Regional Contracting Officer, USAID/Dakar, Senegal, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2130

R -- SO2 IMPLEMENTING CONTRACTOR FOR USAID/SENEGAL STRATEGY 1998 -- 2006 SOL 685-99-P-009 DUE 102299 POC Marie-Clair Sow, Acquisition Specialist, Tel: (221) 823-1602; Fax: (221) 823-2965; E-mail: mcsow@usaid.gov/Contracting Officer, Gary Juste, E-mail: gjuste@usaid.gov WEB: http://www.info.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/announce/cbd, http://www.info.usaid.gov. E-MAIL: http://www.info.usaid.gov, mcsow@usaid.gov or gjuste@usaid.gov. The United States Agency for International Development Mission to Senegal (USAID/Senegal) is seeking the technical services of a Contractor to help the Mission, particularly the SO2 core team, and its extended team partners (Executive and elected GOS at the national and local levels, other USAID-funded partners, PVO/NGOs, Senegalese communities and community organizations) meet defined performance measures necessary to achieve its new SO2: More effective, democratic and accountable management of services and resources in targeted areas. The proposed Contract will focus on building capacities of local institutions, increasing their access to financial resources, increasing popular participation in the management and oversight of local affairs, and improving implementation of a policy and legal framework for local government authority to raise revenues for their own use. The technical services required are expected to include but not be necessarily limited to: short- and long-term technical assistance, support to/provision of non-academic in-country and third-country workshops, conferences, training, and observation tours; development and dissemination of information on decentralization and good governance best practices, and bout experiences of those communities and organizations participating in contract-supported activities; data collection, harmonization where necessary, analysis, and reporting, as part of an overall monitoring function; administration and management of a $2.5 million Local Incentive Grant Fund to provide local governments and community organizations incentives to exercise their newly decentralized authorities; and provision of necessary equipment to complement assistance to intermediaries and customers. The proposed Contract will be for a two-year base period, and will include provision for up to one two-year option period and an additional one-year option period, subject to mutual agreement, up to an estimated five-year of $14.0 million, including $2.0 for a Contractor-managed Local Incentive Grants Fund. The Contractor shall provide these technical services for five contract components: Capacity Building component; Financial Resources Mobilization component; Popular Participation component; Policy component, Monitoring, Evaluating, Reporting, Analysis component. The proposed contract will be performance-based, in order to encourage innovation and efficiency of the Contractor. Background on Senegal and the USAID/Senegal program are found in the USAID Country Strategic Plan 1998-2006 and other key documents are available at the following website: http://www.dec.org/dakar. USAID encourages the participation to the maximum extent possible of U.S. small businesses, U.S. small disadvantaged businesses, U.S. women-owned small businesses, and U.S. HUBZone small businesses in this activity as prime or subcontractors in accordance with Part 19 of the FAR. In this respect, it is anticipated that the prime contractor will make every reasonable effort to identify and make maximum practicable use of such concerns. To help identify potential subcontractors, a list of all organizations requesting a copy of the solicitation will be included with each solicitation issued. By providing the list, USAID does not endorse the listed organizations as being capable of carrying out the activity, nor does USAID verify the claimed status of the organizations. Necessarily, the list will contain the names of only those organizations known prior to the issuance of the solicitation. Telephone requests for the RFP will not be honored. The issuance date of the RFP is expected to be on or about September 3, 1999. The RFP closing date will be October 22, 1999. The publication of this notice or the issuance of a solicitation does not obligate the U.S. Government to award a contract. Posted 08/17/99 (W-SN368730). (0229)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0106 19990819\R-0011.SOL)