MECH_Administrator_Signed_JA_Zambia_Local_Partners_HIV_9-25-19.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR OTHER THAN FULL-AND-OPEN COMPETITION

TO: Mark Green, Administrator

FROM: Ramsey Day, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator/ AFR

DATE: September 23, 2019

SUBJECT: Justification and Approval under Part 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR) for USAID's Mission in the Republic of Zambia (USAID/Zambia) to Limit Competition to Local Partners for a new IDV-Prevention Award under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

1. This document sets forth the facts and rationale that justify the use of other than full and open competition, in accordance with Part 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) of the AIDAR:

Impairment of Foreign Aid Programs. USAID/Zambia prepared this document.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This is a request to rely on Part 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) of the AIDAR to approve USAID/Zambia to limit competition to local partners (as defmed below) for a new award for the and treatment of HIV under PEPFAR

The Mission currently "buys into" a field-support cooperative agreement (AID-OAA-A-15-00070) with EQUIP/Right to Care. Although the Agency recently extended the EQUIP award the Mission does not intend to continue investing in the mechanism Instead, for the following reasons, the Mission intends to award a bilateral contract to a local partner prior to December 31, 2019:

• The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) has set a goal that local partners must manage by at least 70 percent of PEPFAR funding by the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. Pursuant to USAID policy, these goals also apply at the Mission level for all USAID Missions that implement PEPFAR, including USAID/Zambia. Awarding such a large and important HIV contract to a Zambian local partner would help USAID/Zambia achieve PEPFAR's localization goal. 1 As discussed below, USAID/Zambia has conducted market research, and has concluded that at least seven

1 Field support mechanisms such as EQUIP do not count towards a mission's 70% goal. Further, Right to Care is currently a South African organization although it is in the process of establishing an entity in Zambia that would qualify as a Local Partner.

local organizations have sufficient capacity to fulfill some or all of the requirements under the anticipated award:

o To qualify as a "local partner" under PEPF AR, 2 an entity:

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

b) must be 75 percent (for FY 2018) beneficially owned by individuals who are citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of that same country;

c) must have at least 75 percent (for FY 2018) of the entity's staff (senior, mid-level, support) as citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of that same country, and at least 75 percent (for FY 2018) of the entity's senior staff (i.e., managerial and professional personnel) must be citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of such country; and

d) must have at least 51 percent of the members of the Board of Directors (Board), if the entity has a Board, as citizens or lawfully admitted permanent residents of such country.

• OGAC's directive on local partners fits squarely within USAID's vision for the Journey to Self-Reliance. By awarding such a large and important HIV contract to a Zambian local partner, USAID would take a vital step to help Zambians solve their own development challenges.

• A bilateral award issued and run by the Mission in Lusaka ( as opposed to a field-support mechanism from Washington) would allow USAID's field staff to exercise closer monitoring, oversight, and technical direction of the contractor.

• An acquisition instrument (i.e., contract) would give USAID more administrative oversight and ability to provide technical direction than a cooperative agreement, and also make it easier to build in performance-based incentives for the contractor, which the Mission has learned are crucial to achieving PEPF AR's treatment targets.

• Regardless of the recent one-year extension to EQUIP, the Mission still needs to plan a follow-on treatment award. By beginning this process now, the Mission would build in sufficient overlap between the incoming contractor and the outgoing implementer to ensure continued coverage and a smooth transition between awards.

3. Description of the supplies or services required, including an estimated value.

In October 2018, USAID/Zambia issued a Request for Information (RPI) on www.fbo.gov to gather market research and identify Zambian local partners capable of supporting PEPF AR 's goals of achieving "95/95/95" (as defined below). Specifically, the RFI sought local partners that could achieve the following seven primary objectives:

• Ensure 95 percent of HIV-positive individuals know their HIV status;

2 Source: PEPFAR 2019 Country Operational Plan Guidance for all PEPFAR Countries, Section 2.3.3, pages 72-74.

• Initiate 95 percent of those who test positive on anti-retroviral treatment (ART);

• Ensure 95 percent of those on ART are virally suppressed;

• Reach 90 percent of eligible IDV-positive adults and children with nutrition-assessment, counseling, and support (NACS) interventions;

• Provide voluntary medical male circumcision and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to priority populations to avert new infections;

• Strengthen health institutions to support the objectives of 95/95/95; and

• Strengthen the capacity for monitoring and evaluation at the facility, District, and

Provincial levels to improve the management of programs.

These objectives are the services required and also would appear in the actual solicitation for the new award

4. Statutory authority permitting other than full-and-open competition.

Part 706.302-?0(a) of the AIDAR is the statutory authority that provides that USAID need not employ full-and-open competition when it would impair or otherwise have an adverse effect on programs conducted for the purposes of foreign aid, relief, and rehabilitation. Part 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) of the AIDAR provides the Agency may use this authority for awards for countries, regions, projects, or programs for which the Administrator ofUSAID makes a formal written determination, with supporting findings, that compliance with procedures for full-and-open-competition would impair foreign-assistance objectives and would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of a foreign-assistance program.

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition that requires use of the authority cited.

This J&A seeks to obtain approval to limit a future procurement to competition among Zambian local partners only. The solicitation has not yet occurred, and the Mission has not selected a contractor. As such, it is not applicable to demonstrate the proposed contractor's unique qualifications.

