USAID Burma IIM 72048220C00002 J_A Jan 2024.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION (J&A)

TO: Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate

FROM: Samantha Tortladze, Democracy Officer, Crisis, Stabilization & Governance Officer, USAID/Burma

SUBJECT: Justification for an Exception for Other than Full and Open Competition for the Investing in Independent Media Contract Number 72048220C00002 with Internews International

DATE: January 5, 2024

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying other than full and open competition, in accordance with AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5) Impairment of foreign aid programs:

This document was prepared by the United States Agency for International Development's Mission in Burma, Office of Democracy, Governance, and Humanitarian Assistance (DGHA) with respect to the Investing in Independent Media (IIM) Contract Number 72048220C00002.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

Current Award

1. Contract No. 72048220C00002

2. Contractor: Internews International

3. Period of Performance: August 11, 2020, to August 10, 2024

4. Current Award Ceiling Amount: $18,000,000.00

5. Obligation to Date: $16,651,095.00

This is a request to approve the contract modification to Contract Number 72048220C00002 to Internews, including an extension of contract term of 12 months from August 10, 2024, to August 10, 2025, with an increase in the total estimated cost by an estimated amount of $4,000,000.

If approved, this contract modification will allow Internews to continue to provide emergency assistance, core operational support, funding for innovation and research in media, and technical assistance to media outlets to sustain access to information for the people of Burma in a critical time of increased vulnerability. This is the only non-competitive extension to this award.

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

USAID/Burma’s Investing in Independent Media (IIM) Activity aims to strengthen independent, public interest-oriented media as a critical element of Burma’s emerging democracy. The availability of news and information is central to Burma people’s ability to make informed decisions. The Activity supports public interest journalism originating from local and national media houses and independent journalists. The Activity recognizes that media outlets are committed to serving the information needs of the Burma people but must confront an uncertain and challenging operating environment requiring ongoing assistance to ensure they can survive, adapt, and contribute toward restoring Burma’s path to a democratic society.

The activity’s objectives are:

1) Increase the use of research and audience analysis in operational decision-making by targeted public interest oriented independent media operations

2) Increase media houses’ and journalists’ ability to respond to political and legal pressure

3) Enhance the ability of public interest independent media to serve the information needs of targeted audiences

Availability of quality news, inclusive of diverse ethnic and religious perspectives, and accessible to local audiences, are critical to countering the rise of misinformation and disinformation and to the media’s role in holding political and economic elites accountable.

The Contractor provides direct support to independent media outlets and journalists with a public service and accountability orientation to alleviate political and economic vulnerabilities that threaten the viability and credibility of the sector. In the months since the February 2021 military coup, the media landscape in Burma further shifted, requiring expanded support to media outlets beyond the expectations of the initial award.

To meet the needs of the moment, this J&A action will extend and increase services to:

● Expand training of and support for citizen journalists, focusing on technical skills, safety measures, and journalistic standards and ethics

● Increase the GUCs budget to continue providing core operational support to both national and regional/ethnic media outlets

● Sustain the IIM Fellowship program, which provides opportunities to media workers to conduct in-depth or investigative reporting on critical public-interest issues in Burma or for targeted audience segments

● Sustain IIM’s ability to conduct audience and market research, and share findings with the wider media community to enhance independent media outlets’ ability to meet audience needs and raise revenue

● Continue providing emergency assistance to journalists under direct threat

The additional resources will also provide business development and digital security support to media outlets, support relevant legal research and organizations that offer legal resources to media workers, aid Burma media outlets and workers to connect with regional networks and opportunities, and facilitate improved messaging from pro-democracy institutions to the Burma public. With this modification, Internews will increase its ability to provide critical support to independent media in extreme conditions. Burma is considered to be one of the most dangerous places for journalists, with the military junta routinely detaining and jailing journalists for their work following the February 1, 2021 coup d’etat. The relentless crackdown has ranked Burma as the world’s third-worst jailer and one of the riskiest countries for journalists next to Iran and China. With an increased level-of-effort in existing activity areas, IIM will be able to continue to leverage its long-standing relationships and avoid lengthy start-up delays, trust deficits and possible gaps in service delivery because a new partner would be required to rebuild relationships with people under threat.

