QAs PERFORM RFP-72011220R00001.pdf

Questions and Answers

RFP # 72011220R00001

USAID/Azerbaijan’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Data (MELD) for

Performance Management (aka PERFORM)

Question 1. Is the IDIQ going to be a multiple award IDIQ or a single award IDIQ? We are seeing language in the RFP that points to both multiple award IDIQs and a single award IDIQ.

Clarification on this question is critical to making a bid/no-bid decision.

Answer 1. Single award IDIQ to a small business.

Question 2. What language translation is needed for this RFP?

Answer 2. We don’t understand the question. All deliverables must be submitted to USAID in

English. If any work is done in Azerbaijani, it would have to be translated prior to submission.

Question 3. May we submit the proposal via pdf instead of .doc format?

Answer 3. Yes.

Question 4. Based on the total ceiling value of the contract, is it USAID's expectation that the contractor provide expertise and consultation type services or does the Government expect full execution of developed plans and strategies, i.e. conducting local surveys in-country?

Answer 4. Most of the services outlined in the solicitation require full execution. See C.5

Expected Results for what is expected for each service.

Question 5. If the Government expects full execution of developed plans and strategies, i.e.

conducting local surveys in-country, the cost of having a contractor overseas would account for majority of the contract value. Taking that in consideration, is the Government open to increasing the ceiling value as the contract progresses?

Answer 5. No. There are many creative ways that an organization can reduce costs. Please see the responses in this document, which may give you some ideas.

Question 6. Page 12, Section a. What is meant by limited presence in country?

Answer 6. Some type of limited presence in country is required. This could be establishing a full office, a full time local staff member working from a home office, or anything in between.

The contractor will have to decide what makes financial and programmatic sense based on the approach it is offering in its proposal.

Question 7. Is it the Government's intention for the Contractor to develop a system or platform for data ingest or does the Contractor solely use the Governments system, DEC?

Answer 7. At this time we are envisioning just utilizing existing Government systems, or data platforms that the Contractor may have already established through previous work that could be adapted for little or no cost.

Question 8. Is there an estimate on the number of task orders anticipated per year, if so, how many?

Answer 8. We estimate at least one task order per year under the minimum requirements tasks.

If additional funds become available, we may issue additional task orders to cover some of the expanded requirements services.

Question 9. Is grant under contract (GUC) anticipated under the IDIQ? If so, what is the estimated level?

Answer 9. No

Question 10. Given the global impact of COVID-19 in the coming months, is there

USAID/Azerbaijan Mission specific guidance that bidders should take into consideration in the event that the pandemic coincides with the project startup and early phases of implementation?

Answer 10. There is no guidance at this time, however USAID/Azerbaijan will update potential offerors as the situation continues to develop.

Question 11 . Can the Mission please advise if this is intended as a single-award IDIQ or if you intend to make multiple awards to more than one company under the PERFORM mechanism?

Answer 11. See Question 1 response.

Question 12. Can USAID please confirm whether the period of performance for TO 1 is expected to be for the full 5 years or of a shorter duration? Is the estimated budget $1.5M over a

5 year period?

Answer 12. USAID envisions the period of performance at a full five years. The basic requirements outlined in the RFP are estimated at $2.5M, with potential for the expanded requirements to push the budget to $5M if additional funding becomes available.

Question 13. Page 15 of the RFP notes that the contractor will “establish full or limited operations in Baku”.

a. Does USAID prefer the contractor to have a full time office in Baku?

Answer : See response to Question 6.

b. Does USAID prefer the IDIQ manager to be based in-country?

Answer b. USAID does not have a preference for the location of the IDIQ manager.

c. On page 18, the place of performance is listed as, “must be in Azerbaijan”. However, on page 19 the RFP states that the contractor “will provide a written brief to the USAID/W

COR upon return from each assignment.” Can USAID please clarify two things: (1) Can the work conducted under PERFORM occur both in-country and elsewhere and still be compliant with page 18 requirements?; and (2) In addition to the COR named in the RFP, will there be an additional POC and/or COR in USAID/Washington, per page 19?

Answer c. (1) Certain work, such as the data collection survey, must be completed in-country.

