ASHA FY22 RFA 720DD122RFA00002 - Response to Public Comments CLEARED.pdf

ASHA FY22 RFA (720DD122RFA00002)

Public Comments and Responses

Posted 03/25/2022

General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response

1 Is this solicitation geared more towards the construction or development of schools and/or hospitals, or can a sustainable PD program infrastructure project at an existing location or school(s) be acceptable?

There is no preference for construction projects versus commodities projects. ASHA awards support construction and commodity projects with partners who have a proven track record of success, and many ASHA awards are made in support of programs at pre-established / existing locations. All projects must have a public diplomacy focus.

2 On the phase 2 business application template, column “Units Description”, how much detail is required. Please specify the objective of the column in order to provide sufficient detail.

The “Unit Description” is a descriptor of the line item, e.g. km, computer, machine, box, etc.

Regarding the budget description, part D: Durable Commodities. This section requests that applicants include model specification. Model specification is generally associated with a specific brand or maker, yet in previous ASHA applications it was discouraged to include the brand of the commodity. Has this changed? Or does this “model” imply the technical specification?

The specific model of the equipment does not need to be listed in the budget; however, you can mention in the Budget Narrative that you will buy equipment similar to model "X." ASHA understands that the exact equipment proposed in the budget may not be available at time of procurement.

Can money be used to pay personnel? For example, permanent M&E staff, and/or consultants for baseline, midterm, and final surveys and evaluations.

Applicants can charge ASHA for costs of Public Diplomacy Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities, such as before/after surveys, in support of their Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP).

ASHA cannot fund salaries for any staff.

3 How do we apply for this RFA? Please refer to “Section D: Application and Submission Information” of the RFA for information on how to submit an application.

6 Theme-based call for proposals could be made (currently the ASHA funding by Congressional mandate is focused

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response call for proposals focus on infrastructure development of education, health etc.). Theme-based means simultaneous calls could be made for education, health, refugees, human rights, and rights-based activities. Human Rights and rights-based activities means training of youth as Human rights activists, legal awareness enhancement programmes to general public in the village, legal education of rural population, training on accessing justice by accessing entitlements, training of child rights activists, training of youth as vigilant members of the village to prevent, domestic violence, trafficking, child labour and child marriage, etc.

on public diplomacy support in the education and health sectors.

Proposals could be called for works relating to supporting the poor through litigation, taking up pro bono cases to help the poor, people affected with NRC issues in North East India, etc.

ASHA funding by Congressional mandate is focused on public diplomacy support in the education and health sectors.

7 Please expand the section on monitoring and evaluation guidance. Applicants need a better understanding of how to apply the public diplomacy areas and how to measure indicators without budget to do so.

Applicants can use ASHA funding for costs of Public Diplomacy Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities, such as before/after surveys, in support of their Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP).

However, ASHA cannot fund salaries for any staff.

In circumstances where the USO and OSI are the same entity, please confirm that the Project Manager can be based either in the United States or in the OSI country of work.

Yes, when the USO and OSI are the same legal entity, the Program Manager can be located in either the United States or in the OSI’s country.

There is often critical information noted in prior year ASHA Q&As that should be otherwise captured in the RFA itself. Can ASHA please consider reviewing prior Q&As and embedding such direction into the RFP itself? For example, ASHA:

● FY21 – recommends first-time applicants to pursue commodity-only applications.

● FY20 – clarifies costs associated with permits and professional certifications is the responsibility of the

USO

We appreciate this suggestion, and we strive to include past Q&As as we refine the RFA.

Please confirm priority countries of interest, other than the ASHA does not identify priority countries; however, 720DD122RFA00002 3 Posted 03/25/2022

General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response

Middle East. the Administration has a growing interest in Latin America, particularly with the Northern triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Please include reference to where prior ASHA project award information can be located.

Previous ASHA awards can be found at USAspending.gov.

Please confirm that the Business (cost) proposal is not evaluated, and no criteria weighting assigned for the Phase II applications.

Phase 2 applications are evaluated on the merit criteria listed in the RFA. The Business (Cost) Proposal is a mandatory submission and will be reviewed as needed.

Please confirm flexibility between the proposed budget request between Phase I and Phase II applications; can applicants change the amount requested?

ASHA will allow for moderate cost changes to allow for an increase in costs due to issues like COVID or other major events. You must note the funding request increase and provide justification for the increase.

Please confirm if the Phase I application should always be resubmitted along with the Phase II application, and if so, what kinds of edits can be made to the Phase I application at that time.

The Phase 1 application does not need to be resubmitted with the Phase 2 application. Any clarifications to the Phase 1 application should be included in ANNEX 1b - PHASE 1 Clarification for

FY22 RFA.

8 I see that Evaluation & Monitoring is now an acceptable expense that can be covered by ASHA funds. Is there any specific guidance or limitations related to this, or is this amount up to the partner to propose?

ASHA funds can be used to support reasonable/proportional costs of USOs and OSIs related to Public Diplomacy Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities, such as before/after surveys in support of their Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP). AOR approval of proposed costs should be obtained before incurring associated expenses.

The ASHA custom indicators are not linked to this RFA on page 32 like they were in the previous year. Are these the same custom indicators as prior years, or will there be revised indicators released?

ASHA will continue to have the same two custom indicators; however, we are updating them by including clarifications pertaining to how data will be captured for each indicator. We will include the link to the finalized custom indicators in the official RFA.

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response

In the RFA, applicants are advised to ensure they provide complete information about their organization and to not assume SC members have prior knowledge of the organization, work history, or mission. Yet, for Phase 1, applicants are told, “Please do not provide a detailed description of the USO and OSI”; for Phase 2, applicants are told to limit the history of the organization to one brief paragraph. Can you please clarify ASHA’s expectations about how much organizational/background information is needed and where it should go?

All applicants are bound by the same limitations in terms of length of submission. Applicants should assume that SC members are starting with a "blank slate" when reviewing applications. Kindly provide only the most pertinent information about your organization, work history, and mission. Applications will be evaluated on how well they respond to the merit criteria.

9 What categories of costs are allowed under monitoring and evaluation? For example, can the salary of a research officer or project manager who develops surveys, manages public diplomacy programs, or conducts surveys in the field, or software for survey data collection, or transport costs to the field, be included under this budget head?

ASHA funds can be used to support reasonable/proportional costs of USOs and OSIs related to Public Diplomacy Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities, such as before/after surveys in support of their Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (AMEP). ASHA funds cannot be used to pay for standalone transportation costs or salaries.

AOR approval of proposed costs should be obtained before incurring associated expenses.

Will this budget also be audited at the end of the award? The budget submitted with the Phase 2 Business (Cost) Application is an estimate of costs under the project. When the award ends, recipients are required to perform an end-of-program audit or a Single Audit, as applicable.

10 On page 31/32 (the Phase 1 Merit Review/Public Diplomacy Criterion) the RFA lists three types of measurable outcomes the initiatives should create:

1. Awareness generated about American values, ideas or practices;

2. Positive attitude shift regarding American values, ideas or practices; and/or

3. Action generated in regard to American values, ideas or practices, either as positive behavior change or change in the

These will be specific to the project, and it is incumbent upon the applicant to make a successful argument regarding their chosen area of Public Diplomacy intervention.

If you choose to make a case for #1, you will demonstrate who you have identified as your target audience; what you are doing to increase their awareness about American values, ideas, or

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response frequency of the positive behavior.

While you make reference to info on presenting an effective public diplomacy argument (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SFcl3kn5MIGqipMnmmdgsa7 ph5XtnU48/view), none of that provides specific examples.

Could you please provide several examples of ASHA projects that have resulted in these types of outcomes in each of those 3 areas.

practices (one example could be awareness about democracy); and how you are measuring the fact that greater awareness exists about the principle (democracy) because of your work.

If you choose to make a case for #2, you will demonstrate who you have identified as your target audience; what you are doing to increase their awareness about American values, ideas, or practices (one example could be awareness about gender equity); and how you are measuring the fact that there has been a positive attitude shift regarding the principle (gender equity) because of your work.

