RFI-72061719-ARMSS.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Accountability and Risk Management Support Services Activity

Date Issued: February 7, 2019 Response Due Date/Time: February 27, 2019

5:00 pm EST

Subject: RFI-72061719-ARMSS

Accountability and Risk Management Support Services Activity

USAID/Uganda is contemplating an IDIQ award with the goal of strengthening the accountability and risk management of its development assistance activities in Uganda. This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for two purposes:

1. To solicit comments and recommendations on the clarity and feasibility of the Statement of Work from the industry; and

2. To solicit expressions of interest and capability statements from the industry.

USAID may revise the concept based on comments received, but it is not obligated to do so. This RFI is open for comments from any interested parties.

All interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI as described below:

1. Responses should be in Microsoft Word compatible formats and submitted no later than close of business February 27, 2019, 5:00pm EST. Responses are limited to 8 pages and must be submitted via e-mail to Tanya Ahmady at tahmady@usaid.gov with a carbon copy to KampalaUSAIDSolicita@usaid.gov. The subject line of the email must state “RFI- 72061719-ARMSS.” Responses will be held confidential. Proprietary information should not be submitted. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned.

2. Responses shall include, at a minimum, the following:

a. Company/Organization Name, Phone Number, and Website.

b. Company/Organization Street Address; City; State; Zip Code.

c. Primary point of contact, phone number, and e-mail address.

d. DUNS Number.

e. Company/Organization small business designation.

f. Primary NAICS code.

g. A brief expression of interest.

h. A capability statement to include the company/organization’s experience in conducting similar programs, preferably in sub-Saharan Africa.

i. Questions/comments regarding the draft RFI Statement of Work.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation section 15.201 part (e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract as this is a Request for Information notice only. Not responding to this notice does not preclude participation if any future RFP is issued. Responding to this RFI does not give any advantage to any firm or organization in any subsequent competition. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This Notice does not commit the U.S. Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. USAID does not intend to award a contract based solely on a submission in response to this Request for

RFI-72061719-ARMSS

Information. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this Notice; any/all costs associated with responding to this Notice will be solely at the interested party’s expense.

It is the potential offerors’ responsibility to monitor this site for the release of any synopsis/solicitation or further information and updates.

The following provision is incorporated into this RFI in accordance with FAR 15.209(c):

52.215-3 Request for Information or Solicitation for Planning Purposes (Oct 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of obtaining comments and recommendations to the draft Statement of Work and to solicit expressions of interest and capability statements from the industry

Thank you for your interest in USAID programs.

SECTION C – DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK

C.1 TITLE OF ACTIVITY

Accountability and Risk Management Support Services (ARMSS)

C.2 PURPOSE

The purpose of the Contract is to support USAID/Uganda efforts to strengthen the accountability and risk management of its development assistance activities in Uganda. Support will be provided in three areas:

● Third Party Monitoring (TPM): The Contractor will, in instances requested by USAID/Uganda, verify, validate and reconcile compliance with defined activities funded with US Government (USG) to enhance fiduciary management transparency and effectiveness. Through independent confirmation, the TPM will ensure compliance with and the financial impact of activities under grants, contracts and implementation letters with USAID’s international and local implementing partners (IPs) as well as the Government of Uganda (GoU) respectively.

● Risk Management: The Contractor will in instances requested by USAID/Uganda conduct financial assessments, financial reviews, pre-award assessments, risk assessments, audits, and risk analyses to provide USAID/Uganda the basis to identify, mitigate, and otherwise manage risks that arise in fulfilment of its fiduciary responsibilities over USG foreign assistance to Uganda. All analyses will be conducted in accordance with and consistent with USAID policies and procedures. Areas of emphasis will include but not be limited to reviews of financial, logistic, administrative, procurement, asset management, human resource management, and IT systems as well as the legal and regulatory environment in which these systems operate. Risk assessments may include the performance of a Stage 2 Risk Assessment of Public Financial Management Systems of GOU entities to determine feasibility of receiving G2G assistance or a Non-US pre-award survey (NUPAS). Contract support will be planned and executed in coordination with USAID IPs and service providers.

