Amendment 1 RFP USAID Health Learning.docx (3).pdf

Amendment No. 1

Issuance Date: October 27, 2023 Closing Date/Time for Questions: November 9, 2023, 5:00 p.m. (NPT) Closing Date/Time for Receipt of Proposals: December 19, 2023, 5:00 p.m. (NPT)

SUBJECT: Request for Proposals (RFP) No: 72036723R00008 USAID Health Learning

The United States Government (USG), represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development Mission to Nepal (USAID/Nepal) seeks proposals from Local organizations (as defined in Section 7077 of the FY 2012 Appropriations Act, as carried forward by the FY 2013 Continuing Resolution, and as amended by Section 7028 of the FY 2014 Appropriations Act) operating in Nepal to provide services as detailed in the RFP for USAID Health Learning. This is a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) type contract with a period of performance of 5 Years. USAID anticipates the award of one contract resulting from this solicitation.

Interventions under the USAID Health Learning activity will support the monitoring and evaluation of health activities that align with USAID/Nepal’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) 2020-2025, particularly Development Objective Three, which aims to strengthen inclusive health and education systems as described in Section C.

Proposals will be accepted from eligible organizations. The NAICS Code is 541611 - Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services.

Offerors are requested to submit proposals that are both realistic and reasonable for this effort.

Offerors are directed to pay close attention to Section L – Instructions to Offerors and Section M – Evaluation Factors for Award. Please also pay careful attention to, and complete Section K – Representations, Certifications and Other Statements. All submitted proposals must be signed by an authorized official with the authority to bind the firm represented by the Offeror.

Questions and comments related to this RFP must be submitted electronically to dshakya@usaid.gov and cghimire@usaid.gov , with a copy to me at abakbar@usaid.gov by the deadline stated. Answers to questions received in writing will be made available to all offerors through an amendment to the RFP and posted on www.sam.gov.

mailto:dshakya@usaid.gov mailto:cghimire@usaid.gov mailto:abakbar@usaid.gov http://www.fbo.gov

It is extremely important that electronic submissions be made by the date and time indicated above.

Proposals received after the closing date and time will be processed as late and handled in accordance with FAR 15.208. Pursuant to Block 12 of Standard Form 33 of this RFP, offers must remain valid for 268 days. Please ensure that your company’s registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) is current and up to date. SAM can be accessed at www.sam.gov. Electronic submissions must be sent to the following address: dshakya@usaid.gov and cghimire@usaid.gov. No other form of submission will be accepted.

Issuance of this RFP in no way obligates the U.S. Government to award a contract nor does it commit the U.S. Government 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 www.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.

Thank you for your interest in working with USAID.

Sincerely, Abdullah Akbar, Contracting Officer USAID/Nepal http://www.sam.gov mailto:dshakya@usaid.gov mailto:cghimire@usaid.gov http://www.sam.gov http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

Contents

PART I – THE SCHEDULE 6

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE 6

B.1 PURPOSE 6

B.2 TYPE OF CONTRACT 6

B.3 FIXED PRICE 6

B.4 CLINS 6

B.5 PAYMENT METHOD 7

B.6 PAYMENT SCHEDULE 7

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK 8

C.1 TITLE OF ACTIVITY 8

C.2 OBJECTIVE 8

C.3 BACKGROUND 8

C.4 SCOPE OF WORK 11

C.5 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS 16

SECTION D – PACKAGING AND MARKING 18

D.1 AIDAR 752.7009 MARKING (JAN 1993) 18

D.2 BRANDING POLICY 18

D.3 BRANDING STRATEGY 18

D.4 BRANDING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (BIP) AND MARKING PLAN (MP) 19

SECTION E – INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 22

E.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE 22

E.2 INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 22

SECTION F – DELIVERIES OR PERFORMANCE 23

F.1 PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 23

F.2 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE 23

F.3 DELIVERABLES AND REQUIRED REPORTING 23

F.4 KEY PERSONNEL 29

F.5 AIDAR 752.7005 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE DOCUMENTS (SEPTEMBER 2013) 31

F.6 AUTHORIZED GEOGRAPHIC CODE 32

F.7 ACTIVITY LOCATION DATA 32

SECTION G – CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION DATA 34

G.1 CONTRACTING OFFICER'S AUTHORITY 34

G.2 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACTING OFFICE 34

G.3 CONTRACTING OFFICER’S REPRESENTATIVE (COR) 34

G.4 TECHNICAL DIRECTIONS/RELATIONSHIP WITH USAID 34

G.5 PAYING OFFICE 36

G.6 ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA 36

SECTION H – SPECIAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS 37

H.1 LOGISTICS SUPPORT 37

H.2 EXECUTIVE ORDER ON TERRORISM FINANCING 37

H.3 AIDAR 752.222-70 USAID DISABILITY POLICY (DEC 2004) 37

H.4 AIDAR 752.222-71 NONDISCRIMINATION (Jun 2012) 38

H.5 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST 38

H.6 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: PRECLUSION FROM IMPLEMENTATION CONTRACT (SEPTEMBER 2018) 40

H.7 ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: PRECLUSION FROM FURNISHING CERTAIN SERVICES AND

RESTRICTION ON USE OF INFORMATION (SEPTEMBER 2018) 40

H.8 DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION 41

H.9 ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE 41

H.10 AIDAR 752.7032 INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL APPROVAL AND NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS (APR 2014) 42

H.11 USAID IMPLEMENTING PARTNER NOTICES (IPN) PORTAL FOR ACQUISITION (JULY 2014) 42

H.12 SUBMISSION OF DATASETS TO THE DEVELOPMENT DATA LIBRARY (DDL) (OCT 2014) 44

H.13 REPORTING OF FOREIGN TAXES (JULY 2007) 45

H.14 LIMITATION ON ACQUISITION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (April 2018) (DEVIATION NOs.

M-OAA-DEV-FAR-22-03c)) (APRIL 2022) 46

H.15 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE PLAN (EPRP) DISASTER READINESS 47

H.16 SEXUAL MISCONDUCT (DECEMBER 2020) 49

H.17 PERSONNEL COMPENSATION (JULY 2007) 49

H.18 ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PERSONNEL COMPENSATION 50

H.19 AIDAR 752.231-71 SALARY SUPPLEMENTS FOR HOST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (MAR 2015) 51

H.20 GENDER CONSIDERATION 51

H.21 INVITATION TO PROPOSE PERFORMANCE-BASED PAYMENTS 52

H.22 ACQUISITION 360: VOLUNTARY SURVEY 53

PART II – CONTRACT CLAUSES SECTION I – CONTRACT CLAUSES 54

I.1 NOTICE LISTING CONTRACT CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE 54

I.2 52.203-17 CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEE WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS AND REQUIREMENT TO INFORM EMPLOYEES OF

WHISTLEBLOWER RIGHTS (JUN 2020) 55

I.3 AIDAR CLAUSES INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (MAR 2015) 56

I.4 PERFORMANCE-BASED PAYMENTS 56

PART III – LIST OF DOCUMENTS, EXHIBITS AND OTHER ATTACHMENTS 62

SECTION J - LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 62

PART IV – REPRESENTATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS 63

SECTION K – REPRESENTATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS, AND OTHER STATEMENTS 63

K.1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998) 63

K.2 FAR 52.204-8 ANNUAL REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATION (MAR 2023) 63

K.3 FAR 52.209-5 CERTIFICATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (AUG 2020) 68

K.4 52.209-7 INFORMATION REGARDING RESPONSIBILITY MATTERS (OCT 2018) 70

K.5 INSURANCE - TOTAL IMMUNITY FROM TORT LIABILITY (SEP 2000) 72

K.6 SIGNATURE 72

SECTION L - INSTRUCTIONS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES TO OFFERORS 73

L.1 52.252-1 SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE (FEB 1998) 73

L.2 NOTICE LISTING SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE 73

NUMBER TITLE DATE 73

L.3 752.252-1 AIDAR SOLICITATION PROVISIONS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE 73

L.4 52.203-2 CERTIFICATE OF INDEPENDENT PRICE DETERMINATION (APR 1985) 73

L.5 INSTRUCTION TO OFFERORS – COMPETITIVE ACQUISITION (NOV 2021) 74

L.6 52.233-2 SERVICE OF PROTEST (SEP 2006) 79

L.7 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS 79

L.8 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION 80

L.9 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARATION OF TECHNICAL PROPOSAL 81

L.10 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE PRICE PROPOSAL 85

L.11 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF BRANDING AND MARKING PLANS 86

L.12 CERTIFICATION REGARDING TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS COMPLIANCE PLAN 86

SECTION M - EVALUATION FACTORS FOR AWARD 88

M.1 GENERAL AND SOURCE SELECTION INFORMATION 88

M.2 TECHNICAL EVALUATION CRITERIA 88

M.3 PRICE EVALUATION 89

M.4 DETERMINATION OF THE COMPETITIVE RANGE AND CONTRACT AWARD 89

Offeror must download the most recent version of the SF-33 on www.gsa.gov to prepare its offer.

http://www.gsa.gov

PART I – THE SCHEDULE

SECTION B – SUPPLIES OR SERVICES AND PRICE

B.1 PURPOSE

The purpose of this contract is to obtain services as described in Section C - Statement of Work.

B.2 TYPE OF CONTRACT

This is a Firm Fixed Price contract. For the consideration set forth in the contract, the Contractor shall provide the deliverables described in Section C and Section F, and comply with all contract requirements.

B.3 FIXED PRICE

a. The total fixed price for the performance of work required hereunder is $TBD.

b. The amount currently obligated and available for disbursement for performance hereunder is $TBD. The Contractor will not exceed the aforesaid obligated amount in accordance with Availability of Funds clause FAR 52.232-18.

c. Funds obligated hereunder are anticipated to be sufficient through TBD. Additional funds up to the total firm fixed price may be obligated by USAID subject to the availability of funds. USAID is not obligated to reimburse the Contractor for the expenditure of any amount in excess of the total obligated amount.

B.4 CLINS

Item No.

