SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Polling Activity of Community Action Investment Program in CAR
- Notice Date
- 2/7/2003
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Agency for International Development, Overseas Missions, Kazakhstan USAID-Almaty, Dept. of State, Washington, DC, 20521-7030
- ZIP Code
- 20521-7030
- Solicitation Number
- PS115-03-010
- Response Due
- 2/28/2003
- Archive Date
- 3/15/2003
- Point of Contact
- John Lord, Contracting Officer, Phone 7-3272-507612/17 ext. 319, Fax 7-3272-507635/36, - Altay Toxanbayev, Acquisition Specialist, Phone 7-3272-507612 ext. 292 , Fax 1-413-771-5698,
- E-Mail Address
-
jlord@usaid.gov, atoxanbayev@usaid.gov
- Description
- This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; offers are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. This solicitation document incorporated provisions, and clauses are those in effect through FAC 12 01/24/2003. The proposed procurement will be conducted under the Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP), FAR Subpart 13.5. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541990 and the small business size standard in number of employees 1,000. This solicitation is being conducted under full and open competition, however all things being equal, preference will be given to U.S. small businesses. Please indicate your business status on your response. The following FAR and AIDAR provisions and clauses apply to this solicitation and are incorporated by reference. FAR 52.212-1 (Oct 2000); FAR 52.212-2 (Jan 1999) (see evaluation factors below); FAR 52.212-3 (July 2002); FAR 52.212-4 (Feb 2002); FAR 52.212-5 (May 2002), and AIDAR 752.7000 (Jan 1993). An offer should include a completed copy of the provision at 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications-Commercial Items, with its offer. USAID/CAR, Regional Mission for Central Asia intends to purchase the services of a contractor to conduct polls as described in the Statement of Work below. SCOPE OF WORK. BACKGROUND: Many factors threaten peace and stability in communities throughout the five new nations of Central Asia. Economic decline is highly correlated with the emergence of civil conflict; yet, the root causes of potential conflict are dynamic in nature, rather than a result of poverty or ethnic differences alone. Central Asia continues to face historically unprecedented declines in family incomes and employment rates, and deteriorating health and educational conditions at all levels - overall a precipitous loss of socioeconomic security for all but the new elite. When this precipitous deterioration of living conditions is coupled with an inability to express frustration through peaceful political channels, citizens' alienation and grievances grow and may reach sufficient critical mass for violent conflict. The USAID/Central Asia Region mission launched in June 2002 a new Community Action Investment Program (CAIP), which is intended to mitigate sources of conflict in targeted communities that are considered to be potential hotspots where violent conflict could erupt. Under CAIP, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are working with communities to help them identify and solve local issues through community planning, action and projects. CAIP will encourage broad-based community involvement in small scale, relatively labor intensive community infrastructure projects. Some examples of community-selected projects are: constructing, refurbishing and re-equipping schools and recreation facilities, youth and community centers, health clinics, or small-scale water supply and sanitation systems. These projects will improve social services, create jobs, and increase participation and direct citizen involvement in decisions that most directly affect their lives. CAIP is active in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. We do not intend to conduct polling in Turkmenistan. OBJECTIVE AND TASKS: In order to assess the impact of our conflict mitigation program in these target communities, USAID/CAR intends to procure the services of a contractor to conduct polls in the regions in which CAIP operates. THE CONTRACTOR WILL PERFORM THE FOLLOWING TASKS: 1. Designate which population groups will comprise the sample and control populations - based on information provided by CAIP implementers regarding (a) target communities that they have chosen and (b) selection criteria that they used to choose target communities. 2. Survey a representative sample of citizens among CAIP communities in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan every 6 months over a 3-year period. The polling questionnaire will be proposed and approved by USAID/CAR, but the final version will incorporate suggestions from CAIP implementers and the polling firm. This polling activity will entail 5 complete surveys - 3/03, 9/03, 3/04, 9/04, 3/05. (Note: the current set of CAIP cooperative agreements will end in May 2005.) 