RFI for GH SURGE Final.docx.pdf

RFI: 7200AA25RFI00006

SOLICITATION TYPE: Request for Information (RFI) Notification

RFI Number: 7200AA25RFI00006

ISSUANCE DATE: Monday, December 16, 2024

DUE DATE: Friday, January 3, 2025 at 4:00PM EDT

SUBJECT: Global Health SURGE Activity

TARGET ORGANIZATIONS: Alaska Native Corporations (ANC)

RESPONSE EMAIL ADDRESS: mwaez@usaid.gov and stierney@usaid.gov.

Pursuant to FAR Part 10, FAR 15.201(e) the United States Government, represented by the U.S.

Agency for International Development (USAID), is conducting analysis to identify eligible Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) to implement the Global Health SURGE (GH SURGE) Activity. GH SURGE provides the Bureau for Global Health (GH), and Missions with readily accessible high quality, external technical expertise to design and support the achievement of U.S. Government (USG) health objectives. This activity spans all Foreign Assistance Health Areas as well as cross-cutting health issues such as gender, health systems strengthening, environment, science, and technology. Please see attachment III for details of the Statement of Work (SOW).

Please note the following:

● This Request for Information (RFI) is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP) and in no way commits USAID to issue an RFP or to make an award.

● Responding to this RFI will NOT give any advantage to or preclude any Alaska Native Corporations from any RFP that may be subsequently issued to any/all interested parties.

● All responses and response contents to this RFI will be considered as Market Research information for planning purposes only and will not be binding on the parties. All information submitted in response to this announcement is voluntary; the United States

Government will not pay for information requested nor will it compensate any respondent for any cost incurred in developing information provided to the United

States government.

mailto:mwaez@usaid.gov mailto:stierney@usaid.gov

No proposals will be accepted or considered at this stage. USAID may choose to publish the RFP through www.sam.gov. It is the potential offeror’s responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any solicitation.

Thank you for your interest in the subject request for information.

Sincerely, Linda Boateng Contracting Officer

M/OAA/OHA

http://www.sam.gov/

Attachment I – Instructions

RFI Response Requirements and Instructions

All submissions shall be made by the closing date and time noted on page 1 of this RFI. Only submission via email is required; no hard copy delivery will be accepted. E-mail submissions shall be sent to Mr. Mir “Zarif” Waez, at mwaez@usaid.gov and Ms. Shayn Tierney at stierney@usaid.gov by the due date on Friday, January 3, 2025 at 4:00PM EDT.

All Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) Interested parties are encouraged to submit a response to this inquiry. All submissions must be via email, and should be in the following format:

Email Subject Line: USAID GHSURGE RFI - Organization Name

File Attachment: USAID GH SURGE- Organization Name

Submitted documents and correspondence must be in the English language and MS/word format

(software versions 2008 or newer). The contents must be on A4 or 8x11 size paper, single spaced, with 12-point font, Calibri with one-inch margins on all sides. Responses should be no more than

Five (5) pages total with up to one page summarizing your organization’s capacity to support the

USAID/GH objectives and four pages to respond directly to some or all of the questions in attachment I. Content of cover emails will not be considered part of the submission or page count.

Submissions will receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt. USAID asks respondents not to send any additional information other than what is requested above and to adhere to the page limits mentioned.

USAID intends to identify an Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) who is eligible to receive an award of up to $25 million. Only the eligible parties are invited to answer the questions and provide feedback on items listed below. The predominant NAICS code is contemplated to be 541690 - Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services, Small Business Size $19 Million. An organization that is not considered an Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this RFI.

The Government will not review any information, including attachments, more than the five (5) pages, unless otherwise stated in this section. We look forward to your responses to this RFI.

mailto:mwaez@usaid.gov mailto:stierney@usaid.gov

Attachment II

QUESTIONS

Organization Name:

Unique Entity Identifier(UEI):

Address:

Point of Contact:

Email:

Similar Current ot Past

Performance Contracts:

Question 1: Please explain your organization/partnerships or consortium capacities and capabilities for implementing GH-SURGE activities in USAID/Washington and Missions worldwide.

Response:

Question 2: Please provide information about your organizations/partnerships or consortium size in terms of staff number, geographic coverage, annual revenue and institutional support services you have provided to any government agencies in the last 10 years.

Response:

Question 3: Please explain your organization capabilities in securing facility access or security clearance for consultants to work in a government facility. Please describe the steps and timeline for securing facility access.

Response:

Question 4: Are your policies and procedures aligned with USAID rules and regulations?

