Sol_7200AA19R00019 Final.pdf

Issuance Date: November 12, 2019

Question Submission Date/Time: November 22, 2019, 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Past Performance Submission Date/Time: December 6, 2019, 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Closing Date/Time: December 13, 2019, 12:00 PM Eastern Time

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) No. 7200AA19R00019

Title: EVAL ME II – Monitoring Evaluation Learning Services

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is seeking proposals to provide monitoring, evaluation and learning services in order to promote evidence-based decision making for adaptive management across USAID. The services under these awards require skills in monitoring, evaluation research design (including qualitative methods, quantitative impact evaluation methods, experimental and quasi-experimental design), data collection, analysis, and synthesis, report writing, and planning for USAID’s Office of Policy, Planning and Learning, Office of Learning, Evaluation, and Research (USAID/PPL/LER) as described in the attached Request for Proposals (RFP).

USAID anticipates awarding up to fifteen (15), 7-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity Contracts (IDIQ) with a 5-year ordering period to small businesses. The NAICS Code for this award is 541990 – All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services. Based on the North American Industry Classification System Codes, the average annual receipts for small businesses is $15M. Small businesses must certify their status prior to award.

The incumbent(s) of the previous contract include:

● Amex International, Inc.

● Banyan Global

● Cultural Practice

● DevTech Systems, Inc.

● Democracy International

● Dexis Consulting Group

● Encompass

● International Business & Technical Consultants Inc.

● IT Shows, Inc.

● Mendez England & Associates, Inc.

● Panagora Group

● Partners for Global Research and Development Group (PGRDG)

● Segura Consulting, LLC, and

● The Mitchell Group, Inc.

USAID anticipates an aggregate ceiling amount of all awards resulting from this RFP to be approximately $655 million dollars over the five-year ordering period. The cumulative dollar value of all task orders awarded to the IDIQ contract contractors cannot exceed this contract ceiling. The ceiling will not be subdivided among the number of awardees, nor multiplied by the number of awardees. There is no guarantee on the number of task orders that the successful contractor(s) will receive or the amount of money beyond the minimum order guarantee set forth in the RFP.

Please refer to Section L for information regarding proposal requirements. Contractors should take into account the expected delivery time required by the proposal transmission method they choose, and they are responsible for ensuring proposals are received at USAID by the due date and time as specified in Section L. Failure to comply with the submission date will deem any submission unacceptable and it will not be reviewed or evaluated. Faxed proposals are not acceptable, nor will they be reviewed or evaluated.

It is the contractor’s responsibility to ensure the proposal is received.

Section L of the RFP sets forth all instructions for the preparation and submission of required proposal contents, including critical dates/times for the submission of questions, and the proposal submission closing date and time. Section M states the criteria by which proposals will be evaluated.

Please note: Past Performance Information should be prepared as a separate volume and should be sent to Ms. Ashlee Tuck (atuck@usaid.gov) by December 6, 2019, 12:00 PM Eastern Time. If Past Performance Information is not submitted by the due date, the offeror’s proposal will not be considered for evaluation.

This RFP in no way obligates USAID to award a contract nor does it commit USAID to pay any costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Award of a Contract under this RFP is subject to availability of funds and other internal USAID approvals.

This RFP can be viewed and downloaded from https://beta.sam.gov/. USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. Further, be aware that amendments to solicitations are occasionally issued and will be posted on the same website from which you downloaded the solicitation. USAID advises to regularly check the above website for amendments.

Sincerely, /s/

Mr. Roderick Watson Contracting Officer, USAID mailto:atuck@usaid.gov https://beta.sam.gov/

Table of Contents

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES/PRICES 4

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS 16

SECTION D – PACKAGING AND MARKING 30

SECTION E - INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 31

SECTION F – DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE 32

SECTION G – CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA 45

SECTION H – SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS 50

SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES 67

PART II – LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS 77

SECTION J - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 77

SECTION K - REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND OTHER STATEMENTS OF THE

OFFEROR 78

SECTION L – INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS OR

RESPONDENTS 90

SECTION M – EVALUATION FACTORS 101

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES/PRICES

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to provide services that fall within the Scope of Work (SOW) specified in Section C for the PPL-Monitoring and Evaluation activity. USAID Task Order Contracting Officers (TOCOs) will request the work through the issuance of task orders during the ordering period as specified in Section F of the contract.

B.2 CONTRACT TYPE AND SERVICES

This is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity type contract. The Government will issue task orders that are either Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) (term or completion), Cost-Plus-Incentive-Fee (CPIF) or any Fixed-Priced type. The Contractor must perform the services set forth in task orders at prices consistent with Section B of this contract.

B.3 MINIMUM OBLIGATED AMOUNT

The basic contract includes an initial obligation of funds in the amount of $10,000.00 to cover the minimum order guarantee USAID is required to order and the Contractor is required to furnish the minimum order amount of services. Following this initial obligation, individual task orders will obligate funds to cover the work required under that task order.