● Capacity Building: Capacity Building is two pronged. The first area of focus will be with USAID partners. The second area implements the training of trainers model and will focus on building the capacity of local accounting and consulting firms to effectively provide capacity building to local entities.

o The Contractor may be called upon to assist the Office of Financial Management to assess the growing number of direct award recipients and help them implement the often extensive measures needed to strengthen financial and operational management capacity to minimum required levels for award. Specifically, the Contractor could be asked to provide the skills building, leadership training and other capacity building activities as well as provide limited supplies to strengthen the governance, financial, logistic, administrative, asset management, procurement, human resource management and other custodial systems of USAIDs IPs, local IPs, potential local IPs, and GOU counterparts. To a lesser extent, the Contractor will support reforms to the legal and regulatory environment that underpin the host country's fiduciary systems; and provide the ethics training and related support that influence the culture in which fiduciary systems operate. Support to host country counterparts will, in many instances, be related to helping counterparts meet the expectations of risk mitigation plans that emerge from Stage 2 Risk Assessments of Public Financial Management Systems. In instances identified by USAID, Contract support will be planned and harmonized with other USAID contractual mechanisms.

o The Contractor may be called upon to improve the quality and range of services available on the local markets for financial management and operational capacity development. Applying the training of trainers model, the Contractor would be called upon to build the capacity of local audit, accounting and consulting firms.

Many local entities have little or no experience working with USAID, and their financial and operational management systems need strengthening. Quite often IPs or potential IPs do not have the knowledge, experience, time or personnel needed to effectively implement recommendations from a pre-award assessment or risk mitigation plan. While utilizing local audit, accounting and consulting firms to help recipients implement recommendations and strengthen financial management capacity is an available and sustainable option to alleviate Mission human resource pressures, putting recommendations into practice can take months and requires consulting skills that differ from many of the skills applied during an audit engagement. In addition, the majority of local firms have limited experience working with USAID funded projects and therefore lack sufficient knowledge and skills necessary to help local organizations implement pre-award survey recommendations aimed at strengthening their financial and operational management capacity.

USAID/Uganda anticipates the contracts envisaged under this IDIQ to meet both programmatic and operational objectives. Contract support will: (i) bolster USAID’s effectiveness in monitoring and maintaining the integrity of its activities; and (ii) deepen the Mission’s contributions to strengthen the fiduciary integrity of host country systems that support the delivery of the services essential to improving the lives of the citizens.

C.3 BACKGROUND

USAID/Uganda manages a portfolio valued at roughly $400 million annually. The Mission supports improvements in the health and education sectors; promotes economic growth; supports environmental conservation; and advances democracy, human rights and good governance. Special programs are focused in the post-conflict regions of northern Uganda and in communities hosting Uganda’s million plus refugee population.

The Mission is putting in place the activities intended to achieve the vision described in its 2017 to 2021 Country Development Strategy Statement (CDCS). The CDCS, which can be found at:

https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/uganda-cdcd-2017-2021.pdf, significantly expands the programmatic integration initiated under the previous CDCS. It also deepens USAID/Uganda’s commitment to self reliance https://www.usaid.gov/selfreliance. This is captured in the CDCS goal of “Uganda’s systems are accelerating inclusive education, health and economic development.”

As indicated in the CDCS, meaningful progress toward self-sufficiency requires strengthening and increasingly channeling USAID assistance through Ugandan systems. Unfortunately, corruption within those systems, and within Uganda more generally, impedes USAID’s development goals and its operational obligation to ensure the integrity of U.S. taxpayer resources.

Ranking 149th out of 180 countries, Uganda falls at the bottom on Transparency International’s (TI’s) Corruption Perceptions 2018 Index. Corruption in the country is both pervasive and well-entrenched.

The GOU’s Inspectorate of Government characterizes it as “rampant.”1 Uganda’s Black Monday Movement, a coalition of anti-corruption civil society organizations, estimated that between 2000 and 2014, over $6.6 billion dollars was lost to the government due to corruption, “enough to finance the country’s 2015/2016 budget.”2 Over recent years, Uganda’s scores on TI’s, as well as other indices of accountability, have been on a downward slope.

1 U.S. Embassy Commercial Guide, https://www.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Uganda-Corruption, August 3, 2017, citing December 2012 report of Uganda’s Inspectorate of Government.

2 John Martin Kewaza, Afro-Barometer Dispatch No. 77, March 28, 2016.

Neither development nor humanitarian assistance is immune from corruption. In 2012, $12.7 million in donor funds tagged for rebuilding post-war northern Uganda was embezzled from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in collusion with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, causing donors to temporarily suspend aid to one of Uganda’s most deprived regions. More recently, OPM, together with UN staff at WFP and UNHCR, were forced to address allegations of massive corruption at the Bidi Bidi refugee camp. Allegations were based on credible reports of systemic misuse of commodities and other fraud, including refugee registration and access to land.

Organizational internal controls and other accountability mechanisms are weak and low levels of penalization for corruption perpetrators provide little incentive to respect controls that do exist.

C.4 STATEMENT OF WORK

The number, type, and essential skills for Contractor personnel shall be dictated by the nature of the tasks in each TO. The Contractor shall provide personnel during normal operations and during surge or special situations to accomplish the requirements specified in this document and/or specific task orders. The Contractor shall efficiently and effectively manage the performance under this contract to ensure all the necessary technical and business planning, organizing, managing, coordinating and tracking (e.g., cost, schedule, and deliverables), performance management, resource management, data management, and subcontract management required to perform all activities is accomplished, as required by this SOW.

USAID/Uganda anticipates three types of services as described in Sections C.4.1 (third party monitoring); C.4.2 (risk assessment); and C.4.3 ( capacity building).

C.4.1 THIRD PARTY MONITORING

C.4.1(a) Purpose

The Contractor will verify and provide independent confirmation of international and local IPs and GoU reporting to USAID/Uganda and provide other monitoring support as described in Section C.4.1(c) below. The following examples are illustrative (but not all inclusive) of the types of validation and record reconciliation activities USAID/Uganda expects to support under the Contract:

the delivery of food and other assistance to refugees, the warehousing and distribution of health supplies, progress on G2G small construction activities, site visits where USAID/Uganda is delivering PEPFAR, or other sectoral support.

C.4.1(b) Overview of USAID/Uganda Expectations

Third Party Monitoring (TPM) is the eyes and ears of USAID’s accountability systems. TPM can track the progress (or lack thereof) of USAID-supported activities, signal implementation problems in a timely manner, and inform USAID decision-making.

USAID/Uganda expectations with regard to Contractor performance include the following:

● Contractors will be able to provide staff with the language skills and geographic proximity necessary to perform the contracted activity.

● The Contractor will be positioned to provide qualified staff in all regions of the country in time frames called for in individual Task Orders.

● TPM tools will be tailored specifically for the sector in which the activity occurs. Contractor TPM and analysis systems will have the capacity to disaggregate data by gender, age, economic status, and other factors as and when required by USAID/Uganda.

● The Contractor will develop relationships and collaborate with host country universities and research institutions to improve the quality and contextual relevance and to increase USAID/Uganda’s access to capable, cost-effective local expertise in the future.

● The Contractor and its staff will have the human, hardware and software capacity for electronic data collection in order to better ensure the transparency of data collection; to create the ability to collect new types of data (GIS, media, including photographs, video, and audio); and to increase the quality and efficiency of: (i) transferring collected data back to a central manager for data analysis; (ii) identifying data anomalies; and (iii) aggregating and sorting data from multiple partners and projects.

● The Contractor’s performance will continuously reflect USAID/Uganda’s commitment to collaboration, learning and adapting.

o Further to collaboration, the Contractor will establish cooperative relationships with other donors, as requested by USAID/Uganda.

o The Contractor’s commitment to “learning and adapting” will be demonstrated in its deliberate and reported efforts to ensure that it is: (i) supporting USAID/Uganda in collecting high quality data against the questions most important to Mission decision-making; and (ii) asking itself how best to collect and act on the data that will lead to the continuous improvement of its performance.

C.4.1(c) Services to be provided

The Contractor will be expected to provide the following services which USAID/Uganda will selectively access under individual Task Orders. Each Task Order will provide specific and sufficient instructions of the services required and indicate the required deliverables to enhance fiduciary management transparency and effectiveness.

● Review -understand existing environment, systems, processes.

● Validate - Validate records, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract, grant or implementation letter.

● Reconcile - account for differences and discrepancies due to damage or loss.

● Recommend - Recommend specific processes and procedures to address findings.

C.4.2 RISK MANAGEMENT

C.4.2(a) Purpose

The Contractor will assist USAID/Uganda in minimizing fraud, waste and abuse in the delivery of development assistance, improving internal financial management and oversight, and ensuring that foreign assistance money is used for its intended purpose. The Contractor will support USAID in conducting financial reviews, risk assessments, audits, and other analyses of existing IPs, potential partners, and Host Country partners’ fiduciary systems.

C.4.2(b) Overview of USAID/Uganda Expectations

High quality, upright public financial management (PFM) is essential to ensuring the integrity of government budgeting and budget execution processes and has the added benefit of fostering democracy by fortifying accountability and transparency. As USAID/Uganda increases the delivery of its assistance through GoU entities as well as indigenous NGOs, universities, and private sector enterprises, it has an obligation to U.S. taxpayers to understand the strengths and weaknesses of counterpart financial management mechanisms so that risks can be addressed. The Contractor will assist USAID/Uganda in:

● Conducting internal control, financial management and risk assessments to identify and develop plans for addressing the risks associated with channeling USAID resources through Ugandan counterpart systems.

● Conducting financial, close out and/or forensic audits.

● Build capacity of USAID/Uganda IP, potential local IPs, host country government and internal USAID/Uganda staff to strengthening financial management competencies necessary to identify and address risks.

USAID/Uganda expectations with regard to Contractor performance include the following:

● The Contractor will adhere to guidance provided in the ADS chapters referenced in C.4.2(c) below and to standards set in Contract Task Orders.

