72066024RFI00005 RFI for HFGIS Activity August 24.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Subject: USAID’s Health Financing, Governance, and Information Systems

Strengthening Activity

RFI Number: RFI No. 72066024RFI00005

Issuance Date: August 3, 2024

Closing Date/Time: August 19, 2024, 23:00 Kinshasa Local time

Response Email: drcoaa@usaid.gov

The United States Agency for International Development Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (USAID/DRC) is gathering information to develop health financing, governance, and information systems activities in support of the DRC’s strategic plan for 2021-2030 towards universal health coverage (UHC). The purpose of the Health Financing, Governance and Information Systems (HFG/IS) activity is to strengthen national and select provincial governments’ capacity to identify and act upon key levers for resource mobilization and for reductions in household catastrophic health expenditures, to identify and respond to gaps in equity, quality, and coverage of health services, to strengthen citizens’ capacity to hold government accountable for health services, and to foster collaborative learning. Targeted systems strengthening include efforts to improve the resilience and capacity of the public health system to prevent, detect, and respond to emerging infectious disease threats with a

“one health approach.” USAID envisions that this activity will strengthen the role of citizens, women, and marginalized groups in the design, delivery, monitoring, and accountability of health services, which in turn fosters trust in the health system and sustainability.

Recognizing the interdependence of governance, financing, and information, this activity supports a targeted, synergistic approach to complement the USAID Integrated Health

Services Delivery Accelerator and USAID Santé Gouvernance Activities. Provincial-level interventions will focus on the 8 provinces of implementation for these Activities (Kasai

Central, Kasai Oriental, Haut-Katanga, Haut- Lomami, Lomani, Lualaba, Tanganyika, and Sud-

Kivu), be coordinated to promote synergies and avoid duplication of efforts, and contribute to a broader learning agenda to foster adoption of best practices and national scale-up.

USAID envisions a well-planned collaborative learning agenda for this Activity and commitment to gender and social inclusion principles.

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit responses to the questions in Attachment 1 as well as solicit expressions of interest in the activity per Attachment 2. Any comments and input received will be used to inform USAID’s designs and planning for future programming in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo and is voluntary. Not responding to this request does not preclude participation in any future solicitation.

mailto:drcoaa@usaid.gov

This announcement is a Request for Information (RFI), not a Request for Proposals (RFP) or a

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Issuance of this RFI does not constitute any obligation on the part of the Government to procurement supplies or services or to issue a solicitation. Further, the RFI does not represent any award commitment on the part of the

Government or obligate the Government to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of any response.

USAID is interested in receiving expressions of interest for this activity from both international and local entities. As defined by USAID’s ADS 303, a local entity:

1. is legally organized under the laws of;

2. has its principal place of business or operations in;

3. is majority owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of;

and

4. is managed by a governing body the majority of whom are citizens or lawful permanent residents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Thank you for your interest and engagement in USAID/DRC programming.

Sincerely, /s/

Gregory Wang

Contracting/Agreement Officer

Attachments:

1) Attachment 1: RFI Questions

2) Attachment 2: Expression of Interest https://www.usaid.gov/about-us/agency-policy/series-300/303

Attachment 1: RFI Questions

Respondents can choose to answer all or some of the questions below. USAID appreciates brief and concise responses that will help inform activity planning. Please restrict the number of pages for responses to ten (10) pages maximum.

USAID seeks recommendations from respondents to support health financing, governance, and information systems which strategically advance progress towards DRC’s goals for universal health coverage. USAID is accepting responses in both English and/or French.

A. Context

1. What are the key challenges the Ministry of Health is facing to align its real budget with and cover gaps in the country budget led by the Ministry of Planning?

2. Currently what is the best available estimate of the minimum needs to digitize health information systems in the Decentralized Territorial Entities (ETDs) and with health zonal teams to ensure operational minimum standards exist at all levels and the cost of achieving that? If reliable data do not exist, would you recommend this as a priority for this Activity?

