APS 7200AA19APS00014 - Questions and Answers.pdf

APS 7200AA19APS00014 - Implementation Science for Strengthening Family Health

Questions & Answers

Questions regarding Concept Paper Submission

1. Could USAID please clarify if bidders can bid on one, two, or three results or if bidders must respond to all three results?

Applicants should respond to all three results in their concept paper.

2. Our organization is considering submitting a concept paper indicating that we would like to be a sub-partner/consortia partner. Do we need to address all 3 results in our concept paper? If we address only 2 results, could we still be considered for participation in a co-creation workshop with the possibility of joining a consortium at that point?

Regardless of whether an organization is submitting a concept paper as a potential prime or sub-partner, an applicant should respond to all three results. Partnerships should be developed throughout the design process, including prior to submitting applications.

Consortia and/or other forms of partnerships are encouraged to submit applications. An organization is welcome to submit multiple concept papers either as a member of a consortium or independently. In every case, the concept paper must respond to all three result areas listed in the APS.

3. Section IIIC (Eligibility Information) of the APS states that eligible organizations may submit one concept paper in response to this APS regardless of whether an organization anticipates possibly becoming a Prime applicant or a sub-awardee on a full application.

Can USAID please clarify if this means that organizations interested in a sub role may submit their own concept paper to be a sub under Round 1 of this APS? Can USAID also please clarify that if an organization submits a concept paper as a sub, can they respond to a specific result(s) under Round 1 rather than the entire APS?

Please see response to question #2.

4. May applicants interested in a sub role join a consortium as well as submit their own concept paper for the Result areas in which they are interested?

5. If an organization is interested in a sub role for only 1 or 2 results areas, may they submit a concept note which addresses those areas, rather than all 3 results? If so, should the technical response on each result areas still be only 1 page total?

6. If a consortium member intends to sub, can the organization respond to specific result areas or must their concept address all three result areas?

7. Do all partners needed to implement a concept need to be specified in the concept note or is it allowable, without penalization, to describe the characteristics of a partner not identified in the proposal?

It is allowable to identify and/or amend partners after submission of concept papers.

However, applicants should strive to identify strong partners or potential partners as early in the process as possible. Applications from consortia and/or other forms of partnerships are encouraged; an organization is welcome to submit multiple concept papers either as a member of a consortium or independently.

8. Are all results evaluated equally at the concept paper stage? We noted that concept papers could be submitted with anticipated roles being prime or sub awardee. Would a concept paper submitted as a potential sub-awardee need to respond to all three results?

All Round 1 concept papers will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria stated in

Section V of the APS. Regardless of whether an organization is submitting a concept paper as a potential prime or sub-partner, an application should respond to all three results.

Please see response to question #2 for additional information.

9. The APS states: eligible organizations may submit one concept paper in response to the

APS regardless of whether an organization anticipates possibly becoming a Prime applicant or a sub-awardee on a full application.” Can USAID confirm if submitting a concept note in response to Round 1 of this APS will or will not preclude an organization from submitting concept notes for future rounds?

Yes, USAID confirms that submitting a Round 1 concept paper will not preclude an organization from submission(s) in response to potential future rounds under this APS.

10. Can USAID please confirm that the Informational Data Sheet does not count as part of the

6-page limit for the concept paper?

The Informational Data Sheet should not exceed one page in length, and it is included in the

6-page limit for concept papers.

11. Section A2 (Concept Paper Content and Format) of the APS states that the concept paper must not exceed 6 pages. However, 3-5 pages are allotted to the technical approach section. Would USAID please clarify the overall length of the concept paper, not including the cover page and the information data sheet?

Please see response to previous question.

12. Can USAID clarify if the Informational Data section of the concept note is included in the 6 page allotment?

Please see response to question #10.

13. Are annexes allowed as part of the concept paper submission? If yes, what is the page limit for annexes.

Annexes are not allowed. Please refer to Section IV.A2 of the APS for additional information on the concept paper content and format.

Questions regarding Partnerships

14. Section IVB (Co-Creation Process) of the APS (p. 17) states that until full applications are submitted, both the applicants and USAID may identify and include potential additional technical partners and/or potential resource partners, and if potential additional technical and/or potential resource partners are identified prior to the co-creation workshop, invitations will be sent to the potential partners to participate in the workshop. Could

USAID please clarify at what stage new partners can be added? Can applicants add new partners to be invited to the co-creation workshop?

New partners may be added until full applications are submitted. For the co-creation workshop, USAID will extend invitations based on evaluation of applicants’ concept papers.

Applicants may propose additional technical and/or resource partners within their full application for USAID’s consideration. Please note that space at the co-creation workshop will be limited.

15. Will USAID facilitate/suggest/mandate the formation of partnerships/consortia at the co-creation stage?

Please see Section IV.B of the APS for additional information about the co-creation process.

“The [co-creation] workshop will facilitate learning, sharing, and networking across a range of partners and relevant technical experts,” and this process may “help identify potential consortia and partnerships.” However, it is not USAID’s intention to mandate partnerships.

Applicants are expected to judge for themselves which partners would potentially strengthen their application and capacity.

16. If a consortium is put together for the concept note, and if the concept note of the consortium is selected - can representatives of the consortium’s sub-partners be invited to the co-creation workshop?

Space at the co-creation workshop will be limited. Consortia will be expected to nominate a representative(s) to participate in the workshop. Please see Section IV.A2 of the APS for additional details on submission of this information.

17. The concept paper instructions (A2. Concept Paper Content and Format) request information on the applicant organization only. Can USAID confirm that concepts papers are to be for a single organization rather than a consortium? Is the intention for partnership-building be done during the co-creation stage rather than before concept note submission?