The requested time extension to complete this work is 12 months. The total estimated cost of this work is $4 million based on estimates from historical costs and a review of the work to be performed. As discussed above, USAID/Burma’s DGHA Office does not anticipate requesting approval for another non-competitive contract action and plans to fully compete for a follow-on new award in the media sector.

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

This justification for other than full and open competition will be awarded under the authority of AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5): Continued Provision of Highly Specialized Services - An award for the continued provision of highly specialized services when award to another resource would result in substantial additional costs to the Government or would result in unacceptable delays.

The significant supplementary costs of competing the requirement at this point would be financially injurious to the USG. Establishing new relationships with the media outlets would sacrifice the economies of scale and efficiencies of implementation developed by the current contractor. A change in contractor for this work at this juncture would result in substantial additional costs and inevitable delays in program implementation as the new contractor mobilizes and begins interventions as start-up delays for organizations not already registered in Thailand have caused delays to other USAID activities.

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

The IIM activity was awarded to Internews using full and open competition in response to USAID/Burma's Request for Proposals (RFP) No. SOL-720-482-20-R-00003, Investing in Independent Media, released on April 9, 2020.

Continued provision of highly specialized services - AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5): An award for the continued provision of highly specialized services when awarded to another resource would result in substantial additional costs to the Government or would result in unacceptable delays.

Internews is uniquely positioned to immediately respond to this critical need in preparing the independent media organizations and journalists to provide impartial information, with a public service and accountability orientation. A considerable number of journalists and media organizations are based outside of Burma, including along the Thai-border. Internews’ strong capabilities in media support for assessing the ecosystem, providing training, and supporting at-risk journalists, as demonstrated from their work in Burma during similar crises and political upheavals, well-positions them as the only organization to be able to immediately carry out these activities.

Burma is a society based on trust. Internews’ long history working with journalists and independent media organizations in Burma exclusively positions them to provide services as a trusted partner because they intimately know the current context and have long-standing relationships. Internews is able to immediately begin work based on their deep understanding of the independent media ecosystem and experience operating in the rapidly closing operating environment.

National Media Audience Survey (NMAS), the largest audience research conducted in Burma in the post-coup period, shows strong demand for unbiased and accurate news and information among urban and rural populations and that people living in conflict areas are especially keen to follow news. IIM has moved to provide a range of grants to public-interest oriented independent media outlets which include at the national level, and outlets serving smaller audiences of ethnic minority populations, and those in conflict or politically charged regions and states, to continue their news operations and rebuild their local reporter networks, which are critical for maintaining access to information for their audiences. IIM also addresses the risks that come with providing independent information by providing support to respond to political and legal pressures and digital security concerns, as well as providing emergency assistance to journalists under direct threat. Internews’ deep knowledge of the changing political and security landscape in Burma allows them to identify and respond quickly to critical needs.

Lastly, Internews' existing base of operations will allow them to continue uninterrupted work in a fluid, dynamic environment. This is critical because organizations face long delays when registering in Thailand and obtaining staff visas, which will impede the activity from quickly delivering services to independent media outlets under duress in an environment that has experienced a significant increase in the cost of doing business.

Not extending the current award would significantly impair US foreign aid delivery. The resulting gaps in urgent funding for independent media would likely lead to the shuttering of several outlets that work to promote democratic principles and raise civic awareness among the people of Myanmar - a central goal of the 2022 BURMA Act. This would also impair subsequent USG efforts to support independent media in Myanmar, as the ecosystem would be reduced in size, effectiveness, professionalism, and institutional memory.

6. Description of the efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was publicized as required by FAR 5.2:

An advance notice of the proposed contract action was publicized in the Governmentwide Point of Entry (GPE) on December 12, 2023, providing notice of the Government’s intention to modify the contract pursuant to AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5). In accordance with FAR 5.203(a), 15 days response time was provided to potential sources. No comments were received by the CO in response to the posting.