B.4 MAXIMUM CONTRACT CEILING

This is a multiple award Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ) with an overall ceiling price of approximately $655,000,000 for the types of services prescribed in Section C. The maximum aggregate dollar value of task orders awarded to all contractors must not exceed the contract ceiling. This ceiling is not being subdivided among the number of awardees nor is it being multiplied by the number of awardees.

B.5 FIXED FEE CEILING (Cost-Plus- Fixed-Fee Only)

NOTE: The ceiling on fixed fee does not apply to Fixed-Price Task Orders.

(a) For each cost-reimbursement task order issued under this IDIQ, the TOCO and Contractor agree to negotiate a set dollar amount for fixed fee. In negotiating the fixed dollar amount for fee, the TOCO must consider the policies and factors for establishing fee in FAR 15.404-4 as well as any applicable USAID policy on establishing a fixed fee amount. In no event, however, may the amount of fixed fee in any individual task order exceed ___ percent (to be determined prior to award) of the task order estimated cost, excluding fee).

This fee ceiling is not applicable to Grants under Contracts (GUCs), if any, or other costs that have a separate fee ceiling established in the contract. The fixed fee ceiling applies to the prime contract and all cost reimbursement subcontracts.

Fees for CPIF task order types will be negotiated by the TOCO at the time of task order award.

(b) The Total Estimated Cost -Plus- Fixed- Fee for each Task Order must be negotiated in accordance with the terms of this contract.

(c) Fixed Fee Payment. For any Task Order issued under this Contract, at the time of each payment of allowable costs to the contractor, the USAID paying office ordinarily pays the contractor a percentage of fixed fees that directly corresponds to the percentage of allowable costs being paid. Two exceptions to paying fixed fee in this manner apply:

(1) If the TOCO determines that this method results in paying a disproportionately higher ratio of fixed fee than the percentage of work that the contractor has completed, then the TOCO may suspend further payment of any fixed fee until the contractor has made sufficient progress to justify further payment, up to the agreed percentage.

(2) Because the clauses entitled "Allowable Cost and Payment" (FAR 52.216-7) and "Fixed Fee" (FAR 52.216-8) are incorporated into this Contract, the terms and conditions of these clauses apply after total payments of fixed fee reach eighty-five percent (85%) of the total fixed fee.

B.6 CONSENT OF SUBCONTRACTOR(S)

The IDIQ CO will approve subcontractors, in accordance with FAR part 52.244-2 and FAR part 44.202- 2.

Subcontractor(s): TBD

B.7 CONTRACT LINE ITEM

LINE ITEM DESCRIPTION TOTAL

Evaluation, Monitoring and Learning Services - (EVAL-ME

II)

IDIQ Minimum Order Guarantee

$ 10,000.00

B.8 LABOR

B.8.1 Central Management

The Contracting Officer has determined that a key (full-time) technical manager is not necessary or required to administer the basic IDIQ. The Contractor must provide the central management necessary to fulfill all the requirements of the contract. This includes cost and quality control of all tasks and assignments.

The contractor must designate a primary point of contact that USAID may contact for procedural and substantive matters. The central management bears primary responsibility for technical aspects of contract performance, as well as procurement personnel, reporting, and other management related requirements of the contract. Specifically, central management must:

● Respond to requests for task order proposals, and provide oversight of task orders under this award, working collaboratively and often with USAID central and field project managers, technical officers, Task Order Contracting Officers, and meet and consult regularly with the IDIQ

USAID/W COR.

● Select, provide technical and administrative direction and guidance to, and place and support all technical experts carrying out technical requirements.

● Report to USAID technical and contract personnel in accordance with USAID reporting requirements in Section F.

● Ensure quality and control methods in a consistent and transparent manner for all contracted tasks and functions.

● Provide clarity to the IDIQ Contracting Officer and COR regarding issues or concerns of the contract.

Other than the management tasks stated by USAID, the contractor is to provide more specific ways to carry out the functions of central management duties.

Contractors will not be authorized to bill USAID directly for IDIQ management costs under this IDIQ or under task orders. Contractors must propose a centralized management structure that allows for recovery of IDIQ management costs as part of its indirect costs. Compensation of personnel under this contract or any resulting subcontract must be in accordance with AIDAR 752.7007 Personnel Compensation (July 2007) (See Section H.2).

B.8.2 Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates (CDR)

(1) The task order rates must not exceed the ceiling daily rates set forth in the table below.

Each CDR for personnel listed below is “unburdened” and must only include salary costs or consulting rates of the individual providing the services.

The CDR for employees must not include the following:

• Payroll costs (fringe benefits, FICA, allowances, differentials, etc.);

• Indirect Costs applicable to labor; and

• Profit or fee, if any.

The CDRs set forth below are fixed for the contract period and is for a productive eight (8) hour day, and apply to all subcontractors set forth in clause 52.244-2 in Section I. If a new subcontractor is proposed for a specific task order on other than a fixed-price basis, the CDRs set forth below will apply, and the subcontract is subject to consent by the TOCO in accordance with FAR Part 44.