If yes, please provide the project name, short description of scope of work and the contact details of the Contracting Officer and Contracting Officer Representative.

Response:

Attachment III

Description of Services

1.1. Background

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is committed to improving global health by confronting health challenges through raising the quality, availability, and use of essential health services. USAID's objective is to improve global health by focusing on three strategic priorities: 1) Preventing Child and Maternal Deaths; 2) Controlling the HIV/AIDS Epidemic; and 3) Combating Infectious Diseases. USAID manages approximately $6 billion in foreign assistance funds annually through Bilateral, Regional, and Washington managed health programs. Most of the health funding is split between Mission funds which are managed out of USAID’s in-country Missions; and Core funds which are managed out of Washington, D.C.

The Bureau for Global Health (GH) advances USAID objectives in Global Health by supporting health programs in partner countries, advancing research and innovation in areas relevant to overall Agency health objectives, and transferring new technologies through its own programmatic work, coordination with other donors, and a portfolio of grants. GH comprises five technical offices that include: The Office of HIV/AIDS, Office of Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Office of Infectious Disease, Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, and the Office of Health Systems. GH also has a few offices to support the Agency’s core functions such as the Office of Program, Policy, and Planning (P3), Office of Country Support (OCS), and the Office of Professional Development and Management Support (PDMS).

While Missions may be positioned to promote resilience among their partners in the field, over the past five years Missions have faced extreme staffing shortages. Some Missions have spent years recruiting for Health Office Directors and other staff to manage their large Health portfolios. To address the dire staffing needs, USAID/GH is seeking a mechanism to respond quickly and effectively to meet Mission needs. USAID’s aim is to retain a contractor who can quickly deploy highly skilled health professionals who are available to rapidly fill temporary gaps in Mission health teams and manage diverse health portfolios.

1.2. Purpose

This activity will help Missions and GH fill short- and medium-term gaps in expertise to implement the program cycle. The Contractor will provide USAID operating units working on health-related activities with the short- and medium-term technical services of consultants with expertise pertaining to health technical areas and program cycle activities.

1.2.1. History of this Contract

The Global Health SURGE contract builds on the work of multiple USAID central procurements with the primary focus of institutional support activities. Seven GH Bureau procurements (GH Pro, GH Tech, POPTECH, MEDS, ASSIST, SYNERGY, and most recently GH-TAMS), preceded GH-SURGE, and have consistently provided high quality and responsive services for Mission support and technical assistance. These procurements, spanning over 30 years, provide a historical record of the demonstrated need for short- and medium-term support services and to provide quality services under the U.S. Government procurement regulations.

GH TAMS managed a high demand and diverse number of requests from Mission and Headquarter (HQ) USAID clients, with more than 1200 requested assignments by the fourth year of the contract. USAID requested that GH-TAMS retain a robust database of consultants (now over 10,000 consultants) and effectively track their performance. The assignments included over 60 GH-TAMS assignments conducted by former Foreign Service Nationals, which demonstrated how a project can use localized USAID talent to contribute to GH technical assistance. GH-TAMS received 130 assignments specifically focused on COVID-19 support and initiating additional activities in response to the pandemic. Upon request from USAID, the contractor was able to deploy consultants quickly on these assignments to address the increased demands missions faced due to COVID-19.

Overall, GH-TAMS was evaluated by USAID clients as generally able to fulfill the above critical operational principles and deemed the mechanism as flexible, responsive, able to recruit competent, knowledgeable consultants, and able to track and manage financial resources from multiple funding sources. Additionally, based on USAID’s request, GH-TAMS improved its capacity for recruiting local consultants, i.e., Cooperating country national (CCN) or Third-Country National (TCN) consultants, throughout the life of the contract. The use of CCNs and TCNs strengthens local capacity and generally has had budgetary advantages. USAID will continue to promote this aim to fill technical roles with local hires in the GH SURGE procurement.

In Year 3 of the GH-TAMS contract, per contract requirements, the prime contractor conducted a Self-Assessment of their work. The findings from surveyed clients identified a set of critical operational principles that are required to best serve the needs of the Agency in the context of requests for technical assistance and Mission support:

● Flexibility — Responsiveness of mechanism in the face of changes in time periods, budgets, SOWs, areas of focus, staffing, and interactions with USAID staff. For example, if an Ebola outbreak occurs in Uganda, then the contractor will recruit consultants who have outbreak response experience to respond to the outbreak as requested by USAID/Uganda’s Health Team.

● Timely Responses – The contractor is expected to respond to the requestor within 3 business days after they receive an approved scope of work (SOW) from the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COR). USAID staff carry heavy workloads and can operate efficiently only if they receive timely and substantive responses to requests.