3. Survey the control population from non-CAIP communities in each country, using the same polling instrument as with the sample population from CAIP-target communities. 4. Analyze the results, in particular focusing on how the sample population differs from the control, and how CAIP target communities themselves have developed over time. The purpose here is to show the extent to which CAIP has had an impact - both in terms of comparison against baseline for each community, and comparison against similar non-CAIP communities. This will likely mean that a longitudinal study would be used, which requires surveyors to return to the same communities over repeated iterations of the survey. 5. Conduct a series of focus groups in several CAIP communities on an annual basis, as warranted by CAIP implementers or USAID/CAR recommendation. These could be used to understand why CAIP worked especially well - or not - in some particular targeted communities, so that the entire set of implementers could benefit from lessons learned. The first poll will be conducted in late March or early April 2003. The information obtained by this contract shall be used to analyze levels of trust, social tensions, and conflict in CAIP communities. Polling data will also measure community satisfaction with the participatory process, initiated projects, and quality of social services. Focus group sessions will help USAID understand differences in success rates among communities and countries. The Contractor is required to supply the USAID/CAR/Program Office with the survey data in a timely manner, including standard cross-tabulations by major demographic variables (see Deliverables). The data collection stipulated in this contract and processing of data obtained shall be completed within 2 weeks of each poll. The Contractor shall poll a given number of people in both CAIP and non-CAIP community populations. That number will be negotiated, depending on the budget scenarios proposed. For more details concerning sampling for budget purposes, see the section titled "Sampling Issues". USAID/CAR has developed the questionnaire that will be provided upon request to interested offerors. SAMPLING ISSUES: Contractor will select a representative sample of CAIP communities from each country (and each region--i.e., Khatlon vs Rasht--in the case of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan). The Contractor will also work with the CAIP implementers to select a population of similar communities in which they are not working, and this set will serve as the control population. The control population should obviously share as many characteristics as possible with the CAIP communities, and CAIP implementers provide the Contractor with their sets of criteria for selecting CAIP communities and will help identify the set of communities that fall in this population. The USAID/Central Asia mission will need to determine whether the two populations of CAIP and non-CAIP target communities are significantly different, in order to be able to make such statements as "We conclude that our community development activities under CAIP are (or are not) having a significant positive impact on the diminishing of intra-community tensions, based on a comparison of communities in which CAIP does work with similar vulnerable communities in which CAIP does not work". The rough average population of CAIP communities is about 1,000. USAID is interested in results with a confidence level of either 90% or 95%, and requires at least two budget scenarios that reflect different levels of confidence and associated costs. Contractor will describe in the Proposal which probability methods for random sampling from these populations they would use to guarantee maximal level of confidence within realistic budget limits. During the first iteration of the community poll, the number of communities in each country will look like this: Uzbekistan (Ferghana / Namangan / Andijan) - 25; Uzbekistan (Surkhandarya / Kashkadarya) - 60; Kyrgyzstan (Osh / Jalalabad / Batken) - 28; Kazakhstan (South / Almaty / Dzhambul) - 16; Tajikistan (Khatlon) - 19; Tajikistan (Rasht) - 73; Tajikistan (Soghd) - 7. During the second and subsequent iterations, the number of communities in each country (area) will look like this: Uzbekistan (Ferghana / Namangan / Andijan) - 30; Uzbekistan (Surkhandarya / Kashkadarya) - 90; Kyrgyzstan (Osh / Jalalabad / Batken) - 45; Kazakhstan (South / Almaty / Dzhambul) - 24; Tajikistan (Khatlon) - 23; Tajikistan (Rasht) - 79; Tajikistan (Soghd) - 10. DELIVERABLES: The Contractor shall fulfill each of these Tasks in each of the four target countries. The Contractor shall use the questions put forward by USAID/CAR, but the Contractor may propose alternative wording for these questions in order to improve clarity or cultural sensitivity. USAID requires that the same set of questions be asked in each country, in order to guarantee that results can be aggregated for the entire sample