Supplies/Services (Description

Quantity Unit Unit Price Amount

0001 Base - FFP Component 1:

Program Monitoring and Assessment Component 2: Knowledge Management Component 3: Capacity Building

5 Years TBD TBD

Unless authorized in writing by the Contracting Officer (CO), the Contractor must not be entitled to additional compensation above the total FFP, nor above the price of each individual line item stated in the Payment Schedule. Changes made to the payment schedule of the contract shall be modified accordingly.

B.5 PAYMENT METHOD

Payment will be made in accordance with FAR Clause 52.232-1, Payments (APR 1984) and FAR Clause 52.232-32 Performance-Based Payments (APR 2012).

B.6 PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payment will be made to the Contractor, in accordance with the payment schedule. Payment will be made upon presentation of a properly prepared voucher, Standard Form (SF) 1034, “Public Voucher for Purchases and Services other than Personal” (http://www.usaid.gov/forms/), electronically forwarded to the Paying Office specified in Section G.5. Each voucher will be identified with the award number. Contractor will certify that all costs are true and correct, and all deliverables associated with the voucher have been received and accepted by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Contractor shall submit a performance based payment expense report and supporting documentation associated with each deliverable to substantiate USAID’s acceptance.

The Contractor may submit requests for payment of performance-based payments not more frequently than monthly, in a form and manner acceptable to the Contracting Officer.

In allowing for the use of performance-based payments, ten (10%) of the Firm Fixed Price amount shall be withheld in proposing payments under the payment schedule and/or the calculation of payments. The 10% amount withheld will be payable upon receipt and acceptance of the final report by the COR.

Liquidation of Performance-Based Payments: Performance-based payments shall be liquidated by deducting 67% percent from the delivery payments.

[END OF SECTION B]

http://www.usaid.gov/forms/)

SECTION C – DESCRIPTION / SPECIFICATIONS/STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 TITLE OF ACTIVITY

The title of the activity is USAID Health Learning

C.2 OBJECTIVE

The goal of USAID Health Learning is to assist USAID/Nepal's Health Office (HO) and its implementing partners (IPs) to adopt uniform and systematic monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) activities to advance broader organizational learning and development efforts. USAID Health Learning will assist the USAID/Nepal HO and especially its IPs in the following interlinked objectives:

1. Program monitoring and assessments: Strengthen USAID/Nepal’s HO and its IPs program management and decision-making processes by providing high-quality, disaggregated data collected from surveys, research, and assessments.

2. Knowledge management: Improve USAID/Nepal’s HO, its IPs, and federal, provincial, and local governments' learning and knowledge management functions by increasing the availability of timely, high quality evidence.

3. Capacity building: Strengthen the MERL capacity of USAID/Nepal HO’s local partners and federal, provincial, and local governments in MERL.

C.3 BACKGROUND

Nepal has made tremendous strides in reducing childhood and maternal mortality. The Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2022 shows that over the past 22 years, from 1996 to 2022, under-5 mortality has sharply declined from 118 to 33 deaths per 1,000 live births; stunting among children declined from 57% to 25%; and institutional births increased dramatically from 8% to 79%.

However, some indicators have not improved, and enormous needs remain across the Nepali population.

Child vaccination decreased from 87% in 2011 to 80% in 2022, with 4% of children not receiving any vaccines, and the neonatal mortality rate stagnated at 21 deaths per 1,000 live births in the last decade.

The Maternal Mortality Ratio is still high at 151 deaths per 100,000 live births (Nepal Maternal Mortality Study 2021). There is inadequate access to a full range of family planning services. Malnutrition, morbidity, and mortality caused by infectious diseases and poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are common health issues. Disparity in health outcomes by caste/ethnicity, wealth, geography, and gender is widespread.

The constitution establishing the federal system of government in Nepal came into force in 2015 with a clear vision for equality and social inclusion. This has presented opportunities for harnessing Nepal’s vast resources, skills, and foreign investments for economic development, but is challenged by low political will, weak implementation of policies, lack of clarity in roles among the three tiers of government, and inadequate governance mechanisms. Under federalism, Nepal has been administratively divided into seven provinces and 753 local governments, with devolution of powers to these levels of government.

These newly independent sub-national governments needed infrastructure and management capacities to independently manage and provide citizen services and deliver on development outcomes.

Furthermore, Nepal is one of the countries most prone to natural disasters globally, is still recovering from the 2015 earthquake, and has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.

These challenges have affected its health system's development, especially with the deeply rooted social inequalities based on gender, ethnicity, economy, religion, and geographic remoteness.

With the shift in responsibility for service implementation to local governments under federalism, low local government capacity continues to threaten the delivery of essential public services and threatens hard-won gains in health and other sectors; COVID-19 and other disease outbreaks only amplify these risks. Nepal still faces the challenges of realizing its constitutional mandates of federalism and inclusion, while facing critical skills and human resources gaps in the health sector. USAID/Nepal needs to understand these challenges better to enable the Mission to program resources to address them; robust monitoring, research and studies are critical to gathering this evidence. As USAID/Nepal gradually increases the number of locally led acquisition and assistance efforts and expands government-to-government (G2G) agreements, it will need to ensure that these local partners have the capacity to continue to gather critical information for learning and decision making.