● Technical competence – The contractor must recruit consultants who have the requisite years of experience and technical expertise that match the scopes of work sent by missions for staffing support. Furthermore, the contractor must ensure that the consultants who are presented as candidates for an assignment meet the technical competencies in the SOW.

● Quality products – Quality assurance is critical in reaching various health and development targets. Meeting or exceeding technical, programmatic and leadership standards in producing deliverables would be expected of consultants.

The Self-Assessment concluded that GH-TAMS brings a nucleus of experienced staff and procedures from previous procurements of its kind, a coveted consultant database, assignments ready to be processed or carried over to the follow-on mechanism, and a USAID clientele familiar with what the procurement does and ready to use it.

The high utilization rate of the Technical Assistance (TA) TA/Mission Support components of the GH-TAMS mechanism (estimated average of $10 million field funding; 4 million core funding per year for the past several years) as well as feedback from the self-assessment indicate that TA and coverage support are critical for the successful design, management and implementation of USAID health programs. In reviewing similar institutional contracts that provide TA or coverage support, GH-TAMS filled a critical role in providing short- and medium-term, high-quality TA and coverage support which is beyond the scope or capacity of other existing mechanisms.

There are currently no other mechanisms within the Global Health Bureau that provide the range and type of specialized technical assistance that this type of mechanism offers. This procurement advances the progress made from previous procurements in management and technical assistance to Missions by prioritizing the rapid deployment of highly qualified consultants. This procurement will improve upon the predecessor’s management and business practices in rapidly responding to Mission requests and improve upon hiring practices through the utilization of existing consultant databases and expanding consultant networks to access a broad range of subject matter experts to fill requests articulated by operating units. For example, the expectation is that the contractor is expected to respond to the requestor within 3 business days of receiving an approved scope of work from the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COR); provide 3 candidates for the assignment; provide a draft cost estimate for the assignment within 2 weeks of receipt of the SOW; and deploy the selected consultant once funding has been received from the mission. The contractor is also expected to maintain a consultant database of at least 6000 consultants (which will be transferred from the incumbent) with a variety of technical skills. If the database does not have consultants who can respond to missions’ needs, then the contractor will recruit the specific technical area needed by the field.

1.2.1.1. Current Mechanisms that Address Specialized or Short- to Medium-Term Gaps

The Global Health Bureau has a few institutional support contracts to provide quality technical expertise to complement existing staffing structures and deliver high quality programs both at headquarters and mission level.

Foreign Service Officer (FSO) Rovers, Personal Service Contract (PSC) Rovers, and Firehouse Intermittent PSCs The Rover and Firehouse mechanisms deploy staff to Missions to support their health program management needs for extended periods of time over the course of each year. They are available to provide senior management coverage due to absences related to posting gaps, and home, sick, maternity and other periodic leave. Responsibilities may include strategic planning, health program designs, evaluation and overall supervision of and support to Mission staff.

Responsibilities can also include all the responsibilities of a Mission Health Director - strategic planning, health program designs, evaluation and overall supervision of and support to mission staff. All these mechanisms provide staff with full security and medical clearances, as well as diplomatic passports. The Rovers have full USDH (Direct Hire) signing and supervision authority.

1.2.1.2. Long-Term Staffing Mechanisms

The GH-SURGE mechanism is not intended to substitute institutional contracting or short-term staffing mechanisms but to complement existing mechanisms to ensure that maximum utilization of human resources is achieved and that adequate skill sets are matched to the operating unit needs. Long-term staffing mechanisms have been developed to provide consistent non-direct hire support to Missions, Bureau of Global Health and Regional Bureaus to meet health objectives. These long-term staffing mechanisms provide technical assistance and Mission support for a longer duration (1 year +) and are complemented by short-term gap filling mechanisms to provide comprehensive support to the field and headquarters.

The Global Health Training, Advisory and Support Contract (GHTASC) project is an institutional support services project that assists USAID to achieve its Global Health objectives by providing contracted individuals on a long-term basis to provide technical, professional, operational, and support staff to bureaus and Missions and complements the existing direct hire workforce.

Persons hired under this contract may serve in the Bureau for Global Health, Regional Bureaus in Washington, D.C., or in field Missions around the world (excluding support staff) and complement USAID’s cadre of health professionals in technical and professional specialties.

Contracted individuals focus on supplementing health programs with their specific skills and experience and are expected to contribute to Agency technical leadership in the health sector with the following focus:

● Improving global health, including child, maternal and reproductive health;

● Reducing disease, especially HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and polio; and

● Increasing access to improved drinking water and sanitation services.

The American Association of Science (AAAS) Fellows Program. AAAS aims to expand and empower the scientific and technical workforce at USAID to stimulate novel thinking for solutions in development and ensures that such thinking spreads and remains throughout the Agency. The mechanism places Fellows in Washington, D.C. and Mission assignments on a long-term basis to provide scientific technical expertise to reach Agency goals.

Sustaining Technical and Analytic Resources (STAR). STAR is a five-year capacity-building and learning Fellowship program. Its objectives are: 1) strengthen the capacity of diverse American and international health professionals to make innovative contributions to global health; and 2) create groundbreaking collaboration opportunities for academic institutions and professional associations in USAID health priority countries to create open-access knowledge-sharing systems that benefit the global health field. Missions place fellows (American, international or local) in local organizations or ministries of health.

1.2.3. Coordination with Institutional Support Mechanisms

A key recommendation from the predecessor project, GH TAMS, is to establish a Bureau-wide or cross-Bureau approach to the procurement of service support projects to avoid gaps in services, duplication, competition, and inefficiencies. The Office of Country Support (OCS) plays a critical role in coordinating this assistance by managing GH’s country support structure, including coordinating technical TDYs and long-term management support. This support aims to assist Missions in achieving development objectives: developing, implementing, and monitoring high-quality programs and activities, meeting Agency monitoring and reporting requirements, and facilitating Washington/Mission alignment of health program priorities. Therefore, GH-TAMS activities will be managed through GH/OCS to provide central oversight to surge support to Missions and collaboration with other GH offices and ensure complementarity of mechanisms to ensure that Missions receive the most appropriate level of short to medium-term support.

1.3. Scope of Work

1.3.1. General Scope

The contractor will provide USAID with experienced and qualified consultant services for short-term and medium-term assignments to address substantive technical needs and support managerial tasks in the health sector in USAID/Washington and Agency operating units globally.

For purposes of the Contract, the term “short-term” shall be defined to cover time periods of from one day to 90 days. The term “medium-term” shall be defined to cover time periods of from 91 days to 130 days (6 months).

The contractor will identify appropriate staff or consultants with the required expertise, availability, language proficiencies, and experience needed for each task as requested by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). The contractor must also be willing to work in Critical Priority Countries (CPCs), as needed. CPCs are high-priority countries for the U.S.

Government and are most often already enduring some form of armed conflict and staffing shortages as a result.

The ability of the contractor to respond to multiple urgent and priority tasks and deploy high-quality consultant services within a rapid time frame is key to the success of this contract.

During periods of high activity, five to ten or more tasks may be requested in a short period (e.g., a week). Some tasks may be requested on very short notice, for example, one to two weeks, and rapid response will be essential to ensure the effectiveness of the activity.

While GH SURGE will not have a formal MEL Plan, there will be reporting requirements that the COR team will review for performance purposes. An external evaluation in Year 3 of the contract will assess progress to date, and the COR team will have quarterly check-in calls with the senior staff on the contract to monitor performance.

1.3.2. Definition of USAID Health-related Programs

For purposes of this contract, the term USAID “health-related” shall be defined as a program/project/activity that meets the following two criteria:

A. The health program/project/activity is implemented by a USAID operating unit (for example, a USAID/Washington bureau or office; USAID country or regional Mission); and

B. The health program/project/activity is funded in full or in part by the U.S. Congress’ appropriations.

1.3.3. Contract Component

The contractor shall be held responsible for the requirements of the two contract components described below:

1.3.3.1. Technical Assistance - This component provides quality consultants to deliver technical assistance for strategic planning, procurement design, strategic information and monitoring, and other technical health-related program areas within the GH Bureau, Regional Bureaus, Missions, and other USAID operating units.

Illustrative activities include but are not limited to:

● Support for the strategic planning of Country Operational Plans (COP), including coordination of technical inputs, technical discussions, and submission of final documents.

● Support for strategic information and data analytics of President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs (data collection systems including Health Management.

Information System (HMIS), Design and Analysis Toolkit for Inventory and Monitoring (DATIM), Site Improvement Through Monitoring System (SIMS), expenditure reporting, etc.) and other health programs in the field.

● Support for strategic planning for Malaria Operational Plans (MOP) and other health strategic plans, including assisting with technical discussions with in-country stakeholders and technical experts, drafting documents for submission.

● Technical assistance for the implementation of health activities in the field (HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB, Maternal/Child Health, FP/RH, Global Health Security, Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), etc.).

● Technical assistance to the design of health activities project design, incorporation of technical inputs, and coordination of procurement processes that do not involve inherently governmental functions.

1.3.3.1.A. Specific Requirements for Technical Assistance

The contractor shall provide individual experts and/or teams to carry out the following functions on a short-term or medium-term basis to Missions or USAID/Washington offices:

● Strategic planning and program design; and

● Other health area-specific technical assistance.

1.3.3.1.B. Strategic Planning and Program Design

The contractor must provide consultants to support various stages of the planning and design process for project activities, as requested by the client. Design tasks may require analysis of previous assessments and evaluations and could be specifically for the preparation of bilateral and multilateral agreements with partners including government recipients or strategic documents for internal planning purposes. Input on strategic planning and program design activities shall include, but not be limited to, support for the design, development, and/or refinement of the following:

● Sector strategies, Activity approval documents, or options papers; including Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS), Activity Approval Memos (AAM), and other guiding strategic documents.

● Design documents for obligating instruments, including scopes of work, and other documents for the development and preparation of solicitations.

● Sector or program results frameworks; implementation plans, including operational plans and strategies for the implementation of programs.

● Performance Monitoring Plans (PMPs), project or activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) plans and other Strategic Information Frameworks, including indicators, baseline and target values, data sources, data collection methods and timelines, data management, data quality assessments, data interpretation and use, and results reporting.

1.3.3.1.C. Other Health Area-Specific Technical Assistance:

The Contractor will support USAID by providing high-quality consultants to provide technical assistance in specific areas such as, but not limited to HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, maternal and newborn health, family planning, neglected tropical disease, and emerging pandemic threats and global health security, in addition to strategic information and monitoring of programs to both the Global Health Bureau and Mission teams.

Consultants will work closely with GH and Mission points of contact to carry out the assignments which may include working with several members of Agency staff and leadership, technical backstops, and partners, as relevant. Consultants will be required to keep abreast of the latest technical guidance in their area of expertise to provide the highest quality product to USAID.

1.3.3.2. Management Support - This component provides coverage and management support for the administration of health programs in USAID Missions and USAID/Washington to fill gaps arising from temporary absences, staffing gaps, and other surge demands as requested by USAID. This support aims to assist Missions in achieving agreed development objectives;

developing, implementing and monitoring high-quality programs and activities; meeting Agency design, monitoring and report requirements and facilitating Washington/Mission alignment of USAID health priorities.

Illustrative activities include but are not limited to:

● Gap filling coverage for Health Office Directors and other health technical team leads in

USAID Missions to support management of health programs.

● Short- to medium-term coverage of USAID/Washington GH Bureau staff in technical and operational tasks and duties.

USAID will provide the terms for each assignment scope of work to be carried out under this contract. Most assignments will address some aspect of USAID’s program cycle (particularly in managing, planning, achieving, and assessing results), codified in USAID Automated Directive System (ADS) Programming Policy (USAID series 200), which is available publicly online.

A critical role of the Global Health Bureau is to provide integrated technical and programmatic assistance to USAID Mission health teams. In order to effectively support USAID Mission health teams, the Global Health Bureau requires a robust cadre of technical and management staff to provide consistent and reliable technical, administrative, and operational support and guidance to the field. The GH SURGE procurement will recruit and hire highly qualified consultants experienced in USAID Agency business practices to provide short- to medium-term coverage to complement and support existing USAID/Washington staff and long-term contractors providing support to the field.

The Mission coverage support component provides short-term and medium-term coverage support for USAID Mission offices overseas to fill critical gaps from temporary absences. Under Mission leadership supervision, consultants shall provide support in planning, managing, and carrying out tasks identified by Mission POCs. GH SURGE consultants must be experienced health professionals with the knowledge and experience to lead large and complex health portfolios. They must also demonstrate a high level of independent judgment and the ability to work across multiple levels of the management structure within a Mission. It is noted that while GH SURGE consultants can provide technical input, they will not be able to sign documents, manage staff, or engage in other inherently governmental functions (as described below).

1.4. Core Operating Principles

1.4.1. Independence and Impartiality

It is expected that a significant portion of contract services will involve services or products that are inherently procurement sensitive, such as recommendations for the design of a future USAID health-related procurement. The contractor shall always adhere to the principles of independence and impartiality to contract operations related to activity or project design and shall provide oversight mechanisms to avoid an actual or appearance of a conflict of interest.

