REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)USAID LOCAL ENTERPRISE SUPPORT PROGRAM (USAID LENS)

‘’BSP Training and Development’’

RFP Date of Issuance: 06042018

RFP # and Title 06042018 - BSP Training and Development

Due Date for Questions: June 06, 2018 Submission of questions or requests for clarification in writing via email

to RFP@jordanlens.org by 14:00 Hours local time in Jordan. Please note that inquiries and answers to inquiries will be shared with all

registered Offerors. Please do not contact any USAID LENS employees regarding this RFP.

Contacting individual employees shall be cause for disqualification. NO TELEPHONE INQUIRIES WILL BE ANSWERED. Answers to be shared on USAID LENS website www.jordanlens.org on

June 10, 2018Deadline for Proposals: June 17, 2018

Proposal submission (including technical proposal and budget, supporting documentation) due by 14:00 Hours (Amman, Jordan time) via email to RFP@jordanlens.org . Insert the following in the subject line: ‘’RFP# 06032018 - BSP Training and Development’’

Anticipated Start Date:

Anticipated Period of Performance:

Budget ceiling:

July 2018. (Start date is subject to change)

20 weeks

USAID LENS Project anticipates awarding a fixed-price contract with an estimated cost not exceeding JD 106,200. Revealing the estimated cost ceiling does not mean Offeror1 should strive to meet this maximum amount. Offerors must propose costs they believe are realistic and reasonable for the work.

Authorized Geographic Code:

The authorized geographic code for this procurement is USAID Geographic Code 937 (Jordan, the United States, and developing countries, other than advanced developing countries and excluding prohibited sources2).

List of Acronyms - MSEs: Micro and small enterprises. Micro enterprises employ between 1 and 9 employees; and small enterprises employ between 10 and 49.

- BSPs: A business service provider (BSP) is an entity that provides organizations with consulting, legal, real estate, education, communications, storage, processing, and many other services. It is more generally used to refer to third party or outsourced suppliers. Service Providers include professional, business, and industry associations, chambers, cooperatives, research centers, private firms, FIs and NGOs among others.

- Professional Association: A professional association is usually a nonprofit organization seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the public

1 Offeror refers to companies or individual consultants that are offering to implement the work outlined in this RFP, and will be used throughout this document.2 For USAID’s list of developing countries, please see http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1876/310maa.pdf

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interest.- Resources: Activities, services, goods, or products that improve

access to and capacity within markets.

Statement of Work (SOW)

1. Purpose Statement FHI 360, represented by USAID LENS, is seeking a consulting firm capable of improving the effectiveness of Business Service Providers (BSPs) outreach and communication with Micro- and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Jordan.

There will be two main components to the associated scope of work. The first comprises of services that will improve the business development capacities of BSPs with regards to work with MSEs. The second will build the skills of BSPs in outreach and marketing. Throughout the proposal, the Contractor must demonstrate how its approach and skills will have a sustainable, lasting impact on the BSPs.

PART I: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Business Development Training for BSPs in Jordan3 that want to continue working with MSEs.

a. Opportunity/Problem identification: this will include addressing unmet needs of clients helping them to define where, how and what services to offer.

b. Pipeline building and funding opportunity identification: with a substantial amount of international aid and a national and international focus on economic development in Jordan, there is real potential for BSPs that are developing initiatives and programs to serve MSEs

c. Project Development: The quality of proposal design is paramount to successful implementation with MSEs. BSPs require training on strategic programmatic and project design, initiative development and logical frameworks. The Applicant will conduct trainings for BSPs on proposal writing with a focus on communicating clear strategies and systems in order to fulfil the goals of a client or donor.

d. Budgeting: developing projects’ budgets is one of the major challenges BSPs and MSEs face while developing their proposal. Some BSPs find it difficult estimating what level and mix of resources they will need to execute authorized or proposed activities, aligned with their strategic objectives. Budgeting central role is to support execution through the allocation of resources to key projects/items that drive value as well as measurements and provide desired outcomes. Developed project(s) must directly support the strategic objectives.

e. Budget management: with a lack of market data and information in MSEs in Jordan, planning budgets for these initiatives is a challenging task. By providing BSPs with additional budgeting skills and improving their financial management of grants and contracts will improve their effectiveness and efficiencies during program design and implementation.

f. Business development strategies: While MSEs represent over 90% of the count of all businesses in the country, they remain a largely underserved group, with only 8% having received some form of technical, financial assistance in the last year. BSP penetration rates in this segment remain low. With a more strategic focus on MSEs and a clear business development plan, with pipelines and budgets in place, BSPs can create new opportunities for themselves while simultaneously fostering local economic growth and improving the business environment.