Other tasks will depend on the nature of the task. USAID is not opposed to specific tasks being done outside of Azerbaijan. (2) There may be additional POCs for certain tasks or on future task orders. This will be established following the award and during work planning.

Question 14. Does USAID require that offerors submit the attachments included in Section J

(Branding and Marking Plan, Certification Regarding Trafficking in Persons Compliance Plan, and SF LLL), and if so, could USAID please specify where in the proposal these should be included?

Answer 14. A preliminary Branding and Marking Plan should be submitted as an annex to the cost proposal (1-2pages). Final Branding and Marking Plan must be submitted 60 days after contract award. The Certification Regarding Trafficking in Persons Compliance Plan should be submitted with the representations and certifications in Section K. The SF LLL should be submitted as an annex to the cost proposal (no page limit).

Question 15. Does USAID expect offerors to propose key personnel (designated as such) in addition to the one required by the RFP (IDIQ Manager)?

Answer 15. The only key personnel specified in the RFP is the IDIQ Manager. However, as outlined in Section L regarding the personnel requirements, “the offeror must provide information about the selected team members, including their CVs and explain how they meet the requirements set forth in the Task Order No. 1 SOW. The offeror must propose and justify the minimum education and experience level for each team member.” USAID wanted to provide offerors a great amount of flexibility to propose a team structure that will best enable them to achieve the objectives under Task Order No. 1, but still within the budget. USAID will evaluate each offeror’s management structure, and the proposed team members under that management structure. If the offeror does not have specific people in mind for their proposed team, they will have to detail how they will be recruited, evaluated, and/or selected.

Question 16. Can USAID please confirm whether every short term technical consultant named in the proposal must also submit a 1420, even though the RFP asks that only TO 1 is priced?

Answer 16. USAID will not require the 1420 for this requirement.

Question 17. On page 10 of the RFP, “Minimum Requirements” are enumerated and distinguished from “Expanded Requirements.” Then, on page 12, expected task order services are listed under the “Core Services TO”, which do not include ALL of the minimum requirements. Specifically, the following requirements listed as “Minimum Requirements” are not included in “Core Services TO” in Section C or under “technical approach - Task Order No.

1” on page 83, Section L.3.1: planned and unplanned evaluations/assessments; support to the

Mission in data collection for baselines, performance monitoring, project MEL Plans, and PMP;

and assistance developing a system to measure and monitor malign Kremlin influence. Can

USAID please confirm that these minimum requirements are, in fact, intended to be left out of the Core Services TO No. 1 and, therefore, should not be priced in the cost volume under TO 1.

Answer 17. We confirm that these services should be left out of TO 1. They will be included in future task orders.

Question 18.Can USAID please specify who the current Mission Gender Advisor is?

Answer 18. Ulker Akberova

Question 19. Can USAID please clarify the __% ceiling increase left blank on page 28 H.1 (a)

(1)?

Answer 19. 10%. However section H will be clarified at award.

Question 20. In different places throughout the RFP the Government of Azerbaijan acronym is referred as GoAJ and GoAZ. Does USAID and/or the Government have a preference for offerors to use consistently?

Answer 20. GOAZ

Question 21. Per “Part 4” on RFP page 90, “If the Offeror does not have prior Federal contracting experience….”. Does USAID excuse the Offeror from having to provide copies of its policies and procedures if it has direct USG contracting experience?

Answer 21. Yes, under the condition that it is documented in the past performance and all information required for the cost proposal is submitted.

Question 22. USAID did not give any specific minimum years of experience for the IDIQ manager position that qualify as “extensive” experience managing MEL contracts and/or

“considerable” experience designing, monitoring and evaluating assistance programs. Would

USAID like to clarify or specify the number of years experience that qualify a candidate as meeting or exceeding “extensive” and “considerable” experience

Answer 22. We intentionally did not specify the minimum number of years and encourage all offerors to put forth candidates that would be able to best perform the functions specified in the

RFP.

Question 23. For Key Personnel, the RFP outlines the anticipated responsibilities of an IDIQ

Manager. Does USAID see this position as similar to what one would traditionally consider to be the Chief of Party? Additionally, would USAID consider a staffing arrangement in which one individual takes up the more managerial responsibilities of the IDIQ Manager, while another individual takes on the technical aspects of the position?