Actual salaries for all personnel will be negotiated under task orders and final approval is provided by the TOCO. The ceiling rates presented below do not constitute approval of final salary rates above the Contractor Salary Threshold (CST) (see ADS 302).

(2) The single unburdened ceiling daily rate for each labor category/group below represents the junior-level, mid-level and senior level rate in each category/grouping. One unburdened ceiling daily rate for each labor category/grouping is included in the contract to provide more flexibility under task orders.

B.8.3 Labor Category Groupings

Number Labor Category Groupings

Unburdened Ceiling Daily

Rate (Level I)

(Level II)

Rate (Level III)

Performance Evaluations

1001 Technical Advisor/Team Leader

1002 Evaluation Expert/Team Leader

1003 Technical Advisor

1004 Evaluation Expert

1005 Technical Advisor

1006 Evaluation Advisor

Impact Evaluations

1007 Technical Advisor/Team Leader

1008 Evaluation Expert/Team Leader

1009 Technical Advisor

1010 Evaluation Expert

1011 Technical Advisor

Number Labor Category Groupings

(Level I)

(Level II)

(Level III)

1012 Evaluation Advisor

Monitoring and Knowledge Management

1013-1015 Performance Monitoring Specialist

1016-1018 Knowledge Management Specialist

Capacity Building

1019-1021 Training/Capacity Building Specialist

Learning

1022 Senior Learning Advisor

1023 Learning Advisor

1024 Evaluation Expert

MEL Platforms

1025 Senior MEL Expert/Chief of Party

1026 Senior Learning Advisor

1027 Performing Monitoring Specialist

The complete table for Labor Category Groupings is within Attachment B.

Note 1: The Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates apply to any task order(s) that are awarded under this contract.

Note 2: The Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates apply to all labor (the prime contractor, subcontractor, TCNs, CCN’s, and consultant salaries). CCN and TCN labor are also governed by the local compensation plan limitations as further provided in note 3 below.

Note 3: Locally Hired National Personnel or Other Non-U.S. Expatriate Rates.

All locally hired national personnel and other non-U.S. expatriates must be paid in accordance with AIDAR 722.170 Third Country Nationals (TCNs) and Cooperating Country Nationals (CCNs) who are working in the United States or are legal residents of the United States at the time they are hired for a task order, must be extended benefits, and be subject to restrictions on the same basis as U.S. citizens who work in the United States.

Salaries for individual locally-hired personnel and other non-U.S. expatriates under this contract and any resulting subcontract must be in accordance with AIDAR 752.7007, Personnel Compensation (July 2007), and should be based upon a combination of factors including the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by USAID and consideration of the individual's education, work experience and recent relevant salary history.

Unless otherwise authorized by USAID, the compensation for CCN and TCN labor must not exceed the prevailing compensation paid to personnel performing comparable work in the cooperating country as determined by USAID and must be paid in the currency of the cooperating country.

Note 4: The Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates above do not apply to Fixed-price Task Orders.

B.8.4 Definition of labor categories:

Performance Evaluations

1001 Technical Advisor/Team Lead - Level I

Serve as lead subject matter expert on IDIQ evaluation task teams. Provide high-level technical support for in the field for on-going evaluations and capacity building.

1002 Evaluation Expert/ Team Lead - Level I

Serve as team lead for designing, conducting, and managing performance evaluations; provide quality control oversight for evaluation; and ensure the integrity of the methodology, process, and comparability of evaluation findings. Responsible for leading a multidisciplinary cross-cultural team as applicable, and an expert in quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

1003 Technical Advisor - Level II

Serve as subject matter expert on IDIQ performance evaluation task teams. Provide high-level technical support in the field for on-going performance evaluations and capacity building.

1004 Evaluation Expert - Level II

Serve as an expert in designing, conducting, and managing evaluations; provide support in ensuring quality control for evaluation; and ensure the integrity of the methodology, process, and comparability of evaluation findings. Responsible for providing expertise in quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

1005 Technical Advisor - Level III

Provide support to subject matter expert on IDIQ performance evaluation task teams. Work in collaboration with evaluation team members to provide technical support in the field for on-going performance evaluations and capacity building.

1006 Evaluation Advisor - Level III

Expert in conceptualizing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical methods to support evaluation design and implementation.

Impact Evaluations

1007 Technical Advisor/Team Lead - Level I

Serve as lead technical subject matter expert for designing, and conducting impact evaluations. Ensure the integrity of the methodology, process, and comparability of evaluation findings. Responsible for leading subject matter expertise in support ongoing evaluations.

1008 Evaluation Expert/Team Lead - Level I

Serve as team lead for designing, conducting, and managing Impact Evaluations (IE); provide quality control oversight for IE; and ensure the integrity of the methodology, process, and comparability of evaluation findings. Responsible for leading a multidisciplinary cross-cultural team as applicable, and an expert in quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

1009 Technical Advisor - Level II

Serve as subject matter expert on IDIQ impact evaluation task teams. Provide high-level technical support in the field for on-going performance evaluations and capacity building.