Questions regarding Funding

18. What is the anticipated amount of funding for Round 1?

The total estimated funding ceiling for Round 1 award(s) is $35 million, contingent on the availability of funds. This ceiling does not equate to the actual total award funding. This ceiling includes potential core and field support.

19. How much funding will be available under this specific opportunity (Round 1)? RFA says 2 awards to be made, not exceeding USD 35 million. Is that for Round 1 only?

Under Round 1 of this APS, USAID may issue up to two awards. The total estimated funding ceiling for Round 1 award(s) is $35 million, contingent on the availability of funds. This ceiling does not equate to the actual total award funding.

20. USAID lists the total estimated value of the awards under this APS to be $35 Million. Can

USAID provide further information on the estimated value of the award(s) to be made under Round 1 of this APS?

Please see response to the previous two questions.

21. What percent of the $35 million for the APS Round 1 is expected to come from

Washington as core funds for globally-focused research versus field buy-ins for country-specific activities?

Please see response to question #18.

22. How much of the funding from USAID/W will support this initiative and how much would be field support?

23. We noted that there would be potentially more than one award. In the case of multiple awards, would each award address all three results or could one or more of the awards address only one or two of the results?

Any potential award(s) will align with the Round 1 program description and expected results. At this time, it is not possible to predict if more than one award will be made, and if so, which results each may address.

24. The APS states that USAID may issue up to two awards under Round 1. If two awards are issued, can USAID please elaborate on how it anticipates that the scope of work of the awards will be divided?

Any potential award(s) will align with the Round 1 program description and expected results. At this time, it is not possible to predict if more than one award will be made, and if so, how the award scope(s) may be divided.

Questions regarding Countries

25. At the concept note stage, should applicants propose the specific countries in which they wish to work?

Although not required, applicants are welcome to propose countries in their concept papers. This inclusion of specific and/or illustrative countries is at the applicant’s discretion.

26. Should we restrict activities only to those countries listed in Annex B? Can we only focus on the 7 additional francophone West African countries in Annex B for instance?

Countries listed in Annex B are priority countries for USAID’s core-funded FP/RH activities.

Activities in other countries may be supported under this APS based on Mission interest and availability of funding.

27. Does USAID intend award funds to be designated for “core” and “field” activities under this project? If so, can USAID provide information on the intended distribution, whether a percentage of the total award or a fixed amount? And is USAID expecting to leverage country buy-ins under this APS Round 1 for country-specific work?

Questions regarding Expected Results

28. The APS briefly mentions uptake of research into policy/research utilization. However, this is not in the 3 results under Round 1. Should we assume research utilization is not a focus of this opportunity?

Research utilization may be proposed as part of an organization’s approach to achieving any/all of the Round 1 results.

29. The specific objectives for this APS Round 1 do not mention capacity building (CB) for implementation research (IR) as one of its objectives. However, overall PRH goals do.

Should we focus on CB (e.g., of local organizations) under this opportunity?

Capacity building is inherent in this APS, and it may be proposed as part of an organization’s approach to achieving any/all of the Round 1 results. Investments in implementation science will accelerate countries’ journeys to self-reliance which is an Agency-wide priority.

30. Can the funds be used for implementing interventions that are being evaluated as part of the research and Implementation Science or are all research activities meant to be built around interventions that are funded through other means?

Yes, funds may be used for implementing novel interventions as part of the research program.

31. Can USAID clarify how it defines “Family Health”? What does this include or exclude? For example, does Family Health encompass MNCH, FP/RH and rights, nutritional health, adolescent health, early child development, reaching young men, among others?

Please refer to the Round 1 program description for additional information.

32. Is the successful applicant of Round 1 only responsible for studying issues around development, adoption and implementation at scale, or also working with local entities to design and implement interventions for study?

Please see response to question #30.

33. Under Result 1, could USAID please further explain and define what is considered as

“impacts” in the context of implementation science?

This should be defined by the applicant(s).

34. Under Result 1, key are of work 1 “ research priority implementation science questions”, does USAID expect this to include research related to innovative new interventions implemented at small-scale, as well as evidence-based interventions that could be implemented at scale?

Please see response to question #30.

35. Please clarify whose capacity will be built through TA for data analysis, research and utilization of research results?

Building capacity is an overarching goal of the APS. Please refer to question #29.

Other Questions

36. What is the anticipated relationship between this project and the USAID-funded

EVIDENCE project?

The Evidence Project will be ending in September 2020.

37. If a university affiliated NGO has its own unique DUNS and Tax ID number, would they be considered an “eligible organization” to submit a concept, in addition to a separate university submission?

Yes.

38. The Notice of APS mentions a Round 1. Does USAID anticipate additional rounds to be issued under this APS? If so, does USAID know how many rounds it anticipates releasing?

It is not possible to predict the number of rounds that may be issued under this APS. Rounds may be issued by USAID/Washington and USAID Missions as the need arises and funding is available through the current IS4FH APS closing date of May 30, 2029.

39. Will USAID be conducting a pre-workshop webinar?

No, USAID does not currently plan to conduct a pre-workshop webinar.

40. For some APS announcements, like MOMENTUM, there was a comprehensive APS umbrella document and separate Round documents. Is there a larger umbrella document for this APS for IS4FH?

The only document for this APS is the document that is posted.

41. We assume that the budget will cover the costs associated with research and TA under

IS4FH. However, must the budget include cost of underlying interventions being studied.

For example, Is it anticipated that the Round 1 Awardee will be working with PRH identified implementing partners who would cover the cost of the interventions?

Funds may also be used for implementing novel interventions as part of the research program.

42. Given that the dates for co-creation are unknown, can we submit alternate names for the co-creation process?

Yes, consortia will be expected to nominate a representative(s) to participate in the workshop.