DRG HR Pre-Sol Conference Presentation Slides.pdf

USAID Human Rights for Vulnerable Groups Pre-Solicitation Conference September 2023

Conference Objectives

● Encourage and promote consortia-building

● Provide a technical overview of the program

● Share and describe the contract type and procurement processes

● Discuss proposal considerations and share resources

● Share any questions and answers through discussion

Reminders and Disclaimers

● Today’s discussion regarding the content of the planned Request for Proposals is notional and not binding. The final issued RFP will contain the actual requirements.

● There will be a Q&A at the end of each session. The online moderator will also provide any questions from the online audience.

● Please note that USAID will not take personal meetings or respond to telephone inquiries regarding the solicitation to ensure a level playing field, full transparency and the integrity of the procurement process.

Conference Agenda Opening Remarks

Technical Overview and Q&A

Procurement Considerations and Q&A

Meet & Mingle for Consortia Building

Tips for Success: Proposal Development

Final Q&A

Closing Remarks

Networking

Technical Overview: Program Considerations and Post- Award Co-Design

Human Rights Program Purpose

To improve the lives and better protect the human rights of vulnerable groups.

● Build Government Capacity To Address the Needs of Vulnerable Groups

● Build Public Awareness and Support for the Rights of Vulnerable Groups

● Build Capacity of Civil Society to Effectively Represent the Interests of Vulnerable Groups

Human Rights Program Target Groups

Development Hypothesis

If:

● Government capacity to develop, implement and regulate policies, and provide services to vulnerable groups is strengthened;

● Public support to protect the rights of vulnerable groups is increased; and

● Georgian CSOs are able to more effectively advocate for and provide services to vulnerable groups;

Then:

Human rights of vulnerable groups will be better protected

Program Objectives

In order to achieve this purpose, three interrelated objectives are:

1. Strengthened public policies and improved government services that protect vulnerable groups;

2. Increased public awareness in support of the protection of vulnerable groups’ human rights and their economic, social and political inclusion;

3. Strengthened civil society organizations’ capacity to effectively advocate for public policies that protect vulnerable groups, and to provide effective services.

Objective One: Strengthen GoG Policies and Services

● Provide technical assistance to GoG

○ Bio-psycho-social model of disability assessment

○ National and municipal level policies

○ Design and delivery of public services

○ Engagement of private sector

● Outcomes: Increase number of people served, improve quality of services, and broaden types of services offered.

Objective Two: Increased Public Awareness

● Build capacity of GoG and NGOs

○ Address negative stereotypes

○ Raise awareness/access of/to services

● Implement campaigns through grants to NGOs

● Partner with private sector champions

● Outcomes: Increase public awareness, and support for protection and rights of vulnerable groups.

Objective Three: Strengthen CSO Advocacy Capacity

● Provide technical assistance to civil society organizations (CSOs)

○ Support constituency and coalition building

○ Advocate for the needs and rights of Vulnerable Groups

○ Improve service delivery to targeted Vulnerable Groups

● Outcomes: Increase involvement in policy and decision-making, increase availability and quality of services, and increase the protection of human rights.

Cross-cutting Principles

● Engagement with GOG, NGOs, private sector;

● Provision of direct technical assistance to the

GOG and CSOs;

● Inclusion of affected groups;

● Locally-led, long-term CSO coalitions;

● Sustainability, progress beyond the program;

● Political Economy Analysis lens;

● Coordination with other programs.

Post-award Co-design

● Annual implementation plan (co-design)

○ Post-award

○ Involvement of many stakeholders

○ GoG, CSOs, activists, USAID, etc.

● Ongoing consultations

● Iterative Political Economy Analysis

● Robust Monitoring Evaluation and

Learning/Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA)

Q&A

Contract Terms and Procurement Processes

Award Information

● Type of Award: Contract - Cost Reimbursement plus Fixed Fee (completion type)

● Award Amount: Up to $8 million

● Period of Performance: Approx. 5 years

Eligibility

● Eligibility - a final decision if eligibility will be restricted/limited has not been made.

● To be eligible for consideration:

○ Offerors and all partners must have a Unique Entity ID (UEI)

○ Offerors and subcontractors need to be registered in SAM.gov

○ Must be an organization that would is registered in the following authorized geographic codes*:

■ 937: includes the United States, the recipient country, and developing countries. Current “developing countries” are listed here: List of Developing Countries ADS 310.

■ 110: means newly independent states of the former Soviet Union and any developing country (see above ADS 310).

Non-Exclusivity of Partnerships

• Local organizations are highly encouraged to submit proposals as the prime offeror.

• USAID highly discourages “exclusivity arrangements” that limit a local organizations to only participate in one consortium.

• Local organizations are not prohibited from being part of multiple consortium, including both being the prime offeror in one proposal and as a subcontractor for other proposals.

Responsible Prospective Contractor (FAR 9.104)

● A contract may only be awarded to a responsible prospective contractor.

● To be determined responsible, a prospective contractor must:

○ Have adequate financial resources to perform the contract, or the ability to obtain them

○ Be able to comply with the required or proposed delivery or performance schedule

○ Have a satisfactory performance record. Note that a prospective contractor shall not be determined responsible or non-responsible solely based on a lack of relevant performance history.

○ Have a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics

○ Have the necessary organization, experience, accounting and operational controls, and technical skills, or the ability to obtain them

○ Have the necessary production, construction and technical equipment and facilities, or the ability to obtain them

○ Be otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations

● In order to make a determination, USAID may conduct a preaward survey (FAR 9.106), reviewing your internal financial and operational systems.

Selection Process

● USAID intends to use a “Phased Acquisition with Voluntary Down Select Approach”

○ Why?

■ Reduce barriers for entry

■ Lower cost and workload

● Will likely consist of three phases

● After each phase, USAID will recommend to each offeror if they are viable offerors and recommend whether or not to proceed into the next phase.

● Offerors may, however, decide to proceed or not proceed to next phase despite USAID’s recommendation.

Overview of Procurement Process

Phase Two Oral Presentations

Advisory Notice re Competitiveness

Pre-Solicitation Conference

Request for Proposals

(RFP)

Issued by USAID

Phase One Submission Due

Advisory Notice Regarding Competitiveness

Phase Three Submission

Competitive Range Determination (if required)

Revised Proposal Submitted

Award Selection

Final dates will be set forth in the RFP.

Phase One: Submission

● RFP will include instructions on what will be required to submit for Phase One.

○ Limited submission focusing likely on the consortium’s institutional capacity.

■ As of the date of this event, no final decision has been made as to what is the evaluation factor. Please see the RFP for the evaluation factor and proposal instructions.

○ No cost proposal will be submitted

○ No past performance will be submitted

● USAID will evaluate the submission based on the Phase One evaluation factor.

Advisory Notification

● After evaluating the submission against the criteria for Phase 1, USAID will provide correspondence to an offeror either recommending the offeror proceed or not proceed to Phase 2 of the evaluation.

● Adequate time will be provided between the advisory notification and the Phase 2 oral presentations.

Phase Two: Oral Presentations

● RFP and any amendments thereto will include instructions on what will be required for Phase Two.

● Phase 2 is anticipated to require the offeror to conduct an oral presentation regarding its technical approach.

■ As of the date of this event, no final decision has been made as to what is the evaluation factor.

Please see the RFP for the evaluation factor and proposal instructions.

● Details regarding the format and requirements for these oral presentations will be provided in the RFP.

■ No decisions have been made regarding the date, location (e.g., in person or virtual), or format at this time.

● USAID will evaluate the submission based on the Phase Two evaluation factor(s).

Advisory Notification

● After evaluating the submission against the criteria for Phase 2, USAID will provide correspondence to an offeror either recommending the offeror proceed or not proceed to Phase 3 of the evaluation.

● Adequate time will be provided between the advisory notification and the Phase 3 submission.

Phase Three: Submission

● RFP and any amendments thereto will include instructions on what will be required for Phase Three.

● Phase Three submission is anticipated to include:

○ Limited written response to Phase 3 Technical Evaluation Criteria

■ As of the date of this event, no final decision has been made as to what is the evaluation factor. Please see the RFP for the evaluation factor and proposal instructions.

○ Cost/Business Proposal

○ Past Performance Information

○ Branding and Marking Plan

● USAID will evaluate the submission based on the Phase Three evaluation factor(s).

After Phase Three

● USAID will either select the successful offeror or determine a competitive range of offerors based on all Technical Evaluation factors (for all phases) as well as non-technical factors (e.g., cost and past performance).

● If a competitive range is established, USAID may request a revised proposal (either technical or cost).

● As part of its source selection, USAID must make an affirmative determination that the proposed contractor is responsible in accordance with FAR 9.104.

Important Considerations

● The RFP provides the instructions and evaluation separately for Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3.

○ USAID reserves the right to consolidate Phases 2 and 3 - the

RFP will be binding.

