Amend01 and Q A.pdf

T^ODE PAGE OF PAGES

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

7 1

2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE 4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

000001 06/28/2012

6. ISSUED BY

CODE

GEORGIA 7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)

CODE

N/A

USAID Caucasus Not Applicable

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code) (x) 9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

SOL-112-12-000006

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)X

06/28/2012

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

CODE FACILITY CODE

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATION

IXI The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

L is extended, [ is not extended.

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended, by one of the following methods: (a) By completing

Items 8 and 15, and returning copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted: or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted, such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required)

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS . IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT

ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACTIORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF.

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority)

E. IMPORTANT:

Contractor

I! is not.

i_! is required to sign this document and return copies to the issuing office.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT /MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

SB Plan: YES

This Amendment hereby changes the RFP as noted on the attached change pages.

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect.

15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print) 16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)

Sarah R. Bueter

15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 15C. DATE SIGNED 16 . UNIT

STATE

OF

RIC 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature o1 person authorized to sign) (Signature o1 Co^rkeGti car

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Previous edition unusable

Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

Request for Proposal Number: SOL-112-12-000006 Building Local Capacity for Development (BLCD) Project

L.12 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE BRANDING AND MARKING

PLANS

In accordance with Section D of this RFP. Offeror(s) must submit a preliminary Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and a Marking Plan (MP), not to exceed two pages as an attachment to the Technical Gent Proposal. The BIP and MP will not be a part of the technical evaluation. Offerors must include all estimated costs associated with the BIP and MP for the proposed activity.

The successful Offeror will submit detailed Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and a Marking Plan (MP) within thirty (30) days commencement of the Contract. The approved plans will be incorporated into the Contract.

Branding Implementation Plan (BIP)

A Branding Implementation Plan must be developed by the successful Offeror. It must describe how the program will be communicated to the beneficiaries and promoted to host-country citizens. It will outline the events and materials the Contractor will use to deliver the message that the assistance is from the American people.

More specifically, Branding Implementation Plan must address the following:

1. How to incorporate the message, "This assistance is from the American people," in communications and materials directed to beneficiaries, or provide an explanation if this message is not appropriate or possible.

2. How to publicize the program, project, or activity in the cooperating country and a description of the communications tools to be used. Such tools may include the following: press releases, press conferences, media interviews, site visits, success stories, beneficiary testimonials, professional photography, PSAs, videos, web casts, e-invitations, or other a-mails sent to group lists, such as participants for a training session blast a-mails or other Internet activities, etc.

3. The key milestones or opportunities anticipated to generate awareness that the program, project, or activity is from the American people, or an explanation if this is not appropriate or possible. Such milestones may be linked to specific points in time, such as the beginning or end of a program, or to an opportunity to showcase publications or other materials, research findings, or program success. These include, but are not limited to, the following: launching the program, announcing research findings, publishing reports or studies, spotlighting trends, highlighting success stories, featuring beneficiaries as spokespeople, securing endorsements from partner municipalities. ministry or local organizations, promoting final or interim reports, and communicating program impact/overall results.

Request for Proposal Number: SOL-I 12-12-000006

Project

ATTACHMENT 4

SPECIFIC TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS (STR)/TASKS

PROGRAM VISION AND APPROACH

STRATEGIC GOAL: The BLCD goal oJ' US AID cooperation with Azerbaijan is strengthened institutional, organizational, and technical capacity of C SO coalitions and networks to advance key democracy and good governance initiatives at the national, regional and local levels.

The Building Local Capacity for Development (BLCD) Project aims to strengthen, through capacity building; civil society's ability to influence and partner with the GOAJ in the development and implementation of democracy and governance (DG) related reforms at the national, regional and local levels. Consequently, in addition to raising levels of organizational and technical capacity of partnered CSOs, it will also seek strategic partnerships between civil society coalitions and networks on the one hand, and critical reform oriented stakeholders within the Azerbaijani state and Azerbaijani society. on the other.

The BLCD Project will be implemented in close coordination with other United States Government and USAID/Azerbaijan projects (including rule-of-law, human rights, legal education, women's empowerment programming. and public policy dialogue in the health and economic growth spheres).

The CSOs expected to be selected for BLCD Project support are anticipated to be working in democracy and good governance activity areas critical to Azerbaijan's long-term development: specifically, in the spheres of anti-corruption/transparency, rights advocacy and legal information and legal assistance. Two of these activities are anticipated to begin in FY 20133 and an additional two in 20143. For FY2013, genra]. institutional capacity building support will be provided to selected members of the new SJSAID Azerbaijan Rights Consortium ;ARC) Project which in addition to rights advocacy includes legal information and assistance. in

2013, assistance will also extend to Azerbaijani health and medical associations, which. have identified specific needs in grant writing fund raising and monitoring and evaluation skills. For FY2014, the BLCD beneficiary focus will broaden to include selected N os engaged in Transparency and Anti-Corruption activities. Also ir. F52 014 selected

Economic Growth focused partners will receive institutional capacity assistance with an emphasis on acquiring methodologies-formore rigorous__Ft sector assessments and policy analysis. Selected NGOS should hone advocacy skills with new social marketing and information communication technologies that engage and a ea1_to broader audiences.

GENERAL ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES AND APPROACHES

The design and implementation of all activities must carefully consider and incorporate the general organizing principles and approaches enumerated below. As a whole, these tenets shall serve to guide the Contractor's overall strategy, design, and implementation of the entire project and all relevant activities.

Request for Proposal Number: SOL-112-12-000006

Project

Sub-factor 3.3 - Organizational Resiliency

Offerors must demonstrate capacity to work and succeed in complex implementation environments. The Offeror must describe any past experiences implementing capacity building programs in diverse cultural politically sensitive environments, the nature of obstacles encountered, and how challenges and obstacles posed were overcome, and any resulting lessons learned.

Sub-factor 3.4 - Rapid Programmatic Start-up

The proposal must include specific benchmarks and timeline.for program start-up including (but not limited to) when the initial start-up team will be in-country, when the program will be able to award initial grants under contract or sub-contracts, when regional offices (if any) will be operational, and when important technical and management staff positions will be filled. The benchmarks must clearly demonstrate the number of days after commencement of the Contract for the completion of specific tasks within the start-up timeline. 'T'hese start-up benchmarks will be considered required deliverables and will be included in the Contract.

Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan

In addition to the above sub-factors, the proposal must demonstrate how the Offeror plans to respond to the monitoring and evaluation systems and approaches described.

FACTOR 4: PAST PERFORMANCE

Sub-factor 4.1 - Review and Evaluation of Past Performance Information

The Offeror (including all partners of a joint venture) must provide performance information for itself and each major subcontractor (defined as one whose proposed cost exceeds 1525% of the Offeror's total proposed cost) in accordance with the following:

List in an annex to the Technical Proposal the most recent and relevant contracts for efforts similar to the work in the proposed project. The most relevant indicators of performance are contracts that are comparable or related to the objectives of this acquisition particularly in terms of technical complexity, price and cost management.

Provide for each of the contracts listed above a list of contact names, job titles, mailing addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and a description of the performance to include:

Scope of work or complexity/diversity of tasks, Primary location(s) of work, Request for Proposal Number: SOL- 112-12-000006

Project

f. Final Report

The Contractor must submit a detailed Final Report of no more than 40 pages, not including annexes, in professional-level English within 6043 days prior to the end of the Contract. This report must include, but is not limited to: (1) a summary of project implementation, accomplishments and shortcomings in achieving project goals and results, referring to the intermediate results listed in the Contract; (2) reasons why expected results were not met. if applicable; (3) commentary upon the status of all Azerbaijani organizations and institutions with which the Contractor worked, with emphasis on institutional development, "Azerbaijanization". their expected future activities, and their capacity to develop and sustain future projects/programs in similar programmatic areas; (4) a list of all host country, international donor, and financial institution contacts and collaboration; and (5) recommendations for any future Building Local Capacity for Development (BLCD) type projects or initiatives. The Final Report must include a Financial Report as an annex, detailing how funds were expended, line by line. The Final Report must be submitted in lieu of the last Quarterly Technical Report.

USAID will provide comments within 15 days. From receipt of USAID comments. the Contractor must revise and submit a final version within 10 days for USAID approval. Once the Final Report is accepted by USAID, five hard copies and one electronic copy of the Final Report must be submitted to the designated COR with a copy to the Contracting Officer.

g. Special Reports

The Contractor must submit Special Reports to USAID in the case of extraordinary, time-sensitive, especial events. Such Special Reports or Special Briefings may be requested from the Contractor by the designated COR, or may be produced by the Contractor exercising its judgment.

h. Accrual Exercise/Pipeline Analysis

The Contractor must submit budget information. realistic projected expenditures.

and financial pipeline analysis before each Contract ntodification/incremental funding to the designated COR within 10 days prior to the end of each Quarter for USAID's accrual exercise, and as required by USAID.

Foreign Assistance Reporting

The Contractor must provide indicator and other information as needed for reporting under the relevant Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System (FACTS) objectives, areas, and elements. USAID will provide guidance on what indicators shall he tracked.

July 6, 2012

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

FOR

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) NUMBER: SOL-112-12 -000006

TITLE: BUILDING LOCAL CAPACITY FOR DEVELOPMENT (BLCD) PROJECT

Please find list of questions submitted by prospective Offerors and USAID's answers to the questions, which are as follows:

Question Number 1:

On page 92, under section L.10 Instructions for the Preparation of The Technical Proposal, under bullet 4 it lists a Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan - not to exceed two pages as an attachment to the Technical Proposal. However, on page 110 under section L.12 Instructions for the Preparation of The Branding and Marking Plans, it states: In accordance with Section D of this RFP, Offeror(s) must submit a preliminary Branding Implementation Plan (BIP) and a Marking Plan (MP), not to exceed two pages as an attachment to the Cost Proposal.

Can you please clarify if the Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan should be included as an annex to the Technical or the Cost Proposal?

Answer Number 1:

The Branding Implementation Plan and Marking Plan - not to exceed two pages must be submitted as an attachment to the Technical Proposal.

Please see Amendment No. 1.

Question Number 2:

On page 124, Attachment 4 Specific Technical Requirements (STR)/Tasks, under section Program Vision And Approach, it states, "The CSOs expected to be selected for BLCD Project support are anticipated to be working in democracy and good governance activity areas critical to Azerbaijan's long-term development: specifically, in the spheres of anti-corruption/transparency, rights advocacy and legal information and legal assistance. Two of these activities are anticipated to begin in FY 2012 and an additional two in 2013."

Can you please clarify what activities are being referred to here?

Questions and Answers Request for Proposal (RFP) Number: SOL-112-12-000006

Answer Number 2:

This is revised to read as follows:

"Two of these activities are anticipated to begin in FY 2013 and an additional two in 2014. For FY 2013, general institutional capacity building support will be provided to selected members of the new USAID Azerbaijan Rights Consortium (ARC) Project, which in addition to rights advocacy includes legal information and assistance. In 2013, assistance will also extend to Azerbaijani health and medical associations, which have identified specific needs in grant writing, fund raising and monitoring and evaluation skills. For FY 2014, the BLCD beneficiary focus will broaden to include selected NGOs engaged in Transparency and Anti-Corruption activities. Also in FY 2014, selected Economic Growth focused partners will receive institutional capacity assistance with an emphasis on acquiring methodologies for more rigorous Economic Growth sector assessments and policy analysis.

Selected NGOs should hone advocacy skills with new social marketing and information communication technologies that engage and appeal to broader audiences."

Please see Amendment No. 1.

Question Number 3:

Further on pg. 128, Attachment 4 Specific Technical Requirements (STR)/Tasks, under section General Organizing Principles And Approaches, Selection of

Implementing CSO Partners, it states, "Target organizations will be identified by USAID in coordination and consultation with the Contractor, within 15 days effective of the Contract. Twelve to 14 of the 18-20 local organizations assisted will be USAID implementing partners working as either lead recipients, or members of consortia implementing other USAID DG projects/programs. The other six organizations will be USAID recipients or sub-recipients working in health or economic growth projects/programs. For most of the target organizations, this will be their first experience as a direct USAID Recipient. More than fifty percent of the target CSOs will be identified in the first year of the Contract, and the remaining CSOs will be identified in year 2."

Can you please clarify if target CSOs will be selected within 15 days or in years 1 and 2?

Answer Number 3:

All major target CSOs, for year one will be identified to the Contractor, by USAID, within 15 days of the Award; except that in the case of ARC associated organizations, the final list will be developed in a USAID led consultative process with the ARC Awardee and the Contractor. A preliminary list of Year two target CSOs will be developed within the first trimester of year one of the BLCD Project.

Question Number 4:

In order to ensure compliance with AIDAR requirements that Contractor CCN staff salaries and benefits should not exceed those paid by the USAID Mission to CCN direct hires, could you please provide a copy of the Local Employee Compensation Plan?

Answer Number 4:

The Local Employee Compensation Plan is attached.

Question Number 5:

Please confirm that the Capacity-Building Fund described under C.4.2.3 (page

16) may be used to engage CSOs to perform activities under all components.

Answer Number 5:

The assumption is correct. As C.4.2.3 states - "Local CSO working in all three sectors targeted by USAID /Azerbaijan (Democracy and Governance, Health/Social Services and Economic Growth) must be eligible to compete for the grants."

The Capacity -Building Fund described under C.4.2.3 (page 16) may be used to engage CSOs to perform activities under all components.

Question Number 6:

Section C.4.2.4, Expected Results, (page 18) refers to CSO Resource Centers.

Would USAID please clarify whether the selected CSO Resource Center(s) will be expected to award and manage sub-grants to other local CSOs through the Capacity-Building Fund under this Contract?

Answer Number 6:

We believe you are inferring a linkage of language in C.4.2.3 to one of the illustrative activities listed in C.4.2.4. - Specifically:

Facilitate a multi-stakeholder participatory effort for Azerbaijan CSO leaders to draft generic CSO Resource Center policies, guides and sub-grant procedures.

The ability to draft sub -grant procedures does not impose an absolute requirement to use the USAID funding for Resource Centers to make such grants. But neither USAID would object, if all other qualifications and certification standards is met by the Resource Center and validated by USAID.

Question Number 7:

A Branding and Marking Plan is listed as a requirement under the Instructions for Preparation of the Technical Proposal (page 92) and also for the Cost Proposal (page 110). Would USAID please confirm that Offerors should include the Branding and Marking Plan in the cost volume only?

Answer Number 7:

Please refer to Answer Number: 1.

Question Number 8:

Sub-factor 4.1, Review and Evaluation of Past Performance Information (page

97) defines a major subcontractor as one whose proposed cost exceeds 25 percent of the Offeror's total proposed cost. However, "Central Contractor Registration (CCR)/Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA)" (page 106) defines major subcontractors those whose total cost exceeds 15 percent of the offer's bottom line total cost. Would USAID please clarify which definition Offerors should use in responding to the RFP?

Answer Number 8:

Major subcontractors those whose total cost exceeds 15 percent of the offer's bottom line total cost.

Please see Amendment No. 1.

Question Number 9:

A Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan is listed as a requirement in Section L (page 97) but is not mentioned in Section M. Would USAID please confirm that Offerors may place the Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan in an annex?

Answer Number 9:

The Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan must be submitted as an attachment.

The Draft Monitoring and Evaluation Plan is a go/no go requirement.

Question Number 10:

For the draft grants management guide, would it be sufficient for Offerors to provide a general overview of grants management procedures and systems?

Answer Number 10:

Yes, but please indicate how many draft management guides have been developed and any case to be made for their success.