USAID will continue to monitor Contractor affiliations and corporate relationships consistent with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 9.5. Currently, USAID has not made any determination regarding the eligibility of the GH SURGE Contractor, or any affiliated entity, to receive other USAID contracts. Such a determination will be fact-specific and may depend on the corporate relationship, contractual requirements, and ability to mitigate a potential conflict.

Deciding whether to bid on a solicitation, particularly one like this that includes design, evaluation, and audit, is a business decision, and the Offeror/Contractor will need to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of bidding on various solicitations recognizing that there could be un-mitigatable conflicts. Note audit as defined is to conduct the independent review and examination of system records and activities. While it is possible that proposed firewalls/arrangements could sufficiently mitigate a potential OCI, it may be premature to approve such arrangements/mitigation plans at this time.

The contractor must vet the backgrounds and affiliations of all proposed consultants for procurement-sensitive consultancies, securing both a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement affirming they will not use or share confidential or non-public information generated or being shared with them under this contract with others or for purposes not specified in the contract, and a Lack of Conflict-of-Interest form affirming that they do not have a conflict of interest.

1.4.2. Inherently Governmental Functions

The contractor shall ensure that consultants placed in USAID assignments will not perform inherently governmental functions nor supervise USAID employees nor make final decisions or sign documents that commit the U.S. Government or represent the USG. These functions cannot be carried out by the contractor and shall be monitored where perceptions of specific activities taken by individuals and/or teams are communicated. See OMB 11-01 for detailed guidance on the subject.

1.4.3. Security Clearance

The ability of recruited consultants to work within the Global Health Bureau and overseas

Missions is dependent on the contractor’s ability to secure a level of security clearance/ background check relevant to the requirements of the requesting client. The contractor must possess the ability to secure facility access clearance and full security clearances for employees and consultants hired to perform requested assignments. It is expected that the contractor will hire their own Security Officer to process all clearances in-house.

1.4.4. Coordination and Collaboration

The contractor shall work to collaborate closely with GH Offices and Mission staff, and, where requested by USAID, with representatives of partner USG agencies; state and local government officials; representatives of other bilateral donors; and participants from international technical organizations. When USAID or other international agency staff, fellows, contractors and/or grantees are included in teams with a GH SURGE staff member or consultant, the Contractor’s responsibility may include coordination and logistics support but will not include financial support for their participation.

1.4.5. Local Capacity Utilization

The contractor shall contribute to USAID’s Localization Agenda and to locally led development in general by purposefully utilizing as much as possible the expertise and capacities of local consultants for the implementation of contract services. Specifically, the contractor shall identify at least one local consultant as one of the candidates provided to USAID to cover an assignment if a security clearance is not required for that assignment. The contractor is only required to propose three candidates per assignment (therefore at least 33% of proposed candidates would be local consultants for those assignments that don’t require a security clearance). The contractor will also identify opportunities to engage with local individuals that have been or currently are partnered with USAID programs or projects, other international partners, local or international Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), or local governments, to facilitate collaboration and increase impact. If, during the life of this contract, GH builds new partnerships with regional centers and in-country institutions with individuals who can participate in the GH SURGE procurement assignments, the contractor shall include those specialists in the consultant pool for upcoming assignments.

1.4.6. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

The U.S. Government has made a commitment to employ advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) principles, which the Department of State has codified in a strategy with the goal of ensuring our workforce “reflects the country we represent.” USAID interprets this as “fully prioritizing, embodying, and advancing DEIA among our people, partners, and programs -at home and abroad.” GH SURGE will internalize these principles when hiring procurement staff, ensuring it reflects its settings. While DEIA principles are universal, the response to ensure DEIA objectives are met will vary to accommodate different settings. For example, while racial diversity may be an issue in the U.S., it may not be in many of the settings where we work, however, ethnic diversity may. The contractor will work with the local Missions to understand the issues in their countries and how GH SURGE should work within the settings to address

DEIA.

1.5. Management of Assignments

For all assignments, the Contractor shall manage activities in an orderly and efficient manner. As requested by the COR, for any given assignment, the activities shall follow a logical sequence of steps, which may include some or all the following illustrative steps.

1.5.1. Step 1 -- Receipt of Request.

For each assignment, a USAID staff member in a headquarters office or field Mission prepares a written request describing the needed work and sends the request to the COR. The request typically contains a preliminary scope of work, list of products or other deliverables, list of expertise needed, time schedule, and estimated level of effort (person-workdays).

1.5.2. Step 2 – Approval of Request.

The COR reviews the written request and determines that the request is within the scope of the contract. The COR then provides the approved written request to the Contractor.

