistance Objectives: The Missions requesting the buy-ins cannot meet their foreign assistance objectives for their current education programming without them. Each Mission is currently in the middle of executing programming that has been significantly negatively impacted by COVID-19. In all four Missions’ contexts, intended beneficiary populations have been deprived of timely delivery of learning materials, which is significantly decreasing the efficacy of U.S investments and the achievement of foreign assistance targets in basic education. The services these Missions seek from GBAIA are intended to salvage and reinforce the value of current programming in the wake of the pandemic. Failure to provide the services as quickly and efficiently as possible will have a cascading negative effect on the programming in progress in all four missions, creating unacceptable delays in achieving the programmatic impact and development results the Missions seek.

Risk of Substantial Duplication of Cost to the Government: Should the four Missions that now need the services of the GBAIA Task Order not be able to receive them through this action, each Mission would have to introduce steps for identifying a new service supplier into their mission procurement plans. The procurements would then have to pass through all the requisite stages, including the creation of concept notes, the development of program descriptions or scopes of work, the creation of full pre-award packages, and the management of solicitations. Therefore, it could be well over a year before each Mission could potentially receive the services they need. Also, there is a chance that they might go through the effort of a separate procurement, not identify a suitable supplier, and not receive them at all.

This would create unnecessary duplication of costs and waste of Government resources, because the Government has already invested in putting the GBAIA contract in place.

As previously stated, AIDAR 706.302-70(a)(2) states, “Full and open competition need not be obtained when it would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purposes of foreign aid, relief, and rehabilitation.” AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(i) states that the authority may be used for, “an award for which the Assistant Administrator responsible for the project or program makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that compliance with full and open competition procedures would impair foreign assistance objectives and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of the foreign assistance program.” In conclusion, DDI/EDU and the four USAID Missions requesting buy ins to the GBAIA Task Order cannot otherwise meet USAID’s foreign assistance objectives in education in these four country contexts without increasing the ceiling of the GBAIA Task Order.

DETERMINATION AND FINDINGS BY THE ACTING ASSISTANT TO THE ADMINISTRATOR,

BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, AND INNOVATION (DDI):

In accordance with the authority and limitations cited above, I, the undersigned hereby execute this determination and findings that compliance with full and open competition procedures would result in the impairment of U.S. Government foreign assistance objectives and would be inconsistent with fulfillment of the foreign assistance program.

Karl Fickemscher Date

Acting Assistant Administrator

Bureau for Democracy, Development and Innovation

Consultation with the Agency Competition Advocate:

AIDAR 706.302-70(c)(3) requires prior consultation with the Agency Competition Advocate before executing the written determination and finding, and the consultation must be reflected in the written determination finding. The undersigned Agency Competition Advocate certifies that consultation took place before executing written determination findings.

Deborah Broderick Date

Agency Competition Advocate

DEBORAH RYAN BRODERICK

(affiliate)

Digitally signed by DEBORAH RYAN BRODERICK (affiliate) Date: 2021.05.17 16:59:18 -04'00'

Tab 2

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

(J&A)

TO: Karl Fickenscher, Acting Assistant Administrator, DDI

VIA: Lorena Marko, Contracting Officer, M/OAA

VIA: Charles Kiamie III, Acting Director, DDI/EDU

FROM: Rebecca Rhodes, Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), DDI/EDU

SUBJECT: Justification And Approval For Other Than Full And Open Competition (J&A)

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as “Justification for other than full and open competition”:

This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying the use of other than full and open competition, in accordance with AIDAR 706.302:

Per AIDAR 706.302-70(a)(2), “Full and open competition need not be obtained when it would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purposes of foreign aid, relief, and rehabilitation.” AIDAR 706-302(b)(3)(i) - further states that the authority may be used for “an award for which the Assistant Administrator responsible for the project or program makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that compliance with full and open competition procedures would impair foreign assistance objectives and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of the foreign assistance program.”

This document was prepared by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Bureau for

Development, Democracy and Innovation, Center for Education (DDI/EDU). DDI/EDU is requesting a

$4,800,000.00 increase to the Total Estimated Cost (TEC) for the Global Book Alliance in Action

(GBAIA) Task Order (TO), issued under the Advancing Basic Education-All Children reading Indefinite

Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ). This Task Order is a cost-plus-fixed fee, completion type contract.

Contracting Agency: U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Contracting Activity: Global Book Alliance in Action Task Order

Contractor: Education Development Center, Inc.

IDIQ Number: AID-OAA-I-14-00053

IDIQ Ordering Period: July 10, 2014-July 10, 2021

Task Order Number: 7200AA19F00009

Task Order PoP: July 5, 2019 to January 10, 2023 (Inclusive of the 18-month extension via FAR 52.259-

14 Excusable Delays).

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This is a request to approve a non-competitive modification to ABE-ACR Task Order #7200AA19F00009, (under IDIQ #AID-OAA-I-14-00053), to increase the Total Estimated Cost (TEC) by $4,800,000.00, from $4,830,929.97 to $9,630,929.97.

The additional ceiling allowance will enable four USAID Missions - Nigeria, the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Malawi-with urgent, COVID-19 related needs for book supply chain analysis and remediation services to access the technical assistance of the contract. These services are necessary to enable these Missions to meet their foreign assistance objectives in education in their current programming. Programs that were planned before the pandemic have now seen unforeseeable interruptions to book delivery services to beneficiaries because of the pandemic. The services of the GBAIA Task Order are needed to enable the Missions to continue to progress towards their objectives.

On July 5, 2019, DDI/EDU, then E3/ED, awarded the Global Book Alliance in Action (GBAIA) Task Order (TO) to provide technical services to USAID Missions and the Global Book Alliance to ensure that every learner in a USAID program has the books that he/she needs in order to learn to read. The Task Order was procured in compliance with the parameters of the IDIQ and of Missions’ needs for services at that time. The original end date of the Task Order was July 10, 2021, in compliance with section F.2 Period of Performance of the ABE-ACR IDIQ base award. This section required that a Task Order not go beyond two (2) years after the end of the IDIQ ordering period.

The Center for Education specifically designed the GBAIA Task Order to allow Missions to buy-in to its services, as a function of their individual contexts and book supply data needs. During the initial years of the contract, five USAID Missions - Jordan, Cambodia, Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania - have bought into the mechanism, at dollar amounts ranging from 250,000.00 to 780,000.00, to acquire Mission-critical data on market metrics in book supply chains. These buy-in(s) have enabled those Missions to lower the cost and streamline the distribution of the essential reading materials on which their USG education programming depends.

In June of 2020, in response to the impacts of Covid 19 on the education sector, DDI/EDU extended the base contracts of all IDIQ holders with active ask Orders under the ABE-ACR IDIQ by up to 18 months, through FAR clause 52.249-14, “Excusable Delays.” This extension did not permit issuance of any new Task Order(s), or an extension of the Statement of Work/Performance, but rather additional time for impacted Task Order to address the activities and deliverables already approved under each respective contract. The 18-month extension was the maximum amount to issue a non-cost extension based on the inquiries received. The extension only applied to companies currently implementing task orders at the time that the pandemic began. As part of this process, the period of performance of the GBAIA Task Order was extended, via Modification #02, until January 10, 2023. This extension was to allow the GBAIA contractor to meet Center for Education and Mission needs for book supply chain management activities during the global pandemic. Full copies of the documentation for the IDIQ modifications and the GBAIA Task Order can be found in ASIST.

Due to the ongoing pandemic impact, near the end of 2020 calendar year, the Center for Education received four buy-in requests for book supply chain technical services under the GBAIA Task Order.

While the requests can be addressed within the current period of performance of the Task Order, there is insufficient ceiling currently in the contract to address the Missions’ needs. To meet the Missions’ needs, an increase in the contract ceiling of $4.8 million is needed. The Missions’ needs to access the contract could not have been foreseen prior to the establishment of the TO, as they have arisen because of the ongoing global pandemic. An exception to full and open competition is required to permit them to leverage the GBAIA Task Order in order to resolve the challenges in book supply routing that are impeding their current programming in the COVID context. Being able to distribute teaching and learning materials (TLMs) efficiently will, in turn, enable these missions to accomplish their assistance objectives under the Agency education policy.

