Q A-Presolicitation_Conference-Webinar_Aug2015.pdf

TO: Prospective Offerors

DATE: November 30, 2015

SUBJECT: Q&A from the Pre-solicitation Conference & Webinar for the USAID/Nigeria

Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health [RMNCH] (SOL-620-15-

000009), held on August 11, 2015.

Dear Prospective Offerors:

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission to Nigeria is providing written responses to relevant questions that came from the Pre-solicitation Conference &

Webinar. The Mission is currently preparing the solicitation, which will be released on www.fbo.gov in the second quarter of FY16.

A full recording of the conference and webinar can be found at:

https://ghpod.adobeconnect.com/p8erl0d6l9i/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=norma l

USAID/Nigeria encourages interested parties to register for updates on this activity via www.fbo.gov. All inquiries concerning this notice must be directed via email to Maryann

Asielue, Acquisition & Assistance Specialist, at masielue@usaid.gov with a copy to Mohib

Ahmed at mohahmed@usaid.gov. Phone inquiries will not be entertained. We appreciate your patience and interest in this important project.

Best regards, Mohib Ahmed

Contracting Officer

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Q&A http://www.fbo.gov/ https://ghpod.adobeconnect.com/p8erl0d6l9i/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal https://ghpod.adobeconnect.com/p8erl0d6l9i/?launcher=false&fcsContent=true&pbMode=normal http://www.fbo.gov/ mailto:masielue@usaid.gov mailto:mohahmed@usaid.gov

Attachment 1-Q&A Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health [RMNCH]

Mission-Level Questions:

1) When will the USAID Nigeria strategy be made publicly available?

Answer: The public version of the CDCS is available on the www.usaid.gov website:

https://www.usaid.gov/nigeria/cdcs

2) Have focus states / geo-political zones for the project been determined?

Answer: No. These states will be determined as priorities are defined by new Governors and their teams.

3) The pre-solicitation notice mentioned that this program would work closely with a governance activity, specifically for the 1st sub-objective. Can you provide more information on the roles of each project when it comes to strengthening state and LGA structures? Also, is the governance activity an existing program or a new program?

Answer: The RMNCH and Governance activities will work closely to improve the enabling environment for health and leverage resources from the state government.

While the RMNCH activity will work to strengthen the institutions within the health sector, the Governance activity will primarily engage with players outside the health sector that affects health. The Governance activity will be a new project.

4) What will be your criteria for selecting the states?

Answer: State selection will be based on multiple factors including health status in the state, quality of leadership appointed to key state positions, priority given to health in state budgets, etc. These criteria will be refined and finalized in collaboration with the

RMNCH implementer.

5) Will USAID please share which states will definitely be included in the project from the start? Does the project aim for National coverage?

Answer: No list of states that will “definitely” be included in the project is available.

The activity will have limited engagement at the national level, but national coverage is not envisaged as the primary focus of this project.

6) Are you still planning on continuing with a saturation approach in a limited number of states, or are we likely to see activities in a larger number of states?

Answer: Full state coverage is expected in any selected state to demonstrate state-level impact.

7) Could USAID elaborate further on its role in engagement of state leadership and creating a positive political climate?

Answer: Promoting state leadership of programs in the health sector is a major objective of this activity. USAID plans also to fund other complementary development projects within the selected states apart from this project. The mission leadership will engage actively with state leadership to ensure and articulate a shared vision for and commitment to strengthening health systems and improving health outcomes.

8) How different is the implementation of the malaria project in Nigeria from RMNCH implementation?

Answer: Malaria is one of the key interventions under this project. However, there is going to be a future Malaria Project with likely different focus states from the RMNCH

Project.

9) How is the malaria component of this award different from the future malaria award announced?

Answer: Comments on the future malaria award will not be provided here. The malaria component of this award includes diagnosis and treatment of cases, use of insecticide treated bed-nets and prevention of malaria in pregnancy.

10) Will the Mission be open for State funding of specific program areas i.e. FP against MCH

Answer: We expect state government commitment to all the six components of this activity. Focus of implementation under the project will depend on the available resources from the state government and other potential contributors with the ultimate aim of promoting synergy and complementarity. USAID implementer must ensure that it aligns its workplan with the state’s plan.

