Round_2_Questions_and_Answers.pdf

USAID/East Africa and USAID/Kenya Health Programs Round 2 of Questions and Answers

1. Given that the procurement envisions task orders covering and including capacity building for all of East Africa, would it be acceptable for one of the key personnel to be a third-country national in a neighboring country such as Uganda?

Please note in the amended RFP, Attachment 1, Section B.2 has been added to clarify that the place of performance for Task Order 1 is Kenya. Additionally, Task Order 1 requires that the successful offeror establish full operations in Nairobi, Kenya, per Attachment 1, Section A.

Section A.2 of Attachment 1 also notes that each of the key personnel shall be Nairobi-based.

USAID has added Section H.24 so that offerors understand the issues pertaining to obtaining work permits for expatriate long term staff, including key personnel, under the U.S. Government and Government of Kenya bilateral agreement. The offeror will not be penalized for proposing TCNs as key personnel under Task Order 1, since nationality of the key personnel is not noted as an evaluation criterion. USAID shall assist in obtaining work permits. However, if the Government of Kenya denies a TCN work permit, the responsibility lies with the Contractor to replace the key personnel per the procedures and requirements of the IDIQ and Task Order at no additional cost to USAID.

2. If after consideration the requirement for only Kenyan or U.S. citizens to fill key and long-term positions and to be based in Kenya remains in place, would USAID grant a 2-week extension of the proposal deadline so that offerors have an opportunity to restructure their teams to conform with the new requirement?

No. Please note that the requirement for Task Order 1 key personnel to be based in Kenya was an original requirement of the RFP.

3. It is unclear from the RFP which legal entities are eligible to submit a proposal for the services that are the subject of the RFP. Can you clarify if companies registered and with offices in Kenya and Uganda are eligible to submit a proposal for the services that are the subject of your RFP?

Yes, any entity is eligible so long as it meets the requirements in the RFP.

4. Question No. 11 asks if TCNs may serve in KP positions. USAID responded that Section H.24 includes restrictions for hiring TCNs. H.24 states “TCNs are only engaged when there is proof the required skills are not available at present in Kenya and the US.”

However, it has been our understanding that regional programs that have offices in Kenya can employ third country nationals from the countries served by the program.

Can you please clarify if TCNs from the countries of performance (Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Djibouti, the Central African Republic (CAR), and South Sudan) can serve in the KP positions?

Please see question 1.

5. Question 68 states: “On page 32, the RFP states that “the contractor would be ineligible to furnish, as a prime or subcontractor or otherwise, the implementation services for any activities for which it provides substantial design services”. Is the government able to clarify that the preclusion would not apply to a sub-contractor who is part of a consortium on this contract but does not provide design services?” To which USAID responded: “The preclusion would apply to the sub-contractor given the inherent relationship between prime and sub.”

However, a consortium may be made up of several specialized subcontractors that have no part in various specific design or evaluation activities, and would seem to have no real or apparent conflict of interest related to activities that they did not participate in. Additionally, such a blanket preclusion could unnecessarily limit USAID’s ability to access both international and local partners. We therefore respectfully request that USAID reconsider the blanket preclusion for subcontractors, and allow the Contractor, upon award, to establish organizational conflicts of interest mitigation strategies in order to ensure that subcontractors not have access to data related to activities that the subcontractor did not participate in. Then actual conflicts of interest could be determined individually based on the specific activities undertaken by the subcontractor.

USAID has removed program design from Section C.3.1. USAID shall not order program design services from this IDIQ per Section C.3.3 in the amended RFP. USAID has also amended Section H.16 to remove the Preclusion from Implementation Contract Clause and to replace it with the Preclusion from Furnishing Certain Services and Restriction on Use of Information Clause.

6. In the answer to question 9, USAID stated that while allowances may be budgeted separately in the buildup for future task order prices, but that indirect costs and fee may not be calculated on these allowances. Given that indirect costs represent actual costs that the contractor incurs, would USAID consider allowing only indirect costs (not fee) to be recovered on applicable and allowable allowances?

No.

7. The answer to question 27.c states: “Please see question 26.b,” however there is no question

26.b. Can you please confirm that this refers to question 27.b?

Yes.

8. Beginning with the answer to question 58.b there are several answers that state: “Please see question 57.a,” however, there is no question 57.a. Could you please confirm that this should refer to 58.a “Future TOs. This is part of what USAID can order off of the IDIQ via future TOs.”

9. While it is clear that this contract will provide support for both the USAID/Kenya Office of Public Health (OPH) and the USAID/East Africa Regional Health and HIV/AIDS Office (RHH), we would like to request clarification on the regional work. Will the contractor be requested to assess or evaluate only those programs which are funded and implemented by RHH, and/or might the contractor be requested to perform these services for other health programs funded and implemented by the other bilateral Missions in the East Africa region?

The Contractor may be required to assess and evaluate those programs funded and implemented by RHH and OPH, in addition to the other services listed in Section C.3.1. The Contractor will not be requested to perform services for other USAID Missions.

10. Regarding the expected volume of task orders under this contract, the Questions and Answers released on June 14 contain contradictory responses. In the response to Question No. 34, USAID anticipated issuing four task orders per month, while in the responses to Questions No. 40 and 43, USAID anticipated issuing five task orders per month. Can USAID please clarify the expected volume of task orders?

USAID anticipates issuing four task orders per month. Please see Section L.4(a) of the RFP.

11. Attachment 2 on pages 72-73 of 73 of the revised RFP is titled “Tentative Assessment and Evaluation Plan 2013 – 2014,” which implies that the tasks included in the table that follows are all assessments and evaluations. However, many of the tasks listed under the RHH section on page 73 appear to fall under the Support Services component of the SOW as described in Section C, such as “RHH Implementing Partners Planning Conference” and “Logistical support for Regional Family Planning, Population Health and Nutrition and Demographic Dividend conference in Ethiopia”. Can USAID please confirm that the RHH tasks listed in Attachment 2 are, indeed, Support Services and are not assessments or evaluations? Further, is USAID able to provide any detail at this stage on the assessments and evaluations expected for RHH, similar to the list provided for OPH?

Correct. However, RHH could order any services falling within the scope of the IDIQ. RHH is not able to provide a list of upcoming assessments and evaluations.

12. While the Price Schedule Chart provided in Section B.4., Price/Cost Schedule of the revised solicitation on page 7 of 73 provides the same thirteen labor categories as those included in the Price Evaluation chart shown in Section M.4 on page 66 of 73, the column names between the charts differ. For example, the second column from the left on Schedule B.4 shows, “Daily Rate (Sr. Local)", while the same column in the chart found in RFP Section M.4 states, “Technical Expat”. The third column from the left on Schedule B.4 shows, “Daily Rate (Jr. Expat)", while the same column in the chart found in RFP Section M.4 states, “Senior Local”.

a) Would USAID please clarify if Offerers should use the term “Technical Expat” versus “Junior Expat”, and “Technical Local” versus "Junior Local”?

Please use “Senior Expat”, “Junior Expat”, “Senior Local”, “Junior Local” per the revised labor category table in Section M.4 in the amended RFP.

b) Would USAID please clarify the correct column headings in these two charts to ensure Offerors are all consistently using the same order for both columns ("Daily Rate (Sr.

Expat), Daily Rate (Sr. Local), Daily Rate (Jr. Expat), Daily Rate (Jr. Local)" versus "Senior Expat, Technical Expat, Senior Local, Technical Local") and applying the proper percentages when computing the weighted average rate for Section M.4.?

Please see the labor category tables in Section M.4 and Section B.4 that have been revised for consistency in the amended RFP.

13. Section F.2. Place of Performance (RFP page 18 of 72) addresses that the place of performance under this contract is Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Djibouti, and the Central African Republic, while the response to Question No. 52 of the Questions and Answers issued on June 14, 2013 mentioned South Sudan as one of the countries. “…Please note that South Sudan’s LCP is the same as Sudan’s, and Somalia’s LCP is the same as Kenya’s. USAID is not able to provide the LCP for the Central African Republic.” Would USAID please clarify if South Sudan is included as the place of performance under this contract, therefore bringing the total countries to eleven (11)?

Yes, please see Section F.2 of the RFP.

14. Thank you for providing LCPs of the proposed countries on the Amendment issued on June 14, 2013. Section B.4 on page 8 of 73 states that Professional (Senior) must have a relevant Master’s Degree and at least 10 years of related experience. Based on US Department of State Foreign Affairs Handbook Volume 3 Handbook 2 Foreign Service National Handbook (3 FAH-2 H-400 Appendix G General Grade Level Guides), FSN 12 is categorized as Bachelor with a minimum of six (6) to eight (8) years of progressively responsible experience in the area of their assignment is needed. Would USAID confirm that Senior Local level is equivalent to FSN 12? Or would USAID provide guidance on the range for Senior level category and Technical or Junior level category in the FSN scales?

This is up to the offeror’s discretion, but the rationale must be justified in the budget notes.

15. Per the RFP and first round of Q&A:

“On page 67, Attachment 1: Task Order 01 A.2 Personnel, it states: In order to provide on-going monitoring, evaluation and verification support OPH and RHH under this task order, as well as on cross-cutting issues such as gender, the contractor shall provide qualified, experienced local staff to backstop each office.”

In order to ensure that all Offerors are proposing against the same requirements, can you please provide a list of the offices that require backstops, the numbers of individuals required, and a brief description of the requirements for each position?

OPH and RHH. Please also refer to Section C.1. Offerors must use their judgment and creativity in determining how best to meet this requirement.”

In light of this answer, we have the following related questions:

a) Could USAID please clarify the work to be performed as “backstop” support to each office?

The language in Attachment 1, Section A.2 has been revised. Offerors are required to propose adequate personnel to meet the requirements of Task Order 01, such as being able to respond to future task orders in the required number of days noted in Section F.4.

Offerors are reminded to thoroughly review the requirements of Task Order 01. Please note that the required services in Section C.3.1 are only examples of the types of services which can be ordered off of the IDIQ in the future.

b) Does USAID intend for the backstopping work to be full-time?

The key personnel are expected to be full-time. It is up to the offeror as to the level of other staffing necessary to meet the requirements of Task Order 01.

c) Does USAID intend for the backstop support to work only out of Nairobi?

i. If USAID intends for the backstop support to conduct field visits or survey, could USAID please provide the estimated number of visits, locations, and duration of such travel?

The purpose of TO 1 is not to conduct field visits or surveys.

d) Is this monitoring, evaluation, and verification support in addition to any future task orders?

Please see amended Attachment 1, Section A.2. Monitoring, evaluation, and verification support will not be handled under TO 1, and it will be covered under future Task Orders.

16. On cost, would USAID allow local hire FTE compensation above the LCP with a solid justification?