Answer 23. The IDIQ manager may or may not perform similar functions to a COP, and may not even serve in a full time capacity, depending on how the work and budget are structured.

Along the same lines, the IDIQ manager may serve in multiple roles, including managerial and technical. However, USAID does expect that the Contractor will be able to respond quickly and efficiently to all questions and requests during the course of the Contract. The offeror is welcome to outline how that will be done in their proposal and through the staffing pattern.

Question 24. With reference to the evaluations contemplated under Obj 2, is the mission expecting impact evaluations along with performance evaluations?

Answer 24. Evaluations under the core requirements will typically be performance evaluations.

Any impact evaluation, if one is conducted, would fall under the expanded requirements.

Question 25. Is there any particular template you would like us to follow for the Annual Work

Plan? Additionally, for the MEL plan, is there a particular template that you would like us to follow other than USAID's How To Note for Activity MEL plans?

Answer 25. For the proposal stage we ask the offeror to submit those plans in any format they wish. Following the award of the IDIQ, USAID will provide current templates for those deliverables.

Question 26. In the RFP, it states that the IDIQ Technical Approach should include "a detailed description of the proposed methodology and/or approach for all core requirements not included in Task Order 1". From our read of the RFP, that includes 3 items: the development of a system to monitor malign influences, support to the Mission for baselines, performance monitoring, Project MEL Plan, and PMP, and planned and unplanned Evaluations/Assessments (estimate 1-2 per year). Can you confirm if that interpretation is correct?

Answer 26. Yes, we confirm that interpretation is correct.

Question 27. There appears to be some overlap between the tasks mentioned for Minimum

Requirements, Expanded Requirements, and tasks mentioned for Task Order 1. For example, those related to capacity building, specialized data collection for cross-cutting issues, and support on evaluations and assessments. As the RFP is clear about the offeror giving detailed descriptions of methodologies for all tasks in each section, we were wondering then would it be acceptable to leave out certain task explanations should they appear elsewhere in the proposal?

Answer 27. Yes, you may refer to explanations in other sections. In addition, if expanded requirements build on the work performed in the core requirements, the offeror may refer to that work and describe the additional effort.

Question 28. Would USAID consider extending the deadline for the submission of proposals?

Answer 28. No.

Question 29. Are letters of commitment required from the key personnel? If yes, should this be included as an annex to the technical proposal?

Answer 29. Technically, there is only one key personnel outlined in the RFP. All offerors may choose if they wish to include letters of commitment from personnel proposed for Task Order 1.

However, offerors will not be penalized if they do not include those additional commitment letters.

Question 30. Could USAID share more information on the Key personnel to be provided for the

Task Order 1?

Answer 30. See response to Question 15.

Question 31. Should we include CV/Resumes, biodatas, and Letters of Commitment for the

IDIQ or just Task Order 1?

Answer 31. This information is required for the IDIQ Manager as key personnel. For other

IDIQ personnel and Task Order 1 personnel you should provide CV/Resumes for the personnel you are proposing. Please also see responses to Questions 15 and 29.

Question 32. L.3.2 Personnel page 83 states that "the offeror’s proposal must indicate the names, positions, titles, and provide full CVs of all important managerial and technical personnel defined as Key Personnel who will be involved in program activity." Could USAID please define all important managerial and technical personnel envisioned to be involved in the project?

Answer 32. See response to Question 15. We are giving each offeror flexibility to determine what team is most optimal to achieving their proposal. Further defining managerial and technical personnel would limit that flexibility and creativity. We encourage all offerors to use their best judgment and past experience to determine those staff that will need to be identified during the proposal stage.

Question 33. Does USAID want to see in the proposal, a recruitment/personnel matrix of identified and recruited experienced personnel and institutions to participate in teams for prospective task orders? If so, should this be included as an annex to the technical proposal?

Answer 33. See Section L. You have 8 pages in the proposal to describe your management approach, Annex C will be composed of personnel CV/resumes, and Annex D is the organizational chart.

Question 34. Can USAID please clarify whether the IDIQ Manager is expected to be fulltime?

Answer 34. See answer to Question 23.

