Amendment 01 to Solicitation 72039120Q00011.pdf

Amendment-01 to Solicitation 72039120Q000011

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The specific changes in the solicitation are as under:

1. Delete the exiting “RFQ Closing date and Time: October 02, 2020 Close of Business (COB)” on the Cover Letter and replace with the following:

RFQ Closing Date and Time: October 16, 2020 Close of Business (COB)

2. Delete paragraph B.8 in its entirety and replace it with the following:

B.8 BUDGET

Will be incorporated at the time of award of individual Call Orders. All budgets must be submitted with the Burdened Daily Rates specified in the budget format table (see attachment A). The burdened daily rates, inclusive of all direct and indirect costs (including salaries; fringe benefits; overhead; and general and administrative expenses) and profit, are applicable for the BPA period of performance in accordance with Section F.1.

3. Delete paragraph F.5 in its entirety and replace it with the following:

F.5 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

(a) The place of performance under this contract is Pakistan.

4. Delete paragraph (b) of L.5. in its entirety and replace it with the following:

L.5 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

(a) The Technical Proposal submitted in response to this solicitation should address how the Offeror intends to carry out the Statement of Work contained in Section C.

(b) The Technical Proposal should contain a clear understanding of the requirements and the responsibilities of all parties required to satisfy the requirements. The Offeror must organize the Technical Proposal by the technical evaluation factors contained in Section M.

(c) Offerors must limit Technical Proposals to 35 pages, excluding the authorized annexes listed below. USAID will not read or evaluate any of the pages after the 35th page.

(d) The page limitation does not include the following, which the Offeror may present as an annex:

• Cover Letter

• Executive Summary

• References, and tables that summarize qualifications for proposed personnel.

• Management Plan matrix.

• Past performance references.

(e) Additionally, the page limitation does not include the following: Cover pages, dividers, tables of content, tables, charts, graphs, organization structure organograms, and attachments.

(f) The Offeror must write the proposal in English. The Offeror must use standard “8 1/2 x 11” paper (216mm by 297mm paper), single spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font. The Offeror must number each page consecutively. The Offeror may use a smaller Times New Roman font only for tables, charts, and graphs; but the font must remain clearly legible.

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(g) The Offeror’s Technical Proposal must include the below Section L.5.1 through Section L.5.3 at a minimum.

5. Incorporate Section L.7 Waivers under FAR Part 4.2101 Prohibition on Covered Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services and Equipment as under:

L.7 Waivers under FAR Part 4.2101 Prohibition on Covered Telecommunications And Video Surveillance Services and Equipment

(a) This solicitation and any resultant award(s) is subject to the requirements of section

889(a)(1)(B) of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 (Pub. L. 115–232) as implemented through FAR 52.204-24 and FAR 52.204-25 of this solicitation.

(b) Waivers.

(1) The submission of an offer where the Offeror makes a representation at paragraph (d)(2) of the provision at FAR 52.204–24 that it “does” use covered telecommunications equipment or services will mean the Offeror is seeking a waiver.

As part of the disclosure requirements under the provision FAR 52.204–24 submitted as part of the offer, the Offeror/Contractor must describe the circumstances (including in-country circumstances) where the Offeror/Contractor uses covered technology. This must include an identification of whether the covered technology is provided by communications service-providers, such as internet, cell phone, landline or others; the specific country where it is used; and a description of the presence of any other covered technology, whether it be in any internal systems or elsewhere in the supply chain.

(2) USAID does not guarantee that waiver requests from such an offeror will be considered; USAID may make an award to an offeror that does not require a waiver.

Where agency needs do not permit time to obtain a waiver, USAID may move forward and make an award to an offeror that does not require a waiver. Per FAR 4.21, USAID will not make an award to an offeror(s) that does not receive the approved waiver.

(3) Where USAID decides to initiate the formal Agency waiver process:

(i) The CO will require the apparently successful offeror(s) to submit the information in paragraph (4) of this section. Alternately, offerors may provide the information with their initial proposal, at their discretion. Offerors must appropriately mark the appropriate portions of their submission as Proprietary Data where applicable.

(ii) For Indefinite Delivery contracts under (48 CFR) FAR subpart 16.5, waiver requests will be addressed prior to award of the basic contract.

(iii) In the event that the waiver is not approved, the Contracting Officer will notify the offeror.

(4) Additional submission requirements:

(i) A compelling justification for the additional time to implement the requirements under 889(a)(1)(B). The justification must:

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a. State the amount of additional time requested to meet the requirements of the statute (No Agency waiver will be authorized to extend beyond August 13, 2022); and

b. Provide an explanation supporting the requested time period, to include the time required to implement the Phase out Plan described below.

(ii) A full and complete laydown of the presences of covered telecommunications or video surveillance equipment or services in the entity’s supply chain to include:

a. Complete technical design documentation of where, how, and what covered equipment or services are being used by the Offeror.

b. Technical architecture diagram of where the covered technologies are being used

(for the system, equipment, service); and

c. Description of how the covered technologies are being used, how often the covered technology is used by the Offeror, and what data traverses the technology.

(iii) A Phase-Out Plan for eliminating the covered equipment or services from the

Offeror’s systems, including the covered equipment or services identified in the laydown. The Plan must include:

a. Description of how the Offeror will eliminate all covered equipment or services by the date specified in (4)(i)(b) above.

b. When applicable, milestones and timeframes for providing updates to the COR on the Phase-Out Plan implementation.

c. Identification of other available options.

i. Replacement of covered equipment and systems, as applicable.

Ii. Accessibility of the alternative equipment and systems, as applicable; and

iii. In the case of covered services, the proposed use and availability of other service provider(s) without the covered technologies in the supply chain.

(iv) Pending waiver requests/Approved waivers:

a. Pending - Solicitation Number/title/Issuing Office (Mission or USAID/W) of those offers where the CO has requested the information under this provision.

b. Approved Waivers - Award number/title/Issuing Office (Mission or USAID/W)

6. Delete M.2.2 in its entirety and replace it with the following:

M.2.2 Management Plan (20 Points)

USAID will evaluate the quality of the “Management Plan” based on how well the proposal addresses the following evaluation subfactors:

(a) Overall Management Plan (10 Points) USAID will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror proposed an effective and flexible staffing mix that can provide the requisite technical expertise to support the implementation of varied monitoring, evaluation and assessment tasks across multiple sectors and geographical areas.

(b) Security Management Plan (5 Points) USAID will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror proposes a realistic, efficient, innovative, and flexible security management plan that can adjust to unanticipated and challenging security and political changes, but not detract from the provision of critical monitoring and evaluation services.

(c) Use of Local Assistance (5 Points) USAID will evaluate the extent to which the Offeror proposes an appropriate mix of

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Pakistanis in both technical, administrative, and leadership positions.

7. Delete paragraph (b) and (c) of L.5.1 in its entirety and replace it with the following:

(b) Technical Approach: Component 1 - Monitoring Support

This subsection will discuss the Offeror’s approach to implementing Component 1. In this subsection, the offeror must demonstrate and/or provide:

i.A clear understanding of what constitutes high-quality monitoring deliverables.

ii.A clear understanding of the rigorous, high quality, and innovative performance monitoring methodologies, approaches and activities needed to implement this component and mitigate the challenges of monitoring in remote or hard to reach areas.

iii.A clear rationale for the use of digital technology and other proposed methods and tools, including an explanation of their strengths and weaknesses within the operating context.

iv.A plan for addressing data quality weaknesses and limitations or other relevant issues associated with monitoring that is sensitive to the operating context.

v.An explanation of how the methodologies, approaches and activities proposed will contribute towards achievement of USAID’s goals and objectives in Pakistan.

vi.A realistic assessment of the staffing needed to implement this component; and vii.A realistic, comprehensive set of milestones for achieving this component.

(c) Technical Approach: Component 2 - Evaluation and Assessment Services

This subsection will discuss the Offeror’s approach to implementing Component 2. In this subsection, the Offeror must demonstrate and/or provide:

i.A clear understanding of what constitutes high-quality evaluation and assessment deliverables, and an explanation of how the Offeror will provide timely deliverables that meet international standards and Mission performance management needs.

ii.A clear understanding of the rigorous, high quality qualitative and quantitative data collection and analytical methods needed to implement this component.

iii.A clear explanation of the use of appropriate methodologies for the various types of evaluations and assessments (e.g., government-to-government, impact, performance, midterm, and final);

iv.A plan for addressing data quality weaknesses and limitations or other relevant issues associated with evaluations that is sensitive to the operating context.

v.An explanation of the approach/es to incorporate innovations, especially mobile technology and data visualization, to bolster performance management efforts.

vi.A realistic assessment of the staffing needed to implement this component; and vii.A realistic, comprehensive set of milestones for achieving this component.

8. Delete paragraph M.2.3 in its entirety and replace it with the following:

M.2.3 Contractor Performance Information (20 Points)

(a) USAID will use corporate performance information to assess the corporate capacity of the

Offeror. Also, USAID will use the performance information to make the responsibility determination and best value decision. USAID may use performance information obtained from sources other than the sources identified by the Offeror/subcontractor. USAID will utilize existing databases of contractor performance information and solicit additional information from the references provided in Section L of this RFP and from other sources

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(b) USAID will provide an Offeror with an opportunity to respond to adverse past performance information to which the Offeror previously has not had an opportunity to respond in accordance with the policies and procedures set forth in FAR Subpart 15.3.

(c) USAID will initially determine the relevance of similar performance information as a predictor of probable performance under the subject requirement. USAID may give more weight to performance information that is considered more relevant and/or more current.

(d) The contractor performance information determined to be relevant will be evaluated in accordance with the elements below:

1. Quality of product or service, including consistency in meeting goals and targets.

2. Cost control, including forecasting costs as well as accuracy in financial reporting.

3. Schedule, including the timeliness against the completion of the contract, task orders, milestones, delivery schedules, and administrative requirements (e.g., efforts that contribute to or affect the schedule variance).

4. Business relations, addressing the history of professional behavior and overall business-like concern for the interests of the customer, including the contractor’s history of reasonable and cooperative behavior (to include timely identification of issues in controversy), customer satisfaction, timely award and management of subcontracts, cooperative attitude in remedying problems, and timely completion of all administrative requirements.

5. Management of personnel, including appropriateness of personnel for the job and prompt and satisfactory changes in personnel when problems with clients were identified.

6. Ability to acquire no objection certificates (NOCs) or other government permissions to implement the monitoring, evaluation and assessment tasks across Pakistan.

(e) USAID will not evaluate an offeror’s performance favorably or unfavorably when:

(1) The offeror lacks relevant performance history.

(2) Information on past performance is not available; or,

(3) The offeror is a member of a class of offerors where there is a provision not to rate the class against a subfactor.

When this occurs, an offeror lacking relevant performance history is assigned a “neutral” rating.

(f) The page limit for past performance is 3-pages for each contract.

F.5 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE