Limited Sources Justification. MEL-P TEC Increase (for SAM).pdf

LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

TO:

FROM:

, Acting Deputy Mission Director

Fitria Wahid, Contracting Officer’s Representative

SUBJECT: Limited-Sources Justification for the TEC Increase of the USAID Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Platform, Task Order No. 72049720M00001, Procured under a GSA Schedule

DATE: December 12, 2023

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale justifying the use of limited sources, in accordance with FAR 8.405-6.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Indonesia Mission requests to increase the Total Estimated Cost (TEC) for the GSA PSS Contract No. GS-00F-210DA Task Order No. 72049720M00001 USAID/Indonesia MEL Platform, awarded to the Panagora Group, and procured under the GSA Schedule. This Limited-Source-Justification has been completed in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a).

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved:

This is a request to approve an increase to the TEC in the amount of $3,500,000 for this task order implemented by the Panagora Group. The task order is for an up to five-year (three base years and two option years) activity. The procurement of the task order is in accordance with FAR 8.4 for an order under the GSA Professional Service Schedule (PSS) mechanism, Category Management - Spend Under Management Tier 2, with time-and-materials as the type of order preference. Panagora Group is a woman-owned U.S Small Business, it has received Satisfactory to Exceptional CPARS ratings to date, and it is successfully implementing the activity.

The task order began on August 18, 2020, and it was previously modified on May 25, 2022, to exercise Option Year 1 and 2, increasing the total estimated amount from $11,325,124 (base period) to $17,837,351, and extending the period of performance from August 17, 2023 (base period) to August 17, 2025.

Under the requested action, the Panagora Group will continue to provide technical assistance and services to the Mission through the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Platform (MEL-P) activity within the current scope of work and period of performance.

3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs, including the estimated value:

The activity is currently providing services and support to the USAID/Indonesia Mission in the implementation of the Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for 2020-2025. The support includes technical assistance, consulting, and advisory services related to monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) and other relevant technical expertise, provided through five components:

Component 1 - Monitoring Support Services Component 2 - Performance and Impact Evaluation Component 3 - Research, Assessment and Data Analysis Component 4 - Consulting and Advisory Services & Logistical Support Services.

Component 5 - Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA) activities.

The requested increase in the award TEC is estimated to be $3,500,000, bringing the new award TEC for the 5-year activity to $21,337,351.

4. Authority and supporting rationale (see 8.405-6(a)(1)(i) and (b)(1)) and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service.

Authority Logical Follow-on - FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with the applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.

In the interest of economy and efficiency, this action must be issued on a sole-source basis because it is a logical follow-on and the best value for the U.S. government, since the time for a re-competition would impact the ability of USAID to continue the work. The action would permit USAID to continue its work with minimal risk of disruption of services that could adversely affect its ability to meet its goals.

Rationale The activity was designed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there have been many changes in the global, regional, and local context that required the Mission and MEL-P to modify the initial implementation plan, particularly for the work under Component 4. As it was not possible to anticipate a pandemic and how USAID would respond to it, it was also not possible to anticipate the urgent need to hire a large number of consultants related to the ongoing U.S. COVID-19 global response and recovery plan in the country.

Under Component 4, 37 consultants have been hired to date, and more are expected. Most consultants are embedded in the Government of Indonesia (GOI)’s ministries/organizations as USAID’s counterparts. The initial vision for the use of Component 4 of the contract was for less than 10 consultants, so this number was significantly higher than anticipated.

In addition, MEL-P’s service provision under Component 4 was initially planned to be limited to one year, while the Mission was setting up a new stand-alone activity that provides similar services to MEL-P’s Component IV. Unfortunately, the Mission is experiencing a delay in the procurement of the stand-alone activity and as a consequence, MEL-P has continued and is expected to provide Component 4 service to the Mission at least until the end of 2024 to meet the Mission’s needs.

Proportionally, the expenditures for Component 4 to date equal almost 35% of the total expenditures for all Components.

Outside Component 4, MEL-P’s support for the other Components (1, 2, 3, and 5) to the Mission remains critical, particularly with the preparation of, and various assessments for, the development of the new CDCS which will start in early 2025.