3 The trainings will be targeted only towards BSPs that have either directly worked with USAID LENS before, or have previously applied to take part in any of USAID LENS past programs and initiatives, and have familiarity with reaching out to and implementing activities for MSEs.

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g. Stakeholder mapping of existing MSE support services: the current ecosystem of services for MSEs that might relate to BSPs is important for both BSPs and MSEs. Through a comprehensive mapping, the Contractor will be able to better inform BSPs as to market gaps and opportunities, underserved communities and potential new partnerships.

Program design and product training. h. Principles of program and product design: Program design and implementation are

crucial to successful projects. They require a comprehensive and often detailed understanding of the MSE environment. The Contractor will demonstrate its approach to program design and how it will train BSPs on improving program design.

i. How to turn existing work into sellable products: Throughout the Project’s work, USAID LENS has helped develop a number of new programs and systems that could otherwise be transferred to serve other market segments, providing new opportunities for BSP growth to reach new clients and customers. The Offeror will collect, collate and work with BSPs to build new products that will ensure a more sustainable, private sector-funded model to business development within the MSE Segment.

Monitoring & Evaluationj. Principles of monitoring and evaluation: how to track projects, develop KPIs and

evaluate effectiveness of ongoing and past projects.

PART II: MSE OUTREACH a. How to write a long-term communications strategy that targets MSEs in underserved

communities: The principles of writing an effective communications strategy that will guide the BSPs activities and implementation over a long-term period (2-3 years)

b. How to effectively reach out to MSEsa. MSE mapping and identification: where are your potential customers located and how

to reach themb. Effective messaging to potential customers and how to gain their buy-in

c. How to effectively sell your products, programs or services to MSEs:a. How to determine price points for your target audienceb. How to best design and market your materials: this will include principles of good design

and branding, in addition to knowing how to market to your target audience

2. Program Background The USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project (USAID LENS) Award No. AID 278 LA 14 00001 is a five-year project to encourage the long-term economic growth and development potential of underserved Jordanian communities. The project helps empower local communities to design and implement collaborative local economic development (LED) initiatives and will support the vitality and competitiveness of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) that are often at the heart of individual, family and community livelihood within vulnerable populations. In its inter-related activities, the project will work with public and private sector partners at the municipal, governorate and national levels to develop local environments conducive to investment and MSE growth.

Relatively little is known about micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Jordan, and as a result, donor agencies and business service providers face difficulties in understanding the challenges and opportunities that MSEs face - particularly those that are located outside the capital Amman. Given that MSEs constitute more than 90% of all businesses in Jordan and employ over 50% of the Jordanian

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workforce, there is a critical need for economic development efforts in Jordan to more effectively reach these micro and small businesses, especially in impoverished regions.

Micro businesses — or any form of income-generating projects (whether formal or informal) are often the only source of income for women, youth and vulnerable populations as full-time employment is either not an option due to societal or personal reasons, hard to come by or not available at all. To be effective, economic development efforts in Jordan must not only address the needs of MSEs, but also reach them regularly and directly on a grassroots level.

To overcome this informational gap, the USAID Jordan Local Enterprise Support Project (LENS) conducted a survey of MSEs in 2014–2015 to better understand Jordanian enterprises and to assess the major barriers and opportunities for growth. The results of the survey informed the project’s subsequent interventions and activities.

What we know about micro and small enterprises in Jordan4: Half of MSEs are single-person individual establishments and do not have employees. Majority of MSEs make less than 500 JD (approx. US$ 700) per month in gross revenue. Only 9% of MSEs in Jordan are owned by women. Employment of women is rare, as 81.2% of MSEs with employees have zero female

employees. However, women-owned MSEs employ over half of all women working in MSEs.

Around 1 in 20 MSEs are home-based businesses. In the southern regions (Karak, Tafilah and Aqaba), this number is much greater- 1 in 6 MSEs are home-based.

Women-owned MSEs are twice as likely as men-owned MSEs to be unregistered. A business established after 2008 is twice as likely as others to be unregistered,

indicating that some MSEs do not begin the registration process until several years after establishment.