In tenns of the nature of the acquisition that requires the use of Part 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) of the AIDAR, as discussed above, as a result of OGAC's directive and USAID policy, the Mission must direct at least 70 percent of its PEPF AR funding to local Zambian partners by the end of FY 2020. As Zambia is poised to achieve control of its IIlV epidemic by the end of 2020, the next phase of PEPFAR and US AID financial and technical support will focus on strengthening health and community institutions to sustain gains made over the past 15 years. Increasing the capacity of local partners to implement the prevention, care and treatment of HIV is fundamental to that strategy. Failure to localize would continue the cycle of relying on foreign entities to solve development challenges within Zambia. Deciding not to limit competition to local partners would impair significantly our ability to achieve these important development objectives. This approach would guides Zambians to solve their own development challenges by taking a vital step on their Journey to Self-Reliance. The unique nature of these critical high-level foreign-assistance directives justifies reliance on the authority provided in Part 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) of the AIDAR. Finally, regardless of the recent one-year extension to the EQUIP field-support cooperative agreement, the Mission still needs to plan a follow-on treatment award. By beginning this process now, the Mission would build in sufficient overlap between the incoming contractor and the outgoing implementer to ensure the continued provision of these life-saving interventions. Having a gap in care would be inconsistent with the fulfillment of PEPF AR.

6. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was publicized as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) S.2 [AIDAR 705.2).

USAID/Zambia has complied with Chapter 5.2 of the Foreign Assistance Regulation FAR 5.2 [Part 705.2 of the AIDAR] to ensure the Mission would solicit offers from as many potential sources as practicable. USAID has met frequently with both local and international partners in Zambia to update them on the PEPFAR priority regarding local partners and USAID's vision for the Journey to Self-Reliance. USAID also developed an RFI ( discussed in the response to Question 3), posted it to www.fbO,iQY, and circulated it widely among local and international partners in Zambia. The Mission will post the eventual solicitation for this proposed award to www.fbo.gov, and distributed it widely among local and international contacts.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

USAID/Zambia has developed an independent government cost estimate (IGCE) for the interventions required for the prevention, care, and treatment of HIV in Zambia. The IGCE is based on market research and a review of the budgets and costs of similar activities implemented under PEPFAR by USAID. The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated costs to the U.S. Government will be fair and reasonable.

The findings of the RFI conducted by USAID Zambia further support this determination, which give confidence that Zambian local partners would compete for the proposed activity to ensure its proposed costs are fair and reasonable.

8. Description of the market research conducted and the results.

In October 2018, USAID/Zambia issued an RFI on www.fbo.gov to gather market research and identify Zambian local partners capable of supporting PEPFAR's goals of achieving "95/95/95" (as described above). The RFI included PEPFAR's definition of"local partner," and required respondents to certify, together with accompanying documentation, whether they met this definition.

Seven organizations that responded to the RFI had relevant experience and demonstrated capacity to achieve some or all of the objectives listed in the document. These seven organizations also provided sufficient information to demonstrate that they met, or were taking sufficient steps to meet, PEPFAR's definition of"local partner." The number of potential local partners could increase between the time of the RFI and the actual solicitation, as the Mission has continued to engage local Zambian actors in the health sector.

Accordingly, USAID/Zambia has concluded from market research that sufficient local capacity exists such that Zambian local partners are capable of performing the highly technical services required, and that the Mission is therefore justified in limiting competition to them.

9. Other facts that support the use of other than full and open competition.

The Mission believes its approach of not awarding a sole-source contract and instead limiting competition to qualified Zambian local partners is preferred because it can still obtain competition among such local organizations.

10. Sources, if any, that expressed an interest, in writing, in the acquisition.

organizations responded to USAID/Zambia's RFI that sought information regarding the capacity of local Zambian partners to provide prevention, care, and treatment for HIV:

11. Actions USAID may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition of the supplies or services required.

Other than limiting the award to local competition, there are no barriers to competition. Further, nothing prevents the eventual successful local offeror from procuring services from non-local entities.

12. Technical or Requirement personnel certification.

In accordance with Chapter 6.303-l(c)of the FAR, I hereby certify that the technical statements included above, which form a basis for the justification, are complete and accurate.

John Kuehnle, Acting Director, Health Office USAID/Zambia

13. Contracting Officer certification.

Date

3 Counterpart International is a US-based NGO and does not meet the PEPFAR definition ofa local entity.

s

I hereby certify that the justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Mohib Ahmed, Supervisory Contracting Officer US AID/Zambia

14. Approved/Disapproved

Approving Official Mark Green, Administrator

Date

SEP 2 5 2019

Date

CLEARANCE PAGE FOR J&A UNDER AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(3)(ii) FOR USAID/ZAMBIA

TO LIMIT COMPETITION TO "LOCAL PARTNERS" FOR NEW HIV AWARD

Bureau Level Clearances Clearance Status Date

Zambia/Health: John Kuehnle Cleared April 23, 2019

Zambia/OAA: Mohib Ahmed Cleared April23,2019

Zambia/RLO: Mark Hyland Cleared April 23, 2019

Zambia/DMD: Thomas Crubaugh Cleared April 23, 2019

Zambia/MD: Patrick Diskin Cleared April23,2019

GC/A&A: Natalie Freeman Cleared May 30, 2019

ACA: Deborah Broderick Cleared July 24, 2019

SPE: Mark Walther Cleared July 26, 2019

M/DAA: Angelique Crumbly Cleared July 26, 2019

M/AA: Frederick Nutt Cleared July 29, 2019

GH/OHA/D: Polly Dunford Info