1010 Evaluation Expert - Level II

Serve as an expert in designing, conducting, and managing impact evaluations; provide support in ensuring quality control for evaluation; and ensure the integrity of the methodology, process, and comparability of evaluation findings. Responsible for providing expertise in quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods.

1011 Technical Advisor - Level III

Provide support to subject matter expert on IDIQ impact evaluation task teams. Work in collaboration with evaluation team members to provide technical support in the field for on-going impact evaluations and capacity building.

1012 Evaluation Advisor - Level III

Expert in conceptualizing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical methods to support impact evaluation design and implementation.

Monitoring and Knowledge Management

1013 Performance Monitoring Specialist - Level I

Lead expert in developing and designing performance monitoring systems. Manage and coordinate the overall approach to performance monitoring, with the skills and capability to provide technical assistance in developing Performance Monitoring Plans, and Monitoring and Evaluation plans.

1014 Performance Monitoring Specialist - Level II

Expert in developing and designing performance monitoring systems. Work with lead expert in coordinating and provide technical assistance in developing Performance Monitoring Plans, and Monitoring and Evaluation plans.

1015 Performance Monitoring Specialist - Level III

Expert in developing and designing performance monitoring systems. Provide support to monitoring team in developing Performance Monitoring Plans, and Monitoring and Evaluation plans.

1016 Knowledge Management Specialist - Level I

Lead expert in Knowledge Management. Will manage and coordinate the integration of practices that support knowledge capture and transfer, collaboration, learning and knowledge sharing, and adaptive management.

1017 Knowledge Management Specialist - Level II

Expert in Knowledge Management. Will support management and coordination of the integration of practices that support knowledge capture and transfer, collaboration, learning and knowledge sharing, and adaptive management.

1018 Knowledge Management Specialist - Level III

Expert in Knowledge Management. Will support coordination of the integration of practices that support knowledge capture and transfer, collaboration, learning and knowledge sharing, and adaptive management.

Capacity Building

1019 Training/Capacity Building Specialist - Level I

Lead expert in training and capacity building responsible for providing instructional design, delivery, and capacity building trainings.

1020 Training/Capacity Building Specialist - Level II

Expert in training and capacity building responsible for supporting the provision of instructional design, delivery, and capacity building trainings.

1021 Training/Capacity Building Specialist - Level III

Expert in training and capacity building responsible for supporting capacity building teams in the provision of instructional design, delivery, and capacity building trainings.

Learning

1022 Senior Learning Advisor

Lead expert in overall direction and CLA coordination support by planning and staging organizational reflection and learning opportunities, to external stakeholders and technical teams to foster internal discussions, reflection, learning and adaptation.

1023 Learning Advisor - Level II

Expert in CLA, responsible for supporting learning agendas, organizational reflection, and learning opportunities to external stakeholders and technical teams to foster internal discussions, reflection, learning and adaptation.

1024 Evaluation Expert - Level II

Serve as an expert in designing, conducting, and managing evaluations; provide support in ensuring quality control for evaluation; and ensure the integrity of the methodology, process, and comparability of evaluation findings.

MEL Platforms

1025 Senior MEL Expert/Chief of Party

Lead all MEL project planning, implementation, and evaluation as well as lead coordination with the Mission COR and other staff. Provide leadership in performance and impact evaluations, sector assessments, baseline assessment, evaluation design and methodology, research and analysis, performance monitoring and evaluation capacity building, and collaborating, learning, and adapting.

1026 Senior Learning Advisor

Lead expert in overall direction and CLA coordination support by planning and staging organizational reflection and learning opportunities, to external stakeholders and technical teams to foster internal discussions, reflection, learning and adaptation.

1027 Performing Monitoring Specialist

Lead expert in developing and designing performance monitoring systems. Manage and coordinate the overall approach to performance monitoring, with the skills and capability to provide technical assistance in developing Performance Monitoring Plans, and Monitoring and Evaluation plans.

B.8.5 Minimum Qualifications

In order to perform the statement of work set forth in Section C, the Contractor must provide personnel that meet the minimum education and experience requirements set forth below.

• These minimum qualifications for junior-, mid- and senior-level personnel correspond to the Unburdened Ceiling Daily Rates in Section B.8.3 Labor Category Groupings.

• Relevant work experience will be determined by evidence of demonstrated capacity and ability to directly perform MEL management and technical tasks, in the countries or regions where USAID works.

Education and Experience Requirements

LEVEL ACADEMIC DEGREE YEARS OF RELEVANT

WORK EXPERIENCE

Leve I (senior-level) PhD 4

JD/ABD 5

MS/MA/MBA 8

BS/BA 10

Education and Experience Requirements

LEVEL ACADEMIC DEGREE YEARS OF RELEVANT

WORK EXPERIENCE

Level II (mid-level) JD/ABD 6

MS/MA/MBA 7

BS/BA 8

Level III (junior-level BS/BA 5

< BS/BA 20

QUALIFICATION SUBSTITUTION

DEGREES LESSER DEGREE PLUS

YEAR EXPERIENCE

ADDITIONAL YEARS

EXPERIENCE

DOCTORATE MASTERS PLUS 18

BACCALAUREATE PLUS 20

MASTERS BACCALAUREATE PLUS 15

ASSOCIATES PLUS 20

BACCALAUREATE ASSOCIATES PLUS 10

ASSOCIATES

Specific language fluency, relevant regional experience, and international development experience requirements will be specified in individual task orders.

B.9 LABOR (UNBURDENED CDR) RATE CHANGES

The labor rates are fixed for all contract years; however, the Contractor may submit a proposal reducing the labor rates and/or indirect rates at any time during the life of this contract. The Government will review these proposals and determine if the revised rates are realistic and in the best interests of the Government. If the rates are accepted, the Government will modify the contract by incorporating the new rates into the contract.

B.10 INDIRECT COSTS

Pending establishment of revised provisional or final indirect cost rates, allowable indirect costs must be reimbursed on the basis of the following negotiated provisional or predetermined rates and the appropriate bases for prime contractors and their major subcontractors.

Contractor (s) Fringe Rate % Overheard Rate % G&A Rate %

Subcontract Handling % a b c On-Site Off-Site

PRIME (TBD)

Base of Application

Source: (TBD)

Period: (TBD)

SUB-

CONTRACTOR(S)

(TBD)

Base of Application

Source: (TBD)

Period: (TBD)

NOTE: Insert additional indirect rates as needed for all primes and major subcontractors in the above table.

The Contractor will make no change in its established method of classifying or allocating indirect costs that impacts this contract without the prior written approval of the Contracting Officer.

Reimbursement for indirect costs must be at final negotiated rates, but not in excess of ceiling rates specified above.

The Government must not be obligated to pay any additional amount associated with indirect costs above the ceiling rates established in the contract. This advance understanding must not change any monetary ceiling, cost limitations, or obligation established in the contract.

NOTE-1: For Fixed-price Task Orders, the overhead ceilings serve as a basis for negotiation only.

Note-2: Contractors are allowed to recoup indirect costs (i.e. OH and G&A) as other direct costs if it is part of the contractor’s usual accounting procedures, consistent with FAR Part 31 and the contractor's

NICRA.

END OF SECTION B

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION/SPECIFICATIONS

C.1 PURPOSE

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (USAID/PPL) seeks the services of qualified organizations to provide technical and advisory services for monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) at the Operating Unit (mission and bureau) and Agency-wide levels, through an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract (IDIQ). Tasks to be assigned under this contract will support USAID in meeting Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning requirements in USAID’s Program Cycle Policy (ADS 201) and help USAID more effectively support countries as they become more self-reliant. These may include: designing and implementing quantitative and qualitative evaluation studies and assessments; conducting evaluation syntheses or synthetic reviews; providing technical assistance in performance monitoring; providing monitoring services, developing and delivering evaluation and monitoring training; supporting the agency in learning from evidence to adapt programming; and supporting implementation of knowledge management practices and services. This contract is a continuance to the EVAL-ME IDIQ that has been in operation since March 2015 which expires in March 2020.

C.2 BACKGROUND

As defined in ADS 201, Monitoring is the ongoing and systematic tracking of data or information relevant to USAID strategies, projects, and activities. Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of information about the characteristics and outcomes of strategies, projects, and activities conducted as a basis for judgments to improve effectiveness and timed to inform decisions about current and future programming. Learning is a continuous process of analyzing a wide variety of information sources and knowledge including evaluation findings, monitoring data, research, analyses conducted by USAID or others, and experiential knowledge of staff and development actors. Learning takes place throughout the Program Cycle. The purpose of monitoring, evaluation and learning practices is to apply knowledge gained from evidence and analysis to improve development outcomes and ensure accountability for the resources used to achieve them. USAID relies on the best available information to rigorously and credibly make choices, plan effectively, manage adaptively, and learn systematically.

USAID’s Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning, Office of Learning, Evaluation, and Research (PPL/LER) was established in 2010. In September 2016 Automated Directives System (ADS) Chapter 201, Program Cycle Operational Policy, was published to provide updated USAID policy on monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Evaluation in USAID has two primary purposes: learning to improve effectiveness; and accountability to stakeholders. In addition, evaluations are to be conducted in a manner that ensures credibility, transparency, and the generation of high quality information and knowledge. Over the last eight years, PPL has provided leadership in USAID’s efforts to promote learning through evaluation, performance monitoring, knowledge management, and research.

PPL’s MEL leadership efforts have focused on advancing the following objectives across the agency:

● Designing interventions with learning in mind;

● Highlighting evaluation as a means for contributing to the overall knowledge base of the Agency as well as for fulfilling the Agency's responsibility to be accountable;

● Adaptive management and mid-course corrections;

● Ensuring that knowledge derived from evaluations and other sources, both internal and external, is utilized to inform decisions, including those related to policy formulation and to strengthen policy and program decisions at all levels;

● Committing to sharing Agency knowledge products widely inside and outside of the Agency.