Question 35. Can USAID clarify whether IDIQ Manager should be charged directly to the project or be funded through indirect costs?

Answer35. Please see FAR Part 31.202 and 31.203.

Question 36. Will USAID please share the current Local Compensation plan?

Answer 36.

FSN Grade Min $ Max $

1-4 Non-professional staff 11,446 25,524

5-6 Junior professional staff 20,062 30,882

7-8 Mid-level professional staff 26,477 44,811

9-10 Senior level professional staff 41,142 70,291

11-12 Senior management staff 57,127 87,984

Question 37. On page 10, MELD Services to be provided under the IDIQ, there is a list of

Minimum requirements (assignments) to meet. The RFP further talks about Core service Task order. Could USAID confirm that the assignments to be implemented under Core Services Task order are the same as listed in Minimum requirements? Could USAID confirm that Core

Services Task Order is Task order 1 (listed in Section L)?

Answer 37. Please see response to Question 17.

Question 38. Could USAID provide more information on the scope of TO1?

Answer 38. The scope of TO 1 is adequately outlined in the SOW and should be easily interpreted by organizations that have had experience performing these types of services.

Question 39. Would USAID clarify and confirm that the offeror must submit up to three past performance references for the offeror AND up to three past performance references for EACH major subcontractor?

Answer 39. Yes. Please see section L.3.3 Management Plan - IDIQ Contractor Performance

Information.

Question 40. Will Small Business prime contractors need a security clearance prior to submitting the proposal?

Answer 40. No

Question 41. Please clarify if we should include the Branding and Marking Plan in our proposal response, and, if so, should this be included in our cost proposal?

Answer 41. A preliminary Branding and Marking Plan should be submitted as an annex to the cost proposal (1-2pages). Final Branding and Marketing Plan will be due within 60 days of contract award. The approved plan will be incorporated into the Contract.

Question 42. Is there a page limit for the Branding and Marking Plan?

Answer 42. Not for the final plan. The preliminary plan should be 1-2 pages.

Question 43. Please clarify if we should include the Disclosure of Lobbying Activities in our proposal response, and, if so, should this be included in our cost proposal?

Answer 43. Yes. It should be included as an Annex to the cost proposal and has no page limit.

Question 44. Please clarify if we should include the Certification Regarding Trafficking in

Persons Compliance Plan in our proposal response, and, if so, should this be included in our cost proposal?

Answer 44. Yes. It should be included in representations and certifications.

Question 45. Regarding the Indirect Costs section for subcontractors who consider their NICRA proprietary information, would USAID consider allowing the subcontractor to submit a sealed envelope directly to USAID as part of this bid?

Answer 45. No.

Question 46. Please clarify whether the Mission expects a field office to be established in Baku in order to provide the services described in the RFP.

Answer 46. See response to Question 6.

Question 47. What does the Mission estimate for the numbers of DQAs per year that the contractor will revise/conduct, respectively?

Answer 47. The estimated number of DQAs will be 12 per year.

Question 48. The IDIQ Objective (p. 10) states “to perform independent performance evaluation and assessments as directed by Mission need”. Does USAID have guidance regarding the precise number of performance evaluations offerors may use as an estimate for its management planning?

Answer 48. The Mission typically conducts 1-2 performance evaluations per year.

Question 49. Page 87, item 1. Direct Labor Salary and Wages, provides guidance on completed biographical data sheets, Form AID 1420-17, and the salary information of personnel. Please kindly confirm that the completed Biographical data sheets shall only include the proposed salary information and shall not disclose information on past salary.

Answer 49. See Question 16.

Question 50. Page 87, item "3. Consultants", says FAR 31.205-33 provides for services rendered by persons who are members of a particular profession or possess a special skill and who are not officers or employees of the Contractor. Costs of consultants must be broken down by person years, months, days or hours. The Offeror must propose a blended daily consultant rate for each type of consultant and experience level. The blended rate must be proposed for each year of the period of performance. The Offeror must provide a description of the methodology used to determine the blended rate for each consultant.

Could USAID please provide the types of consultants?

Please clarify what is meant by a “blended rate” in this instance. For example, is USAID requiring that fixed daily rates be proposed for each type of consultant and experience level?

