72012120C00003 TCA J_A signed.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR EXPEDITED PROCEDURES PACKAGE

TO: Robert Parnell, Supervisory Regional Contracting Officer

CC: Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate

FROM: Iuliia Nechyporenko, Project Management Specialist, Office of Democracy and

Governance

DATE: September 15, 2022

RE: Contract No. 72012120C00003, USAID Transformation Communications

Activity

SUBJECT: Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition under the Expedited

Procedures Package (EPP) for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying the use of other than full and open competition.

Approval is requested for the justification for use of other than full and open competition pursuant to the authorities under the Expedited Acquisition and Assistance Procedures (EPP) for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, approved on March 6, 2022. Your approval of this Justification and Approval (J&A) constitutes the justification for other than full and open competition as required by Tab 1 (Determination and Findings (D&F) Authorization for the Use of Other than Full and Open Competition in the Award or Modification of Contracts) of the EPP.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that you approve this justification for use of other than full and open competition pursuant to the Action Memorandum “Expedited Procedures Package (EPP) for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova” approved on March 6, 2022. Your approval of this J&A constitutes the justification for other than full and open competition as required by Tab 1 (D&F for the Authorization for Use of Other than Full and Open Competition in the Award or Modification of Contracts) of the EPP.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

USAID/Ukraine seeks a contract modification to increase the total estimated cost (TEC) of Contract No. 72012120C00003, USAID Transformation Communications Activity (TCA), implemented by Chemonics International Inc. (Chemonics or “the contractor”) by $21,000,000 from $24,691,998 to $45,691,998 and extend the period of performance (PoP) by 12 months from a contract end date of June 30, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

The additional ceiling will increase the likelihood of successfully achieving the key objectives of TCA under the original Statement of Work (SOW). As a result of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, demand for TCA-support efforts to combat Russia’s propaganda and fake information, strengthen social cohesion and unity through data-driven, compelling communications increased, requiring additional resources, including staff, and time than originally anticipated within the award ceiling and period of performance to achieve program objectives. To achieve its program objectives and continue to respond to war-related needs TCA requires additional resources and time beyond what was originally anticipated within the award ceiling and period of performance.

If approved, this action would allow TCA to significantly expand its support to the Government of Ukraine (GOU) in communicating with Ukrainians inside and outside the country on the available public services, during and after the war, and how to get them, to build citizen confidence in the Ukraine’s democracy and government, and support European integration aspirations of Ukraine through values-based communication interventions. As a result, TCA would immediately implement and mobilize both national and internationally-based approaches to keep crisis communications and relevant pre-war workstreams outlined in TCA activity objectives as well as to conduct rapid response interventions to counter disinformation campaigns led by the Kremlin. TCA would utilize available funding as needed in response to the war challenges that have imposed upon Ukraine’s reforms and democratic transformation.

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

Below is a shortened description of the supplies and services required to meet USAID’s needs:

The purpose of TCA is to partner with the Government of Ukraine (GoU), the private sector, and civil society to increase the resilience of Ukraine’s democracy through innovative communications initiatives that engage Ukrainians in a conversation about the country’s democratic transformation and European integration.

A $21,000,000 TEC increase would allow USAID to quickly respond to the critical present and post-war communication efforts, helping protect Ukraine’s democracy and valued institutions.

TCA’s support has allowed the GOU’s Center for Strategic Communications to emerge as a credible and trusted source of information during the war. The TEC increase would also allow USAID to support the GOU, private sector, and/or civil society about emerging needs and when the situation allows, resume communications about reform dividends in various sectors such as agriculture, health, and anti-corruption.

The expanded activities envisioned in this TEC fall within the SOW’s original objectives. TCA will significantly increase its efforts to communicate challenges due to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine that caused civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, forcing people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection, and assistance. As a leader in communication approaches for rapid responses in crisis situations and with activities at the international, national and community levels, TCA already plays a key role as a technical partner supporting governmental strategic communications. As a result of the invasion, TCA pivoted planned communication efforts on reforms dividends and focused on the support of information campaigns related to challenges caused by hostilities. With a TEC increase, TCA would be able to develop tools and approaches to directly respond to strategic needs of the GOU, amongst Ukrainians within Ukraine and abroad, within civil society, and in an increasingly engaged global community. Specifically, of the $21,000,000 being added to TCA’s TEC, $3,000,000 will be used to expand the activity’s Grants under Contract Fund (GUC) in order to provide assistance to local NGOs, content developers, creative production films, independent media organizations, other potential grantees and provide expanded support across TCA activity objectives.

Additional support to increase efforts to cover current and emerging war-related communications challenges within Ukraine and abroad will be provided under TCA’s three objectives as outlined below:

Objective 1: Equip USAID and its partners to conduct data-driven communications

Both, before and since February 24th, TCA has used research as a key tool to help inform communications campaigns and approaches. Prior to the war, TCA was producing weekly media monitoring reports on Russian disinformation, anti-western narratives, land reform, and COVID-

19. The land reform reports were helping the Ministry of Agriculture track discussion about the opening of the land market and help develop responses to debunk myths accordingly, while the COVID-19 reports were being used by the Ministry of Health to help address vaccine hesitancy.

From February 24th, 2022, TCA supported the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy’s Center for Strategic Communications with daily media monitoring and content development.

The center uses the data to push out credible information to citizens in the form of videos, infographics, and articles while also countering disinformation. During the first 45 days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, TCA helped the center produce more than 300 pieces of content and reach more than 45 million people. In the current ongoing war and in a post-war environment, TCA should continue using data and analytics to help develop relevant messages and content that will resonate with the target audience.

The following Objective 1 additional activities are illustrative and may include (but are not limited to):

● Developing a communications framework on the war- and post-war-related communications.

● Supporting audience research and analysis, including opinion polling and focus groups to measure opinions during wartime and transition periods.

● Media monitoring, including analysis of traditional and social media coverage, and analysis of strategic narratives in the wartime and afterwards.

Objective 2: Increase the quality and quantity of strategic communications on reform dividends

The recent full-scale invasion has created new, multifaceted communication challenges for Ukraine. As Ukraine continues to fight for its independence and democracy with 7.1 million citizens displaced, it is critical that citizens maintain their trust in the GOU and recognize that the GOU is still operational. This trust will come from ongoing quality and quantity of strategic communications.

Another emerging issue is tension inside the country, particularly between IDPs and host communities, as the conflict becomes protracted. The need to facilitate an atmosphere of unity and support as Russia continues its war on Ukraine, inflation continues, and assistance is distributed unevenly. Besides, potential Ukraine’s European membership caused the Kremlin propaganda machine to work actively in Europe and spread disinformation narratives on Russia- Ukraine war in foreign media. TCA will assist the GOU to ensure timely, transparent, and strategic communication to Ukrainians to counteract misinformation, disinformation, and narratives that affect unity of Ukraine and to foreign audiences to keep the high level of international support to Ukraine in its fight for freedom and democracy protecting the bouderings of the democratic world against the war and devastation.

The following Objective 2 additional activities are illustrative and may include (but are not

● Supporting government and civil society partners to develop and implement multi-media communications campaigns on Ukraine’s fight for its independence and freedom against Russian genocide and military full-scale invasion, including the creation and distribution of innovative, integrated strategic communications campaigns products for television, print and social media, such as PSAs, outdoor advertising products where the security situation allows, online content, or viral campaigns.

● Developing a toolkit or package of materials and approaches to use at the community level with a particular focus on communication and customizing unity and social cohesion approaches to the local community. The toolkit could be used by government, international and local partners to support the implementation of the national and international unity strategy at the community-level.

Objective 3: Broaden the use of social impact content by Ukraine’s civic leaders and creative sector

Social impact content, often consumed by audiences as a means of entertainment, is a useful tool to shed light on the lives of individuals or communities and their struggles, bringing them to life.

This form of content can be thought provoking and there is an increased demand for content about Ukraine. Ukrainians want to see images and videos of their culture, history, and great nation before the war, while foreigners want to see the same content to better understand how Ukraine has been affected by the war. Interventions under this objective will help further instill Ukraine’s democratic values and continue promoting values such as, but not limited to inclusion, tolerance, and transparency.

The following Objective 3 additional activities are illustrative and may include (but are not

1. Using research and analysis developed under Objective 1 and in close consultation with USAID, conceptualizing issue- and values-base themes for pro-European content/media products aimed at Ukrainians and foreign partners.

2. Holding open calls for concepts, pitching events or thematic and issue-based workshops that link Ukraine’s creative sector and European integration advocates.

3. Underwriting content promoting Ukraine’s bravery in its fight for independence and European integration with cost share when possible from commercial broadcasters or the State Film Agency.

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

AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) and 40 U.S.C. §113(e)(2); see the “Expedited Procedures Package for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova” approved March 6, 2022. The D&F is attached to this file in Tab 1. The EPP can only be used for responding to the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rapidly fluctuating regional operating environment, as defined in paragraph 1 of the D&F (Tab 1). The most recent phase of Russian invasion of Ukraine took place on February 24, 2022 and therefore the class D&F applies to invasion response activities.

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

Chemonics’s focus on data-driven, strategic communication as well as development of transformative social impact content makes it uniquely positioned to bring the greatest degree of effectiveness and expertise to rapidly implement pivoted response activities. USAID is confident that Chemonics, with increased efforts made possible by additional funding and time, will efficiently provide necessary communication support to Ukrainian stakeholders for the following reasons:

(i) Complementarity with Existing Programming: Chemonics is the current implementer of TCA, and an increase in funding will allow Chemonics to seamlessly build upon its ongoing efforts.

TCA joined efforts with the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (further - the Center), an official source of information in Ukraine, to provide quick, reliable, and high-quality content about the war in Ukraine for domestic and international audiences. Within hours of the invasion, TCA assembled and managed a professional team of more than 60 volunteers to fulfill the Center’s tasks. During the first weeks of war, the volunteers created up to 100 different media materials that were shared by the Center alongside content produced directly by TCA’s creative agency - transforming the Center into a trusted go-to hub for international organizations and media outlets, as well as Ukrainian citizens. With the increased funding, TCA will be able to amplify this kind of support to the GOU’s Center and keep its development.

TCA partnered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) to launch a ‘Thank You’ communications campaign underscoring the gratitude for countries that have hosted Ukrainian refugees and offered diplomatic and financial support. In early May, TCA launched the campaign’s first video geared towards Poland. Within one week, the video received 951,274 views. The second video aimed mainly at European and overseas countries was released on June 3rd, marking the 100th day of the war, and received over 400,000 views only in the first 72hrs.

These accomplishments demonstrate a high level of the content quality and well-tailored messages.

Chemonics, in cooperation with the SemanticForce platform team, supported its partners with data on Russian misinformation, launched a Russian media monitoring activity in March 2022 that analyzes Russian online news outlets coverage of the war against Ukraine, namely, the military aspect, as well as economic (sanctions) and political (cooperation, diplomacy, etc.).

These are disseminated among such partners as USAID/Ukraine OTI, AntAC, the GOU of Strategic Communications and Information Security, among others. The initiative informs message tailoring for the communication campaigns to reach out to target audiences effectively and contributes to the “one voice” communications.

TCA should continue coordinating with the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), particularly under objective 2 and 3. OTI is also working with the Center and MFA on separate, but related strategic communications initiatives. The needs are vast, but the local partners can often be the same. Close coordination and collaboration where appropriate will ensure the best use of USG resources. TCA should also coordinate with the Human Rights in Action (HRA) activity on human rights related initiatives, SAACI on anti-corruption lines of effort, and other USG-funded programs as appropriate, depending upon the sector.

(ii) Operations: On February 24, 2022 Russia escalated the war it began in 2014 with missile strikes and ground force invasion across Ukraine. This war has already killed thousands of Ukrainians, besieged major cities and small towns, and destroyed critical infrastructure. This war has fundamentally changed Chemonics project operations in Ukraine and has required a reassessment of our security posture, approach, and requirements. Operationally, Chemonics has had a well-established office in Kyiv, which was fully staffed with highly qualified technical international and local experts who have built strong relationships with key stakeholders.

Because of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Chemonics supported relocation of its staff to safe places that gives an opportunity to continue effective implementation of the contract. A billable Ukraine Security Team established to deliver a streamlined, proactive, and well-managed security approach that enables project activities, sets clear security requirements to manage foreseeable risks, supports project staff safety, and responds to security incidents with expertise and care.