● Risk assessments, pre-award assessments, and other examinations of host country partner or indigenous NGO systems will be undertaken in partnership with the organization being examined. The intent will be to better understand issues, capacity and commitment to reform from the partner organization’s perspective, and in this way, strengthen prospects that any mitigation measures will be meaningfully implemented, both because of better fit to the partner organization’s situation and increased buy-in from the organization for the mitigation measures agreed upon.

● The Contractor’s performance will continuously reflect USAID/Uganda’s commitment to collaboration, learning and adapting.

o The Contractor’s commitment to collaboration will be demonstrated by: (i) its ability to collegially solicit input and participation from USAID IPs, potential IPs, when such input and/or participation is required; and (ii) its performance in ensuring that USAID/Uganda risk management interventions are effectively coordinated with (and when requested by USAID/Uganda, harmonized with) interventions conducted by other donors that share USAID/Uganda’s objectives.

o “Learning and adapting” will be demonstrated in its deliberate and reported efforts to ensure that USAID/Uganda and the Contractor itself is continuously learning from ongoing work in Uganda as well as elsewhere in the world and applying learning to improving practices and methodologies.

C.4.2(c) Services to be provided The Contractor will be expected to provide the following services that USAID/Uganda will selectively access under individual Task Orders. Each Task Order will provide specific and sufficient instructions of the services required and indicate the required deliverables.

● PFMRAF Stage 2 Risk Assessments: USAID’s Public Financial Management Risk Assessment Framework (PFMRAF) guides the process of risk assessment of host country entities. The PFMRAF process is described in ADS Chapter 220, “The Use of Reliable Partner Country Systems for Direct Management and Implementation of Assistance” at www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/220.pdf. The Contractor will be expected to provide services in the performance of the Stage 2 risk assessment.

● PFMRAF Follow-Up: The Contractor will be expected to provide services in post-Stage 2 PFMRAF follow-up activities, including but not limited to services related to incorporating the results of the Stage 2 risk assessment risk mitigation plan into project and activity designs, providing input into Implementation Letters between USAID/Uganda and the host country, and making recommendations with the design of capacity building efforts to be undertaken under C.4.3 below. The Contractor will not provide services in assisting in the implementation of any mitigation or capacity development activities related to risk assessments the Contractor performed; or any other follow-on activities that could be perceived to create a conflict of interest.

● Pre-Award Surveys and Assessments: As a matter of policy for grants and cooperative agreements (see ADS Chapter 303, “Grants and Cooperative Agreements to NGOs at www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/300/303.pdf) and a matter of good practice for contracts, USAID determines that grant, cooperative agreement and contract recipients possess the management and competencies to plan and carry out the activity funded prior to making an award. For organizations that have not yet established a track record of performance in implementing USAID-funded activities, a pre-award survey of relevant competencies is undertaken. The Contractor will be expected to provide pre-award survey and assessment services that conform to the requirements of ADS 303

● Other Risk Assessments: Beyond pre-award surveys and risk assessments, the Contractor will support USAID/Uganda in conducting financial, procurement, human resources, logistics, and fraud risk assessments and other reviews of the fiduciary systems of organizations that receive ongoing support from USAID/Uganda, either in the form of USAID grants, cooperative agreements, contracts or Implementation Letters with Host Country entities.

● Audits: The Contractor will be expected to provide the audit services described below.

o Financial Audits: Financial audits are conducted during activity implementation or close-out to assess whether a contractor, grantee, or Host Country entity has accounted for and used USAID funds as intended and in compliance with the provisions governing the award. Financial audits will be conducted in conformance with ADS Chapter 591, “Financial Audits of USAID Contractors, Recipients and Host Government Entities,” at www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/500/591/pdf.

o Forensic Audits: Forensic audits are a deep dive into financial and other operations, conducted to examine a specific issue or concern. USAID/Uganda requires support in reviewing financial data to identify inaccuracies, tracing discrepancies in electronic and paper trails, preparing oral and written reports that meet legal standards for prosecution, and forecasting and preventing fraud. USAID has no guidance specific to forensic audits.

o Other Audits: USAID missions conduct various other audits, such as incurred cost audits, internal control audits. limited scope audits, and internal USAID audits (including audits of USAID/Uganda trust funds), etc.

● Assessments of Host Country Contracting (HCC) Capabilities: Host Country Contracting is a means of activity implementation in which USAID finances but is not party to contractual arrangements between the host country and the supplier of goods and/or services. In order to exercise HCC, USAID is required to conduct an assessment of the counterpart procuring agency’s procurement capabilities, examining the counterpart agency’s procurement staff capabilities; bidding, evaluation and award systems; dispute resolution mechanisms; etc. The Contractor will be expected to provide services in conducting HCC assessments, consistent with guidance provided in ADS 305, “Host Country Contracting” at www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/300/305.pdf; in ADS 301, “Responsibility for Procurement” at www.usaid.gov/policiy/300/301.pdf; and the “USAID Project Officer’s Guidebook – Host Country Contracting” at www.usaid.gov/pubs/ads/300/3016s.pdf.