THE CHALLENGE One of the major barriers to sustainable, local economic growth is the lack of support services available to MSEs in Jordan, particularly in rural, remote communities. Some BSPs have relatively good reach to MSEs located in the governorates. However, most BSPs are based in Amman and have very few activities targeted towards MSEs outside the capital. This results in most businesses in rural communities lacking the adequate resources to further grow and develop. Most businesses do not have access to essential business trainings, technical support, legal and regulatory advice and as a result, they are at a disadvantage in the market when competing with more centrally-located businesses in Amman.

As one of the few economic development Projects in Jordan that directly works with MSEs, USAID LENS has been instrumental in designing and helping implement initiatives that require BSPs to implement service programs for MSEs. For many of these BSPs, working with small, oftentimes informal, MSEs outside of Amman represents an entirely new initiative with new customers and clients.

Through the USAID LENS project, BSPs have established new working relationships with MSEs and have found new opportunities in the market to help the underserved, whether through programs aimed at improving the quality of standards and hygiene with home-based businesses (HBBs) or by helping MSEs use IT systems for the first time.

4 All statistics stated above are taken from the MSE Survey, a probabilistic study commissioned by USAID LENS. You can find more data from the survey on www.jordanlens.org/research.

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One of the main challenges is, however, how to encourage, support and incentivize these BSPs to continue offering services that target MSEs, even after the USAID LENS project ends. BSPs need additional products and improved capacities to reach out to MSEs effectively and help in recognizing the potential in offering MSEs additional services.

Since its establishment in 2014, USAID LENS has engaged over 20 BSPs in its economic development work, with the aim of improving the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) across the country, especially those based in underserved, rural communities. These efforts lead to increased private sector competitiveness, which means more jobs and sustainable businesses are created, and the local economy is more robust.

3. Objectives

The objective of this RFP is to train Jordanian business service providers (BSPs) on how to better identify, provide support and develop new products for Jordanian micro and small business located in underserved, rural communities

4. Deliverables & Expected DurationThe total duration of the assignment must fall within a (20) weeks period from the agreed upon start date. The selected firm is responsible for the preparation and submission of the following illustrative deliverables, with each item being completed in accordance to the proposed duration, as detailed below.

a) Detailed summary of training topics: The Contractor will deliver a detailed summary of the training topics that will be covered, and the suggested trainer for each.

b) Development of training materials: The Contractor will develop, design and print the training materials that will be used, including the presentations, handouts, training notebooks and other similar material. The training material should be branded to be cohesive and well-designed with the same look and feel for each topic.

c) Training schedule: This will include confirmed dates for each training topic, booked training venue and confirmed list of participants. The Contractor will be responsible for reaching out to the BSPs, informing them about the program and securing their participation.

d) Monthly reports: The Contractor will send monthly progress reports with updates of trainings that took place, any challenges encountered and other important details that will be decided in advance with USAID LENS

Close-out report: Upon completion of the contract, the Contractor will produce a close-out report in addition handing over all materials developed for the trainings in soft-copy form.

No.

Deliverables Due date

1 Training topics summary 1 week after award date 2 Development of training materials, including presentations,

handouts and other similar material2 months after award date

3 Training schedule and confirmed venue, dates and participants 2 months after award date4 Monthly reports Starting one month after award date,

and every month thereafter5 Handover report 20 November 2018

5. General Instructions to Offerors

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a. Single Award. FHI 360 anticipates awarding one (1) fixed price contract s a result of this Solicitation through full and open competition. However, FHI 360 reserves the right to award more or no awards as a result of this solicitation.

b. RFP Instructions. If an Offeror does not follow the instructions set forth herein, the Offeror's proposal may be eliminated from further consideration or the proposal may be downgraded and not receive full or partial credit under the applicable evaluation criteria. If an Offeror does not understand the instructions in this Solicitation, then it must write to RFP@jordanlens.org by the question submission deadline.

c. Accurate and Complete Information. Offerors must set forth full, accurate and complete information as required by this RFP. The penalty for making false statements is elimination from further consideration and termination of any contract if awarded.

d. Pre-award Survey. FHI 360 reserves the right to perform a pre-award survey which may include, but is not limited to: (1) interviews with individuals to establish their ability to perform contract duties under the project conditions; (2) a review of the financial condition, business and personnel procedures, etc.; and (3) site visits.

e. Proposal Preparation Costs. FHI 360 and USAID LENS will not pay for any proposal preparation costs.

f. Submission of Alternate Proposals. Offerors must submit a proposal directly responsive to the terms and conditions of this RFP. Alternate proposals will not be accepted.