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

The estimated $4 million ceiling for the time and cost extension will be based on Internews Network’s recurrent and historical expenditures, which were established through a full and open competition process and have been found reasonable. The interventions proposed under the extension period are substantially the same or very similar to those currently being implemented by the contractor. Additionally, prior to awarding the modification, the Contracting Officer will review the proposed costs and make a determination as to whether the costs are fair and reasonable.

8. Description of the market research conducted, and the results or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted:

Market research conducted prior to the award resulted in the following relevant information:

There are U.S. based sources capable of administering the intended Activity, but no U.S.

based source is capable of leading every intended activity planned for IIM; rather, the Mission requires an acquisition instrument that serve as a ‘manager’ that can engage with and support global and local media sector thought leaders, and the activity intends to support international, US-based, and local non-governmental organizations. The Mission carefully considered the capacity of other local or international organizations to perform the stated services.

USAID/Burma’s market research indicates that, for the acquisition to successfully meet the Mission’s objectives, the Contractor will need to be able carry out a wide variety of actions, such as short term technical assistance, legal aid with partners, emergency support, editor exchanges, distribution of media (print, online, and new formats), support for new media start-ups alongside assistance for established independent media, attendance at relevant regional conferences, research and analysis by a variety of professionals and consultants, translation, ethnic language production costs, core operational support, supplies and equipment, offer training to government media relations personnel, and contribute to donor coordination.

USAID/Burma considered two criteria when considering whether to extend the SOW under the IIM activity: 1) capability, knowledge, and past performance to carry out the additional activities in the complex operating environment; and 2) the capacity to mobilize immediately to meets urgent needs and ensuring no break in assistance or delay in producing the deliverables under the contract. USAID/Burma concluded that extending the current contract with Internews was best suited to respond to both criteria, based on the fact that only two organizations bid on the original project or submitted questions when the Notice of Funding was published. The other organization that had submitted a bid does not have an office legally registered in Thailand.

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

Bringing on a new contractor to perform this particular specified work would require establishing another base of operations. This is very difficult, as Thailand heavily regulates NGO registration. Of the two organizations that bid on the original contract, only Internews has an established presence in Thailand.

IIM’s past performance has been ‘Satisfactory’ or above in all areas on the current contract. Internews has demonstrated very good performance in several areas, including successful efforts to adjust spending in line with USG funding delays, reduce cost to increase the grants under contract budget to better align programmatic support with beneficiary needs, under the guidance of USAID and uncover cost savings by restructuring the home office support team and sub-contracts.

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

As required by FAR 5.201, USAID issued a notice of the intended contract action on SAM.gov.

No sources have expressed interest, and no comments were received.

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:

No barriers to entry are foreseen for future procurements. USAID is proactively planning for future requirements and the follow-on activity will be competed through full and open competition.

12. Technical or Requirement Personnel Certification

In accordance with FAR 6.303, I hereby certify that the technical statements included above, which form a basis for the justification, are complete and accurate.

Samantha Tortladze Date Democracy Officer,Crisis, Stabilization & Governance Officer

13. Contracting Officer Certification

In accordance with FAR 6.303, I hereby certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Elizabeth Colarik, Contracting Officer Date

SAMANTHA ELISE

TORTLADZE

(affiliate)

Digitally signed by

SAMANTHA ELISE

TORTLADZE (affiliate) Date: 2024.01.05 21:12:36 -05'00'

Elizabeth Colarik

Digitally signed by Elizabeth Colarik Date: 2024.01.08 09:54:44 +07'00'

1/5/24

14. Approved/Disapproved

Deborah Broderick, Agency Competition Advocate Date

DEBORAH RYAN

BRODERICK (affiliate)

Digitally signed by DEBORAH RYAN BRODERICK (affiliate) Date: 2024.01.10 08:01:08 -05'00'

Clearances: Justification for an Exception for Other than Full and Open Competition for the “Investing in Independent Media (IIM)” Contract Number 72048220C00002 to Internews International

Cleared by email (see attached) 01/05/2024

Mark Hyland, Resident Legal Officer Date