While PPL plays a critical role as a catalyst, other Agency Operating Units (OUs) in Washington and overseas are equally essential to transforming Agency culture and expanding the development knowledge base. However, working with OUs across the Agency, PPL has contributed to the following activities and outcomes:

● Building Agency capacities for evaluation, knowledge management, performance monitoring and research;

● Strengthening USAID as a learning organization, including through the development of USAID’s approach to organizational learning, called Collaborating, Learning and Adapting

(CLA)

● Developing policies, practices and processes to ensure that USAID promotes evaluation, program monitoring, CLA and overall learning within the Agency and through that learning deepens technical expertise;

● Exploring and developing innovative approaches for measuring development impact and producing evidence;

● Creating and/or strengthening internal systems that make timely and relevant evidence on program effectiveness more available to decision-makers at all levels in the agency;

● Developing frameworks for performance measurement, taking into consideration field-level realities as well as accountability requirements; and

● Strengthening local capacity of country systems by encouraging the hiring of local experts and firms for evaluation and performance monitoring of USAID projects.

PPL also provides capacity building activities, including training, guidance and technical assistance in performance monitoring, evaluation, and CLA to Missions. In addition, PPL has also been engaged in developing and coordinating Agency external reporting including: the Annual Performance Report and the Joint Summary Report with the Department of State and collaborating with the Department of State and others on other OMB, GPRMA, and FATAA reporting processes.

The current PPL EVAL-ME IDIQ, a small business set aside, was awarded in March 2015 to 14 firms who have been providing MEL services to USAID bilateral and regional Missions and Washington bureaus. Services provided by these firms include performance evaluations and impact evaluations using quantitative and qualitative methods, evaluation case studies, meta-evaluations, cross-sector and multi-country evaluations and other evaluative studies, establishment of MEL platforms (mechanisms that provide a variety of monitoring, evaluation, data management, learning, and/or other performance management support tasks for USAID), etc. The EVAL-ME IDIQ has been one of the primary vehicles used to operationalize the monitoring, evaluation, and learning guidance contained in ADS 201.

Following the release of ADS 201 in September 2016, demand for MEL services provided under the IDIQ has increased as Missions operationalize the requirements and processes of the USAID Program Cycle. Between FY 2016 and FY 2018, over $346 million worth of MEL services were procured through task orders issued under this IDIQ vehicle.

With just over one year remaining on the EVAL-ME IDIQ, this RFP is for a follow-on IDIQ that will be competed to replace the EVAL-ME IDIQ. This IDIQ will serve as one of several available mechanisms in the Agency, for supporting evaluations, performance monitoring, CLA, knowledge management, and learning.

With the agency currently going through a transformation process, in which the PPL Bureau is proposed to become part of a new Bureau for Policy, Resources and Performance (PRP), the services provided through this IDIQ are expected to be continued under the new bureau, if established.

C.3 OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this IDIQ is to support USAID objectives to:

● Build and use evidence for decision-making;

● Make evidence more accessible and timely for internal and external users;

● Broaden and test new and promising approaches for monitoring, evaluation and learning in international development programs;

● Strengthen organizational learning and knowledge management processes and practice; and

● Learn and adapt efforts as the organizational and programmatic context changes.

To meet these objectives, USAID will use this IDIQ to acquire technical and advisory services for evaluation, evaluation capacity building, performance monitoring, CLA, knowledge management, and learning activities worldwide, at the Mission, bureau, and Agency-wide levels. Expected services include supporting the development and implementation of Agency-wide learning agendas; designing and implementing both performance and impact evaluations, using quantitative and qualitative methods;

providing other analytical services; developing evaluation training and guidance, and providing performance monitoring and CLA technical assistance for USAID development programs.

C.4 STATEMENT OF WORK

C.4.1 Technical Services

The services provided under this contract will enable USAID to implement studies, including performance evaluations, impact evaluations, evaluation case studies, meta-evaluations, cross-sector and multi-country evaluations and other evaluative studies. In general, it will include evaluations that identify lessons learned about which development interventions work and which do not, for whom, under what circumstances, and why. These services may be commissioned by bilateral and regional Missions, country offices, PPL/LER, or other Agency offices.

The services to be provided through this contract will support USAID’s objectives and will include, but may not be limited to:

• Evaluation and analysis of USAID’s programming to achieve development outcomes, as the basis for decisions such as future program design, mid-course corrections, and adaptive management;

• Evaluation and analysis of high-priority strategic, and/or “state of the art” issues and lessons learned which may be of concern to the Administrator, Agency managers or key Agency customers;

• Pilot and test innovative approaches to monitoring, evaluation, and learning on request in order to fill gaps in USAID’s MEL toolbox;

• Provide evaluation technical assistance to OUs;

• Provide technical support in program performance monitoring; and

• Technical services in evaluation and performance monitoring capacity building for USAID staff and local institutions.