11) Does the CDCS need to be out first before the procurement is released? Is it depended on the CDCS? Is there a timeline on release date and what will be the order of release? Will it be by order of state?

Answer: The CDCS is approved and available. The officially posted version of the CDCS is available on the Agency’s website: https://www.usaid.gov/nigeria/cdcs

12) Could USAID provide an estimate of the number of states the project will work in over the life of the project?

Answer: A minimum of two states, but possibly as many as five by the end of the activity.

13) On page 7 of the FBO announcement, USAID states, “The achievement of the first sub-objective (health systems strengthened) would therefore be a joint effort between this

RMNCH award and the USAID-funded governance activity”. Could USAID please indicate if the “USAID-funded governance activity” is a new or existing project? If it is an existing project, could USAID please provide the project’s name?

Answer: It will be a new Governance activity and is yet to be named.

14) On Page 6 of the FBO announcement, USAID states “Pre-award, USAID will manage the engagement with government and non-government actors”. Could USAID please provide a list of non-government actors that it is currently working with or plans to work with as part of the co-create, co-design, and co-invest effort for the anticipated RMNCH project?

Answer: The mission has been interacting with other development partners including

DfID, Gates, UN Organizations as well as the World Bank to ensure synergy and information-sharing for better program alignment. More engagements with both government and non-government actors will continue to be pursued in the course of project design.

Procurement Questions:

1) About the IDIQ contract, will this IDIQ have core funds as well as buy-in funds for the task orders?

Answer: It is envisioned that the subsequent Task Orders (TOs) will be funded by

USAID/Nigeria mission funding only. Outside “buy-ins” are not envisioned at this time.

2) Will you only be making one award even though it is an IDIQ?

Answer: Yes, this procurement will result in a single-award IDIQ

3) With the significant emphasis on case studies, we hope that sufficient space will be allocated for addressing high impact interventions.

Answer: This is noted and will be addressed within section L of the solicitation.

4) Will the opportunity be open for local and international organizations to bid on, or will it be limited?

Answer: There will be no limitation on the type of organization that may submit a proposal.

5) What would be the content of Task Order 1?

Answer: TO #1 is envisioned to be the Mobilization Plan for the project.

6) Will grants under contract be a part of this program, and if so, could you please indicate the size/proportion of funding allocated to grants?

Answer: Yes, GUC’s are envisioned to be a part of this project. Each TO will identify the envisioned amount of the award that will be utilized as a GUC.

7) Will past performance on coop agreement and contracts be acceptable? Also, why not include it in the body of the proposal? Finally, will this be used to shortlist IPs?

Answer: Yes, any relevant past performance will be acceptable. For any reference provided, the organization/individual should be aware that they will be contacted and provide information as needed for verify successful performance of a previous program.

Past Performance information is being requested early to allow USAID to contact, collect, and prepare the needed information for the past performance review. No shortlisting will take place during this process. Early submission will result in a shorter procurement action lead time (PALT). If the past performance information is submitted at the same time as other required documents, it will take additional time in the collection of such information.

8) Will past performance from US foreign local experiences be accepted or it has to be international?

Answer: All relevant past performance will be considered and evaluated.

9) Do you anticipate TOs to go beyond the period of the IDIQ, e.g. could a 5-year TO be released in Year 4 of the IDIQ?

Answer: Yes, the exact ordering period and maximum length of a TO will be elaborated within the solicitation.

10) Can you confirm that RFP will request three case studies from diverse areas of the country in other to test our flexibility in responding to differing condition?

Answer: The exact number of case studies is still being reviewed at this time; however, the point will be to test the offerors ability to respond to diverse areas, flexibility, and differing conditions.

11) In order to best prepare for case study development, could USAID please confirm that the

RFP will require case studies for specific states within each of the target regions (i.e.

NE,NW, SS states)

Answer: The case studies will provide for assumptions and details specification which will allow the offerors to respond accordingly.

12) How will the mission accommodate for the effect that security challenges could have on the expected results?

Answer: Each TO will allow for security related costs. It is the responsibility of the offeror to properly assess security needs and facilitate a safe working environment for all staff.

13) Will USAID require the COP and/or DCOP to reside in the states where the program’s primary activities are targeted? If so, given that USAID intends the project to be implemented in a NE and NW state in year 1, will USAID require the COP and/or DCOP to reside in a northern state?

Answer: The COP/DCOP will be required to live in the state where the program is being implemented.

14) Could USAID please indicate what type of contract (e.g. CPFF, FP,T&M) the task orders will be under this IDIQ?

Answer: The anticipated TOs may be CPFF, CPIF, or FFP. T&M type TOs are not envisioned under this IDIQ.

Strategy Questions:

1) Is the theory of change trying to show changes over time? E.g. reductions in service delivery by the implementing partner as the health system is being strengthened?

Answer: The conceptual framework indicates that the implementing partner’s projected level of effort over the life of project will increase focus on system strengthening while gradually decreasing LOE on service delivery.

2) Will the private sector be involved in this program and if so, will there be any kind of performance-based incentives to hold them accountable?

Answer: The private sector will be involved. Ideas on how to partner with the private sector to achieve overall improvement in health outcomes is expected to be proposed by offerors.

3) How do you define a "whole of systems" approach?

Answer: The “whole of systems” refers to the six system building blocks defined under the World Health Organization (WHO) Health Systems Framework namely:

Leadership/Governance, Health Care Financing, Health Workforce, Medical

Products/Technologies, Information/Research, and Service Delivery. Not all six building blocks will be given the same level of priority under this Project and the key issues to be emphasized under each component will be specified in the solicitation.

For example, under Health Workforce and Infrastructure, the goal is to have at least one functional Primary Health Care Facility in every political ward in the focus states.

Under Health Financing, the goals are: to leverage financial commitment from the State

Government, and also from additional government and non-government sources including but not limited to the Performance for Results (P4R) mechanism, National

Health Act, Global Health Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria etc, and also to track funds flow through the health sector to ensure that funds budgeted are properly released, disbursed and expended for optimum performance.

4) Could you please provide an example of how "flexible programming" will /could be operationalized? Also, how will this flexibility translate into how USAID project funds can and cannot be used for programming?

Answer: Program flexibility is defined as having a task order for each state which is tailored to respond to the state specific needs.

Program funding, however, does not allow for fungibility. Funds must be used in accordance with their appropriation and allocation principles.

5) What will the contractor be held accountable for in the program? Particularly, if the program does not comprise service delivery?

Answer: Outcome indicators related to coverage will be a benchmark for performance.

Some health system strengthening indicators will also be included.

6) Besides coordination with GoN/MOH, is USAID ensuring coordination of RMNCH activities with other bilateral/multilateral orgs such as WB, GFATM, DfID, GAVI, etc.

Answer: Yes. USAID will continue to coordinate with all major development partners directly and through the various existing coordinating mechanisms. However, the implementer is expected to ensure optimal collaboration between it and both USG and non-USG partners at the state level.

7) The pre-solicitation included percent of funding going to MCH, FP, malaria and nutrition. While two of the three objectives are service related, can you provide some guidance (e.g. in terms of percent) of how much of the MCH, FP, malaria and nutrition funds should be used for objective 1, HSS?

Answer: No such guidance will be provided. But it is expected that level of effort in service delivery versus system strengthening will be graduated in favor of system strengthening over the life of project. However, the balance between service delivery and system strengthening will be state-based.

8) To echo the previous question, in Nigeria’s Routine Immunization Strategy 2013-15, resources devoted to immunization over a 29 month period of time was $642m, 69% of which was held by the federal government with only 15% of resources devoted to states and the remainder to LGAs. How do you expect States to engage at a significant level when so little resources are made available at state and local levels?

Answer: The intention is to engage the states in increasing the amount of resources allocated in line with the Abuja declaration of 15% of state budget to be dedicated to health, and to also advocate to the state government to efficiently apply the resources available to expand access to the evidence-based interventions that have the maximum impact on the health of women and children.

9) What are the problems affecting Nigeria’s health indices for the last 15 years?

Answer: No additional response will be provided beyond what was explained during the pre-solicitation meeting. Advise offerors to do more literature search. However, offerors are also encouraged to read the Mission’s CDCS, which is available on the Agency’s website: https://www.usaid.gov/nigeria/cdcs

10) More clarity is needed on what is meant by “IP will not provide direct service delivery”.

Answer: It implies that implementer will work through, with, and strengthen the government systems and not create parallel structures for the purpose of improving service delivery.

11) Will commodities procurement be included in this new award?

Answer: No. USAID intends to procure some commodities through a separate mechanism but this cannot be guaranteed for all states and for all program areas.

12) Can the RMNCH award procure cold chain equipment?

Answer: This is not to be encouraged. There must be a good justification for this type of procurement to be approved. It will be treated on a case-by-case basis.

13) Will SBCC and Supply chain technical component be included in the new procurement?

Answer: Not significantly. We anticipate having separate mechanisms to work on these additional areas in the states of focus. However, we anticipate that the RMNCH implementer will engage regularly with the supply chain implementer to identify and resolve systemic shortcomings or issues. Some demand creation activities can be approved under the award if well justified.

Implementation Questions:

1) Will integrated community case management be an approach in this program?

Answer: Offerors are free to propose this.

2) Will there be any emphasis on quality of care?

Answer: Yes.

3) To what extent are you anticipating supply chain system strengthening activities will be included under the scope of this project?

Answer: Supply chain system strengthening is not anticipated to be a major component of this project, however, as stated above, we anticipate that the RMNCH implementer will engage regularly with the supply chain implementer to identify and resolve systemic shortcomings or issues.

4) Will all 6 technical areas be mandated in all of the states of implementation?

Answer: Yes. Levels of effort can be calibrated for each state depending on need, the presence of other partners, available resources, and other considerations.

M&E Questions

1) I can't see any indicator for intra-partum care, which is a key determinant of neonatal and infant survival.

Answer: Indicators provided are only illustrative. Offerors can propose additional indicators.

2) Are you considering any indicators more specific to HSS?

Answer: This will be considered.

3) From the illustrative indicators, we did not see any indicator on the treatment of pneumonia, is this not part of the strategy?

Answer: Treatment of childhood pneumonia is one of the six technical areas of focus.

Indicators provided are only illustrative. Offerors can propose additional indicators.

4) What is USAID pre-milestone for determining performance of IP? How will USAID decide to continue to fund or defund through life of project?

Answer: Improvement of coverage indicators at the state level will be one of the key elements to determine project performance.

5) Will the indicators be population-based as the indicators presented, and will the IPs be held on these indicators?

Answer: Most indicators for tracking performance will be population-based.

The implementer will be held accountable for improving performance for some selected indicators at state level.

6) What are USAID’s data sources for baseline data on state level?

Answer: This will be provided when the Request for Task Order Proposal (RFTOP) is issued.

7) What is USAID’s expectations from a given TO in terms of indicators presented?

Answer: This will be provided when the Request for Task Order Proposal (RFTOP) is issued.

8) Will USAID conduct a formative research to determine baseline data in States?

Answer: Yes. Implementer may also choose to undertake additional formative research post-award.

9) The number of USAID Nigeria Health evaluations, assessments and reports uploaded on to Development Evaluation Clearinghouse is very limited. This needs to be improved upon.

Answer: Noted. Please check the Development Evaluation Clearinghouse regularly for new uploads.

10) Could USAID please provide information on its plan to support external monitoring to track progress and results for RMNCH?

Answer: USAID will utilize several available national surveys to assess progress in the focus states. Data from the National Health Management Information System will also be utilized where necessary. Additional USAID-commissioned external evaluations will be carried out at mid-line and end-line for the selected focus states of implementation

11) Does USAID anticipate supporting more frequent and extensive validations outside of midterm and end line evaluations?

Answer: Yes. Through project monitoring and other necessary means.