The Mission considered ending MEL-P when the activity reached the TEC ceiling. However, this would sacrifice the implementation of MEL-related tasks for the Mission, as currently there are no existing mechanisms that could provide these needed services for the Mission. The choice of ending MEL-P sooner would also affect the provision of services of the consultants hired through Component 4 to the GOI, which could negatively impact USAID’s relationship with the GOI.

In the interest of economy and efficiency, this action must be issued on a sole-source basis because it is a logical follow-on and the best value for the U.S. government. The time for a re-competition would require an increased level of effort and is not cost effective. This inefficiency would impact the ability of USAID to continue the work. It would also be inefficient for another contractor to seamlessly pick up the tasks where Panagora left off if the award was to be recompeted, especially with the rapid timeline of consultant recruitment and the support USAID is committed to provide to the GOI.

Panagora has staff on the ground, relationships with stakeholders, and procedures in place to provide the services. The action would permit USAID to continue its work with minimal risk of disruption of services that could adversely affect its ability to meet its goals.

The authority cited above, Logical Follow-on - FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) states that competition can be limited in the event that “following open source procedures would result in inefficiency.” USAID partners with the Indonesia Ministry of Health on shared health priorities in the country, including tropical and contagious diseases, and protecting mothers and newborns from deaths due to preventable causes. Indonesia has the 2nd highest burden of tuberculosis (TB) in the world, after India. The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Indonesia has also reached a critical point. In addition, Indonesia’s maternal mortality ratio and neonatal mortality rate remain high compared to regional and income peers.

Meanwhile, the crisis caused by COVID-19 created a significant impact on GOI budget priorities and allocations, and diverted resources away from some of the GOI-USG shared health priorities.

Accordingly, the Mission’s provision of technical assistance through consultants to the Ministry of Health to continue the partnerships and to assist on life-saving work in TB, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 transition and recovery work and maternal and newborn care, is necessary and compelling; and following open procedures would result in unacceptable delays which shared GOI-USG health priorities cannot afford.

5. Determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with 8.404(d).

The cost for the services offered are based on the GSA schedule and are priced at fixed hourly rates for performance of specific tasks in the scope of work. GSA has already determined the prices of supplies and fixed-price services, and rates for services offered at hourly rates under scheduled contracts to be fair and reasonable. Therefore, a price evaluation as required by 8.405-2(d) was completed. The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated level of effort and the mix of labor to perform the tasks being ordered is reasonable. The action represents the best value to the government and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted in 2019, and the proposed action does not change the established rates or modify the services; hence it was determined that no additional market research was necessary.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

The proposed action is in the best interest of the U.S. Government to meet the Mission’s needs as well as those of the Government of Indonesia’s, since the consultants are assisting the GOI’s development objectives–which align with the Mission’s CDCS–while embedded within government ministries. Our continued assistance to the GOI, through these embedded advisors will also reinforce the Agency’s role as a trusted strategic advisor and partner, and help ensure the sustainability of USAID’s investments. The action would also ensure that the services under Component 4 can still be delivered, without sacrificing the implementation of the tasks and plans for Components 1, 2, 3 and 5.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

No further cost increase or time extension for the activity will be requested. Future procurement for MEL services to the Mission will be a full and open competition, and will be put on the business forecast prior.

9. Technical or Requirement Personnel Certification

In accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(x), I hereby certify that the technical statements included above, which form a basis for the justification, are complete and accurate.

Fitria Wahid Contracting Officer’s Representative

10. Contracting Officer Certification

Based on the limited sources circumstance described above, I hereby certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Mohib Ahmed Supervisory Contracting Officer

11. Approving Official Determination

I have determined that FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C), as described above, appropriately applies to this order and approved by signing below.

Acting Deputy Mission Director Approving Official

Fitria Wahid

Digitally signed by Fitria Wahid Date:

2023.12.28 08:27:44 +07'00'

Mohib Ahmed

Digitally signed by Mohib Ahmed Date: 2023.12.28 08:52:24 +07'00'

Mohib Ahmed

Digitally signed by Mohib Ahmed Date: 2024.01.12 08:33:13 +07'00'