Attachment J.9 -Award Fee Evaluation Plan.docx

RFP 72061721R00002

USAID/Uganda – PMI Uganda Malaria Reduction Activity

RFP 72061721R00002

USAID/Uganda – PMI Uganda Malaria Reduction Activity

ATTACHMENT J.9

AWARD FEE EVALUATION PLAN

For Contract No. _________________ With ____________________ Contents

I. Introduction II. Organizational Structure for Award Fee Administration III. Evaluation Requirements IV. Method for Determining Award Fee V. Changes in Plan Coverage VI. Schedule for Award Fee

I. Introduction

1. This plan covers the administration of the award fee provisions of Contract No._______ , dated _____________ , with ______________ . The contract was awarded after completion of negotiations in accordance with the provisions of RFP No. 72061721R00002.

2. The following matters, among others, are covered in the contract:

a. The contractor is required to provide technical assistance to enhance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of malaria in Uganda in support of the National Malaria Reduction and Elimination Strategy 2020-2025 and in line with the Presidents’ Malaria Initiative guidance.

b. The term of the contract is from _________ through __________

c. The total estimated cost, exclusive of award fee, of performing the contract is $TBD.

d. The maximum available award fee is $TBD.

e. The estimated cost and award fee may be subject to equitable adjustments arising from changes or other contract modifications.

f. The award fee payable will be determined by the Fee Determination Official (FDO) in accordance with this plan.

g. Award fee determinations are not subject to the Disputes clause of the contract.

h. The FDO may unilaterally change the matters in this plan, as covered in Part V and not otherwise requiring mutual agreement under the contract, provided the contractor receives notice of the changes at least 30 calendar days PRIOR TO the beginning of the evaluation period to which the changes apply.

II. Organizational Structure for Award Fee Administration The following organizational structure is established for administering the award fee provisions of the contract.

1. Fee Determination Official (FDO)

a. The FDO is the Director of USAID/Uganda’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance.

b. Primary FDO responsibilities are:

i. Determining the award fee earned and payable for the evaluation period as addressed in Part IV.

ii. Changing the matters covered in this plan as addressed in Part V as appropriate.

2. Award Fee Board (AFB)

a. The following are voting members of the AFB

· designated board chair proposed by the Office Director, Office of Health and HIV/AIDS and approved by the FDO

· the contracting officer’s representative (COR) of the Activity and

· a member from the Office of Acquisition & Assistance (Activity A&A Specialist)

b. The AFB may recommend the appointment of non-voting members to assist the AFB in performing its functions.

· USAID/PMI team member

· Monitoring and evaluation technical officer

c. Primary responsibilities of the Board are:

i. Reviewing the evaluations of contractor’s performance and the submission of an Award Fee Board Report (AFBR) to the FDO covering the Board's findings and recommendations for the evaluation period, as addressed in Part IV.

ii. Considering changes as required in this plan and recommending those it determines appropriate for adoption by the FDO, as addressed in Part V.

3. Performance Monitoring

a. The COR will prepare performance monitoring reports, as well as written comments on the contractor's self-assessment. The COR will also elicit feedback from beneficiaries and stakeholders to include in the written comments. If required an independent reviewer will be hired to facilitate the feedback process, evaluate results, and conduct surveys, as determined by USAID. These written documents will be part of the record for the AFB.

b. The Contractor will submit, as part of its regular quarterly report, a self-assessment of progress toward achieving indicators and deliverables as established in its Annual Work Plan. These written documents will be part of the record for the AFB.

III. Evaluation Requirements The applicable evaluation requirements are attached as indicated below.

1. Evaluation Periods and Maximum Available Award Fee

Start/End date Amount of Award Fee Available

Maximum Award Fee Available

TBD

2. Award Fee Criteria and Weights

3. Adjectival Grading Table

The percentage weights indicated and the grading table above is quantifying devices. Their sole purpose is to provide guidance in arriving at a general assessment of the amount of interim or final award fee earned. In no way do they imply an arithmetical precision to any judgmental determination of the contractor's overall performance and amount of interim or final award fee earned. The Adjectival Grading Table will be used for Factors 1, 2, and 3.

4. Achievement of Targets grading table

For Factor 3. Achievement of Targets, the indicators in the table below will be used to determine the percentage of the fee paid. The percentages listed for each indicator and year indicates the maximum percentage of the Achievement of Target fee that will be paid for completion of each indicator. Partial completion of a specific target will be awarded a pro-rated fee based on the percentage of the target completed. Indicators and percentage weights for each indicator are subject to change on an annual basis based on prior year performance and emerging priorities.

The Offeror must propose indicators/deliverables and targets throughout the life of the project. USAID will review the proposed indicators/deliverables and provide concurrence to the Offeror at the time of award. All the performance indicators/deliverables and targets should be consistent with the draft Performance Work Statement (PWS).

The percentages below add up to a total of 70% for each year and represent the composition of the 70% of the award fee for Achievement in Targets in the table in Section II.2 above titled “Award Fee Criteria and Weights.”

Achievement of Target Fee

Failure to meet a specific target will not necessarily mean the Contractor will relinquish the entire assigned portion of fee. On the other hand, the Contractor will be paid in proportion to the level achieved of the annual target for that deliverable. For example, if the Contractor achieves >=100% of the target, 100% of fee will be given. If the Contractor achieves 80-89% of the target, 50% of fee will be given.

Fee Proportion Based on Achievement (Percentage of Target)

IV. Method for Determining Award Fee

a) Award Fee Determination Procedures Fee Determination Official (FDO)

For the 5-year period of the contract, the negotiated award fee will be divided into five equal portions for each performance year and paid out on agreed upon milestones annually as stipulated in the annual work plan. The Fee Determination Official (FDO), who will be the Contracting Officer USAID/Uganda, will hold a determination meeting with the Contractor and the Award Fee Board (AFB) on an annual basis to determine the proportion allocable for the performance period. The proportion of the fee allocable will be proportional to the proportion of performance compared to the set target for the year. If a portion of the available fee for a performance period is not awarded to the Contractor, the FDO will decide whether any portion of that remaining fee should be rolled over into subsequent award fee periods. Key factors outside the Contractor’s control, such as significant political upheaval, economic disruption, natural disaster, or in the case of COVID 19 or any epidemic and pandemic situations that may cause significant implementation disruptions may be considered for the FDO’s determination to roll forward some portion of the remaining award fee.

Performance Evaluation Team (PET)

The PET is responsible for target setting at the beginning of every work plan and reviewing achievements at the end of the year (review target versus achievements). The PET provides detailed reports to the AFB which the AFB uses to determine the final determination of the Award Fee.

A Performance Evaluation Team will be constituted under the direction of the USAID Contracting Officer that will consist of three members. The Malaria Reduction Activity COR will serve as the team lead and will be joined by one monitoring and evaluation technical officer, and a PMI/Uganda team member. The COR leads the PET but also sits at the AFB. The COR is a critical member for both PET and AFB because the COR coordinates the four essential stakeholders (the CO, the contractor, the PET, and the AFB). The COR as the PET lead, presents the PET’s evaluation findings to the AFB and as the AFB member, the COR also participates in the decision making of the award fee determination.

The PET will meet at a minimum on an annual basis to review the performance year against the set targets approved and agreed upon at the development of the annual work plan.

Performance Monitoring (PM)

The Contractor will be responsible for submitting, as part of their regular quarterly report, progress towards achieving indicators and milestones as established in the Annual work plan, as agreed with USAID. The Contractor’s performance reports that include the quarterly reports, monthly reports, project meeting documentation will provide information to ascertain performance. Performance reviews will benchmark information on the national health information databases, that include but are not limited to the District Health Information System-2 (DHIS-2), community surveys like Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS), demographic surveys, independent assessments by USAID and partners and field monitoring reports. Monitoring reports prepared by the COR, as well as written reports from all USAID/CDC monitoring teams will triangulate information provided by the Contractor. The Contractor is responsible for tracking performance against set annual targets each quarter in their quarterly report that will be reviewed by USAID and agreed in the approved quarterly report. These will be aggregated in the annual performance.

Using these materials, the Performance Evaluation Team (PET) will prepare a report on its assessment of the Contractor’s achievement of progress. This report will be a foundation document for use by the Fee Determination official in establishing the award fee.

b) Performance Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria used in making award fee decisions under the proposed contract are divided into three major parts: technical management, business management, and cost considerations:

Technical management

To support the flexibility and responsiveness towards the malaria situation in the country, offerors should suggest areas to be considered for performance evaluation and the USAID team will determine their acceptability in relation to their proposal. On an annual basis, performance targets will be further agreed upon at workplan level, subject to available funding, to be relevant to the ever-evolving situation of malaria control. Offerors should suggest sensitive indicators to measure their proposed performance and how this will subsequently meet the national malaria indicator targets in the national strategic operation areas. All Offerors should propose in detail quarterly or annual verifiable milestones that will measure progress towards the performance target that are consistent with the Presidents’ Malaria Initiative (PMI) and National Malaria Control Division (NMCD) goals for malaria control and elimination. The technical achievements will comprise a substantial portion of the evaluation between i.e., 60% and 80%.

The Contractor and USAID will agree on the overall structure of expected results, and associated milestones through the annual planning process under the contract. Each annual plan elaborated in the annual workplan will define the technical results, the milestones to be achieved and the inputs or outputs, and the methods and timing for assessment.

These technical results and benchmarks are divided into several categories which correspond with the results framework.

The evaluation criteria that will be applied to each of these technical elements are:

· on-time achievement of the indicators or milestones;

· overall assessment of the volume of results achieved vs. those planned;

· quality of the results achieved, measured through discussions with implementers, other partners, and host-country counterparts; and,

· effectiveness of relationships (partnership, coordination and collaboration) with partners (NMCD, District Health Management Teams (DHMTs), facility in-charges, village health teams (VHTs) and community leaders in focus regions) and others whose work is critical to achievement of overall results under the framework.

Business management

Achievement of technical results will be accelerated or impeded by the relative effectiveness of the business management functions of the contract. Therefore, a number of evaluation criteria in this general area are judged pertinent in a ward fee decisions:

· on-time deployment and effective management of essential project staff;

· on-time reporting of progress and results;

· quality of data collection and reporting;

· effective control of property;+ and

· effective financial and property audits

Cost Considerations

Proper financial management and prudent use of Government resources are also critical to efficient contract operation. The following criteria will apply to award fee decisions:

· accuracy of contract financing projections;

· timeliness and accuracy of financial reporting;

· costs presented are allowable and allocable under the contract;

· economies are demonstrated in the use of personnel and materials; and,

· efficient use of financial resources.

Disclaimer:

USAID unilaterally reserves the right to revise the award fee performance evaluation technical areas in the event of new findings during the workplan review, at which point agreement can be attained in order for PMI to obtain desired results and motivate flexible and creative program implementation.

V. Changes in Plan Coverage

1. Right to Make Unilateral Changes

Any matters covered in this plan not otherwise requiring mutual agreement under the contract, may be changed unilaterally by the FDO prior to the beginning of an evaluation period by timely notice to the contractor in writing. The changes will be made without formal modification of the contract if the plan is not incorporated into the contract.

2. Method for Changing the Award Fee Plan

The method to be followed for changing the plan coverage is described below:

a. Personnel involved in the administration of the award fee provisions of the contract are encouraged to recommend plan changes with a view toward changing management emphasis, motivating higher performance levels or improving the award fee determination process. Recommended changes should be sent to the AFB for consideration and drafting.

b. Prior to the end of each evaluation period, the AFB will submit its recommended changes, if any, applicable to the evaluation period for approval by the FDO with appropriate comments and justification.

c. 30 calendar days before the beginning of the evaluation period, the Contracting Officer will notify the Contractor in writing of any changes to be applied during the evaluation period. If the Contractor is not provided with this notification, or if the notification is not provided within the agreed-to number of calendar days before the beginning of the period, then the existing plan will continue in effect for the evaluation period.

VI. Schedule of the Award Fee The following is a summary of the schedule of the principal actions involved in determining the award fee for the evaluation periods.

The AFB may establish lists of subsidiary actions and schedules as necessary to meet the timetable indicated in the table above.