6. Delivery Instructions

a. Electronic submission. The Offeror must submit the proposal through electronic submission. Hand delivered proposals (including commercial courier) and facsimile transmission will not be accepted.

b. Proposals must be submitted in two volumes: Volume I, Technical Proposal, including Past Performance, Gantt Chart, Past Performance References, CVs; and Volume II, Cost Proposal, including budget, budget narrative, biodata forms. The technical proposal shall not reference cost.

c. The complete Technical Proposal must be submitted in MS Word (or compatible) or Adobe Acrobat portable document format (.pdf).

d. The complete Cost Proposal must also be separately submitted in Microsoft Word (for narrative text), Microsoft Excel (for budgets and other relevant tables) and unlocked.

e. Proposals must be submitted to: RFP@jordanlens.org by the date and time on the cover page of this solicitation.

f. Offer Validity. Offerors are required to indicate the validity period of offer is ninety (90) days from the date the offer is submitted to allow sufficient time to evaluate proposals and complete negotiations.

g. Proposal Clarity. The Offeror’s proposal should be specific, complete, and concise. The Offeror is urged to examine this solicitation in its entirety and to assure that its proposal contains all the necessary information, provides all required documentation and is complete in all respects since the evaluation of proposals will be based on the actual material presented and not on the basis of what is implied.

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The Technical Proposal in response to this solicitation will address how the offeror intends to carry out the statement of work (SOW). It will also contain a clear understanding of the work to be undertaken and the responsibilities of all parties involved.

The Offeror will ensure its Cost Proposal is consistent with its Technical Proposal in all respects since the Cost Proposal may be used as an aid to determine the Offeror's understanding of the technical requirements.

h. The Offeror should submit its best proposal initially as FHI 360 may evaluate proposals and make an award without discussions. However, FHI 360 reserves the right to conduct discussions should FHI 360 deem it necessary.

i. Offerors are allowed to submit one proposal. If an Offeror participates in more than one proposal, all proposals involving the Offeror will be rejected.

j. If the Offeror includes a group of firms and/or subcontractors, one lead organization or firm must be clearly identified and is responsible for handling all reporting and coordination with USAID LENS.

k. The person signing the Offeror’s proposal must have the authority to commit the Offeror to all the provisions of the Offeror’s proposal.

l. Proposals shall be written in English. Cost proposals from Jordanian offerors shall be presented in Jordan Dinar. Cost proposals from US or other Geo Code 937 qualified Offerors shall be presented in US Dollar.

7. Instructions for the Preparation of the Technical Proposal Please ensure completed forms, including the Evidence of Responsibility and Independent Price Determination, along with a copy of legal registration, are included with the technical proposal otherwise the proposal may be rejected.

a. The Technical Proposal in response to this solicitation must address and follow the technical evaluation factors listed in Section 10. The technical proposal will consist of the Technical Proposal Body and an Annex. These two parts together will constitute the Offeror’s technical proposal. The proposal must be well organized, complete, specific, clear and succinctly presented.

b. Page Limitation. Proposals will be concise, specific and complete and detailed information will be presented only when required by specific RFP instructions. The Technical Proposal Body itself will not exceed 35 pages, excluding the Annex and non-substantive items such as the cover page, acronyms, dividers, and table of contents are not included in the 35-page limit. Proposals will be written in English. Pages exceeding the limit will not be read or evaluated. No material may be incorporated in the proposal by reference, attachment, annex, etc. to circumvent the page limitation.

c. Technical Proposal Annex. The technical proposal annex must contain the documents specified below, including as applicable: work plan, detailed staffing plans, CVs, and any other supporting documentation requested explicitly by the RFP.

d. Organization. The technical proposal must be organized into the following sections as follows: Cover Page: Offerors must provide the names of the organizations involved in the proposal and the

contact information for the Offeror’s main point of contact, including this individual’s name, title or position with the organization/institution, address, e-mail address, and telephone. Offerors must acknowledge whether the contact person is the individual with authority to contract for the Offeror, and if not, that individual must also be listed. (Not included in the 35-page limit.)