Contractors will have the capacity to provide services and continued support to USAID/PPL efforts to strengthen evaluation and performance monitoring capacity across the Agency by, for example, providing training, technical assistance, preparation of guidance, handbooks, newsletters, model products and other tools for USAID staff managing evaluations or undertaking performance monitoring.

This may include planning for (including logistics), designing and implementing studies and evaluations, assistance on evaluation utilization and dissemination, assistance on joint evaluations with other international donors, assistance in developing Performance Management Plans (PMP) and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plans, proposing and reviewing performance indicators, understanding/ensuring data quality and analyzing and using performance monitoring data, and coordination of data collection, including baseline data of multiple partners, and supporting data quality assessments (DQAs).

Contractors will have the capacity to provide services that support OUs in maximizing development results by, for example, helping USAID and implementing partners learn more quickly and make iterative, timely course corrections. Contractors will provide services that reinforce the strategic direction of USAID interventions throughout the program cycle through learning from monitoring and evaluation, while also adapting programs as evidence and context shifts indicate. Contractors will support USAID in learning from, and using evaluation findings more broadly. This may include support in the following areas:

● Providing CLA technical assistance and support;

● Developing and implementing agency learning agendas to guide evaluation decisions and investments;

● Learning from and using evaluation findings to inform CDCS planning and project and activity design and management;

● Sharing evaluation findings widely as part of USAID’s contribution to thought leadership in international development;

● Learning from and using evaluations to understand USAID’s contributions to country self-reliance and to support building local capacity for country-led development. For example, in planning evaluations and selecting evaluation type, Contractors will support missions and provide technical assistance in identifying learning activities that engage local stakeholders in ways that center local priorities, build local analytic capacity, and contribute to learning that local actors can use in assessing their own development challenges and devising country-led solutions.

Contractors will be able to provide technical assistance that includes MEL expertise across the breadth of technical sectors and regions represented in USAID programs. For example, economic growth;

agriculture and trade; population, health and nutrition; environment and natural resources; education and training; global health; democracy, human rights and governance; conflict mitigation and post conflict reconstruction; human capacity development; humanitarian assistance; and cross-cutting programs (conflict management, private and voluntary cooperation, transition initiatives, urban programs, water, youth, gender and development); and evaluation methodology, design, and training.

Contractors will provide USAID with access to high quality evaluation, performance monitoring, and learning expertise and technical assistance. Those services may take place at the activity, project, strategy or broader levels. For example, services might focus on particular activities and interventions, on broader program and strategic objectives, and/or at the country level, as well as for cross-sector, multi-country evaluations. Evaluation services may take place at any time, mid-term during implementation, final at the end of implementation or ex-post, several years or more after the end of implementation.

C.4.2 Technical Skills Required

Contractors will provide personnel with the skills to address a broad range of development issues including, but not limited to:

● Institutional development;

● Mainstreaming gender in development assistance;

● Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis;

● Sustainability;

● Technology transfer;

● Information technology;

● Policy dialogue;

● Private sector development and public-private partnerships;

● Global Development Alliances (GDAs);

● Development innovations; and

● Planning and implementing projects in fragile contexts or non-permissive environments (NPE).

The MEL services under this IDIQ will require skills in, but not limited to:

● Evaluation and performance monitoring design and methodology (e.g., qualitative and quantitative methods; impact evaluation methods including experimental and quasi-experimental designs; participatory methods; and innovative and state-of-the-art research designs and methods);,

● Data collection and analysis;

● Conducting evaluability assessments;

● Evaluation report writing, data visualization and planning for use and dissemination of evaluation findings among multiple stakeholders;

● Management of evaluations and other analysis across countries and contexts;

● Evaluation synthesis;

● Knowledge management and the use of monitoring and evaluation evidence;

● CLA and other learning approaches; and

● Evaluation and performance monitoring training.

Skills in designing and delivering training for adult learners will also be required. While work may focus on specific sectors, it may also cut across sector and technical areas, such as gender, youth, or resilience. Much of the work will be focused on USAID development projects and the outcomes they generate in countries and communities where they are implemented.

C.4.3 Work Requirements

USAID Missions and Washington Bureaus are tasked with using evaluations, CLA, and performance monitoring as part of their planning and management of development assistance. Per the ADS, the Agency is committed to learning more systematically from its development programs, and rigorously and credibly documenting program effectiveness, in order to:

● Inform new program and activity design;

● Determine why unexpected progress, either positive or negative, is occurring;

● Determine whether projects are achieving the intended results and identify mid- project corrections where appropriate;

● Test the validity of hypotheses and assumptions embedded in results frameworks;

● Determine whether the needs of intended customers are being served;

● Conduct performance or impact evaluations to determine the results achieved; and

● Distill lessons learned, which may be useful elsewhere in the Agency

C.4.4 Deliverables

This IDIQ will deliver services in the following areas: (1) Planning and Conducting Evaluations, (2) Performance Monitoring, (3) CLA, Knowledge Management, and Learning, and (4) MEL Capacity Building. Contractors will be expected to demonstrate sufficient in-house capacity to provide technical oversight of the quality of MEL processes and products delivered under this IDIQ. Specific work requirements under this scope include the design and implementation of performance and impact evaluation, performance monitoring, and capacity building to fulfill USAID ADS-mandated requirements. Each service is described in the sections that follow:

C.4.5 Planning and Conducting Evaluations

As stated earlier, evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of information about the characteristics and outcomes of strategies, projects, and activities conducted as a basis for judgments to improve effectiveness, and timed to inform decisions about current and future programming.