(iii) Technical Expertise: TCA was designed to support key reforms and initiatives in Ukraine, such as land reform, anti-corruption, and general vaccination. TCA’s data-driven and socially-impactful content helps to develop communications materials that resonate with the average Ukrainian. This approach is imperative to help Ukrainian stakeholders with the war-caused communication challenges. The traditional style of communication is not possible when the country is experiencing a hot phase of the war and millions of people displaced inside and outside the country. TCA’s expertise identifying individual concerns, tracking disinformation narratives, and creative innovative communication initiatives facilitate good coverage and impact of targeted information campaigns. Chemonics’ technical team has developed great technical expertise as a result of working in Ukraine. Partnering with the Government of Ukraine, private sector, and civil society have provided Chemonics technical staff with a deep understanding of the political, reforms environment, and social context in Ukraine, and includes feasible, innovative interventions to achieve all expected results. Chemonics is highly experienced with realities on the ground of USAID partners and beneficiaries. This uniquely qualifies them to work effectively to mitigate the negative impacts of the full-scale war.

(iv) Relationships with Key Stakeholders: Over the course of TCA’s implementation, Chemonics has developed strong relationships and partnerships with government organizations, civil society, and other stakeholders to collaborate on key reforms and initiatives in Ukraine, which are critical to the successful communication campaigns in the war and post-war period.

Some of those partners are the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government units at the national and local levels, organizations leading international hostilities response in Ukraine like UNICEF and WHO; the civil society; Ukraine’s creative as well as private sectors.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

Publication of a notice is not required per the determination at AIDAR §705.202(b) as it is not practical under the circumstances. No efforts have been made to ensure that offers were solicited from as many potential sources as practicable because the needed services described herein are within the original scope of the contract’s current objectives. This requirement to meet the GoU’s needs is based on Chemonics unique position and proven work under the current contract to enable rapid, responsive support to governmental strategic communications.

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

The Office of Democracy and Governance prepared an IGCE for the TCA time and cost extension, which serves as the original basis for budget approval. The estimated budget is based on historical costs for similar services. Upon approval of this justification, the Contracting Officer will request a proposal from the contractor for the additional work requested. The Contracting Officer will conduct a thorough cost analysis of that proposal, with the same level of rigor as used with competitive procurement, to ensure that the actual cost to the U.S.

Government is fair and reasonable.

8. A description of the market research conducted (see FAR Part 10) and the results or a statement of the reason(s) market research was not conducted.

No new market research was conducted. Chemonics was competitively selected as the TCA contractor through the full and open competitive procurement in 2020. Since the purpose of the proposed TEC increase is to respond to hostilities’ challenges in Ukraine, it is not feasible to select another contractor that would be able to undertake these activities promptly given Chemonics’ familiarity with the country context, its established relationship with key GoU counterparts and other stakeholders. Market research was conducted at the pre-solicitation stage for the TCA award and included in the Acquisition Plan for TCA.

9. Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

USAID/Ukraine has determined that due to the urgency of responding to the current situation in Ukraine, resulting from the Russian invasion, other than full and open competition utilizing the authorities provided in the EPP is the most effective method for quickly and effectively implementing the additional activities under TCA and representing the priorities of the Agency and the U.S Government.

10. Sources, if any, that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

The Mission determined to expand the existing TCA contract to address the additional requirements, so publication of a notice is not required per the determination at AIDAR §705.202(b) and no sources submitted a written expression of interest in this acquisition.

11. The actions the Agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

The proposed modification is a specific case based on the urgent need to respond to priority requests from the GOU and stakeholders to support strategic communication initiatives during wartime and post-war period. Any subsequent or future need of support will be procured through full and open competition, including potential set-asides for small businesses.

12. Technical or Requirements Personnel Certification:

In accordance with FAR 6.303, I hereby certify that the technical statements included above and which form a basis for the justification are complement and accurate in accordance with the Expedited Procedures Package (EPP) for Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova approved on March 6, 2022 (attached Tab 1- EPP D&F for the Authorization of Use of Other than Full and Open Competition in the Award or Modification of Contracts.).

Iuliia Nechyporenko, Contracting Officer’s Representative

13. General Counsel/RLO Clearance:

Benjamin Schireson, Resident Legal Officer

14. Contracting Officer Approval:

Robert Parnell, Supervisory Regional Contracting Officer

Iuliia Nechyporenko

Digitally signed by Iuliia Nechyporenko Date: 2022.10.01 08:47:50 +02'00'

Benjamin Schireson

Digitally signed by Benjamin Schireson Date: 2022.10.01 08:20:49 -04'00'

ROBERT LEE

PARNELL IV

(affiliate)

Digitally signed by ROBERT LEE PARNELL IV (affiliate) Date: 2022.10.02 13:14:42 -04'00'