If you choose to make a case for #3, you will demonstrate who you have identified as your target audience; what you are doing to increase their awareness about American values, ideas, or practices (one example could be the promotion of meritocracy); and how you are measuring the fact that there is positive behavior change regarding the principle (meritocracy) because of your work.

A paragraph about applicant eligibility on page 12 of the RFA that states:

"USO and OSI must not discriminate against any beneficiaries in the implementation of the award, including, but not limited to, withholding, adversely impacting, or denying equitable access to the benefits provided through this award on the basis of any factor not expressly stated in the award. This includes, for example, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, genetic information, marital status, parental status, political

Per the RFA, “For applications involving ‘schools’:

The OSI must provide English language instruction or use English as the language of instruction in at least one course and must provide post-secondary education or secondary education that serves students at the equivalent of a U.S. sixth grade level or higher…. The Application must focus on secondary education or higher-level activities.”

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response affiliation, and veteran status."

Several years ago, an ASHA staff member had informed us that durable commodities for the ASHA program could not be used for infants/young children, but only for "youth." Are there any age limitations on the use of durable commodities for the program?

11 Applicants new to ASHA may be hesitant to engage construction firms in building cost estimates before receiving an invitation to submit a Phase II application. When building plans are firmed up for a Phase II application, costs may be higher than originally estimated because the construction firm is fully engaged or because ADA is new to the construction firm and adds new costs.

Please provide either:

● Notification of restriction to modify the original cost request: Include a statement such as, "ASHA expects applicants to fully assess the cost of the project at the time of submitting Phase I. In other words, ASHA doesn't support increased funding requests for Phase II except for significant causes such as national economic trends that affect costs of materials, natural disasters, or exceptional unexpected circumstances.

or

● Cost request flexibility: Allow applicants to change the funding request in Phase II.

ASHA will allow for moderate cost changes to allow for an increase in costs due to issues like COVID or other major events. You must note the funding request increase and provide justification for the increase.

Please provide an ADA checklist for new construction, similar to this checklist for renovations, that summarizes ADA expectations for new construction. This would be distributed to any OSI's tentative construction firms.

Per Agency and ASHA practice, we cannot provide a checklist for the construction firms. However, the USO/OSI/construction staff can download the ADA or its equivalent UN standards. Ultimately, the A&E firm is responsible for defining and complying with the necessary and applicable ADA requirements for the

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response specific type of project and location.

12 Annex 1b – Phase 1 Clarification for FY22 RFA is included in the full announcement. Please confirm this attachment is only required if requested by ASHA as part of the Phase 2 submission.

That is correct. Annex 1b is only required if requested by the Selection Committee from an applicant.

Annex 2b – Phase 2 Technical Application Template includes a narrative section in the commodities and/or construction approach entitled “Environmental Capability” but the section header says “by responding to Annex 3”. Should the applicant include a narrative within the commodities and/or construction approach AND complete Annex 3, or only complete Annex 3?

The environmental response must be included in Annex 3.

13 Section B.3.1, page 9: Regarding competitive procurement process for A&E and construction firms.

a. Is use of in-house A&E professionals permissible and fundable under the award? (If in-house professionals are used, are their salaries allowable as pertaining to this initiative?)

b. Is hiring locally in the target community permissible and fundable under this award?

a. In-house use of construction or A&E personnel that demonstrate the qualifications and relevant experience may be allowed on a case-by-case basis with additional contractual requirements to be approved by the AO.

b. Project staff may be hired locally; however, ASHA cannot directly fund construction employee salaries.

Section D.6.e, page 25: Procurement of motor vehicles is not authorized. Does this include construction equipment?

Yes. Procurement of construction equipment by the Prime or the Subrecipient utilizing ASHA funds is not authorized. The construction firm should be responsible for hiring staff, leasing or buying the necessary equipment, etc. to carry out the job.

Section D.6.e, page 26: Consumable commodities are not authorized. For a model which includes local and international volunteers in construction, for whom staying in the target area is an integral part of the initiative, would housing apply or should this be leveraged funding?

ASHA funding cannot be used for housing, meals/incidentals, salaries, etc. These items must be covered by leveraged funding.