● Pre-Payment Verification Services: The Contractor will be expected to provide services required for USAID/Uganda to reimburse IP or Host Country partner entities for accomplishment of mutually agreed upon deliverables completed under fixed obligation grants (FOGs) or Fixed Amount Reimbursable Agreements (FARAs).

● Other Support for USAID’s Office of Financial Management (OFM): The Contractor will be expected to provide other services in support of USAID’s Office of Financial Management.

Other support could include but will not be limited to: conducting assessments of internal financial management control systems, preparing tools and templates to support improved financial management, conducting analyses to better understand conditions for improved performance in curbing fraud; providing other OFM-related support to USAID/Uganda staff, IPs, potential IPs or host country governmental entities.

● Procurement of Supplies: Procurement of any supplies USAID/Uganda and the Contractor deem necessary to complement Contractor services.

C.4.3 FIDUCIARY CAPACITY BUILDING

C.4.3(a) Purpose

The Contractor will assist USAID/Uganda in financial management capacity building. Client organizations include: Host Country entity partners; potential partners; indigenous NGOs, universities, and private sector enterprises with which USAID/Uganda is either partnering or buying services; and other organizations that USAID/Uganda may identify. Other client organizations could also include: (i) USAID/Uganda’s international IPs; (ii) GoU institutions with strategic value in improving fraud prevention such as but not limited to Uganda’s Inspectorate of Government and the Office of the Auditor General; (iii) host country local accounting and/or auditing firms; or (iv) USAID/Uganda staff.

Capacity building will include helping organizations develop the vision, strengthen their institutional and staff competencies, build the networks required to improve their fiduciary performance, incorporate a strong internal control system, and implement risk mitigation measures.

C.4.3(b) Overview of USAID Expectations

As described in Section C.3. above, Uganda is a high risk environment for financial waste, fraud, and abuse of funds. Risks stem from the thin layers of qualified staff available to organizations; weak systems of internal control within organizations; and a culture with high levels of tolerance for corruption and favoritism. As USAID/Uganda increases the delivery of its assistance through GoU systems as well as indigenous NGOs, universities, and private sector enterprises, it has an obligation to U.S. taxpayers to help address accountability and transparency shortfalls and, thus, ensure the integrity of the systems through which it is delivering assistance. The Contractor will assist USAID/Uganda in:

● Providing the support that will help client organizations or potential organizations meet the requirements of risk mitigation plans that emerge from PFMRAF assessments, pre-award surveys and assessments, and audits described in C.4.2 above;

● Strengthening internal controls among client organizations and potential client organizations more generally;

● Building capacity and organizational will to identify and mitigate against waste, fraud and abuse of funds beyond the life of Contract support;

● Strengthening USAID/Uganda’s internal financial management operations; and

● Strengthening local accounting, consulting, and audit firms.

Contract support for the first three bullets above will focus primarily but not exclusively on local client and potential client organizations, including national and local government counterpart agencies; NGOs and contractors; universities and private sector enterprises.

USAID/Uganda’s expectations with regard to Contractor performance include the following:

● The Contractor will employ participatory, systems-based approaches to capacity building whenever possible. Such approaches will include using facilitative, learner-centered processes to help client organizations develop the vision, institutional and employee competencies, and networks they need to upgrade and monitor fiduciary performance, and sustain progress on risk mitigation or financial management improvement plans.

o Visioning processes will include building an appreciation for custodial standards and ethical behavior and strengthening the connection staffs have to the objectives of their organizations.

o Competency building will include system strengthening and a range of skills and knowledge-building interventions, including traditional and electronic training, coaching, peer-to-peer mentoring, leadership development, etc. Whenever possible, skills and knowledge building will be interactive and/or experiential. Competency-building interventions may also include systems assessments, operational and other research, the development of tools and templates, exchange programs, study tours, etc. to inform improvements to fiduciary systems and processes as well as technical assistance in improving fiduciary systems and processes. Competency-building efforts will employ gender-sensitive approaches and reflects the broader inclusionary aspirations of USAID/Uganda’s CDCS. Illustratively, leadership courses could be developed specific to women’s needs, learning materials could be made available in the relevant local language, etc.

o Networking will help client organizations strengthen the vertical and horizontal institutional linkages relevant to their mission and benefit from relationships with regional and international counterparts. Networking could also include increasing awareness of and interaction with Ugandan institutions responsible for promoting good governance, such as Uganda’s Inspectorate of Government or Office of the Auditor General.

