Amendment Addendum02_LON APS India Q&As.pdf

AMENDMENT 01

To the CALL FOR CONCEPT PAPERS

‘IMPROVING THE CASCADE OF TB CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES AMONG

TRIBAL POPULATIONS IN INDIA’

ADDENDUM 02

to TB LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS NETWORK (LON) ANNUAL PROGRAM

STATEMENT

APS NO.: 7200AA19APS00001

The purpose of the amendment is to provide answers to questions from interested parties.

Please refer to Attachment 1 for details.

List of Attachment:

Attachment 1: Questions & Answers: TB LON APS NO. 7200AA19APS00001 (Addendum 02)

Patricia Bradley Agreement Officer

Attachment 1

Questions & Answers: TB LON APS NO. 7200AA19APS00001 (Addendum 02)

Question 1. What is the expected nature and level of alignment with the Government of India’s National Strategic Plan 2017-2025 for TB Elimination in India? How much should the recipient align with the interventions / activities listed out in the plan?

Answer: All activities undertaken by USAID/India in TB align with the Government of India’s National Strategic Plan 2017-2025 for TB Elimination in India.

Question 2. How does USAID measure the gender focus?

Answer: Please refer to LON APS No. 7200AA19APS00001, ‘Section A.7. Gender Integration in LON’ for gender information.

Question 3. Is USAID planning to work with one or multiple organizations under this grant?

Answer: USAID anticipates supporting one Cooperative Agreement or Grant for a period of up to four years under LON APS NO.: 7200AA19APS00001, Addendum No. 02.

Question 4. Can consortiums apply for the grant? If yes, what is the definition of ‘consortium’ or ‘partnership’?

Answer: Please refer to LON APS Addendum No. 2, ‘Section III - Eligibility Information’.

Question 5. Would a letter of support from consortium partners be required as part of the concept note? Can these be provided as additional documents apart from the prescribed sections of the concept paper template? Can these be provided during the co-creation stage if the applicant gets selected?

Answer: No. The applicant is required to provide information about their proposed partners, in accordance with ‘Section V. - Application and Review Process’ of the LON APS, Addendum No.

02.

Question 6. Will the grant amount be disbursed equally over the years or is it as per the program requirement each year? What would be the documentation needed for the disbursement of funds?

Answer: The total estimated ceiling price of the Cooperative Agreement or the Grant is up to $6,284,000 for a period of four years. However, subject to the availability of funds; satisfactory progress of the project; and continued relevance to USAID program activities funds will be incrementally obligated.

Question 7. TB is one the most important health focus areas of Tribal Health Collaborative.

However, the tribal health collaborative has not yet demonstrated an outcome. Can the applicant showcase TB-specific track record/evidence of prospective partners of the consortium / collaborative for the purpose of the grant?

Answer: Yes. USAID is, however, interested in proposed outcomes from the submitted concept note.

Question 8. The eligibility point (2) has as its principal place of business or operations' does not clarify if the applicant has to have a presence in the proposed district or state (location) in India.

Answer: The eligibility point (2) has as its principal place of business or operations' in India. The applicant does not have to have presence in the proposed district or state.

Question 9. How many states can be proposed by an applicant as the target location for the project?

Answer: There is no limit to the number of states that can be proposed.

Question 10. What is the maximum and minimum duration to be proposed for the project?

Answer: In accordance with ‘Section V. - Application and Review Process of the LON APS Addendum 02, “Based on the activities proposed by the Applicant, the proposed award size and duration must be specified in the Concept Paper.” The duration of the award cannot exceed four years, subject to the availability of funds.

Question 11. Are all the 5 objectives to be addressed in the project, if proposed for less than 4 years?

Answer: The activity has 5 objectives and the applicant can address as many as they require in order to meet the outcomes from this activity. (Refer to Section II. Purpose of LON APS Addendum 02, for details).

Question 12. What applicant organization is expected to enter under the below heading of the USAID TB LON CONCEPT PAPER TEMPLATE “D. Authorized Geographic Code The authorized geographic code for the procurement of services and commodities is 937.”

Answer: This section is for information. This requirement is for prime and will flow down to all contracts and subawards issued under this award.

(Ref. https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1876/310.pdf)

Question 13. The concept paper page limit is 5 pages. Does this limit include annexes, additional documents, charts, graphs, etc.?

Answer: As is specified under section ‘V. Application and Review Process’ Any pages submitted beyond the 5-page limit will not be evaluated. This includes annexes, additional documents, charts, graphs, etc.

Question 14. The call for proposal clearly states that only local entities can apply as prime and that they are free to work along with international organizations. In light of the recent Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) amendments by the Government of India restricting sub-granting of foreign funds, the applicant would like to explore if an international development agency can be considered in this APS as prime.

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1876/310.pdf https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1876/310.pdf

Answer: Only the Local non-governmental entities are eligible to submit a concept paper under the LON APS.

Question 15. Is there an estimated size of Tribal Population, that the USAID Mission is envisaging to be covered through this intervention?

Answer: No estimated size has been established. As with all investments, USAID will be looking for maximum return on investment.

Question 16. Would states with significant tribal populations such as West Bengal and Telangana be also considered as significant geographic locations for this proposal?

Answer: Applicants are free to identify substantive tribal populations in geographies of their choice.

Question 17. Keeping in mind the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance (PLGHA) regulations, would the applicant be encouraged to work closely with private health care providers within this proposal?

Answer. Within the context of PLGHA the applicant has the opportunity to provide non-financial technical assistance to the private health care providers such as including them for training and workshops.

Question 18. Can an organization that had applied for the LON earlier, reapply?

Answer: Yes, organizations applied in the previous LON APS Round, can reapply.

Question 19.

(a) Recently, the funding (sub grantee) issue emerged out of the FCRA Amendment ACT by the Government of India. If the proposal is submitted by forming a consortium of technical agencies and local NGOs then how the funding strategy will be designed by the donor (USAID); since no sub-grants will be permitted anymore, following the FCRA amendment by Government of India (GoI) – will the consortium partners design their individual budgets in alignment with the whole proposal or the partner NGOs assignments will have to be designated as consultancy mode in the whole proposal.

Answer: All applicants must follow the rules and regulations laid down by the Government of India. USAID will provide direct funding to the Prime Recipient of this APS.

(b) For digital support is it needed to have a partner organization in the consortium or their support can be used as consultancy service for the project.

Answer. The applicant can define the support required based on the needs of the proposal.

Question 20. In the LON APS addendum – the total anticipated USAID grant is mentioned as “$6,284,000 for four years.” Is this amount for a single applicant to cover all the states mentioned or is it the whole grant to support all the organizations’ project as approved by USAID?

Answer: $6,284,000 is the funding available for the entire project, over the duration of four years, subject to the availability of funds.

Question 21. Is it necessary to cover all the districts mentioned in the addendum in a single proposal or NGOs can apply for the areas only where they have strong physical presence? Is there any flexibility of opting a district or sub-districts (tribal) which is not mentioned in the addendum?

e.g. In West Bengal – some tribal dominated districts in North Bengal and South Bengal with a very low Tribal TB Notification and success rate?

Answer: Applicants can define the geographies in the proposal that are likely to provide the best possible TB outcomes.