14 Since the Cover page (3 pages) is part of the Phase 2 Technical Application, it would be further clear if the sentence "The Phase 2 Technical Application (excluding attachments)

The Cover Page (3 pages) is included in the Phase 2 Technical Application page limit of 16 pages (Commodities Only or Construction/Renovation Only)

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response must not exceed 19 pages for a project with both Commodities plus Construction/Renovation, or 16 pages for a Commodities- Only or a Construction/Renovation-Only project as delineated in the above sections" could include the "cover page" in the parentheses, i.e. (excluding the cover page and the attachments).

or 19 pages (Commodities plus Construction/Renovation).

"Costs for shipping, installation, training, and warranty of the commodity are allowable if they are embedded in the cost of the item. These costs are not allowable if they are charged separately from the commodity."

While this provision will be carefully observed/reported during the implementation process, it would be helpful to allow having lines in the Separate tab of the Durable Commodities budget during the application submission process for

a) shipping,

b) installation,

c) training costs.

The reason is that it is not often realistically possible to embed these costs in each item in the planning/application stage.

ASHA cannot allow separate line items for shipping, installation, training, and warranty costs. However, applicants may distribute estimated costs for shipping, installation, training, and warranty evenly among the commodities being procured.

16 Is there Local Faith and Transformative Partnerships documentation that applicants must review?

No, there are no required documents. If applicants are interested in learning more about the LFT Hub, please visit the LFT website.

Should 2021 in the sentences below read 2022 instead?

● “Include your DUNS Number and UEI on application documents until April 4, 2021. Starting on April 4, 2022, you will only use the UEI (SAM).”

● “Applicants who have been invited to submit Phase 2 Technical Applications will also be required to submit a Business (Cost) Application at the same time as the Phase 2 Technical Application per the FY 2021 Application Process table in Section D5.”

Yes, thank you for pointing that out.

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General RFA Comments

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response

Should applicants register in the IPN portal now? No. Only award recipients should register in the IPN portal. Instructions on how to register in the IPN portal will be included in the award document.

Comments Specific to an Organization/Application

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response

4 We have a grant request for FY 21. Can we apply for an additional grant in FY22 having not heard the result of FY21?

If so, can we apply for our Phase 2 plan or must we reapply for Phase 1?

If a decision has not been made on a previous year’s RFA, applicants must determine for which parts of their project they would like to request ASHA funding in a new RFA cycle.

5 We would like to find out if we can apply for this new opportunity even if we have an ongoing ASHA project with USAID.

Yes, even if you already have an ongoing project with ASHA, you may apply for the FY22 RFA.

13 Section C shows that the USO and OSI must have a significant relationship that spans at least the past two years, that the OSI must not be under control or management of a foreign government (but must be overseas), and that a title or lease to the land is required by either the USO or OSI.

Within these parameters, is it allowable to work with a foreign institution such as a public school with whom the USO has had a significant role in supporting for at least the past two years?

Is it allowable to work with a private school in the same way, albeit there would still be government approvals required?

ASHA can only work with organizations that are not under government control. We define "control" to be 50% or greater of ownership or representation. For example, an OSI with a board of directors with 49% (or less) of its members being employed by or representing the government is acceptable; any more is not.

So the USO can not have an OSI partnership with an overseas public school, as the school ultimately belongs to a foreign government. However, if there is a private entity that partners with the public school (e.g. an NGO that works with the overseas public school) that entity could serve as the OSI partner.

15 USO is [USO Name] a [U.S.] nonprofit 501(c)(3) founded by [USO Founder Names].

The USO and OSI may be the same entity. Please see Section C: Eligibility Information for the Pre- Award Terms, specifically the Conflict of Interest

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Comments Specific to an Organization/Application

Organization Public Comment ASHA Response

OSI is [OSI Name] a [foreign country] for-profit corporation with Principal shareholders [USO Founder Names]. [OSI Name] has holding in land reserved for a boarding school to be used for ASHA initiative.

Is this a conflict of interest? Are we allowed to proceed with this initiative or do we need to partner with an OSI entity that does not involve the same individuals?

Pre-Award Term. The full text for the Pre-Award Terms is found in Section G: Additional Information Required Subsequent to Application.