population. Questions must be approved by USAID/CAR before implementation of the surveys. Whilst analyzing the data, responses shall be broken down according to the following categories: age (disaggregated by 15-25, 26-40, 41-55, over 55); gender; nationality (ethnicity); occupation (student, pensioner, unemployed, housewife, manager, specialist, worker); approximate income; location (town, rayon, oblast, etc.). USAID/CAR will have the right of final decision whether and when each Task must be implemented. USAID/CAR shall retain the right to change questions in each Task. In such case, the Contractor will be informed in advance to have enough time to make changes in the polls. The data obtained in the course of each Task will be the property of USAID/CAR. The Contractor shall disclose no data unless USAID/CAR gives a written approval for such disclosure. After completion of each poll, 1 report for each country shall be delivered to USAID/CAR. The Contractor shall deliver to USAID/CAR all the data related to the above questions within 2 weeks after completion of each Task. The Report and cross-tabulation tables (as Word and Excel files) shall be delivered as an electronic copy (on diskettes or by e-mail) and as a hard copy both in Russian and English languages. The Contractor shall also retain an electronic copy of raw database and submit it to USAID/CAR, if required. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS: The proposal shall be submitted in two separate parts: (a) technical and (b) cost. The technical proposal should be limited, exclusive of resumes and past performance annexes to 20 pages. The past performance references and resumes shall be included as an annex. The technical proposal should, at a minimum, include the following: describe the methodology to conducting work in each country; management plan for executing the contract; staffing plan shall define who will be employed under the contract, for what purposes, full resumes of key personnel must be appended; past performance and experience. The Cost Proposal shall provide a detailed budget and Budget Notes with assumptions in a narrative in sufficient detail to allow a complete analysis of each line item cost. EVALUATION CRITERIA: BEST VALUE: The Contracting Officer will use "Best Value" to determine the proposal most advantageous to the U.S. Government. The evaluation factors, and the subfactors thereof, are listed below in their relative order of importance. Contract award shall be made to the responsive and responsible offeror whose combined technical and cost proposal offer the best value to the U.S. Government. EVALUATION CRITERIA: 1. Proven data collection and analysis expertise: a). The organization proposes a methodology that will result in the sort of data that we require for our management purposes; and b). The organization's references vouch for their abilities to carry out work such as that proposed in the Scope of Work; 2. Staff expertise and experience: a). Proposed staff members have appropriate educational, language, and experienced-based qualifications to carry out data collection and analysis; and b). References for proposed staff leadership vouch for their abilities to carry out the administrative, logistical, analytical, and/or collection tasks necessary to successfully carry out this poll. 3. Effectiveness of proposed cost control structure. 4. Experience in Central Asia. The organization has carried out polls and survey instruments in Central Asian countries. 5. Experience with international organizations. The organization shows familiarity with the standards for data analysis, timeliness, and other administrative issues that international organizations demand. Order will be placed on or before March 20, 2003. The Government intends to evaluate offers and award a contract without discussions. Therefore the initial offer must contain and meet all the Government requirements. The Government reserves the right to conduct discussions if the Contracting Officer later determines discussions are necessary. The Government may reject any or all offers and waive informalities and minor irregularities in offers received. The Government contemplates the award of one firm fixed price contract. Proposals are due at 10 AM, Almaty time on February 28, 2003. They must be addressed to the Contracting Officer, USAID/CAR, 41 Kazybek Bi Street, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Facsimile proposals may be submitted to 7 3272 507635 or 507636. E-mailed proposals may be sent to AlmatyCO@usaid.gov. All offers must be in writing, dated and signed by an authorized representative and reference RFP No. PS115-03-010. Questions should be addressed to atoxanbayev@usaid.gov or 7 3272 507612 X292.
- Web Link
-
Link to FedBizOpps document.
(http://www.eps.gov/spg/AID/OM/ALM/PS115-03-010/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
- Record
- SN00255888-F 20030209/030207221232 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |