RFI-617-19-OHH-Local_Service_Delivery_Activity.pdf

RFI NUMBER: RFI-617-19-OHH-Local Service Delivery Activity

SUBJECT: - Stakeholder Engagement Notification

- Request for Information and Feedback on a New Potential Funding Opportunity for a Uganda Local Service Delivery Activity

ISSUANCE DATE: February 1, 2019

QUESTIONS DUE DATE: February 7, 2019, 5:00 pm local Kampala time

RESPONSE DUE DATE: February 15, 2019, 5:00 pm local Kampala time

RESPONSE TO: kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov

The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Uganda through the Office of Health and HIV/AIDS (OHH) is seeking feedback from potential responsible local Private Not-for-Profit (PNFP) or non-governmental health sector firms/vendors that can provide sustainable, quality HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services to the South-West, East Central, North-Acholi, North-Largo and East regions of Uganda served by USAID/Uganda. The main result of this activity will be to deliver quality comprehensive HIV/AIDS services through local partners. The activity background is attached to this letter.

As you may be aware, earlier this year, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) issued guidance to all long term strategy countries to transition up to 70 percent of PEPFAR funds to local organizations by the end of the Country Operational Plan (COP) 20 (FY 2021). This initiative aligns with the broad USAID vision, articulated in USAID’s “Journey to Self-Reliance,” of fostering country ownership and sustainability.

In response to this initiative, USAID/Uganda is considering a new activity to deliver quality comprehensive HIV/AIDS services through local partners. This activity would be implemented in COP 19 (FY 2020) through non-state (non-government of Uganda) health facilities with the objective of enhancing technical and institutional capacity to attain PEPFAR’s 95-95-95 goals and achieve and maintain epidemic control.

Stakeholder Engagement Notification

In order to foster more collaborative activity design, USAID/Uganda will host a Stakeholder Engagement session on Monday, February 11, 2019 in Kampala from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm local time (event venue to be determined); to elicit feedback on this activity. This session will enable USAID/Uganda to gather information from a wide range of stakeholders in the national HIV/AIDS response, as your guidance on the best pathway to local solutions is critical to the future success of this important activity.

mailto:kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov

In order to confirm participation and receive additional information on the event, interested local organization applicants must send an email to Ms. Janepher Nabitosi at kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov, with the name and title of one (1) person from each organization.

This person must have good technical knowledge in the subject field of this RFI. The email transmitting this information must reference “RFI-617-19-OHH-Local Service Delivery Activity” in the subject line. The deadline for confirming participation is Thursday, February 6, 2019 5:00 pm, local Kampala time.

Request for Information and Feedback

This is a REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) issued SOLELY for information and planning purposes, it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Application (RFA) or a promise to issue an RFP/RFA in the future. This request for information does not commit the U.S.

Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, USAID/Uganda is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.

Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued.

This RFI can be downloaded from the following websites: http://www.grants.gov http://www.fbo.gov; or the U.S. Embassy-Kampala website https://ug.usembassy.gov. All responses (feedback, questions and other submissions) regarding this announcement will ONLY be accepted in writing and via email to kampalausaidsolicita@usaid.gov to the attention of Mr. Admir Serifovic, Contracting Officer and Ms. Janepher Nabitosi, Acquisition and Assistance Specialist. All responses to questions received prior to the deadline will be furnished to all potential participants on the above mentioned websites and also shared at the stakeholder feedback session.

The deadline for QUESTIONS regarding this RFI is Thursday, February 7, 2019, 5:00 pm local Kampala time.

The deadline for RESPONSES to this RFI is Friday, February 15, 2019, 5:00 pm local Kampala time.

http://www.grants.gov/ http://www.fbo.gov/ https://ug.usembassy.gov/

ATTACHMENT 1: ACTIVITY BACKGROUND

1.0 BACKGROUND

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) seeks to reach the “95-95-95” goals, ensuring that 95 percent of people living with HIV know their status, 95 percent of people who know their status are accessing treatment, and 95 percent of people on treatment have suppressed viral loads across all ages, genders, and at-risk groups by 2020. The Uganda HIV cascade is 89-89-65 (i.e., 89% of people with HIV have been diagnosed, 89% are on treatment and 65% are virally suppressed) as of October 2018.

USAID/Uganda recognizes that continuing to engage the non-governmental health sector is critical to achieving HIV/AIDS epidemic control. Local entities (Government of Uganda and non-governmental entities) have made current progress possible with the support of global and bilateral initiatives such as PEPFAR and the Global Fund.

In April 2018, PEPFAR launched the Local Partners Transition on a global level, with a goal of 70% of each PEPFAR agency’s funding going to local partners by 2020. USAID/Uganda is exploring ways of partnering with more local entities to help meet that goal. The local non-state health sector in Uganda accounts for 25% of all HIV/AIDS services and represents 45% of all health facilities. To assess the local market and potential responsible Non-Government Organization (NGO) sector or non-state Health sector organizations, USAID/Uganda requests the following information from potential firms/vendors that could provide HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services to regions of Uganda served by USAID (South-West, East Central, North-Acholi, North-Lango and East).

ELIGIBILITY: Only entities that fit the OGAC/PEPFAR Local Partner definition (see section 3.2.3) and the 2016 Ugandan Non-Governmental Act’s definition of an Indigenous Organization (see section 3.2.4) should respond to this call for information.