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Technical Proposal Body – This section will include the following sections: Technical Approach and Performance Work Statement Personnel and Management Approach Organizational Capacity and Experience Past Performance

Annex – The following are required in the Technical Proposal Annex: Workplan M&E Plan Staffing Plan Key Personnel statements (CVs) Biodata forms Past Performance references Sustainability plan Evidence of Responsibility and Independent Price Determination Copy of legal registration

These sections, including the annex where relevant, must include all information required to fairly evaluate the Offeror under the applicable evaluation factors. Specific guidance on the content of each of these sections is set forth below.

e. Technical Approach (not to exceed 20 pages) - This section should include information sufficient to properly evaluate the proposal under the Technical Approach.

Offerors must describe their overall technical approach and methodology to be utilized by the Offeror for the design, development, implementation and achievement of the stated Tasks and Deliverables provided in Sections 3&4 of the solicitation. The Offeror shall articulate how it intends to address each of the required tasks as well as desired system functionalities, features and project deliverables listed, in addition to any suggestions and recommendations to these areas while demonstrating the project management approach and framework to be utilized.

f. Capability Statement (not to exceed 5 pages) – explains Offeror’s understanding of desired system and requirements as well as its capability to perform the scope of work, tasks and deliverables. Offeror shall demonstrate it has the necessary organizational systems and procedures, e.g. personnel policies, travel policies, project management, equipment, supplies and personnel in place to successfully comply with contract requirements and accomplish expected results.

g. Past Performance (not to exceed 5 pages) - Offeror shall briefly describe how the past performance of the Offeror and its team (including all partners of a coalition/joint venture) is relevant to performance of the Contract. The Offeror shall submit a list (up to five) of current and past similar work and assignments completed in the past five years that were similar in size, scope and complexity.

Include the contact information: company or organization, name, phone number and email. Please use the Past Performance Reference Form template.

h. Timeline (1 page): A detailed timeline required to complete the project.

i. Personnel/Staffing (not to exceed 4 pages) identify, in summary format of 2-3 sentences, the names, anticipated positions of the field team leaders and essential personnel proposed to perform the requirements of this scope of work, tasks and deliverables. The narrative shall include the percentage of staff time of principals and managers on this activity.

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The approach should include the organizational structure of the entire project team (including sub-awardees and other local partners), and explain how the staffing plan will result in successful implementation of the proposed technical approach and accomplish the objectives of the activity. If the Offeror anticipates using any sub-awards, include the roles and responsibilities of each sub-awardee, and the lines of authority and communication.

CVs (not to exceed two pages each) that clearly describe education, experience and professional credentials, and biodata forms shall be completed and attached for the proposed personnel and submitted in Annex. These pages do not count towards the page limitation for this section.

Note: proposed salaries for staff shall be supported by the salary history certified in the biodata forms. FHI 360 reserves the right to verify salary history and rates.

8. Instructions for Preparation of the Cost Proposal The Offeror shall provide a complete budget, including budgets for partners, subcontractors, by cost element propose using Annex A - Budget Template. All formulas must be displayed in the cells and the budget must not be locked. The Offeror must propose costs it believes are realistic and reasonable for the work in accordance with the Offeror’s technical approach.

The Offeror must provide a narrative (Annex B – Budget Narrative) discussing the different cost elements to adequately justify the total estimated cost. Any assumptions should be clearly stated. The information in the narrative should be in sufficient detail to allow a complete analysis. This should include a complete breakdown of cost elements associated with each line item and those costs associated with any proposed subcontract or sub grant. Be sure to include data and/or methodologies to support cost estimates.

The budget narrative shall be presented in such a way as to be easily referenced from the budget and should provide sufficient information so that FHI 360 may review the proposed budget for reasonableness.

The Offeror shall provide a complete budget based on cost elements described below.

a. Proposed staff, rates, number of person-days needed to accomplish the work. The rates shall be UNLOADED rates. Fringe benefits should be budgeted separately.

List employee name (when identified), functional position and duration of assignment (in terms of person days), and daily rate. The daily rate is derived by dividing base annual salary exclusive of fringe benefits, incentives, bonuses, overtime, allowances and differentials by 260 days.