Answer 50. Each offeror must demonstrate how they have blended the consultants rate with their proposed contract rates and give the methodology for obtaining that rate.

Question 51. Can USAID please validate that L3.1. Technical Approach c. Task Order No 1 (p.

83), is the complete set of corresponding requirements for the Task Order response?

Answer 51. Correct.

Question 52. Can USAID please provide more information about the envisioned scope of annual data collection activities:

● How many perception survey instruments and waves of data collection are envisioned annually? For each, what is the target sample size and what is their anticipated geographic coverage?

● How many key informant interviews are envisioned annually? What is their anticipated geographic coverage?

● How many focus group discussions are envisioned annually? What is their anticipated geographic coverage?

Answer 52. The offeror should determine the answers to these questions as part of its proposal and based on past experience collecting data. As a point of reference, during the past two years of annual data collection, USAID/Azerbaijan has had a sample size of approximately 3,400 persons, which were conducted in three regions in Azerbaijan. On average 30 key informant interviews and 20 focus group discussions were conducted during the data collection.

Question 53. Can USAID please delete H.1 ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR

PERSONNEL COMPENSATION, Section (1) and Section (2)(d) (p. 28)? These sections do not correspond to an AIDAR and are in conflict with Section H.15. In addition, Section (2) incorrectly references H.2.

Answer 53. Section H will be clarified before award. This should not affect any proposal submissions.

Question 54. On p. 58, please delete the following FAR clauses:

● 52.230-2 Cost Accounting Standards. (OCT 2015)

● 52.230-3 Disclosure and Consistency of Cost Accounting Practices. (OCT 2015)

● 52.230-6 Administration of Cost Accounting Standards. (JUN 2010)

These clauses are not applicable to small businesses.

Answer 54. Agreed, small businesses are exempt to CAS requirements. These clauses will not be included in the award.

Question 55. Please confirm the maximum fixed fee. In the RFP, it is listed as 7% on p. 3

(B.5(a)), and 10% on p. 86 (L.4(ii)).

Answer 55. 7%

Question 56. Can USAID please confirm that this program will be exempted from VAT obligations with Azerbaijan?

Answer 56. USAID has a bilateral agreement with Azerbaijan regarding the use of foreign assistance funding. However, the GOAZ routinely disallows VAT exemption of USAID partners. Given the types of services outlined in the solicitation, the only VAT charges offerors should expect to face will be on electronics purchases (if needed), and on local consultant salaries. VAT paid on these items are typically considered allowable costs during implementation.

Question 57. Can USAID confirm the page limit for each of the sections in the technical proposal and clarify the page limit for the personnel section?

Answer 57. The TECHNICAL PROPOSAL must be structured as follows:

● Title Page (cover page) (1 page)

● Table of contents (2 pages)

● Acronym List (no limit)

● Executive Summary (2 pages)

● Technical approach (15 pages) o IDIQ Technical Approach (to include all technical requirements not covered in

TO 1)

o Task Order No. 1

● Management Approach (8 pages):

o Management Plan and Resources (IDIQ and TO No.1) o Staffing Plan (IDIQ and TO No. 1, including recommended key personnel)

● Risk Mitigation Plan (5 pages)

The following are to be included in the TECHNICAL PROPOSAL as annexes:

● Annex A: Draft First Year Work Plan for TO No.1 (4 pages)

● Annex B: Draft Performance Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan, TO No.1 (5 pages)

● Annex C: CV/Resumes for proposed Key Personnel (up to two pages per person)

● Annex D. Organizational chart (5 pages)

● Annex E: Past Performance Information (up to 25 pages)

Question 58. On p. 12 of the RFP, it references establishing full or limited operations in Baku.

To that end, can you please confirm if a company needs to be registered in Azerbaijan prior to award of the IDIQ and/or Task Order 1? If not, will USAID allow for time (i.e. estimated at 3-6 months) for registration to be completed post award.

Answer 58. No, the Contractor does not need to register prior to the IDIQ award. USAID will work with the Contractor on registration issues once the award is made to determine a course of action. In addition, we encourage you to pay close attention to how USAID described the risk factors of working in Azerbaijan in the RFP.