1.5.3. Step 3 – Assignment Scope of Work.

The Contractor prepares an assignment scope of work, to include tasks and results to be achieved, specific timing, and benchmarks/deliverables (if any) for each task. The assignment scope of work shall contain information on the time requirements and qualifications of individuals proposed to carry out the tasks. The assignment scope of work shall outline all documents and other outputs to be produced by each assignment, considering the target audience and purpose. The exact form and content of assignment scope of work and the process for their review by USAID shall be proposed by the Contractor and approved by the COR.

In preparing the Assignment Scope of Work, the Contractor shall ensure their adherence to USAID policies and ensure the effectiveness of the consultant team’s work.

1.5.4. Step 4 -- Identification, Recruitment and Orientation of Consultants.

The Contractor shall initiate searches for qualified consultants by using a combination of techniques, including but not limited to the Contractor’s consultant database, advertising by web-based and other means, and other contacts, ensuring they reach sectors that are underrepresented. All consultant selections are subject to prior approval by both the USAID requesting office or Mission and by the COR. Upon approval, the Contractor will negotiate specific terms with the individual(s) selected for each assignment.

The Contractor is expected to identify and utilize host-country expertise, including individuals (consultants) and institutions, for potential integration across the range of contract activities, as appropriate. The Contractor shall collaborate with other USAID and GH activities to identify and utilize appropriate host-country expertise.

1.5.5. Step 5 – Circulation and Approval of Technical Directive Memo.

Once the assignment scope of work is approved, the contractor shall prepare a Technical Directive Memorandum (TDM) for each Assignment. The TDM shall outline the work to be done, type and number of consultants, their biographical data, including whether local or international, and if not local an explanation, how DEIA was addressed in the recruitment, and a projected timeline. The assignment scope of work is summarized in the TDM, and the full content of the assignment scope of work is incorporated in the TDM by reference. The requesting headquarters office or field Mission will review and provide their concurrence for the TDM. Once agreed by the requester, the COR will review and, if appropriate, provide approval of the TDM.

1.5.6. Step 6 -- Logistics Support.

The Contractor shall provide and arrange for all logistical support in the U.S. and overseas, except when otherwise specified, covering the Contractor’s consultants and staff members, and others as required. Logistical support will include making all arrangements for travel, visas, lodging and other related logistical support, including pre-departure briefings or post-assignment debriefings requested by the customers;

office and computer equipment needed; translation and secretarial support as required;

transportation; and any other logistical support required. A key aspect of the assignment process is the speed with which the Contractor can complete the identification and recruitment process and arrange for travel and logistical support.

If requested in the assignment scope of work, the Contractor shall implement a team-planning meeting for orientation of consultants (typically takes two days). The orientation can take place at the contractor's site, in-country, or virtually. The purpose of this orientation is to ensure that the consultants are properly briefed on historical data involving the program and/or country of assignment, and for the purpose of team building, understanding the process and expectations. This orientation will be accomplished primarily by the Contractor providing background documents, relevant papers and/or studies, reviewing the scope of work with the consultant(s), and clarifying their roles and responsibilities.

The Contractor will work with the COR to communicate with in-country institutions as needed to ensure that the appropriate people are informed and in compliance with team schedules and plans to facilitate productivity of the fieldwork.

1.5.7. Step 7 -- Editing, Clearing and Distribution of Draft Reports, and Publishing of Final Reports.

For most assignments, a report will be required, as stated in the TDM. The Contractor shall provide the reports in formats and with deadlines as called for under the TDM and will supervise the consultants' preparation of such reports. For reports prepared for field assignment, draft reports typically will be due within seven working days of a consultant's return from a country visit, or completion of a country assignment, unless otherwise approved by the COR. A Mission seeking a draft prior to the consultant’s return should include this expectation in the assignment scope of work (Step 3). The Contractor shall prepare draft texts in standard word processing language and submit drafts to the requesting entity. The Contractor shall work closely with the relevant Mission(s) and USAID headquarters offices to ensure that they review drafts before the Contractor is authorized to prepare the final versions.

For those assignments that do not require a formal report, such as when the Contractor is requested to assist in conducting analyses or act as secretariat to a consultative group, the close-out reporting will be established and agreed in the assignment scope of work.

1.5.8. Step 8 -- Assessment of Consultant Performance.

The Contractor shall conduct an evaluation of each consultant's performance within one month after the completion of an assignment. Sources of information on the individual's performance should be sought from respondents such as: the team leader, other team members and the USAID Headquarters project manager or the appropriate USAID Mission staff. The purpose of this evaluation is to solicit feedback on the consultant regarding their skills, performance and overall contribution to the team's performance.

