The_USAIDZimbabwe_Broad_Agency_Announcement_(BAA)_for_Zimbabwes_Development_Challenges.pdf

The USAID/Zimbabwe Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for

Zimbabwe’s Development Challenges

I. Overview

A. Opportunity Description This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeks opportunities to co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate in the research, development, piloting, testing, and scaling of innovative, practical and cost-effective interventions to address Zimbabwe’s Development Challenges. Those Development Challenges may include opportunities to increase the number of Zimbabweans who live longer, healthier lives. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) invites individuals, organizations, and companies to participate with the USAID Mission in Zimbabwe (USAID/Zimbabwe) to create more strategic, focused and results- oriented solutions to respond to the development challenges in Zimbabwe.

B. Federal Agency Name The United States Agency for International Development Zimbabwe Mission (USAID/Zimbabwe).

C. Opportunity Title The USAID/Zimbabwe Broad Agency Announcement.

D. Opportunity Number BAA-Zimbabwe-2017

E. Authority This BAA is issued in accordance with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 for potential assistance awards and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part

35.016 for potential acquisition awards. This is not a FAR Part 15 procurement.

F. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Numbers

98.001 – USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas

II. Specific Rights Reserved for the U.S. Government

A. This BAA is a competitive approach to collaborate on activities that harness science, innovation, technologies and partnerships to solve Development Challenges in Zimbabwe, allowing USAID to:

1. Reach out to potential partners with recognized expertise in relevant areas;

2. Co-create, co-design, co-invest, and collaborate with partners; and

BAA Number: BAA-Zimbabwe-2017 Addendum No.: 001

3. Discover, test, and scale breakthrough innovations to solve Development Challenges more quickly and cost-effectively.

B. Multiple awards, or no awards, may or may not be made under this BAA. Various types of acquisition or assistance instruments may be used (see C.4 below). The amount of resources made available under the BAA, if any, will depend on the activities designed and the availability of funds. Some award types may not include any funding.

C. This BAA reserves specific rights for the U.S. Government, in addition to rights described elsewhere in this document or by law or regulation, including:

1. The right to select for collaboration and award all, some, one, or none of the activities produced in response to this BAA and its associated Addenda.

2. The right to determine whether discussions and/or negotiations are necessary or advantageous for the U.S. Government’s interest before making an award.

3. The right to accept proposals or co-designed activities in their entirety or to select only portions of proposals or co-designed activities for award or co-investment.

4. The right to select for award an instrument type that is appropriate to the specific development context, partner relationship, and proposal selected for award.

Instruments types include, but are not limited to: contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, Global Development Alliance agreements, Development Innovation Agreements, inter-agency agreements, donor-to-donor agreements, and memoranda of understanding. In addition, the U.S. Government may craft new instrument types to meet the needs of specific relationships.

5. The right to co-create projects with one or more participants under this BAA, when it is in the best interest of the U.S. Government.

6. The right to request any additional, necessary documentation upon initial review.

Such additional information may include, but is not limited to, a further detailed proposal or application, budget, and representations and certifications.

7. The right to fund or co-invest in activities in phases, with options for continued work at the end of one or more of the phases.

8. The right to award instruments under this BAA or associated Addenda that do not commit or exchange monetary resources.

9. The right to remove collaboration participants from award consideration should the parties fail to reach agreement on activity concept, design, award terms, conditions, or cost/price within a reasonable time, the participant fails to timely provide requested additional information, or the U.S. Government believes it is in its best interest.

III. Opportunity Information

A. Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) Overview1

USAID/Zimbabwe, through a collaborative, Mission-wide process, developed a goal that represents a vision for Zimbabwe in 15 to 20 years. This vision is aspirational in nature – an aspiration shared by those within the Mission and the Country Team.

USAID/Zimbabwe’s goal is:

Inclusive, accountable governance and a healthy, engaged citizenry drive social, political, and economic development with equal opportunity for all.

In constructing this statement, Mission staff agreed that the goal must address the need to create opportunities for citizens to become drivers of social, political, and economic, change that is characterized by good governance.

In acknowledging the principal root causes of Zimbabwe’s current social, political, and economic situation, assessing USAID’s comparative advantage in providing development assistance, and recognizing the role of other donors, the Mission selected three development objectives to help achieve this goal. These development objectives form the basis for the CDCS results framework and include the following crosscutting issues:

gender, youth, local champions, and good governance.

The focus of this BAA is to address Development Objective 2: Increased Number of Zimbabweans Living Longer and Healthier Lives as described below

Development Objective 2: Increased Number of Zimbabweans Living Longer and Healthier Lives

Development Hypothesis: If the burden of disease is reduced by strengthening health systems and addressing the leading causes of illness and death, then Zimbabweans will live longer and healthier lives.

Illustrative DO2 Indicators

• Under-5 mortality rate

• Maternal mortality rate

• HIV incidence rate DO 2 Context Indicators

• TB incidence rate

• Malaria incidence rate

1 https://www.usaid.gov/zimbabwe/cdcs

Intermediate Result 2.1: Accelerated HIV Response for Epidemic Control HIV and AIDS remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Zimbabwe, with more than 38,600 people having died of AIDS related causes in 2014 (3,218 deaths per month). The HIV prevalence rate among people aged 15-49 is estimated to be 16.7 percent, and the total number of people living with HIV was around 1.6 million in 2014. In 2014, about 54,762 people were newly infected with HIV.2 The U.S. Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program supports the national HIV program in prevention, testing, treatment, and care and support activities. In the 36 scale-up districts in Zimbabwe, improved services and community outreach will benefit the entire population while some activities will target high-risk and vulnerable groups.

Current funding for antiretroviral therapy (ART) is insufficient to achieve high coverage and epidemic control on a national scale. To address this gap, this strategy will include an increased emphasis on providing treatment services for HIV-positive Zimbabweans, in line with the shift in PEPFAR priorities toward a more concentrated effort on treatment.

Activities will focus on identifying HIV-positive Zimbabweans and getting them onto appropriate treatment, with the goal of identifying 90 percent of the HIV-positive population, getting 90 percent of HIV-positive individuals on treatment, and achieving viral load suppression within 90 percent of those on treatment. Through these accelerated efforts, the PEPFAR program aims to achieve epidemic control in Zimbabwe during the CDCS period.

Intermediate Result 2.2: Enhanced Coverage of Malaria Control and Elimination Measures Malaria is the third leading cause of death and illness in Zimbabwe.3 While the total number of reported malaria cases decreased from 1.8 million in 2006 to 536,000 in 2014, from 2012 to 2013 malaria incidence rose 32 percent from 22 to 29 per 1,000. In 2014, the rate increased again to 39 per 1,000, a 34 percent increase from 2013.4 While this trend may partly be due to increased diagnostic capacity, it is likely that the consistent application and adoption of malaria prevention measures may have declined in some communities or households.

USAID will continue to provide assistance as part of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) that is coordinated with national efforts led by the GOZ’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP). Some districts remain in the malaria control phase, while others are beginning the transition to pre-elimination of malaria. Interventions will seek to reduce the transmission of malaria by scaling up either indoor residual spraying (IRS) or long-lasting insecticide-treated nets as effective vector control interventions to 90 percent of the population residing in malarious districts. As two of the major malaria donors in Zimbabwe, PMI and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will

2 MOHCC National HIV Estimates Report, 2014 3 MOHCC National Health Profile 4 MOHCC National Malaria Control Programme Annual Report, 2014.

continue to coordinate efforts under the leadership of the NMCP to achieve the vector control coverage goal. In addition, activities will seek to improve country capacity and strengthen systems to ensure accurate quantification, procurement, distribution, prescription, and use of diagnostic tools and medicines to improve case management.

Intermediate Result 2.3: Increased Coverage of Quality Services and Responsive Systems for TB Control TB is the second leading cause of mortality and morbidity in Zimbabwe. Between 2012 and 2014, the national mortality rate increased from 38 to 40 per 100,000 while TB incidence (including HIV+TB) decreased from 562 to 552 cases per 100,000.5 As HIV is an important determinant of TB, there is a need to improve and scale-up integrated TB and HIV care and treatment. While the TB treatment success rate remains high at 81 percent,6 the National TB Program Strategic Plan recognizes that treatment and prevention efforts are hampered by a wide-reaching set of issues. These include inadequate human resource capacity, the burden of TB/HIV co-infection, a weak national laboratory network, inadequate diagnostic capability for childhood TB, and insufficient engagement of individuals and communities infected or affected by TB.

The TB burden in Zimbabwe is a complex problem, but at the core is the need to prioritize strengthening the programmatic and diagnostic management and leadership of TB. TB detection, care, and management approaches will be more integrated with other services and focus on children, women, and key priority populations like those with HIV, those working in mines, migrants, and clients with non- communicable diseases and hepatitis. Support will be provided to expand and improve TB infection control measures within the health care service delivery system, as part of improved prevention and control efforts. In addition, TB operational and management systems will be strengthened to ensure a more responsive environment for effective delivery of TB services. These include investments in laboratory and specimen transport, capacity building of health staff, and increased routine use of data for decision-making.

Intermediate Result 2.4: Improved Maternal and Child Health Status in Targeted Areas Although the maternal mortality rate has declined from 960 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010/20117 to 614 in 2014,8 it remains unacceptably high. Three-quarters of maternal deaths are preventable and are largely due to postpartum hemorrhage, sepsis, malaria, eclampsia, and anemia. Similarly, despite a decrease in the under-five mortality rate in recent years, it also remains high at 75 per 1000 live births.9 Again, these deaths are all preventable. Zimbabwe’s contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 59 percent in

5 National TB Program Annual Report.

6 National TB Program Annual Report.

7 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, 2010-11.

8 Zimstat Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2014.

9 Zimstat Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2014.

201010 to 67 percent in 2014.11 Yet the total fertility rate that had declined since 1988 increased between 2006 and 2011 with higher rates among rural women (4.8 vs. 3.1).12

For optimal use of available resources, USAID will focus on the province with the highest maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates. Practices and barriers, such as early marriage, early sexual encounters, and limited decision-making power among women and girls, impede access to services for pregnant women and girls, and a significant number of births still occur without a skilled health provider. Interventions to encourage health-seeking behaviors, increase use of services, and identify and treat women and girls affected by GBV, will be evidence-based, targeted, and sensitive to Zimbabwe’s sociocultural context and changing demographics. Most women have limited access to long acting and permanent methods (LAPM) of contraception, especially in rural areas.

Interventions will focus on increasing access to family planning (FP) through outreach services in rural areas to bring LAPM contraction options to rural populations.

B. BAA Addenda USAID/Zimbabwe will issue periodic Addenda to this BAA that will present specific Development Challenges. These Development Challenge Addenda will address identified problems, solutions, scalability opportunities, feasibility studies, and other research and development initiatives addressing one or more of USAID/Zimbabwe’s focus areas identified above. As stated above, potential partners will respond to the specific requirements of the individual Development Challenges Addendum, not this BAA.

C. Collaboration This intent of the BAA is to allow co-creation, co-design and co-investment to the maximum extent to create high-quality, effective partnerships with great efficiency in time and resources. Collaboration includes:

1. Co-creation: Co-creation occurs before the concept is developed. Together, the participant(s) and the U.S. Government, represented by the Activity Manager, work together as a Co-Creation Team to write and/or revise the Concept Paper, and jointly present the Concept Paper to the Science/Peer Review Board. A Co-Creation Team may generate one or more Concept Papers depending on the nature of the Research Area of Interest and proposed activities.

The Science/Peer Review Board reviews the Concept Paper and recommends the concept for further co-development. The Review Board will use the criteria in Section IV, below, and/or the criteria specified in the relevant Addendum, to make its recommendation to the Contracting/Agreement Officer.

10 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, 2010-11.

11 Zimstat Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2014.

12 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, 2010-11.

2. Co-design: Co-design occurs after the Review Board recommends the project for further development. Once the Contracting/Agreement Officer has accepted the Review Board’s recommendation, the Co-Creation Team becomes the Co-Design Team. At this point, the Contracting/Agreement Officer may determine the general nature of the award type or the specific award type, if any, depending on the nature of the project, to facilitate project design. Alternatively, depending on the nature of the activity, the Contracting/Agreement Officer may make this determination later in the process to allow the Co-Design Team wide latitude to explore different ways to construct the appropriate relationship. During co-design, the Co-Design Team will design the technical approach, partner relationships, general resource requirements, and management control of the project under the guidance of the Contracting/Agreement Officer.

3. Co-investment: Co-investment refers to the U.S. Government’s strategic aim to align partnerships along mutual or complementary development goals and therefore embrace shared responsibility, shared risk, and shared resourcing. Shared resourcing may be accomplished through funding by both or multiple parties, either through cash resources or the exchange of other resources. Other resources can be both tangible and intangible, such as in-kind contributions, expertise, intellectual property, brand value, high-value coordination, and access to key people, places, and information.

Co-investment does not require equally shared resourcing (such as 1:1 leverage), but rather resource contributions that are appropriate to the objectives of the specific activity, considering the comparative advantages brought by the participation of each party and the award type.

IV. General Criteria for Consideration

A. This section provides general criteria for USAID/Zimbabwe’s priorities for concept consideration. Each individual BAA Addendum will specify the criteria for selection of submissions under that Addendum. The Science/Peer Review Board will use these criteria, general and specific, to establish the merit of a concept. Concepts are not evaluated against other concepts, nor are potential partners evaluated against other potential partners. Concepts are evaluated solely against the evaluation criteria from the BAA and the applicable BAA Addendum.

B. The following general criteria apply to all concepts:

1. Concepts developed under this BAA and its associated Addenda must be within

USAID’s strategic interest to pursue. Generally, strategic interest is defined as being within the scope of USAID/Zimbabwe’s CDCS, though the Mission Director may determine that an activity that is otherwise not within the CDCS is within USAID’s strategic interest on an exceptional basis.

2. Concepts developed under this BAA and its related Addenda must appear to be achievable, allowing for a high degree of risk appropriate for new and innovative technologies and approaches.

3. Concepts developed under this BAA and its related Addenda must be structured to produce clear deliverables.

4. Decisions regarding USAID’s pursuit of a particular project, technology or relationship are based on available evidence, data, and resulting analysis. USAID/Zimbabwe seeks solutions using scientific research, innovations and technologies that can have a significant impact in Zimbabwe’s development and can achieve that impact at scale (i.e., an impact on the lives of millions of people). At different stages, USAID will consider different levels of risk, evidence, and data on the potential for impact and scale.

5. At the initial stage of sourcing, prototype or proof of concept, the design of the scientific research, innovation or technology should be an unconventional or an improved approach with the potential for significant impact and/or a significantly lower cost than traditional interventions.

C. The reputation of organizations, their past performance, and the managerial and technical ability of the person or team of people engaged in the endeavor are significant considerations in assessing the potential and the risks associated with potential partnerships and awards.

V. Award Process

This section outlines the process that will be followed under each Addendum issued under this BAA. The amount of resources made available under each Addendum will depend on the concepts received and the availability of funds. Some award types may not include any funding. The award process under each Addendum has the following stages:

Stage 1: Expression of Interest Potential partners will submit an Expression of Interest in response to a BAA Addendum.

Expressions of Interest are generally short (2-5 pages) and contain information as outlined in the BAA Addendum, such as the talent team offered for collaboration; the capacity, capability, and experience of the proposed partner organization; any partner/resource relationships; and proposed resource contributions. USAID will assess each Expression of Interest against the specific partner goals and criteria listed in the relevant Addendum and select the partner(s) best suited for collaboration. Note that the U.S. Government may reach out to potential partners requesting an Expression of Interest.

For Expressions of Interest that USAID deems to have merit utilizing the criteria outlined in Section IV.B., above, as well as any additional criteria provided in the relevant Addendum, USAID will invite the potential partner(s) to collaborate. Note that due to the potentially large number of Expressions of Interest, USAID is unable to provide detailed information to potential partners whose Expressions of Interest are not selected for further concept development.

Stage 2: Development of the Concept Paper Working together, USAID and the potential partner(s) (those invited for further collaboration at the conclusion of Stage 1) will produce a Concept Paper. During this phase of co-creation the parties will establish the problem statement based on the Research Area of Interest, a viable solution, general resource requirements, and partnership contributions (resources and comparative advantages) to the solution. The Concept Paper, generally no more than 10 pages, will explain the project as envisioned by the Co-Creation Team.

Stage 3: Review by the Peer Review Board All Concept Papers developed during Stage 2 will be reviewed by the Peer and Scientific Review Board, comprised of development experts convened by USAID/Zimbabwe, in accordance with USAID policy and U.S. Government regulations, including FAR Part 6.102(d)(2). The Peer and Scientific Review Board will review Concept Papers and recommend which applicants should be considered Apparently Successful Partners to the Contracting/Agreement Officer. Using its technical expertise, the Peer Review Board may suggest revisions/additions to the project as well as potential partners and resources.

While it is not required, potential partners are welcome to sit in on their own peer and scientific review board with their co-creation/development team.

All potential partners may not move forward to Stage 4. Evaluations are typically done on a green/amber/red light basis.

Stage 4: Determination and Award

Contracting/Agreement Officer’s Determination: The Contracting/Agreement Officer will review the Science/Peer Review Board’s recommendations and consider other information, such as resource availability, preliminary partner responsibility assessment, and USAID priorities. The Contracting/Agreement Officer will determine whether the concept will be moved forward to co-development. The Contracting/Agreement Officer may determine the anticipated instrument type to facilitate project design, or may advise the Co-Design Team on possible instruments and relationship types and determine the instrument at a later time in the co- development process.

Mission Management Consent: The Mission Management will review the concept and determine what programmatic pre-award activities may be necessary, such as a Project Appraisal Document amendment, completion of pre-obligation checklists, etc. Mission Management may task the Co-Design Team to draft programmatic documentation concurrently with their program design. At this point, Mission Management consent does not approve the activity or authorize commitment of funding. Consent only allows the Co-

Design Team to proceed with the collaboration.

Additional Partners/Resources: During co-creation and co-design, the Co- Creation/Co-Design Team may identify additional partners and resources, as well as determine whether additional mechanisms are necessary to implement the project. Any addition of a new partner to the Co-Creation or Co-Design Team requires the approval of the Contracting/Agreement Officer.

Final Review and Negotiation: Following any necessary internal USAID/Zimbabwe reviews of the activity design, the USAID/ Zimbabwe Contracting/Agreement Officer will conduct the final review and negotiation, choose the instrument type, analyze cost reasonableness, and determine the responsibility of any potential partner receiving U.S.

Government funding as a result of this collaboration. Based on this and other information, the Contracting/Agreement Officer will make the final determination of whether the potential partner is an Apparently Successful Partner and collaboratively craft an award instrument with the Apparently Successful Partner. If the Apparently Successful Partner and USAID cannot arrive at a mutually agreeable arrangement, the Contracting/Agreement Officer will cancel the project at no cost to the U.S. Government.

Award: The USAID/ Zimbabwe Contracting/Agreement Officer will award the instrument.

Where a specific instrument type is contemplated that is not within the Contracting/Agreement Officer’s authority, the appropriate authority will award the instrument in accordance with USAID/ Zimbabwe Mission Orders and standing agreements.

VI. Award Information

A. No responses will be considered under this BAA until an Addendum has been issued; only submissions that are responsive to a specific Development Challenge Addendum will be considered. Any proposal, Expression of Interest or Concept Paper received that is not in response to a Development Challenge Addendum will not be considered. However, USAID encourages interested parties to submit suggestions for Development Challenge Addenda.

B. Awards under this BAA will be made to Apparently Successful Partners on the basis of the ability to further USAID/ Zimbabwe’s Development Objectives.

USAID is seeking new applications of science, technologies, innovations, and partnerships that provide the best value to the U.S. Government and have the potential to substantially contribute to this goal.

C. Proposals identified for negotiation may result in contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, Global Development Alliance agreements, Development Innovation Agreements, inter-agency agreements, donor-to-donor agreements, memoranda of understanding, or alternative agreement types, depending upon the nature of the work proposed, the required degree of U.S. Government involvement, and other factors. The USAID Contracting/Agreement Officer will determine the award instrument type and negotiate terms and conditions with awardees. USAID may select the award instrument it deems appropriate.

D. Public, private, for-profit, and non-profit organizations, as well as institutions of higher education, public international organizations, non-governmental organizations, U.S. and non-U.S. governmental organizations, and international donor organizations are eligible under this BAA, unless otherwise stated in the individual Addendum. All organizations must be determined to be responsive to the BAA and sufficiently responsible to perform or participate in the final award type.

E. Whether cost share, match, and/or leverage are required will be determined by the individual BAA Addendum, final award type, and/or the mutual agreement of the parties. Nothing in the BAA precludes reasonable cost sharing, matching, leveraging or the exchange of resources arrangements, and proposers are encouraged to suggest creative approaches to resourcing projects.

VII. Intellectual Property

USAID’s goal is to facilitate the research and development that will lead to innovative, and potentially commercially viable, solutions. Understanding the sensitive nature of submitters’ information, USAID will work with organizations to protect intellectual property.

Expressions of interest should be free of any intellectual property that submitter wishes to protect, as the expressions of interest may be shared with USAID partners as part of the selection process. However, once potential partners have been invited to engage in further discussions, they will work with USAID to identify proprietary information that requires protection. Therefore, organizations making submissions under a BAA Addendum grant to USAID a royalty free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to use, disclose, reproduce, and prepare derivative works, and to have or permit others to do so to any information contained in the expressions of interest submitted under the BAA Addendum. If USAID engages with the organization regarding its submission, the parties can negotiate further intellectual property protection for the organization’s intellectual property.

Organizations must ensure that any submission under any BAA Addendum is free of any third party proprietary data rights that would impact the license granted to USAID herein.

VIII. Standard Clauses and Provisions of Award

The standard clauses or provisions for awards are generally prescribed by law and regulation and will vary considerably by award type. Information regarding clauses and provisions will be offered to the Apparently Successful Partner when the award type is identified.

IX. Obtaining the BAA and Addenda

This BAA and any future Addenda can be downloaded from http://www.grants.gov and http://www.fbo.gov. Issuance of this BAA does not constitute an award or commitment on the part of USAID, nor does it commit USAID or any of its funding partners to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals. Further, USAID reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received.

http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/