2.0 REQUESTED INFORMATION

Capability statement: Please include information on:

a. Summary of organizational core technical and structural capabilities and past experience including populations served, geographic locations, models of service delivery, financial management, organizational capacity, staffing, management information system (MIS) for data, any commodity procurement and distribution as well as experience with donor funding including USG compliance standards.

• Populations served of particular interest include: men, women, youth, orphans and vulnerable children, key and priority populations (men who have sex with men, female sex workers, fisher folk, transgender people, prisoners, people who inject drugs), and people living with disabilities. If possible, specify age of populations served.

• Past experience should include a description of the scope of the activity in terms of beneficiaries served and amount of funding managed over a specified period of time.

b. Amount of time in business, duration of presence in Uganda, date registered with the National

Drug Authority (NDA) and legal status.

c. Audited Profit & Loss statement for the past 3 years (including debt-burden/liquidity; credit history and growth history).

d. Past organizations for whom you have done similar work, including international donors and

Government of Uganda, and a description of that work.

e. Describe the gender/population composition of the organization ownership and/or any policy the organization has in place to assure equitable business practices regarding gender/youth/vulnerable and/or marginalized groups.

f. Any conflict your organization may have providing HIV service delivery under current U.S.

government policies, including, for example, the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy (PLGHA). Under PLGHA, any foreign NGO that performs or actively promotes abortion as a method of family planning or that provides financial support to any other foreign NGO that conducts such activities is not eligible.

g. Any conflict your organization may have in providing services equitably to all people in accordance with USAID’s non-discrimination policy. USAID must not discriminate against any beneficiary or potential beneficiary, such as, but not limited to, by withholding, adversely impacting, or denying equitable access to benefits or services on the basis of any non-merit factor. A non-merit factor includes race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity and pregnancy), national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, parental status, political affiliation, or veteran’s status. See more about non-discrimination here.

h. Why would your organization be the best choice to fulfill these service delivery opportunities at this time?

i. Does your organization have a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA) with USAID or any other U.S. Government entity? Respondents are encouraged to include their NICRA (provisional or final) in the response.

3.0 RESPONSES

3.1 All information including questions in response to this RFI Must be submitted in writing and must be in MICROSOFT WORD FOR OFFICE 2000 compatible format no later than the stated due date. Responses shall be limited to 10 pages (excluding page 1 – administrative information section) and submitted via e-mail ONLY to KampalaUSAIDSolicita@usaid.gov. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

3.2. Page 1 of the Capabilities Statement shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum:

3.2.1. Name, mailing address, overnight delivery address (if different from mailing address), phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact.

mailto:KampalaUSAIDSolicita@usaid.gov

3.2.2. Any Proprietary information MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. In the absence of clear marking, the Government will assume that the respondent does NOT object to the release of its submission to other Government offices or programs.

3.2.3. Business type – PEPFAR Local Partner Definition/Ugandan businesses/firms

Definition of a Local Partner: Under PEPFAR, a “local partner” may be an individual, a sole proprietorship, or an entity. However, to be considered a local partner, the applicant must submit supporting documentation demonstrating their organization meets at least one of the three criteria listed below.

1) an individual must be a citizen or lawfully admitted permanent resident of and have his/her principal place of business in the country served by the PEPFAR program with which the individual is or may become involved, and a sole proprietorship must be owned by such an individual; or

2) an entity (e.g., a corporation or partnership):

a) Must be incorporated or legally organized under the laws of, and have its principal place of business in, the country served by the PEPFAR program [Uganda] with which the entity is or may become involved;

b) must be at 75% for FY 2018 beneficially owned by individuals who are citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of that same country, per sub-paragraph (2)(a),;

c) At least 75% for FY 2018 of the entity’s staff (senior, mid-level, support) must be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of that same country, per subparagraph (2)(a), and at least 75% for FY 2018 of the entity’s senior staff (i.e., managerial and professional personnel) must be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of such country; and

d) where an entity has a Board of Directors, at least 51% of the members of the Board must also be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of such country; or

3) Partner government ministries (e.g., Ministry of Health), sub-units of government ministries, and parastatal organizations in the country served by the PEPFAR program are considered local partners. A parastatal organization is defined as a fully or partially government-owned or government-funded organization. Such enterprises may function through a board of directors, similar to private corporations. However, ultimate control over the organization rests with the government.

3.2.4. The Ugandan Non-Governmental Act of 2016 includes the following definitions for organization types:

Part 1.3

• "Foreign organization" means an organization that does not have original incorporation in any country, and is partially or wholly controlled by citizens of other countries, other than the citizens of the Partner States of the East African Community, and is operating in Uganda under the authority of a permit issued by the Bureau;

• "Indigenous organization" means an organization that is wholly controlled by Ugandan citizens;

• "International organization" means an organization that has its original incorporation in a country, other than a Partner State of the East African Community and is partially or wholly controlled by citizens of one or more countries, other than the citizens of the Partner States of the East African Community, and is operating in Uganda under the authority of a permit issued by the Bureau;

4.0 SUMMARY

This RFI SOLEY seeks to identify locally registered non-state Health organization that can provide HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. USAID/Uganda has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought.

All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

[END OF RFI]