● The RFP provides the timeline.

● Offerors that are advised that they are not competitive are not precluded from participating in Phase 2 (from Phase 1) or Phase 3 (from Phase 2).

● The award decision will be based on the cumulative evaluation from all Phases.

Consortium Building Session

Please join us to share your organizational flip charts and meet and mingle with potential partners.

For our virtual attendees, hybrid sessions will resume at 16:45.

Tips for Success: Proposal Development

WHAT IS LOCALIZATION?

USAID defines localization as the set of internal reforms, actions, and behavior changes we are undertaking to ensure our work puts local actors in the lead, strengthens local systems, and is responsive to local communities.

LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT

Capacity Strengthening Support: HICD

Through the Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) program, USAID provides a wide array of institutional capacity development assistance to its strategic partners, including supporting USAID awardees to implement pre-award survey recommendations.

HICD cannot engage with any interested entities prior to selection for award.

Tips for Success: Cost Considerations

Tips for Cost Proposal (Phase 3)

● The RFP will outline instructions for cost/business proposal that will be analyzed as part of the evaluation process at Phase 3 of the procurement process

● The Offeror will be required to explain how its proposed costs are fair, reasonable and realistic to perform the work

Indirect Costs

● Defined as costs which cannot be directly identified with a single contract (or grant)

● Organizations without a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) are still encouraged to apply

○ Organizations are encouraged to bill all costs directly

○ Administrative Costs can be billed directly to the Program

Direct Costs

• FAR 31.202 and FAR 31.205 provide for the allowability of direct costs and many cost elements

• Bill what is directly allocated to this Program by percentage or amount

Key Takeaways for Proposal Success

● Design: Consider need or benefit of ‘resource partners’ as part of budget and program design (local partners, former primes, capacity strengthens, etc.)

★ First time primes consider ‘accompaniment’ partner ★ Require non-exclusivity

● A percentage of budget (amount TBD between 40-65%) must be expended by local organizations as part of the consortium

● Even Primes that do not have NICRA can bill all costs as direct costs and still consider applying to this Program!

● Reminder Pre-solicitation Notice Questions/Feedback due October 5th

Resources

WorkwithUSAID.org

● Partner Directory

● Pre-Engagement Assessment

● Events

● Library of Resources

● Blogs on practical topics like proposal writing

● Sub-Opps Portal

● In development: Partnership

Pathways; Funding Opps Feed

● .gov transition

Engaging with new, non-traditional, and local partners

Three Resources

Localization Comments Memo

Two-Pager in Multiple Languages

Guide to Distinguishing

Tools

1 Start with the local system.

2 Strengthen diverse capacities through diverse approaches.

Plan for and measure performance improvement in collaboration with local partners.

4 Align capacity strengthening with local priorities.

5 Appreciate and build on existing capacities.

Be mindful of and mitigate the unintended consequences of our support for local capacity strengthening.

7 Practice mutuality with local partners.

PRINCIPLES FOR EQUITABLE PARTNERSHIPS IN

LOCAL CAPACITY STRENGTHENING

PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE PROGRAMMING OF

LOCAL CAPACITY STRENGTHENING

https://www.usaid.gov/local-capacity-strengthening-policy

LOCAL CAPACITY STRENGTHENING POLICY

https://www.usaid.gov/local-capacity-strengthening-policy

Resources

• How to Work with USAID 101

• Contract Types

• Tips and Guidance for Working with USAID

• Upcoming ASAP Webinars

• Local Capacity Strengthening Micro-Trainings

• USAID Indirect Cost Recovery Guide

• Obtain Unique Entity ID Video Instructions (bottom right corner)

• SAM.gov registration with instruction guide https://workwithusaid.org/events/how-to-work-with-usaid-101-4?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery https://media.dau.edu/media/1_2ehgbdwg https://www.workwithusaid.org/blog/category/15 https://www.intrahealth.org/upcoming-asap-webinars https://usaidlearninglab.org/insights-practice/self-paced-training-and-courses/training/local-capacity-strengthening-policy https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/OCC-Guide-for-NonProfit-IndirectCostRate1-27-2023.pdf https://sam.gov/content/home https://sam.gov/content/home https://www.fsd.gov/gsafsd_sp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0039524&sys_kb_id=75f44c091b4dfd142fe5ed7ae54bcbc2&spa=1

Thank you for participating in the Human Rights Activity Pre-Solicitation Conference!

USAID Human Rights for Vulnerable Groups Pre-Solicitation Conference