USAID/Nepal works across several sectors to address Nepal’s development challenges and support USAID/Nepal’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) 2020–2025 goal of a "A more self-reliant, prosperous, and inclusive Nepal that delivers improved democratic governance and health and education outcomes." Based on the cross-cutting principles of federalism, inclusion, and resilience, USAID/Nepal is working to achieve this goal through a set of four broad Development Objectives (DOs):

DO 1: More Effective, Participatory, and Equitable Democratic Ecosystem

DO 2: Broad-Based and Inclusive Economic Growth Fostered

DO 3: Inclusive Health & Education Systems Strengthened

DO 4: More Equitable & Improved Natural Resources & Disaster Risk Management

The USAID/Nepal’s HO is focused on achieving DO 3 through the three intermediate results shown in the results framework below.

Figure 1: USAID/Nepal CDCS 2020-2025 Results Framework

USAID/Nepal continues a long legacy of supporting Nepal’s health sector in the areas of family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH); maternal neonatal and child health (MNCH); nutrition; HIV/AIDS;

health system strengthening including supply chain management and public health surveillance; air quality improvement; WASH; and physical rehabilitation. USAID/Nepal was able to quickly mobilize its resources to support the Government of Nepal (GON) in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, USAID/Nepal is funding more than 20 large and small scale health activities. USAID/Nepal’s health activities are implemented at the national level and in all seven provinces, covering 66 districts and over 500 municipalities. USAID/Nepal works with more than 900 public health facilities and around 900 private sector health facilities across the country. As such, USAID/Nepal needs to acquire services for a multiple-year effort to monitor the progress of USAID/Nepal’s health sector achievements.

USAID/Nepal’s health IPs have been carrying out various types of health surveys and assessments as a part of their Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plans (AMELP), which are specifically designed to monitor and evaluate activity performance over time. These include baseline-midline-endline assessments, annual household surveys, health facility assessments, organizational capacity assessments, client surveys, and other special studies. While the HO has found these surveys to be useful to monitor the performance of USAID/Nepal’s health activities and inform ongoing program management decisions, they are often focused around one activity and do not provide results for the overall health portfolio.

Further, since these surveys are managed by different IPs in a variety of ways, there are limitations related to the comparability and generalizability of the findings across different health activities.

USAID/Nepal health activities can benefit significantly if the content/methods, timing, and other resources required for these surveys and assessments are harmonized across IPs to address the information needs of multiple activities and the USAID/Nepal HO through fewer, strategically designed, robust surveys.

The intent of USAID Health Learning is to address the above limitations. In alignment with both the Agency goals and that of the GON, there is need to build the capacity of and mobilize local actors with expertise in health systems support, data systems management, and monitoring, evaluation and research to support both entities in the design, collection, analysis and use of high-quality data (including socio-demographic; health service availability, readiness, and utilization; health and nutrition related knowledge and behaviors; client satisfaction; etc.) for decision-making. This will also support engagement with local and provincial governments to improve routine data collection systems and data analysis for use in annual health planning and budgeting in target geographies. In addition, it will also provide an important mechanism for monitoring the HO’s USAID Health Direct Financing (G2G) Project that has a significant scope at present and will potentially expand in the future, and any planned future awards to local partners.

USAID/Nepal HO activities managed by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) as the prime partners have subcontracted independent local firms to conduct studies, assessments, and surveys. These local firms are nimble, adept at quickly mobilizing staff with the expertise needed by USAID/Nepal for MERL, and able to provide presence in remote, hard-to-reach, marginalized, and underserved communities across Nepal. USAID Health Learning must develop the MERL technical capacity of several of these local organizations and other identified relevant capacity development needs.

C.4 SCOPE OF WORK

USAID Health Learning serves to assist USAID/Nepal HO and its IPs to adopt uniform and systematic MERL activities to advance broader organizational learning and development efforts. Interventions under USAID Health Learning will closely align with USAID/Nepal’s CDCS 2020–2025 and support the monitoring of health components to achieve DO 3: Inclusive Health & Education Systems Strengthened and to adapt its activities based on the lessons learned. USAID Health Learning will also support the monitoring of health results of USAID/Nepal’s next CDCS. USAID Health Learning is also expected to support monitoring of progress towards the CDCS cross cutting themes of federalism, inclusion, and resilience.

Under this activity, a wide range of technical assistance will be provided to USAID/Nepal’s HO, its IPs, GON entities, and local MERL organizations. USAID Health Learning must support the building of a highly qualified domestic cadre of MERL specialists among USAID Health Learning’s local sub-partners and staff of other USAID/Nepal local health IPs, contractors, and GON offices. The areas of support must primarily focus on: program monitoring; survey design and implementation; facilitation of organizational learning and adaptation; and assistance to GON institutions to improve data management and use systems at the provincial and local level.