● Whenever possible, capacity building will be systematic and guided by performance plans developed in partnership and tailored to the needs of the client organization being supported.

● The Contractor will seek opportunities to engage local accounting firms and university accounting departments as partners in Contract-supported capacity building interventions as a means of: (i) increasing client organizations’ access to local services; (ii) strengthening the local accountability culture; and (iii) better contextualizing Contract support, thus, increasing the effectiveness of Contract capacity-building interventions.

● The Contractor’s performance will continuously reflect USAID/Uganda’s commitment to collaboration, learning and adapting.

o The Contractor’s commitment to collaboration will be demonstrated by:

▪ Its cooperation with client organizations in supporting anti-corruption and other good governance efforts; and by its success in complementing the efforts of USAID IPs that are strengthening technical capacities.

Illustratively, the Contractor could complement USAID IPs improving the health aspects of cold chain management by providing support for reducing opportunity for corruption in cold chain systems.

▪ Its collaboration with other IDIQ holders, either within its cluster or across the three clusters. Illustratively, holders of “risk management” IDIQs may be requested to brief holders of the “capacity building” IDIQs. Holders of “capacity building” IDIQs may be requested to jointly develop common internal control templates for policies and procedures which client organizations can tailor to their respective organization policies and procedures.

▪ Its collaboration and, if requested by USAID/Uganda, harmonization with capacity building being undertaken by other donors.

o “Learning and adapting” will be deliberate and ensure that USAID/Uganda and the Contractor itself are continuously learning from ongoing work in Uganda as well as from elsewhere in the world and applying learning to improving practices and methodologies. Monitoring and evaluation plans will reflect that USAID/Uganda is not supporting capacity building for capacity building’s sake but rather with the objective of improved institutional performance in exercising fiduciary responsibilities. Thus, beyond numbers of individuals trained, the Contractor must develop monitoring and evaluation systems that can also track improvements in institutional performance. The best systems will be those that the client organizations themselves find of value in sustaining institutional improvements beyond the life of any one Task Order. The use of performance scorecards and other performance-tracking graphics is encouraged to help client organizations “see” their progress or lack thereof.

C.4.3(c) Services to be provided

● Budget Planning: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving budget planning processes. Support is intended to lead to improved performances in fiscal discipline; the allocation of resources; the efficiency and effectiveness of budget planning processes, including harmonization of horizontal and vertical budgeting processes; the transparency and accountability of, and citizen engagement in, planning processes;

performance evaluation; etc.

● Financial Management Systems: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving financial management systems. Support is intended to lead to improved performance in cash management; fixed asset/inventory management; reporting relevant to decision-making; transparency and accountability (including but not limited to risk assessment, audit and public reporting capabilities); adherence to accounting policies and practices consistent with GOU laws and standards and the requirements of agreements with USAID/Uganda; etc.

● Procurement Systems: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving procurement systems. Support is intended to lead to improved performance in developing, strengthening and/or adhering to improved procurement procedures, particularly with regard to promoting open and competitive procurements; improved contract administration procedures and practices, including monitoring for performance and accountability; appeals mechanisms; use and respect for anti-corruption, anti-fraud and conflict of interest provisions; adherence to procurement policies and practices consistent with GOU laws and standards and the requirements of agreements with USAID/Uganda; etc..

● Warehousing and Logistics Systems: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving warehousing and logistics systems. Support is intended to lead to improved performance in assessing vulnerabilities and developing/implementing mitigation plans; employee management and supervision; record keeping; auditing of purchasing and billing processes; adherence to accountability and transparency policies and practices consistent with GOU laws and standards and the requirements of agreements with USAID/Uganda; etc.

● Human Resource Management Systems: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving performance in maintaining the integrity of financial management aspects of human resource management and reducing favoritism, discrimination and workplace sexual harassment. Support is intended to help maintain the integrity of payroll lists and payment systems, improve the openness and transparency of hiring processes, reduce discrimination against women and other disadvantaged groups in hiring and promotion, reduce workplace-related sexual harassment and gender-based violence, and ensure adherence to human resource management policies and practices consistent with GOU laws and standards and the requirements of agreements with USAID/Uganda; etc.

● Information Technology: The Contractor will be expected to provide services related to improving financial and non-financial information systems for effective internal controls, information processing, etc.

● Control Monitoring Systems: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving performance in monitoring adherence of the client’s or potential client’s internal controls. Support is intended to lead to better quality data for stock-taking, decision-making, and reporting.

● Legal, Policy and Regulatory Frameworks: The Contractor will be expected to provide services relevant to improving performance in strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks relevant to fiduciary performance. Support is intended to help client organizations develop new and/or modified frameworks in ways that engage stakeholders and learn from and adapt existing, new and/or modified frameworks.