Offeror must include a signed biodata form (Annex C) for any proposed staff named in the budget.

b. Fringe Benefits - shall be based on labor law and organizational policy. FHI 360 reserves the right to request a copy of the Offeror’s fringe policy. An explanation of the fringe shall be included in the budget narrative.

c. Travel and Transportation – Provide the number of trips, origin and destination of trips, estimated air fares, and other costs such as taxi fees. Please note that international travel will not be funded through this award.

d. Per Diem – Local Offerors shall budget per diem associated with travel and transportation in accordance with the USAID/Jordan Mission Order: In-country Per Diem and Transportation Policy for USAID/Jordan Implementors, http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/perd-diem.asp . Qualified international Offerors shall refer to the US Department of State per diem policy, but should consider using the USAID Mission Order.

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e. Costs of workshops, trainings, meeting sessions with USAID LENS staff and related materials, printed materials, supplies, etc.

f. Separate running costs, or other direct costs (ODCs) shall be broken down as applicable, e.g. rent, utilities, communication. Justification should include total monthly cost and percentage of the proposed cost to this project.

g. All projected costs must be in accordance with the organization’s standard practices and policies.

h. Offers including budget information determined to be unreasonable, incomplete, unnecessary for the completion of the proposed project or based on a methodology that is not adequately supported, may be deemed unacceptable.

Furthermore:

i. Cost proposals from Jordanian Offerors shall be presented in Jordan Dinar. Cost proposals from US or other Geo Code 937 qualified Offerors shall be presented in US Dollar.

j. This project is TAX EXEMPT. Budgets shall reflect the exclusion of any applicable taxes such as VAT.

k. All costs must be budgeted as direct costs. Indirect costs, e.g. overhead, management, administrative, F&A, G&A, will not be accepted.

l. Profit or Fee: A “fee” may be proposed, but FHI360 reserves the right to determine the reasonableness of the fee as well as negotiate the amount and terms of payment. Organizations proposing a fee shall consider:

complexity and innovation of the work to be performed; risk borne by the contractor and the contractor’s investment; amount of any subcontracting which requires monitoring, especially international

monitoring; quality of its record of past performance of similar work that can be demonstrated; industry profit rates in the surrounding geographical area for similar work; length of the contract (short-term is less than 12 months, long-term exceeds 12 months); clarity and cost reasonableness of the initial budget and budget narrative; and fees charges to other clients.

m. If indirect costs are proposed, Offeror must provide a copy of its current NICRA (Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement) issued by a US Government Agency. The detailed budget breakdown shall be structured and formatted to clearly and easily identify the indirect rate (s) applied, and the resulting dollar amount. If the offeror does not have a NICRA, an externally certified indirect rate, or cannot otherwise justify charging an indirect cost rate, the offeror is instructed to directly charge all costs.

9. Evaluation Criteria - FHI 360 will evaluate proposals based on the Trade-Off Process in accordance with this Section (and the Federal Acquisition Regulations – FAR) and award to the responsible Offeror that presents a proposal representing the best value to FHI 360 considering both cost and non-cost factors. “Best value” is defined as the expected outcome that provides the greatest overall benefit in response to the RFP requirements.

Offers will first be administratively reviewed for completeness and mandatory requirements:

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MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS MEETS REQUIREMENT

Offeror meets USAID Geographic Code 937 requirement (Jordan, the United States, and developing countries, other than advanced developing countries and excluding prohibited sources5).

YES/NO

Evidence of Responsibility and Independent Price Determination Form Completed YES/NO

Failure to meet these two requirements may result in exclusion of a technical proposal from further consideration and/or downgrading of a technical proposal.

Proposals will then be evaluated and scored by a technical evaluation committee (TEC) using the evaluation criteria stated herein. When evaluating the competing Offers, FHI 360 will consider the written qualifications and capability information provided as well as any other information obtained through its own research.

Technical and cost will be evaluated relative to each other, as described herein. Technical is significantly more important than cost or price. The technical proposal will be scored using the criteria shown in this section. Based on the assessment of the technical qualities of the proposals, a competitive range may be established.

FHI 360 will conduct its evaluation of Offerors’ Technical Proposals as prescribed herein. The evaluation factors (including sub-factors) listed below are presented by descending order of importance, so that Offerors will know which areas require emphasis in the preparation of information.

Offerors must note that these criteria serve as the standard against which all technical information will be evaluated, and serve to identify the significant matters which Offerors must address.