USAID Health Learning will be managed out of the USAID/Nepal HO, and the Contractor must work with USAID/Nepal HO staff, and USAID health IPs. During implementation, the Contractor must coordinate with GON’s federal Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP), the National Planning Commission, relevant provincial ministries, and local governments. USAID Health Learning must also coordinate with USAID/Nepal’s MEL contract, “USAID Learning for Development,” and “USAID Localization Support,” managed by the Program Office, as relevant for synergy, cross-learning, and to avoid any duplication in effort.

USAID Health Learning must use an equity lens for data collection, analysis, and use. USAID Health Learning will be a key mechanism to provide MERL support for the following four bilateral activities:

1) USAID Integrated Nutrition 2023–2028 will support federal, provincial, and local governments to improve the nutrition status of women, adolescents, and children in Nepal’s underserved communities. The activity will implement multi-sectoral nutrition interventions to achieve the following four intermediate results: a) improved household nutrition practices; b) improved quality and coverage of nutrition services for women, adolescents, and children; c) improved access to safe, diverse, and nutritious foods; and d) strengthened national and subnational capacity for multi-sectoral nutrition programming.

2) USAID Mass Communication 2024–2029 will develop, produce, implement, and monitor radio and television programming and social media campaigns to promote priority health behaviors, contributing to sustained improvements in health and nutrition behaviors and shifts in the social norms that underpin these behaviors. This activity will engage with and build the capacity of local media stakeholders, including local radio producers and journalists, while also collaborating with and providing professional development to the GON’s National Health Education, Information, and Communication Center. Collaboration among different USAID/Nepal HO activities is essential to ensure that all mass communication programs and campaigns amplify and support the community-level messaging and health promotion being implemented by USAID Integrated Nutrition, USAID Better Health, USAID Adolescent Reproductive Health, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), Global Health Security, G2G, and other activities.

3) USAID Better Health 2024–2029 will support the three tiers of governments to improve the health system, especially around improved governance, improved demand-side barriers and accountability of communities in the health system, and improved quality of health care services at the facility and community level. The activity will focus on improving quality of care for maternal newborn and family planning services, prioritizing marginalized communities. The support will complement the USAID Health Direct Financing Project, improve readiness of health facilities and prepare the health system for the possible future health emergencies with increased coordination across three tiers of government.

4) USAID Health Direct Financing Project 2023–2028 is a 5.5-year program that will support the MOHP in implementing the strategic priorities of the new Nepal Health Sector Strategic Plan (NHS-SP) 2023–2030. The USAID Health Direct Financing Project has a specific focus on improving the health outcomes of Nepalese by improving access to and quality of health services and strengthening the health system's capacity for equitable, accountable, and resilient health services. This agreement includes direct on-budget, on-treasury Redbook support to the following entities: a) the Federal MOHP; b) the Karnali Province Ministry of Social Development; and c) three municipalities of Karnali Province in the initial year of the support, with the potential to expand to other municipalities or provinces in the latter years of the activity.

USAID Health Learning must provide the services listed below. USAID Health Learning must obtain the COR’s written approval to proceed with services and activities under this contract. Approvals by the COR are subject to the authorities delegated under the COR designation letter.

C.4.1 Program Monitoring and Assessment

The Contractor must work with the USAID/Nepal HO, IPs, and GON to conduct surveys and program assessments. The Contractor must adapt available data collection tools or develop new tools, organize training events and field review meetings in sites close to USAID/Nepal HO activities, and translate and use data collection tools and guidelines in Nepali and/or other local languages as required. USAID Health Learning must use digital technologies to collect, process, and analyze data, and work with relevant USAID/Nepal Health Activities to disseminate the results with appropriate stakeholders to optimize data use by USAID/Nepal, Health IPs, and other stakeholders in a timely manner. The services within this component include:

a. Household Surveys: The surveys will provide aggregate population-level indicator estimates across several health indices and program areas with a focus on nutrition, MNCH, FP/RH, WASH, and select infectious diseases in line with indicator matrixes and AMELPs of health activities. The Contractor must implement these surveys in USAID/Nepal HO supported geographies. They are intended to provide annual data to track program inputs, outputs, and outcomes to assess changes over time and within the life of the benefiting activities. The Contractor must customize and use the standard tools developed by previous and existing USAID activities, and other organizations as relevant. The key survey findings must be disaggregated by various population characteristics such as age, sex, wealth quintiles, caste/ethnicity, education, and geography, as applicable. The Contractor must draw results from these surveys and produce independent reports for each of the activities needing the results.

b. Health Facility Rapid Assessments (HFRA): The Contractor must work with USAID, IPs, and GON to conduct biennial rapid health facility assessments to track key supply-side indicators. The Contractor must adapt the national Nepal Health Facility Survey (NHFS) methodology for the HFRAs and include a module to assess environmental compliance and climate risks to the delivery of health services. HFRAs will also include Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, as applicable. The key findings must be disaggregated by health facility characteristics such as province, health facility type, ecological zone, and managing authority, as applicable. The Contractor must draw results from these surveys and produce independent reports for each of the activities needing the results.

c. Client Satisfaction Surveys: The surveys will measure client satisfaction with the health care services, including those supported by USAID, covering USAID’s priority supported geographies.

The survey tools must include indicators being tracked by HO managed activities as well as other data needs. The Contractor must customize and use the standard tools developed by previous and existing USAID activities, and other organizations as relevant. The key survey findings need to be disaggregated by various population characteristics such as age, sex, wealth quintiles, caste/ethnicity, education, and geography, as applicable. The Contractor must draw results from these surveys and produce independent reports for each of the activities needing the results.

These surveys can be implemented in conjunction with the health facility rapid assessments, if appropriate.

d. Sub-national Governments Health Systems Capacity Assessments: The Contractor must support USAID Better Health and USAID Integrated Nutrition activities to conduct two rounds of health systems capacity assessments of local and provincial governments in select intervention areas.

The health system capacity assessment must be carried out for up to 400 municipalities and selected provinces. The Contractor must review the municipal health systems capacity assessment tool used by the USAID Strengthening Systems for Better Health (SSBH) activity and other relevant available tools and develop a tool for USAID/Nepal. Independent reports for each of the municipalities must be prepared and translated into Nepali or other local languages as relevant for use by the municipalities and provinces. Together with the relevant USAID/Nepal health activities, the Contractor must organize meetings to share the key findings of the assessments with the relevant municipalities and the provinces.

e. Special Studies and Assessments: The Contractor must conduct research or assessments to provide data and reports to inform health sector decision making and for use in USAID HO activity baseline, midline, and endline studies. The assessments/research will cover USAID/Nepal health program technical areas of MNCH, FP/RH, nutrition, WASH, physical rehabilitation, infectious disease, and health system strengthening. Methods used may include formative research, client exit interviews, mystery client evaluation, qualitative assessments, and quantitative research utilizing appropriate designs to produce results that, in conjunction with annual surveys and other studies, will contribute to program performance monitoring and progress, inform evaluation planning, and aid in the identification of evaluation questions.

C.4.2 Knowledge Management

The Contractor must organize and participate in knowledge management activities to harness, organize, and disseminate the knowledge gained from MERL to institutionalize information use across USAID/Nepal’s health IPs and GON offices and the global community. The Contractor must use appropriate platforms, including virtual and remote technologies, to meet the objective. The services under the knowledge management component include:

a. Further and Deep-Dive Analysis: The Contractor must work with USAID/Nepal health activities to support the GON, primarily at the provincial and local levels, to conduct further and deep-dive analysis of the survey and assessment data collected under this activity and develop visualizations and presentations for use in policy, guidelines, and service delivery decision-making. The Contractor must use appropriate statistical software such as Stata, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), R, etc., for data analysis. The Contractor must also develop or translate the learning documents it has produced or supported into local languages, as appropriate, for effective use by local stakeholders.

b. Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA): In coordination with the COR, the Contractor must conduct, facilitate, and/or arrange logistics and other support for CLA events such as review meetings with IPs and GON, joint field visits with GON, etc. The Contractor must work with USAID/Nepal health activities to use the data collected under this activity, the findings from the further and deep-dive analysis, and other data available in Nepal to organize small-scale learning sessions at the sub-national level to optimize the utilization of data. The Contractor must also develop or translate the learning documents it has produced or supported into local languages, as appropriate, for effective use by local stakeholders.

c. Planning and Review of the USAID Health Direct Financing Project: In coordination with the COR, the Government Agreement Technical Representative (GATR) of the USAID Health Direct Financing Project, and other USAID health IPs, the Contractor must support annual program reviews and planning workshops with the federal MOHP, provincial health ministries, and local governments in 2024 and 2025. In 2026, this support will be transitioned to another health activity. The Contractor must support USAID/Nepal HO to organize periodic review meetings and joint field visits to monitor indicators by extracting data from the MOHP’s Health Management Information System (HMIS) and Logistics Management Information System (LMIS) and administering the stakeholder feedback tools.

d. Secondary Analysis of National Level Surveys: The Contractor must support secondary analysis of national level surveys supported by USAID/Nepal or other external organizations such as the Nepal Health Facility Surveys, Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys, Nepal Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys, National Female Community Health Volunteer Surveys, etc., primarily to provide evidence for sub-national governments, USAID, and its IPs in programmatic decision-making. The Contractor must use appropriate statistical software such as Stata, SPSS, R, etc., for analysis. The Contractor must produce reports and translate them into Nepali or other local languages as needed.

C.4.3 Capacity development

The Contractor must work with USAID/Nepal HO, USAID Learning for Development, health IPs, and youth from remote areas and underserved and marginalized population groups to ensure capacity development among USAID/Nepal health local partners and select GON organizations in Nepal. The capacity-building events must use a standardized methodology and tailored content and approaches that suit the local context. The services under this component include:

a. MERL Capacity Building: The Contractor must use the findings of the MERL capacity needs assessments of local partners implementing health activities conducted by USAID Learning for Development. Based on the identified capacity gaps, the Contractor must strengthen local MERL capacity by providing training, organizing workshops, coaching, mentoring, organizing exchange visits, etc. in collaboration with USAID Learning for Development.

b. Health Research Ethics: The Contractor must support USAID/Nepal HO to improve ethical practices in health research design and implementation. In coordination with the GON’s Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), the Contractor must organize events to strengthen ethical review practices across health research supported by USAID/Nepal. The Contractor must review the research protocols developed by USAID/Nepal health IPs to ensure compliance with NHRC requirements prior to their submission to the NHRC.

c. Data Analysis and Use: The Contractor must organize events to build the capacity of the GON’s provincial and local governments to analyze, visualize, interpret, and use the data collected by this activity. This includes providing skills on the use of statistical software such as Stata, SPSS, R, etc., using the data collected by this activity.

d. Internship Program: The Contractor must recruit youth from remote areas and underserved and marginalized population groups within USAID health geographies and build their MERL capacity through a short- to medium-term internship program. This internship program will support USAID/Nepal in realizing the 2022 USAID Youth in Development Policy, which envisions a world in which young people have rights, influence, and opportunities to pursue their life goals and contribute to the development of their communities. It also will support USAID/Nepal to translate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) principles into MERL practice by providing hands-on MERL skills to youth from underserved and marginalized populations and developing proficient MERL professionals who are capable of pursuing MERL career opportunities within and outside of USAID. The contractor must also link the youth with employment opportunities following the USAID internship program.

To build local capacity within Nepal to carry out MERL and knowledge management activities, the Contractor must work with Nepali entities (individuals, academic institutions, think tanks, subcontractors, and government counterparts) and USAID Learning for Development, to the extent possible, while maintaining proper management and oversight of its core objectives.

C.5 SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

C.5.1 Gender and Inclusive Development Considerations

USAID activities must comply with USAID gender and inclusive development policies, including, but not limited to, the Disability Policy, the Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, the Youth in Development Policy, the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Strategy, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Vision for Action, and the Nondiscrimination for Beneficiaries Policy. The USAID 2023 Gender Policy provides the vision for USAID’s work to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment around the world. The policy establishes the strategic objectives, guiding principles, and driving investments across all operations and programs in order to achieve these aims. USAID reaffirms that gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment are fundamental to the realization of human rights and key to effective and sustainable development outcomes. For societies to thrive, women and girls, men and boys, and gender-diverse individuals must have the agency, social support, and structures to make their own choices and live free from violence and abuse. They must have equal rights and opportunities, as well as equal and safe access to and control over resources. Achieving gender equality in society will improve the overall quality of life for all people throughout their lives. As such, USAID Health Learning is central to USAID/Nepal’s effort to ensure that its activities identify and seek to remedy gender and social inclusion gaps and assist the marginalized groups and people in vulnerable situations to engage, partner and benefit from USAID interventions. The Contractor must assess gender and inclusive development impacts in any assessments, research, surveys, or studies it conducts. All deliverables must highlight equity in data, for example, monitoring data for closing equity gaps between marginalized and non-marginalized identities, households, communities, etc., as applicable. The population level data must be disaggregated by age, sex, wealth quintiles, caste/ethnicity, education, and geography, as applicable.

C.5.2 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA)

The Contractor must consider DEIA in all aspects of this activity. The Contractor must support its subcontractors to improve their ability to employ DEIA approaches within their organizations and assignments and with the people and communities they work with supported by USAID. USAID/Nepal’s working definition of DEIA is as follows: "Diversity is the practice of including many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and beliefs. Equity is the consistent, systematic, fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals. Inclusion is the recognition, appreciation, and use of the talents and skills of employees of all backgrounds. Accessibility is the design, construction, development, and maintenance of facilities, information and communication technology, programs, and services so that all people, including people with disabilities, can fully and independently use them."

C.5.3 Local Capacity Development Considerations

The Contractor must incorporate the principles of "Localization" throughout its implementation. USAID defines localization as the set of internal reforms, actions, and behavior changes that we are undertaking to ensure our work puts local actors in the lead, strengthens local systems, and is responsive to local communities. USAID/Nepal’s goal is long-term, sustainable development; therefore, it supports partnerships among local organizations, including civil society organizations, academic institutions, and Nepal private sector firms, to build indigenous MERL capacity, consistent with USAID’s localization initiative. The Contractor is strongly encouraged to engage, to the maximum extent possible, with other local organizations registered outside of Kathmandu to carry out the objectives of this contract.

C.5.4 Technical Direction and Coordination

The USAID/Nepal COR will provide technical oversight and direction for USAID Health Learning, including coordination with the COR of USAID Learning for Development, and the respective USAID/Nepal HO Agreement Officer’s Representatives, CORs, GATRs, and Activity Managers of other activities. For data collection activities through surveys, assessments, studies, and research, the Contractor must engage with the technical leads at the USAID/Nepal HO and their IPs to agree on scope, appropriate tools, and modules to be covered by the tools before COR approval is given. USAID Health Learning must use existing tools and customize them wherever possible. The work plans and progress reports will form the basis for joint annual management reviews by USAID/Nepal and USAID Health Learning focused on program direction, achievement of the prior year's work plan objectives, major management and implementation issues, and making recommendations for any changes as appropriate.

[END OF SECTION C]

SECTION D – PACKAGING AND MARKING

D.1 AIDAR 752.7009 MARKING (JAN 1993)

(a) It is USAID policy that USAID-financed commodities and shipping containers, and project construction sites and other project locations be suitably marked with the USAID emblem. Shipping containers are also to be marked with the last five digits of the USAID financing document number. As a general rule, marking is not required for raw materials shipped in bulk (such as coal, grain, etc.), or for semi-finished products which are not packaged.

(b) Specific guidance on marking requirements should be obtained prior to procurement of commodities to be shipped, and as early as possible for project construction sites and other project locations. This guidance will be provided through the technical office indicated on the cover page of this RFP, or by the Mission Director in the Cooperating Country to which commodities are being shipped, or in which the project site is located.

(c) Authority to waive marking requirements is vested with the Regional Assistant Administrators, and with Mission Directors.

(d) A copy of any specific marking instructions or waivers from marking requirements is to be sent to the Contracting Officer; the original should be retained by the contractor.

D.2 BRANDING POLICY

The contractor must comply with all the requirements of the policy directives and required procedures outlined in USAID Automated Directive System (ADS) 320.3.2 “Branding and Marking in USAID Direct Contracting” (version from March 15, 2022) at https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-300/320 and USAID "Graphic Standards Manual" available at www.usaid.gov/branding: https://www.usaid.gov/branding/gsm or any successor branding policy.

D.3 BRANDING STRATEGY

The branding strategy for this contract, as specified in USAID ADS 320.3.2.1 is as follows:

(a) Activity Name: The activity will be known as USAID Health Learning.

(b) USAID Logo: The USAID Identity (logo) must be posted at every static support position. The USAID logo must be used on all reports and printed materials produced under USAID Health Learning.

The Contractor will have the responsibility to position USAID’s name in each activity to be supported to ensure that people recognize and identify that this assistance is “from the American people.”

Contractor employee business cards will not be marked with the USAID logo but may include language so that any person reading the card can know this is a Contractor employee. Contractor https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-300/320 http://www.usaid.gov/branding https://www.usaid.gov/branding/gsm employee email and correspondence to external sources will be marked so that any person reading the document can know this is a Contractor employee. Where required, the USAID logo should be of equal or greater prominence than all other logos and symbols.

(c) Desired level of visibility: Where required, the USAID logo must be of equal or greater prominence than all other logos and symbols. The Contractor must ensure that the activity, as well as the fact that this assistance is “from the American people,” through USAID, receives broad visibility amongst its beneficiaries and their communities, counterparts, and the general public with a focus on the host government of each country, community leaders, and students. The Contractor may identify additional groups/sub-groups of target audiences for the project’s public communications, in consultation with USAID. The Contractor must ensure high levels of visibility for the project and must integrate suitable communication and outreach as an intrinsic part of the policy reform.

(d) Other organizations to be acknowledged: Activity documents will not use the Contractor’s logo, but may acknowledge other organizations deemed as partners of an event or deliverables.

(e) Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and Marking Plan: The Contractor must develop a Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan to describe how the activity will be promoted to beneficiaries and other stakeholders. All branding and marking plans under this program must comply with the “USAID Graphic Standards Manual and Partner Co-Branding Guide" available at www.usaid.gov/branding/gsm, or any successor branding policy.

USAID policy is to require exclusive branding and marking in USAID direct acquisitions. “Exclusive Branding” means that the activity is positioned as USAID’s. “Exclusive Marking” means Contractors may only mark USAID-funded programs, projects, activities, public communications, and commodities with the USAID Standard Graphic Identity and, where applicable, the host-country government or ministry symbol or another U.S. Government logo. It is USAID’s policy that Contractors’ and subcontractors’ corporate identities or logos must not be used on USAID-funded activity materials.

(f) Outreach: The Contractor must participate proactively in outreach activities to promote the goals of this Contract and to identify USAID as the funding source in accordance with the branding and marking requirements outlined in the Contractor’s approved Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan. The Contractor must also capture information on the qualitative progress of this program through success stories, case studies, press releases, drafted social media posts, photos, video, etc., as part of its overall reporting requirements.

D.4 BRANDING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN (BIP) AND MARKING PLAN (MP)

The Contractor must produce and maintain a Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and Marking Plan (MP) {to be incorporated after contract award}. The Contractor will follow the approved plan during implementation of this contract unless a waiver or exception is requested and approved.

The plan must specifically address the following:

https://www.usaid.gov/branding/gsm

a) How to incorporate the message, “This assistance is from the American People,” in communications and materials directed to beneficiaries, or provide an explanation if this message is not appropriate or possible.

b) How to publicize the program, project, or activity in the host-country and a description of the communications tools to be used. Such tools may include the following:

● Press releases

● Press conferences

● Media interviews

● Site visits

● Social media channels and/or content

● Success stories

● Beneficiary testimonials

● Professional photographs

● Print and online Public Service Announcements

● Videos

● Webcasts, e-invitations, or other emails sent to group lists, such as

● Participants for a training session, blast emails, or other Internet activities.

c) The key milestones or opportunities anticipated to generate awareness that the program, project, or activity is from the American People, or an explanation if this is not appropriate or possible.

Such milestones may be linked to specific points in time, such as the beginning or end of an activity,…