Amendment_2.docx

MCC-13-RFQ-0020

Amendment 2

Q1. The response to Question 13 states that each person proposed must be fluent “in both English and a foreign language.” This implies that any candidate who speaks English only will not be considered. However, the response also states “CV should indicate relevant facilitation and presentation skills in English and, ideally, foreign language settings,” which seems to indicate that fluency in another language is preferred, but not mandatory. Since one can expect work under the BPA to occur in MCC countries where English is an accepted professional language (such as Ghana or Namibia) or where fluency in non-English language (such as Spanish or French) would be of no advantage over an English-only speaker (such as Mongolia), requiring fluency in a second language would seem to unduly limit the pool of technically qualified staff who could be offered. Because of these considerations, we ask that MCC consider making the requirement for fluency in a second language a preference rather than a requirement.

A1. We have a strong preference for Spanish and French speakers, but we’ll review applications from English-only speakers. Given that MCC works in many French and Spanish-speaking countries, it is preferred a candidate has foreign language skills. However, MCC does work in countries where English is the professional language, so we will not discriminate against English-only candidates, particularly for those countries.