USAID; Regional Center for Southern Africa/Gaborone, Botswana; Department of State; Washington, D.C. 20521-2170

R -- ASSESSMENT OF MALAWI PUBLIC OPINION ON DEMOCRACY-RELATED ISSUES SOL 690-97-008 POC Maureen A. Shauket; Regional Contracting Officer, USAID/RCSA, Dept. of State; Washington, D.C. 20521-2170; Tel: 011-267-324449; Fax: 011-267-324486; E-mail: mshauket@usaid.gov. The United States Agency for International Development/Regional Center for Southern Africa (USAID/RCSA) in Gaborone, Botswana plans to issue RFP No. 690-97-008 for technical assistance for an assessment and analysis of public opinion on democracy-related issues in Malawi, to build local capacity for future public opinion studies in Malawi, and to provide master's degree training in research methods and political analysis for two Malawians. The RFP will be issued on or after 15 days following the publication date of this synopsis. The closing date for receipt of proposals is anticipated to be 45 days after the issuance date of the RFP. In May 1994, Malawi joined the ranks of newly emerging democracies in Africa. After thirty years of one party rule, the people of Malawi were, for the first time, able to freely elect a new president and parliament. While these were major steps, they were only a beginning. Malawi is now facing the challenge of building strong and lasting democratic institutions which willform a solid foundation for the future. In order to better understand the process of democratization in Malawi, to better assess progress being made in consolidating democracy, and to help measure the impact of USAID- funded democracy activities, USAID/Malawi intends to award a four year contract for assessing and analyzing public opinion on democracy issues in Malawi. The selected institution shall carry out a baseline survey of Malawian voters on democracy issues at the beginning of the contract and an impact survey three years later. In addition, the contractor shall build local capacity within Malawi's Center for Social Research for assessing public opinion and provide master s degree training in the United States for two Malawian candidates in the fields of research methods and political analysis. A performance-based, cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) contract is anticipated, with technical proposal evaluation criteria emphasizing the approach(es) proposed by the offeror to achieve the desired results. USAID encourages the participation to the maximum extent possible of U.S. small businesses, small and disadvantaged businesses, and women-owned small business in this activity as prime or subcontractors in accordance with Part 19 of the FAR. The preferred method of distribution for USAID procurement information is via the Internet or by request of a solicitation on a 3.5" floppy disk (WordPerfect 5.1/5.2 format). This CBD notice can be viewed and downloaded using the Agency Web Site. The RFP, once issued, can be downloaded from the Agency Web Site. The Worldwide Web address is http://www.info.usaid.gov. Select Business and Procurement Opportunities from the home page, then "USAID Procurements." On the following screen, select "Download Available USAID Solicitations." The RFP can also be downloaded via Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The FTP address is FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. Logon using the user identification of "anonymous" and the password is your e-mail address. Look under the following directory for the RFP:pub/OP/RFP/69097008/69097008.rfp. Receipt of this RFP through INTERNET must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation document to ensure that it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. (0176)

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