3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value:

The GBAIA Task Order provides the following critical services to DDI/EDU and Missions: a) training on use of the Global Digital Library, b) analysis and repair of book supply chains, c) training and support for USAID staff and partners implementing book supply chain interventions, and d) just-in-time assistance to the Global Book Alliance. The GBAIA TO is currently the only USAID-funded mechanism in the entire education sector designed specifically to assist Missions in the improvement of book supply chain functions at a global scale. As such, it is an essential resource for USAID Missions and specifically their respective education portfolios. Specifically, the GBAIA Task Order supports the achievement of USAID strategic foreign assistance objectives in education by simplifying and streamlining the supply of the sector’s essential commodity: books.

Currently, there are four USAID Missions – Nigeria, the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Malawi – that have requested buy-in(s) into the GBAIA Task Order in order to complete timely, efficient, in-depth studies of the market risks and opportunities in book circulation in the “new normal” of the COVID-19 pandemic. In these countries, the pandemic has created market disruptions in the book industry that have weakened USAID’s ability to distribute books promptly, and that have forced closures of reliable business partners for USAID Missions in book production, supply, and distribution. With GBAIA technical assistance, these dysfunctions can be diagnosed and rapidly corrected, in order to permit education programming to continue. Without GBAIA’s services, there is a high likelihood of USG resources for TLMs being wasted through investment in processes, like person to-person book distribution, that are no longer safe and viable while the virus is active and mutating. Many schools remain closed. The details of the current context in each country requesting a buy-in to the GBAIA Task Order are as follows:

• USAID/Nigeria: In the Northern Nigerian states where USAID invests, the pandemic has shuttered small-scale publishers and printers, and kept several million learners from accessing points of book distribution such as schools. To sustain education activities, the mission needs a rapid analysis of book chain opportunities to identify viable options for ensuring that learners receive either print or digital TLMs through alternative access points (i.e. medical facilities) or modalities (i.e. remote learning).

• USAID/Philippines: In the areas of the Philippines where USAID invests, COVID-19 has disrupted the supply chain of essential products for the development of books (i.e. paper, ink, glue, industrial printers, etc.). The Philippines is an island nation dependent on the import of these core commodities for book production. Decreases in the speed of international commerce and shipping cause near-total incapacity to print and distribute books at scale. The services the Philippines mission is requesting from the GBAIA contract will provide the market analyses to identify local solutions to these supply chain disruptions, so that the mission’s planned education interventions do not have to proceed with far fewer TLMs than planned.

• USAID/DRC: Prior to the pandemic, the DRC’s book distribution processes were largely government-based, with government-run printing and distribution services delivering TLMs to schools. The pandemic has closed or slowed many government services, including those within the Ministry of Education related to book distribution. In addition, the pandemic has closed a large number of schools nationwide, making the prospect of delivering books to schools a less promising investment for USAID programs in the education sector. Therefore, the mission is requesting that GBAIA undertake a national analysis of the remaining private sector options for book chain operations, in order to plan rapidly for new private sector engagement agreements to move books and TLMs to students and teachers in community centers and homes. The fact that the DRC is an enormous territory with costly transport, security, and operations requirements for research raises the proposed dollar value of the mission’s buy-in to approximately $1 million. DRC programs consists of roughly $40+ million dollars of education investment per year, and the mission estimates that buying in to GBAIA is the most efficient way to gain the data needed to ensure that the use of those millions of dollars of government funds achieves the mission’s education objectives.

• USAID/Malawi: In Malawi, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns have crippled the national economy, caused many of the national printing houses to close, and greatly slowed the circulation of supplies. These Covid-related effects have unfortunately coincided with corruption in the education sector that has left USAID/Malawi particularly challenged in providing the TLMs meant to achieve its education objectives. Originally, the plan in the country for providing the USAID-designed reading and literacy TLMs that are part of the Ministry’s 2020-2022 national reading program to all schools was to have the pooled donor fund, in which USAID does NOT participate, subsidize the printing and distribution of USAID-designed materials. However, a 2020 donors’ conducted audit yielded findings about mismanagement of the pooled fund. As a result, those donors (the World Bank, UNICEF, and other bilateral donors, such as Norway) have placed a stop work order on the operations of the fund. USAID/Malawi, therefore, has no current options for ensuring the distribution of the USAID-sponsored materials that are intended to be the bedrock of the USAID-funded learning interventions in 5000+ schools. In order for the mission’s education investments to achieve impact, it is critical for these materials to be provided to teachers and learners. The mission is requesting GBAIA to conduct in-depth analyses of options for the TLM production and circulation. Afterward, missions will conduct pilot demonstrations of the best of these options so that the ministry can emulate and expand this work and succeed in its own right in delivering materials to schools. The information and data provided by GBAIA represent the most efficient and effective way for the Malawi mission to resolve the major challenges presented by the COVID pandemic and the withdrawal of the other donors from the publishing work.

USAID/Malawi’s buy-in value is comparatively high because the programming requiring GBAIA’s specialized support services operates at national scale across four grade levels. This translates into identification of avenues for safe delivery of hundreds of millions of TLMs.

The table below summarizes these new and urgent requests, and the approximate dollar amount that each respective buy-in(s) will entail, should the ceiling increase of GBAIA be processed. All projected buy in funds would be sourced from the respective USAID Mission via an incremental funding action.

USAID

Mission

Estimated

Buy-In Value

Activities

Nigeria $400,000.00 In order to identify viable options for book delivery in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, conduct a book supply chain analysis to identify viable partners in Nigeria or available to Nigerian states that produce part or all inputs required to produce reading and learning materials in English and local languages.

Create a mapping of alternative book or print access points that teachers, families, and students could use in order to receive USAID funded TLMs during the humanitarian crisis caused by the Covid pandemic.

Philippines $400,000.00 ● Provide the market analyses to identify local solutions to Covid related supply chain disruptions, so that the mission’s planned education interventions do not have to proceed with far fewer TLMs than planned. Incorporate a particular focus on procurement processes in a context where traditional book production partners are no longer able to work at pre-pandemic capacity.

● Identify strategies to compensate for the fact that partners are no longer able to work at pre-pandemic capacity.

DRC $1,000,000.00 Conduct a national analysis of private sector options for book chain operations, to compensate for lack of government services that have been stopped or slowed by the pandemic. This analysis will ensure that the mission’s large sector investments (30 million-40 million per year) achieve their intended impacts even during the Covid-19 pandemic

Provide recommendations for new private sector engagement agreements to move books and TLMs to students and teachers in community centers and homes. (Note that completion of recommended PSE work based on the analysis will be procured separately by the DRC mission).

Malawi $3,000,000.00 ● Conduct in-depth, nationwide, analyses of options for the TLM production and circulation for all primary grades, in order to provide a plan for the national distribution of USAID-designed TLMs that can counteract the effects of the disruption of market functions from Covid and the recent withdrawal of donor support to joint publishing efforts. The result of these combined phenomena is that no books can circulate in the country, causing significant harm to USAID’s investments.

● Demonstrate the new supply chain processes identified through the in-depth analysis, so that the Ministry and its partner institutions can emulate and expand on that work. The information and data provided by GBAIA represent the most efficient and effective way for the Malawi mission to resolve the major challenges the coincidence of the COVID pandemic and the withdrawal of the other donors from the publishing work have posed to the successful implementation of its current education programming.

TOTAL $4,800,000

All four requests to access the GBAIA contract’s services have been triggered by the complex and highly disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the book supply chains in these four countries.

Additionally, in Malawi’s case, these effects have been compounded by the recent withdrawal of the donors from the joint publishing fund. Returns on all four missions’ investments in the education sector cannot be achieved unless students in their country programs can access needed TLMs.

Given the following: 1) unprecedented nature of education sector turbulence in the face of the global pandemic, 2) the Missions’ critical needs to avoid any further disruptions in moving TLMs to their intended target beneficiaries in order to meet their foreign assistance goals, and 3) the GBAIA contract’s unique ability to provide the data and analyses these four missions require, approving the use of the GBAIA contract for this work is in the U.S Government’s and the education sector’s best interest.

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The authority permitting this exception to full and open competition is AIDAR Part 706.302-70 Impairment of foreign aid programs. (a) Authority. (1) Citation: 40 U.S.C. 113. “(2) Full and open competition need not be obtained when it would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purposes of foreign aid, relief, and rehabilitation.” Under this authority, AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(i) is used as justification for this action. “(3)(i) An award for which the Assistant Administrator responsible for the project or program makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that compliance with full and open competition procedures would impair foreign assistance objectives, and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of the foreign assistance program;”

5. A demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited:

Proposed contractors’ unique qualifications: The GBAIA TO is the Agency’s only tool for the highly specialized functions of book supply chain analysis. Under the GBAIA contract, specialists in the complex supply and demand dynamics of global book supply chains provide a) training and support for the use of the Global Digital Library, b) book supply chain analyses and recommendations, c) training and interventions for book supply chain improvement, and d) support services both globally and at the contract level to the Global Book Alliance secretariat. All of these functions offer specialized technical needs within the education sector and specifically within the context of active USAID mechanisms available. Given that GBAIA is one of the first contracts within the education sector in USAID related to global book supply chain reform, such a mechanism certainly brings in a suite of unique technical services through its prime – Education Development Center (EDC). As such, the GBAIA TO is uniquely positioned to respond to these Missions’ urgent needs for supply chain interventions.

Impairment of Foreign Assistance Objectives: The Missions requesting these buy-ins cannot meet their foreign assistance objectives for their current education programming without processing these buy-ins.

Each Mission is currently in the middle of executing programming that has been significantly negatively impacted by COVID-19. In all four Missions, intended beneficiary populations have been deprived of timely delivery of learning materials, which is significantly decreasing the efficacy of U.S investments and the achievement of foreign assistance targets in basic education. The GBAIA services sought are intended to salvage and reinforce the value of current programming in the wake of the pandemic. Failure to provide the services as quickly and efficiently as possible will have a cascading negative effect on the programming in progress in all four missions, creating unacceptable delays in achieving the programmatic impact and development results the Missions seek.

Risk of Substantial Duplication of Cost to the Government: Should the four Missions that now need the services of the GBAIA Task Order not be able to receive them through this action, each Mission would have to introduce steps for identifying a new service supplier into their mission procurement plans.

The procurements would then have to pass through all the requisite stages, including the creation of concept notes, the development of program descriptions or scopes of work, the creation of full pre-award packages, and the management of solicitations. Therefore, it could be well over a year before each

Mission could potentially receive the critical services they need. Also, there is a chance that they might go through the effort of a separate procurement, not identify a suitable supplier, and not receive them at all. This would create unnecessary duplication of costs and waste of government resources, since the

Government has already invested in putting the GBAIA contract in place.

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was publicized as required by Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) 5.2 [AIDAR 705.2].

The use of other potential sources would be detrimental to USAID’s ability to meet critical U.S. foreign policy objectives in education in Nigeria, the Philippines, the DRC, and Malawi. As discussed earlier, efforts to solicit from other sources would result in damaging time delays that could waste Government resources spent on TLMs. A notice per FAR 5.201 is not required when using the authority AIDAR

706.302-70(b)(3)(i).

FAR 6.305(a) requires COs to make J&A documents publicly available 14 days after award, except for information exempt from public disclosure. Should the subject J&A be approved, the cognizant CO will make this document available publicly on beta.sam.gov within 14 days of its execution.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

In accordance with FAR 15.402, adequate cost competition took place when USAID Competed the original award. The cognizant Contracting Officer will ensure that all services procured under the proposed TEC increase will be fair and reasonable based on historical costs and review of proposed costs.

The anticipated costs to the Government of the GBAIA contract services requested are regulated under the labor categories established for the ABE-ACR IDIQ under which the GBAIA Task Order was issued.

As such, the Contractor is bound by the terms and conditions of the IDIQ provisions related to salary approvals, labor category ceilings, etc. This ensures that the cost to the Government of permitting these buy-ins to occur will be fair and reasonable.

In addition each of the four Missions requesting services under the GBAIA contract submitted estimated costs to the GBAIA COR in Washington. These estimated costs are based on the Mission staff’s knowledge of each country’s context and operating realities. They have also been informed by Mission staff’s review of the general costs of supply chain analysis services that have been incurred under the

GBAIA contract through the previous buy-ins to the mechanism.

8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

DDI/EDU decided to increase the GBAIA TEC through a modification after extensive consultation with the Missions requesting to buy into the mechanism. Two facts supporting this determination are: 1) the

Missions requesting buy-ins need these specific book supply chain services rapidly - and 2) a very limited number of providers can meet this need. Thus, buying into GBAIA is the most efficient and effective way for the four Missions to meet their critical supply chain data needs.