B. Technical Approach

Synergies/learning agenda

1. Please share your recommendations for how USAID can design the learning agenda for this award to optimize the sharing of practical and timely information that fosters collaboration and scale-up.

Governance

1. What are the key aspects of good governance in which USAID activities are most likely to support improvements in the way the DRC effectively manages public funds allocated to health systems?

2. What are your recommendations to effectively institutionalize “Health in All Policies

(HiAP)” in the DRC? What could be the most significant non-health sectors to implement HiAP at the national level, for what outputs, and how can they be mobilized?

3. How are the priority actions that USAID could support for the MoH to improve transparency, accountability, and sustainability within the entire sector?

4. Please share your recommendations to improve collaboration and coordination between the MoH and private sector providers.

5. The provincial health inspectorates are currently engaged in efforts to reduce corruption and misappropriation of equipment and commodities. What recommendations do you have for how the central government could support these efforts at the provincial level for all provinces?

Financing

1. What are some examples of sustainable innovative sources of resources (fiscal and non-fiscal) from the health and non-health sectors in the DRC and how can they be mobilized to contribute to the DRC’s UHC strategy?

2. How can health civil society organizations and Comités de Développement Sanitaire

(Sanitary Development Committees, or CODESAs) play a key role in mobilizing resources and increasing accountability for health at national and subnational levels?

3. What interventions, including policies, can this activity support at the national and provincial levels to reduce catastrophic household expenditure on health and to reduce financial barriers to healthcare for women and marginalized groups?

4. What are your recommendations on how this activity can be designed to resolve funding disbursement challenges that impact resource availability for the delivery of quality primary health care equitably?

5. From your perspective, what are the most effective advocacy plans/packages to improve financial resource mobilization and which stakeholders at central or provincial levels are most critical in advocating for increased resources?

Information systems

1. How can USAID effectively support the interoperability of health information systems between human and animal health, and with the environmental sector?

2. What are the missing or weak components in the health information system landscape that need support to make the information system a critical tool for evidence-based action?

3. How can the MoH improve its information system by disaggregating data on an administrative basis (e.g., by province and ETDs)? Could you share specific recommendations?

4. What system(s) make most sense to work with data across multiple sectors beyond health to advance UHC and to operationalize One Health?

5. What recommendations do you have for the design of this Activity to improve the government's ability to monitor and reduce inequities in access to health care by gender, age, disability, or other status?

C. Local capacity

1. How can USAID help strengthen the capacity of local Congolese organizations to lead the implementation of health financing, governance, and information systems activities funded by USAID?

2. Which types or forms of local entities are best able to support strengthening health sector governance and leadership at the central/national level? Does DRC possess this type of local entity? If so, do these local entities have the capacity to support gender equity and social inclusion in governance? Please provide examples of how health governance at the national level has been strengthened by local entities in the DRC or in another relevant context.

Attachment 2: Expression of Interest Please restrict the number of pages in this attachment to two (2) pages maximum.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

Name of the Organization:

Address:

Unique Entity Identifier (If available):

CONTACT PERSON:

Name, Position, Email:

TYPE OF ORGANIZATION:

Please indicate your organization type:

US Organization (other than small business)

US Small Business

Higher Education Institution

Public International Organization (e.g. United Nations)

Non-US Organization

Local Entity (defined in ADS 303)

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST:

Please provide brief information that describes your organization’s capability and interest in implementing activities to support the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo objectives to advance progress towards universal health coverage by 2030 through technical assistance in health financing, governance, and information systems.

PAST EXPERIENCE:

● Past experience working in health financing, governance, and information systems with relevant stakeholders

● Types of relevant activities and programs your organization has experience with include duration and scale of projects/budget and populations reached

(Respondents are encouraged to provide hyperlinks to websites, activity documents, and/or evidence-based research and studies regarding the effectiveness of these activities.)