ENDING FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING in Guinea

February 20, 2009



To All Interested Offerors





Subject: Amendment No.2 to Request for Proposals (RFP)

No. 675-09-03:Ending Female Genital Cutting in Guinea.



This letter constitutes Amendment No.2 to the subject RFP. The purpose of this Amendment is to provide responses to questions raised by interested offerors and to attach additional documents to the RFP.



Revisions to the RFP are indicated in the responses to the questions and are hereby effective.



All other terms and conditions of the RFP remain the same.



1) On page F-1 of the RFP, section F.3 Period of Performance, it says "Services under this contract shall begin on or around August 1, 2009 and end on or about July 31, 2011 with two (2) year options." Does this mean that the program will be a 2 year program, plus 2, 2-year options (meaning a total of 6 years) or a 2 year program plus 2, 1-year options (meaning a total of 4 years)?



The contract will be a 2 year program with eventually an option of 2 additional years



2) It is our understanding based on Amendment No.1 that electronic submission of both the Technical and Cost Proposal by March 3 is acceptable, and that originals of both proposals (including an original signed SF33) will be accepted at a later date. Please confirm.



YES. Both technical and cost proposals must be submitted no later than March 3, 09, the submission deadline.



3) For both electronic and hard copy submissions, should offerors address the proposal to Mr. Babacar Thioune? If not, to whom should the proposals be addressed?



YES both electronic and hard copies should be addressed to Mr. Babacar Thioune, at bthioune@usaid.gov



4) For electronic submission, will USAID accept both the Technical and Cost proposals in PDF format?



Both the Technical and Cost proposals should be in Word format.



END OF AMENDMENT NO.2.



THE DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS SUBMISSION, UNDER THE RFP IS 02/20/09

February 18, 2009



To All Interested Offerors





Subject: Amendment No.1 to Request for Proposals (RFP)

No. 675-09-03:Ending Female Genital Cutting in Guinea.



This letter constitutes Amendment No. 1 to the subject RFP. The purpose of this Amendment is to provide responses to questions raised by interested offerors and to attach additional documents to the RFP.



Revisions to the RFP are indicated in the responses to the questions and are hereby effective.



All other terms and conditions of the RFP remain the same.



1) The RFP cover page states that USAID would like two copies of the proposal and on page L6 requests 5 copies of the technical and one original and two copies of the cost proposal. Could USAID confirm how many copies of the cost and technical proposals the offeror should submit?



The Offeror should submit: one original and two copies of the technical proposal and one original and two copies of the cost proposal.



2) Will USAID reconsider and permit electronic submission? Is it feasible to submit electronically by the due date and send a signed original SF33 by courier to arrive a few days later?



Electronic submission is permitted.

Yes, it is feasible to submit electronically by the due date and send a signed original SF33 by courier to arrive a few days later?



3) We believe IR 3.6.3.3.1 on page C-8 should read "immunizations" and not "nutrition." Can you please confirm this?



yes, IR 3.6.3.3.1 on page C-8 should read immunization and not nutrition



4)On page L-3 of the proposal, the RFP states that attachments may include reply to case studies. The case studies were not included in the body of the RFP or as an attachment; could USAID confirm that it does not expect the offeror to respond to any case studies in the proposal submission?





USAID does not expect the offeror to respond to any case studies in the proposal submission?



5)Given the large volume of our SF 294s for the past three years (totaling over 250 pages), we respectfully request the option of selecting ten relevant SF 294 forms for USAIDs review. Alternatively, if all SF 294s are needed for evaluation, we ask that USAID consider receiving these forms on CD-ROM as an annex to the technical volume. Kindly advise on USAIDs preference



Just select ten relevant SF 294s for USAID review.





6) Quarterly Financial Reports are required ten days after the end of each fiscal quarter. Can the quarterly financial report be submitted 15 days after the quarter end following the same due date as the Quarterly Progress Report?



The quarterly financial report can be submitted 15 days after the quarter end following the same due date as the Quarterly Progress Report.



7) Section H.9 PERSONNEL COMPENSATION states Salaries and wages

may not exceed the Contractor's established policy and

practice... Can you confirm that the contractor will not be

required to follow the current FSN scale for local employees?



Salaries and wages are based on the individuals bio-data sheet. Any salaries exceeding the current FSN scale for local employees will be subject to the Contracting Officers prior approval.



8) Section L-7 of the RFP states that proposals must be prepared using 10 characters per inch. Will a Times New Roman 11 point font be acceptable?



Courier New 12 point will be acceptable





END OF AMENDMENT NO.1.



THE DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS SUBMISSION, UNDER THE RFP IS 02/20/09

Female Genital Cutting (FGC) has been recognized by international bodies as a harmful practice and a violation of the human rights of girls and women. The primary objective of this project is to reduce FGC and other traditional harmful practices in Guinea. A secondary supporting objective is to increase access to basic health services in the country. This project will assist the Government of Guinea in implementing their strategy to reinforce and institutionalize efforts to end FGC through better coordination and planning with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) using various communication and education mediums to inform the public about the harmful effects of FGC. It is the U.S. Governments (USG) goal to improve human rights in Guinea by developing a broader understanding and increased protection of basic human rights. While supporting health objectives, this project also will have a Democratic/Governance (D/G) focus, by strengthening civil society knowledge, behavior, and participation, and thereby improving Government of Guineas (GOG) accountability, transparency, and efficiency in all systems, particularly the health services sector.