Evaluation Criteria Points1 Technical Approach

Extent to which the Offeror demonstrates an understanding of the development context and Statement of Work Comprehensiveness of proposed approach.

Clarity and appropriateness of proposed activity. Implementation plan and proposed timeline are realistic and include all proposed

elements of activity.

50

2 Capability Statement – based on the extent to which the Offeror and its partners or subcontractors (if any) convincingly demonstrate its institutional capability to effectively and successfully achieve the objectives in the statement of work and implement its proposed technical approach.

Organizational competence relative to the Tasks and Deliverables, including knowledge of and experience working in Jordan and the Middle East

Capabilities mobilizing short-term technical assistance experts and teams. Organizational systems and procedures

20

3 Past Performance/ReferencesOverall, previous successful experience implementing similar activities, looking at:

Quality of product or service, including timeliness of performance; Meeting goals and targets; Customer satisfaction with performance; and Prior experience working in Jordan and the Middle East.

15

4 Personnel - quality and appropriateness of the proposed personnel, including the extent to 15

5 For USAID’s list of developing countries, please see http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1876/310maa.pdf

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which they meet qualification requirements and convincingly demonstrate the Offeror’s ability to effectively and successfully achieve the contract’s objectives.

TOTAL 100

Cost proposals will be evaluated, but will not be scored. The evaluation of the offeror’s cost proposal will deal with cost analysis and cost realism analysis. In accordance with FAR 15.404-1(d), FHI 360 will perform a cost realism analysis by independently reviewing and estimating the specific elements of each Offeror’s proposed cost estimate to determine whether the estimated proposed costs elements are realistic for:

the work to be performed; reflect a clear understanding of the requirements; and consistency with the unique methods of performance described in the Offeror’s technical proposal.

A cost evaluation will not be performed on Offerors whose technical proposal is not deemedtechnically acceptable.

NOTE: FHI 360 will not compensate the company for its presentation of response to this RFP nor is the issuing of this RFP a guarantee that FHI 360 will award a subcontract.

12. Competitive Range – If FHI 360 determines that discussions are necessary, FHI 360 may establish a Competitive Range composed of only the most highly-rated proposals. FHI 360 may exclude an offer from the competitive range if it is so deficient as to essentially require a new technical proposal. FHI 360 may exclude an offer from the competitive range if it so unreasonably priced, in relation to more competitive offers, as to appear that there will be little or no chance of becoming competitive. FHI 360 may exclude an offer that would require extensive discussions, a complete re-write, or major revisions such as to allow an Offeror unfair advantage over those more competitive offers.

13. Oral Presentations – As part of the evaluation, the technical evaluation committee (TEC) reserves the right to require offerors to present key parts of their submitted proposals to the committee.

General Terms and Conditions 1. Any proposal received in response to this solicitation will be reviewed strictly as submitted and in

accordance with Section 11, Evaluation Criteria.

2. Executive Order 13224 On Terrorist Financing: Offerors are informed that FHI 360 complies with U.S. Sanctions and Embargo Laws and Regulations including Executive Order 13224 on Terrorist Financing, which effectively prohibit transactions with persons or entities that commit, threaten to commit or support terrorism. Any person or entity that participates in this bidding process, either as a prime or sub to the prime, must certify as part of the bid that they are not on the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List and is eligible to participate. FHI 360 shall disqualify any bid received from a person or entity that is found to be on the List or otherwise ineligible.

Firms or individuals that are included on the Excluded Parties List System (www.epls.gov) shall not be eligible for financing and shall not be used to provide any commodities or services contemplated by this RFP.

3. Terms and Conditions: Offerors are responsible for review of the terms and conditions described.

4. Contract Mechanism: FHI 360 anticipates awarding a fixed-price subcontract.

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5. Withdrawals of Proposals: Offerors may withdraw proposals by written notice via email received at any time before award.

6. Right to Select/Reject: FHI 360 reserves the right to select and negotiate with those firms it determines, in its sole discretion, to be qualified for competitive proposals and to terminate negotiations without incurring any liability. FHI 360 also reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received without explanation.

7. Due Diligence Process: Any selected firm will be required to complete a Financial Pre-Award Assessment in order for FHI 360 to ascertain that the organization has the capacity to perform successfully under the terms and conditions of the proposed award. As part of the Pre-Award Assessment process, the firm will also be requested to submit a financial audit report from the previous fiscal year. In addition, payroll records and other financial information may be requested to support budgeted costs.