Evaluation is distinct from assessment or an informal review of projects. The purpose of evaluations is twofold: to ensure accountability to stakeholders and to learn to improve development outcomes. The subject of a USAID evaluation may include any level of USAID programming, from a strategy to a project, individual award, activity, intervention, or even cross-cutting programmatic priority. USAID evaluations are grouped into two categories: performance and impact evaluations.

Performance Evaluations

Given the nature of USAID project designs and implementation, performance evaluations are the most common type of evaluation conducted. A significant majority of the evaluations supported annually through this IDIQ mechanism will be performance evaluations. Under this IDIQ, Contractors will be expected to respond to request for task order proposals (RFTOPs) for services in conducting external evaluations when requested by the missions and OUs.

Performance evaluations encompass a broad range of evaluation methods. They often incorporate before–after comparisons but generally lack a rigorously defined counterfactual. Performance evaluations may address descriptive, normative, and/or cause-and-effect questions. Performance evaluation questions may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

● What a particular strategy, project, or activity has achieved;

● How it is being implemented;

● How it is perceived and valued;

● Contribution of USAID assistance to the results achieved;

● Possible unintended outcomes from USAID assistance; and

● Other questions pertinent to strategy, project or activity design, management, and operational decision-making.

Per ADS 201.3.5.13 evaluations are required in three instances; the first is that each Mission and Washington OU that manages program funds and designs and implements projects conducts at least one evaluation, of any kind, per project. The second requirement is that Missions must conduct at least one “whole-of-project” (WOPE) performance evaluation within their CDCS timeframe. Whole-of-project performance evaluations examine an entire project, including all its constituent activities and progress toward the achievement of the Project Purpose. In addition, the ADS encourages all Missions and Washington OUs to conduct non-required evaluations for learning or management purposes as needed at any point in implementation of the strategy, project, or activity.

USAID policy also emphasizes the need to apply the best methods to answer the evaluation question, which include using quantitative and qualitative methods when conducting performance evaluations.

Therefore, Contractors under this IDIQ are expected to have the capacity to apply a broad range of qualitative and quantitative methods, and be innovative in conducting performance evaluations in support of Missions and OUs. IDIQ holders are expected to have the capacity to provide oversight and quality control in the execution of task orders emanating from the IDIQ.

Contractors under this IDIQ must provide a full range of professional performance evaluation services.

These will include (1) design and facilitate independent rigorous performance evaluations of USAID funded country programs, projects, and activities; (2) provide technical assistance to USAID staff to carry out required data collection to support required evaluations; (3) conduct data analysis and produce reports and related products on evaluation findings such as evaluation briefs, videos, infographics, and one-pagers that meet USAID requirements and are clear, consistent with modern best practices for data visualization and graphic design, and accessible to multiple audiences; and (4) contribute knowledge to USAID staff and stakeholders about the effectiveness and impact of USAID investments through dissemination of information and lessons from evaluations.

Impact Evaluations

Impact evaluations measure the change in a development outcome that is attributable to a defined intervention. Impact evaluations are based on models of cause and effect and require a credible and rigorously defined counterfactual to control for factors other than the intervention that might account for the observed change.

Each Mission and Washington OU must conduct an impact evaluation, if feasible, of any new, untested approach that is anticipated to be expanded in scale or scope through U.S. Government foreign assistance or other funding sources (i.e., a pilot intervention). Pilot interventions should be identified during project or activity design, and the impact evaluation should be integrated into the design of the project or activity. If it is not feasible to effectively undertake an impact evaluation, the Mission or Washington OU must conduct a performance evaluation and document why an impact evaluation wasn’t feasible. It is estimated that the minority of evaluations conducted by USAID OUs under this IDIQ will be impact evaluations. Under this IDIQ, Contractors will be expected to respond to approximately 10-20 impact evaluations service requests annually.

Contractors will be expected to have the capacity to design and implement rigorous impact evaluations using experimental or quasi-experimental designs. Experimental design will generate treatment and control groups by randomly allocating intervention among eligible participants. Quasi-experimental designs will generate a control group that resembles the treatment group, at least in observed characteristics, through a statistically valid matching method; and using for example, propensity score matching, difference-in-difference, or regression discontinuity methodology to compare treatment and control groups before and after project implementation. Evaluations using experimental designs will necessitate advance planning and coordination and typically commence prior to the beginning of a project or activity’s implementation, to give evaluators the opportunity to work closely with implementing partner staff in designing the intervention and the evaluation together and for obtaining data throughout the life of the project.