● Ethics Training, Leadership Building and Related Interventions: The Contractor will be expected to provide interventions that improve transparency and accountability.

Illustratively, this could include but is not limited to support for the development and education related to ethics codes; support for the development and marketing of ethics training courses delivered by local universities, accounting firms, etc.; supporting client organization studies of incentives and disincentives to accountability and risk management;

identifying champions and strengthening their capacity to lead change management exercises, build constituencies for reform, and engage the media; public education programs and media campaigns.

● Support for USAID/Uganda: The increased reliance on counterpart systems that is consistent with USAID/Uganda’s CDCS will require USAID/Uganda staff to acquire new and/or deepen existing competencies relevant to both internal and external responsibilities. The Contractor will be expected to provide services that improve the performance of USAID/Uganda staff in maintaining ethical and managerial standards consistent with USAID policies and regulations.

Services could include training, mentorship and staff coaching; the conduct of assessments and analyses of fiduciary systems; and the design of new fiduciary tools and templates.

● Procurement of Supplies: Procurement of any supplies USAID/Uganda and the Contractor deem necessary to complement Contractor services.

● Capacity building of intermediate service organizations: (in this case audit, consulting, or accounting firms) to enable them to provide quality consulting, audit and other services to local organizations and to USAID. The Contractor will be engaged to provide technical assistance to local firms and manage performance of services by these local firms to local organizations. The Contractor has the ultimate responsibility for managing the activity, achieving performance results in activity areas, and determining the appropriate expertise and staffing to support its technical approach. The following illustrative activities may be implemented in order to achieve this objective:

o Training - The Contractor will assess training needs and procure or develop targeted trainings for local NGOs and/or audit, accounting and consulting firms in areas such as (1) USAID Rules and Regulations, (2) Internal Controls, (3) Indirect Cost Recovery, (4) Cash Flow and Operational Budgeting, (5) USAID Recipient Contracted Audits, and (6) Accounting Software Alternatives.

o Consulting - The Contractor shall support local audit, accounting and consulting firms providing technical assistance to local partner organizations in areas which may include: (1) development of policies and procedures manuals, (2) reforming the organization structure to improve segregation of duties, (3) development of internal control procedures, (4) improving human resource capacity, (5) strengthening financial and accounting systems, (6) improving financial management capability, (7) improving procurement systems, (8) developing administrative and support functions.

o Although the specific areas of intervention will be determined according to the particular needs of each local organization, capacity building in general will focus at the individual/team level (i.e. building the knowledge and skills of individuals and teams) and at the organizational level (e.g. strengthening structures, tools, policies, procedures, and practices). The degree to which local organizations have implemented NUPAS recommendations will be an important factor in determining the particular capacity development needs of each organization.

C 4.3 (d) Conflict of Interest

The Contractor will take special care to ensure that firms performing audits do not also provide capacity building services in order to ensure auditor independence and avoid any potential conflict of interest.

C.5 COLLABORATING, LEARNING, ADAPTING

C.5.1 CLA AT USAID/UGANDA

Development work presents many opportunities to collaborate and engage with a broad set of stakeholders, to learn from both evidence and experience and to adapt iteratively to unexpected results or changes in context. This is why USAID places “Collaborating, Learning and Adapting” at the center of its Program Cycle, both as a connector between, and an integrated part of the components.

C.5.2 COLLABORATING

Collaboration enables cross-sector integration, convergence, and effective interventions to maximize development resources and enhance development results. The Contractor will collaborate with USAID-supported activities in common areas of operation and engage with stakeholders (defined collaboratively with USAID Contracting Officer Representative -COR) to deliver integrated services to targeted populations.

C.5.3 LEARNING

Learning is intentional, systematic and resourced. Sources for learning include data from monitoring, portfolio reviews, findings of research, evaluations, analyses conducted by USAID or third parties, knowledge gained from experience, stocktaking exercises, and other sources. Relevant documents produced by USAID will be shared with the Contractor by the COR for consideration in the learning phase of CLA.

These sources will be used to develop and implement plans, manage adaptively, and contribute to the USAID/Uganda knowledge base in order to improve development outcomes. A collaborating, learning, and adapting focus helps to ensure that programming is coordinated, grounded in evidence, and adjusted as necessary to remain relevant and effective throughout implementation.

Knowledge generated by learning will be applied throughout programming to implementation approaches, processes, and stakeholder engagement. Knowledge generated by learning should also be disseminated to activity stakeholders, partners, and collaborators in an appropriate forum and format so that it may be translated into decisions and actions that enhance the success of approaches and interventions designed to achieve common intermediate results.

The Contractor will share information and knowledge generated by monitoring data, portfolio review results, research findings, evaluations, analyses, and experiences with other USAID implementing partners. The Contractor will apply actionable information and knowledge gained from collaborating partners to activity implementation in order to improve results.

USAID Implementing Partners and/or Support Contractors, and sub-sets of the fore-mentioned universe, will convene on a periodic basis to reflect on actions taken, exchange analysis, and propose decisions that affect implementation.

C.5.4 ADAPTING

The Contractor will demonstrate adaptability that is informed by knowledge gained through learning, and recognize behaviors and incentives necessary to create change. Knowledge gained through learning will influence decision making, resource allocation, and adaptation to contextual shifts.

Application of new knowledge to implementation decisions will be reflected in the Semi-Annual Work Plan, and the Contractor Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (CMELP). Decisions to adapt Semi-Annual Work Plans or CMELPs may be based on, but not limited to the following:

● Extraneous changes in the operating environment (i.e. emergency or natural disaster; national policy changes)

● Financial and human resource constraints

● Evidence that signals targets are unmet

● Emerging evidence that interventions are not working or could work better if adapted

Any changes to the scope of the Contract must be approved by the Cognizant Contracting Officer in a modification to the contract. Changes in technical approach may be approved by the COR by way of the COR’s authority to provide technical direction and approve Semi-Annual Work Plans.

C.6 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

The following considerations will be reflected in the interventions undertaken to achieve the results described in C.4 above.

Building on Lessons Learned: Based on experience with previous USAID/Uganda support contracts, flexibility and rapid response will be crucial to the Contractor’s success in meeting Contract requirements. Close proximity of Contractor offices to USAID’s offices has been another key element of past support contract success.

Collaboration: The ARMSS Contractors will be expected to collaborate in areas in which there are no conflicts of interest. Illustratively, (i) contractors working within the same cluster will be expected to share lessons learned and, from time to time, at USAID’s request harmonize protocols; (ii) contractors under one cluster may be requested to brief contractors under another cluster, e.g., a contractor under the “fiduciary risk management” cluster which has conducted a PFMRAF Stage 2 assessment may be asked to brief a contractor from the “fiduciary capacity building” cluster on an assessment the latter may be helping an IP respond to. There may be other instances as well. The ARMSS Contractors will also be expected to collaborate with the suite of other contracts providing direct services to USAID/Uganda to strengthen the quality of the Mission’s performance in delivering/facilitating development results. These contracts are described below.

1. The Learning Contract: The goal of the Learning contract is to enhance the impact and sustainability of USAID-supported contributions to Uganda through by strengthening USAID’s capacity in: (i) collaborating, to better leverage expertise, learning and resources,

(ii) learning, to inform the relevance, quality and cost-effectiveness of USAID assistance; and

(iii) adaptive management and meta-level reflection to improve the quality of program and operational outcomes. For the most part, there is little overlap between the Learning Contract and the ARMSS Contracts. Where there is overlap, the ARMSS Contractors are expected to provide services of a more specialized nature related to deepening USAID’s capacity to ensure accountability and fiduciary risk management. The area of greatest overlap is likely to be between the Third Party Monitoring Contract cluster and the Learning Contract in third party monitoring. USAID/Uganda’s intent is that cluster of Third Party Monitoring Contracts will take on major, ongoing, specialized third party monitoring assignments, such as monitoring food aid, refugee assistance, construction or other major, specialized activities whereas the Learning Contractor will support more limited third party monitoring, on a more ad hoc basis. To the extent contextual and other non-verification monitoring is conducted under the Third Party Monitoring Contract, it will be directly related to sectors for which verification monitoring is supported under the Contract. Illustratively, third party monitoring for food distribution may be accompanied by third party monitoring to better understand the context in which food is distributed. When and to the extent USAID/Uganda determines it makes sense, the Third Party Monitoring Contractors will be required to harmonize third party monitoring planning and protocols either amongst themselves and/or in collaboration with the Learning Contractor. The award for the Learning Contract is pending.

2. Strategic Information Technical Evaluation (SITES) Contract: SITES provides technical, management, and logistical support necessary to increase evidence-based planning, programming and management of Uganda’s health sector, particularly but not exclusively in its response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. SITES helps to implement and maintain a comprehensive interagency PEPFAR program performance management and reporting system; supports the GOU’s national monitoring and evaluation systems for health, HIV/AIDS and orphans and vulnerable children programming; and provides the evidence base for management of USAID’s health and HIV/AIDS activities. There is likely to be little overlap between SITES and the ARMSS Contracts. SITES has limited and narrowly defined responsibility for third party monitoring. The ARMSS “fiduciary” Contracts and the SITES Contract are complementary, with ARMSS focused on fiduciary accountability and SITES focused on programmatic accountability.