RFI SSN No. RFI-278-21-DRG-HIMAYA-Acquisition.pdf

Subject: Request for Information (RFI) and Sources Sought Notice (SSN) No. RFI-278-21- DRG-HIMAYA-Acquisition

Activity Name: USAID/Jordan Survivor’s Access to Protection from Domestic Violence Activity [USAID Himaya Activity]

Date of Issuance: July 11, 2021

Submission Deadline: July 25, 2021 at 8:00 AM Jordan local time

Via email to: jordan_himaya@usaid.gov

To All Interested Organizations:

Pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10, the U.S. Agency for International Development Mission to Jordan (USAID/Jordan) is conducting market research for a potential prospective activity. This notice has two parts:

1) a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit input from interested organizations on a draft

Activity Outline for a prospective USAID/Jordan activity; and

2) a Sources Sought Notice (SSN) to identify potential sources capable of providing similar services.

The RFI/SSN is solely for information gathering purposes and is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), a Request for Quotation (RFQ), an Invitation for Bids (IFB), a solicitation, or an indication that USAID will contract for the activities described herein. In accordance with FAR

15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Any proposals submitted in response to this request will not be considered and will be discarded. If a solicitation is eventually issued, it will be announced on the sam.gov website: https://sam.gov/ at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that solicitation. It is the responsibility of interested organizations to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to any potential future requirement.

This RFI/SSN is not to be construed as a commitment by the USG to issue any solicitation or ultimately award a contract for services similar to those described in this RFI/SSN. Responses to this notice are strictly voluntary and USAID will not pay respondents for information provided in response to this notice. Respondents are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI/SSN.

Responses to this RFI/SSN will be retained by USAID and will not be returned. USAID may elect to use the information submitted at its discretion. Organizations should not submit any proprietary or otherwise sensitive information. This RFI does not restrict the Government's acquisition approach on a future solicitation, and USAID reserves the right to modify the scope, scale or other details of the planned activities. Similarly, USAID is not obligated to modify its planned approach or otherwise incorporate the input that organizations offer.

mailto:usaid_jordan_himaya@usiad.gov

It should be noted that responding to or providing input in response to this RFI/SSN will not give any advantage to an organization in any subsequent procurement action. Likewise, organizations that choose not to respond will not be precluded from submitting a proposal in response to a subsequent solicitation, if one is ultimately issued. Respondents will receive a confirmation of receipt of its submission. However, USAID will not provide feedback on submissions or answers to any questions submitted in response to this request. Phone inquiries will not be entertained.

INSTRUCTIONS:

USAID welcomes all segments of the public (in the U.S. and abroad) to reply to the RFI and SSN. Small businesses are encouraged to respond. Interested organizations may choose to respond to either or both parts of this notice following the instructions included below.

All responses to this RFI/SSN must be submitted via email by the date and time indicated above to jordan_himaya@usaid.gov. Submission must be in Microsoft Word format as a single email attachment. All pages must be numbered consecutively. Responses must be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, single spaced with one-inch margins on the electronic equivalent of 8.5 x 11-inch paper. The email subject line must include the RFI number and the name of the submitting organization, i.e., “RFI-278-21-DRG-HIMAYA-Acquisition – [Organization name]”.

Responses sent by any other means or in any other format will not be reviewed. Submissions must not exceed the page limitations for each part indicated below. Submissions exceeding the page limits will not be read. Only one submission will be accepted per organization.

Cover Page:

Whether responding to the RFI component, the SSN component or both, all submissions must include a cover page (one page maximum) that includes the following information:

• Organization name and address

• Organization points of contact name, DUNS number (if applicable), telephone number, and email address

• Organization type, i.e., commercial, public sector, educational institution, NGO, etc.

• If applicable, socioeconomic status, e.g., other than small business, small business, woman-owned, veteran-owned, etc.

• Primary field(s) of expertise/work

• Geographic presence, e.g., countries in which your organization is currently working, also noting the countries in which your organization is legally and formally registered

• North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, if applicable

Responses to Part 1 - RFI

If responding to the RFI to provide input on the prospective activity, organizations are requested to carefully review the attached draft Activity Outline and respond to any of the following questions. Answers can be sector-specific or multi-sectoral depending on your organization's expertise.

1) What considerations should be taken into account to ensure equitable access to shelters for survivors of violence? What considerations should be taken regarding establishing additional shelters? Establishment includes infrastructure improvements, staffing, capacity building, etc.

Shelters may be Government of Jordan-run or civil society-run shelters.

2) The interventions envisaged in the draft Activity Outline need to be effectively implemented in a coordinated way but require specialist input from multiple disciplines. How might the activity design best support such an approach?

3) What structural reforms could this activity realistically achieve to support the multi -disciplinary Gender-Based Violence (GBV) programming for the relevant institutions in Jordan? What organizational culture change could this activity realistically achieve across multi-disciplinary service providers?

4) What considerations should be taken into account for the enhancement and full activation of the electronic referral system for cases of violence? Are sub-systems needed for the various providers?

5) What approaches are likely to be both evidence-based and viable in Jordan to address the

GBV survivor’s health needs?

6) Holistic One Stop Shops or One Stop Centers for GBV survivors have been considered a best practice in many countries. Given the diversity of national protection actors, how do you see a

One Stop Shop approach enabling survivor-centric protection services in Jordan?

This portion of an organization’s response must not exceed five (5) pages in total length.

Responses to Part 2 - SSN

USAID seeks capability statements from U.S. and non-U.S. organizations capable of performing the activity described above on a national scale in Jordan.

The items below must be addressed in the response:

1. Provide up to a two-page statement describing the firm’s capability to execute services and tasks similar in scope and scale to those described in this notice, with specific emphasis on its ability to deliver technical and material support across a broad range of sectors, priority areas and target institutions and service providers.

2. Provide a one-page statement describing the firm’s experience in relation to the services described, with specific emphasis on the delivery of tangible improvements in technical and institutional capacity and service delivery at a similar scope and scale as detailed in the Activity Outline below, through work with the police, judiciary, healthcare providers, higher education institutions, and civil society organizations, and in establishing and operating shelters for survivors of violence, including infrastructure improvements, staffing, capacity building, etc.

3. Provide a one-page table (Sample Table A below) with a list of between three and seven past or current activities demonstrating experience implementing activities related to the items listed under the Services and Tasks Required section above at the prime or subcontractor/awardee level. Please specify if this was part of a consortium.

Table A

# Activity Overview Country Year

(From –

To)

Responses to the SSN must not exceed five (5) pages total, including Table A. Any organization responding to this Sources Sought Notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform this work.

Sincerely, Amy E. McQuade

Regional Contracting and Agreement Officer

USAID Jordan

Attachments: Attachment 1: Draft Activity Outline

ATTACHMENT 1

DRAFT ACTIVITY OUTLINE

Himaya Activity

I. Goal

The overall goal of the USAID Himaya Activity (the “Activity”) is to enhance the availability and quality of essential protection and services for survivors of violence.

II. Activity Theory Of Change

The working theory of change for this activity is that if

1. Human Resource Capacity for survivor-centric protection and service delivery is improved;

and if

2. Institutional and operational capacity for the provision of protection and essential services is enhanced; and if

3. The legislation, policy framework and protocols for protection and response to violence are improved;

then service providers will be able to better support survivors of violence by providing more and higher quality essential services.

III. Priorities To Address

This Activity will support the availability and quality of context-sensitive and survivor-centered protection and essential services 1needed by survivors of violence, by enhancing the capacity of essential service providers and the quality of the protection and services they provide, including: health, justice and policing and social services. In doing so, the Activity will ensure that services consider the broader gaps of violence and design interventions across the

Activity’s three components with a consideration for all survivors of violence.

The focus will be to work with the key government stakeholders, civil society organizations, and the private sector to build capacity and reform violence-related services, protections, and procedures. The Activity will support civil society and national stakeholders to reform policy and legal frameworks for addressing violence, providing multi-sectoral referral pathways that protect survivors of violence and provide improved health, justice and policing and social services for survivors and will ensure progress is made to reduce the persistent disparity between the promise of justice and the reality on the ground. Underpinning all of this will be the improvement of equitable access to relevant services. The following Results Framework for

1 UN Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence https://www.unwomen.org/- /media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2015/essential-services-package-module-1-en.pdf?la=en&vs=3347 https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2015/essential-services-package-module-1-en.pdf?la=en&vs=3347 https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2015/essential-services-package-module-1-en.pdf?la=en&vs=3347 https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2015/essential-services-package-module-1-en.pdf?la=en&vs=3347 the Activity outlines USAID’s priorities, which are outlined in further detail in the sections below:

Goal:

Availability and quality of essential protection and services for survivors of violence enhanced

Component I: Human Resource

Capacity for survivor-centric service delivery improved

Component 2: Institutional and operational capacity for the provision of essential service enhanced

Component 3: Legislation, policy framework and protocols for protection and response to violence improved

IR 1.A. Capacity of the judiciary and legal professionals to manage and prosecute cases of violence improved

IR 2.A. Judiciary infrastructure and systems for management and prosecution of cases of [violence] enhanced

IR 3.A. Knowledge base on trends, data, cases, and impact of violence improved

IR 1.B. Capacity of the FPD to investigate and refer cases of violence improved

IR 2.B. Police infrastructure and systems for investigation and management of cases of violence enhanced

IR 3.B. Sustainable legislation, policy and protocol reform related to violence advanced

IR 1.C. Capacity of healthcare providers and health systems staff to provide essential and specialized survivor-centric services related to violence improved

IR 2.C. Infrastructure and resources for the delivery of safe and confidential health services improved

IR 3.C. National policy approach and coordination on combating violence enhanced

IR 1.D. Capacity of CSO actors to provide services tailored for survivors and perpetrators of violence improved

IR 2.D. Infrastructure and resources of shelters, safe spaces, community centers and CSOs for providing services to survivors and perpetrators of violence improved

IR 1.E. Capacity of GOJ social workers and shelter employees to provide psychosocial support and counseling to survivors of violence improved

The Activity will continuously be informed by survivors and will support the Government Of

Jordan (GOJ) to enhance the national systems that protect and provide services for survivors.

In order to create systemic change, the Activity will focus on strengthening the capacity of existing institutions and processes, including infrastructure enhancements, improving referral pathways, training the Family Protection and Juvenile Police Department (FPD), legal professionals, civil society organizations (CSOs), social workers and healthcare providers, and improving the services available (shelters and other interventions). It is a priority that all interventions under this Activity take a survivor-centric approach and utilize international best practice for doing no harm while providing improved access to justice and protection to survivors. With this holistic approach, the activity will address the core obstacles that are preventing survivors from accessing justice and protection. This Activity will also focus on improving the sustainability of protection and service provision. Much of the development that has occurred in this sector in recent years has been donor-funded, and while this has improved short-term access to services, it has created issues of sustainability. Where significant changes are required, some elements of the Activity might need to be piloted (i.e., using an evidence-based approach and adapting it to the context). Others will be at a more advanced stage and could be “demonstration projects” which take an existing model and raise awareness about its usefulness with the intention of making existing solutions better known and more widely accepted by decision-makers and potential users.

Component I: Human Resource Capacity for survivor-centric service delivery improved

In order to create system level change, this Activity will invest in capacity building for health, justice and policing and social services provided by public, private and civil society institutions.

Guided by research, analysis and survivor experiences, the Activity will identify critical areas of intervention to secure the rights, safety and well-being of survivors of violence. Key stakeholders include: Judiciary, legal professionals, the FPD, the Ministry of Social

Development, the Ministry of Health and healthcare providers, and higher education institutions as related to pre-clinical and post-graduate psychological and psychosocial education for healthcare professionals and civil society organizations.

It will engage the key stakeholders and systems currently in place, while simultaneously identifying gaps and additional entities and systems that may need to be created and implemented. This will include a mapping of what training and capacity building has already taken place, what has been the most impactful approach and what has not, for the different stakeholders. The Activity will design and roll-out capacity building efforts that are survivor-centric and consider a continuum of protection and essential services for violence survivors.

Across all stakeholders, the activity will design and deploy staff wellness and resiliency programs to promote high-quality, sustainable violence response services. The Activity will also enhance monitoring and complaint mechanisms to enhance the quality of services and accountability of service providers to survivors. The Activity will incorporate networking and collaboration opportunities throughout its interventions to promote networking, collaboration and greater awareness of services across service-providers.

Component 2: Institutional and operational capacity for the provision of essential service enhanced

While supporting capacity building to facilitate longer-term systemic change to improve survivors’ access to essential services, Component 2 will also bolster survivors’ access to immediate health, justice, policing and social services via increased resources and infrastructure. In this way, survivors will begin to receive immediate improved support while the Activity nurtures long-term capacity building and systemic improvements.

This Activity will undertake a mapping of existing safe spaces, community centers, and services. With this foundational information, the Activity will be able to identify existing resources and strengthen them and identify where targeted investment would have the most immediate impact on protection services and resources for survivors across various sectors that provide services. This will include small-scale infrastructure interventions, refurbishment of existing facilities, procurement of IT equipment and furniture, rental of new or expanded space in identified “hot spots”, re-engineering of services and introduction of new services to provide specialized violence-related services that ensure a positive initial and ongoing contact for survivors. This activity may include small-scale infrastructure interventions and refurbishment of existing facilities.

Component 3: Legislation, policy framework and protocols for protection and response to violence improved

The third component of this activity will provide foundational support for the efforts in the first two components by advocating for and providing technical expertise for the legal, policy, and coordination efforts necessary to make the first two components successful. This Activity will serve as a thought leader to inform donors on priority needs, trends, and openings. The Activity will recommend and convene national private, public, and civil society actors to advocate for intersectoral standard operating procedures and referral pathways, and to institute national and sub-national level coordination.