8. Client Prior Approval: The selected offeror will be subject to funding agency approval before a subcontract can be awarded. Therefore, organizations are reminded that there may be delays for this process to be completed. In addition, should such approval not be given, this subcontract cannot be awarded.

9. Disclaimer: This RFP represents only a definition of requirements. It is merely an invitation for submission of proposals and does not legally obligate FHI 360 to accept any of the submitted proposals in whole or in part, nor is FHI 360 obligated to select the lowest priced proposal. FHI 360 reserves the right to negotiate with any or all firms, but with respect to price, costs and/or scope of services. FHI 360 has no contractual obligations with any firms based upon issuance of this RFP. It is not an offer to contact. Only the execution of a written contract shall obligate FHI 360 in accordance with the terms and conditions contained in such contract.

10. Request for Proposal Firm Guarantee: All information submitted in connection with this RFP will be valid for 90 (ninety) days from the RFP due date. This includes, but is not limited to, cost, pricing, terms and conditions, service levels, and all other information. All information in the RFP and negotiation process will be contractually binding for the selected Offeror.

11. Offer Verification: FHI 360 may contact Offerors to confirm contact person, address, bid amount and that a bid was submitted for this solicitation.

12. False Statements in Offer: Offerors must provide full, accurate and complete information as required by this solicitation and its attachments.

13. Conflict of Interest: Offerors must provide disclosure of any past, present or future relationships with any parties associated with the issuance, review or management of this solicitation and anticipated award in or outside of Jordan. Failure to provide full and open disclosure may result in FHI 360 having to reevaluate selection of a potential vendor and/or terminating an award.

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14. Work Product Presumptive FHI360 Property : All writings, books, articles, computer programs, databases, source and object codes, and other material of any nature whatsoever, including trademarks, trade names, and logos, that is subject to copyright protection and reduced to tangible form in whole or in part by Contractor’s in the course of its service to FHI360 shall be considered a work made for hire, or otherwise FHI360 property. During this agreement and thereafter, Contractor agrees to take all actions and execute any documents that FHI360 may consider necessary to obtain or maintain copyrights, whether during the application for copyright or during the conduct of an interference, infringement, litigation, or other matter. Contractor shall identify all materials in which Contractor intends to exempt from this provision prior to the use or development of such materials.

15. Rights in Data : The Contractor understands and agrees that FHI360 may itself and permit others, including government agencies of the United States and other foreign governments, to reproduce through but not limited to the publication, broadcast, translation, creation of other versions, quotations there from, any provided publications and materials, and otherwise utilize this work and material based on this work. The Contractor shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless FHI360, and the US Government and its agencies against all claims, suits, costs, damages, and expenses that may be sustained by reason of any scandalous, libelous, or unlawful matter contained or alleged to be contained in the work, or any infringement or violation by the work of any copyright or property right; and until such claim or suit has been settled or withdrawn, FHI360 may withhold any sums due the Contractor under this agreement. Contractor agrees to specifically identify to FHI360 and FHI360 any and all computer software licenses (“including shrink-wrap”) as may convey to FHI360 and FHI360. Contractor agrees that any and all computer software developed in the performance of this order using FHI360 monies shall, unless otherwise agreed, become and remain the property of FHI360.

16. Reserved Rights: All RFP responses become the property of FHI 360, and FHI 360 reserves the right in its sole discretion to:

a. To disqualify any offer based on offeror failure to follow solicitation instructions.b. Waive any deviations by Offerors from the requirements of this solicitation that in FHI

360’s opinion are considered not material defects requiring rejection or disqualification, or where such a waiver will promote increased competition.

c. Extend the time for submission of all RFP responses after notification to all vendors.d. Terminate or modify the RFP process at any time and reissue the RFP to whomever FHI

360 deems appropriate.e. Issue an award based on the initial evaluation of offerors without discussion.f. Award only part of the activities in the solicitation or issue multiple awards based on

solicitation activities.

Annexes: - Annex A: Budget Template.- Annex B: Budget Narrative.- Annex C: Bio data form.- Annex D: PPR template.- Annex E: Evidence of Responsibility and Independent Price Determination.

End of RFP

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