This information will be used internally by the Contractor to evaluate a consultant's performance on previous assignments and as a useful tool in considering that individual for future assignments.

1.5.5. Communication With and Responsiveness to Clients

The contract management team must maintain regular communication with contract clients (both HQ and Mission) to ensure a high degree of responsiveness and timeliness; to solicit and apply client feedback on the quality and content of technical assistance and products, and to allow for continuous general implementation troubleshooting. This communication shall occur at least bi-weekly, and may occur as frequently as daily, during the Management of Assignment Responsibilities, as outlined above in Section 3.5.3. The Contractor must also engage with and maintain regular communication with the USAID management team, composed of the COR and Bureau activity managers, in the active management of assignments. This communication may be via email or regular in person meetings to review active assignments, plan for future scopes of work, and discuss management issues that are relevant to the efficient functioning of the procurement.

The contractor shall establish a communication system that will address all the contract program needs. This communication system will indicate the proposed location of personnel and demonstrate how personnel will be available to ensure a quick turn-around of urgent ad hoc assignments.

1.5.5. Equipment

The Contractor shall establish an office sufficient to support the activities described in this SOW, including consultant workspace, computers, meeting room(s), etc. The Contractor shall possess an internet connection compatible with the USAID electronic mail system and shall be compatible with the latest Agency updated versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, and Adobe Acrobat (PDF). The COR will provide the Contractor with notices from USAID's Chief Information Officer (CIO) with information on possible future upgrades to USAID's computer system.

1.5.6. Consultant Database and Labor Categories

In order to respond to the complete range of possible needs, the Contractor shall maintain a computerized database containing national and international consultants, identified by areas of expertise, language abilities and experience. The Consultant Database shall have the capacity to permit consultants to enter and, as needed, revise, their personal data from a website on the Internet. This database already exists and shall be available for searches and use by USAID and may be used to identify consultants for tasks not related to this contract.

The Contractor shall maintain and update biographical and other data in one or more consultant databases at least annually.

The Contractor shall assess the ease, flexibility, update process, reporting formats, and software capabilities of the current consultant database system, to determine what, if any, changes are required, and propose to the COR any changes and additions as needed.

The contractor shall share a copy of this database with USAID monthly, or upon request from the COR.

1.5.7. Archive Maintenance

The Contractor shall maintain an archive in electronic form of all technical reports prepared under this contract. Formats of electronic files shall be compatible with USAID standards, as listed in Section 3.5.5, Equipment, above. In addition to electronic files from documents prepared under the contract, the Contractor shall maintain archives for technical reports produced under predecessor contracts, in electronic and/or paper form as requested by the

COR.

1.5.8. Tracking of Contract Funding

The Contractor shall establish and maintain financial and cost records for all the proposed, in-process and completed tasks. Financial and cost records shall include all the direct and indirect charges, fees, and other requested cost elements as required by GH Offices, Missions, USAID financial accounting, or Congressional earmarks to facilitate reporting of actual and proposed charges relative to the work carried out under this contract. This will include providing information on operating unit pipelines of funds spent versus obligations (or field buy-in).

These records shall differentiate expenditures by requesting office or Mission, by funding category from the Congressional Appropriation, and by other categories as requested by the COR. Contractor's monthly vouchers shall show for each task, the amount approved for the task, the cost during the month covered by the voucher, and the total cumulative costs through the month of the voucher. Contract funding reports shall be requested by client on an as-needed basis, and their requests will be passed by the COR to the Contractor for production with a one-week turnaround time.

1.5.9. Subcontracts for Specialized Services

In order to efficiently and effectively accomplish the goals of GH, the Contractor may need to subcontract with universities, not-for-profit and for-profit organizations to obtain and support short-term and medium-term technical services of key experts. The Subcontractors will support areas of strategic interest to the Bureau and other parts of the Agency and can hire technical experts to provide technical leadership and support to these and other areas within USAID.

1.5.10. Transition of Work

The Contractor shall take over the nearly continuous flow of incoming requests for activities as currently carried out by the GH TAMS contract. The GH SURGE Contracting Officer will arrange with the incumbent contractor to transfer Government-Owned Property, such as furniture, fixtures, computers, software, storage units and other property to the new Contractor as per the list of property outlined in the existing contractor’s closeout and transition plan. The Contracting Officer will also arrange a transfer to the new Contractor electronic data created during the current contract, including, but not limited to, the consultant database of that project, the website, and other property as determined by the COR.

(End of Draft SOW)