Request for Proposals
United States Institute of Peace –Good Governance Public Awareness Campaign
November 17, 2015
RFP #: USIP/KBO/RFP/0001
Project Name: Good Governance Public Awareness Campaign
Response Deadline: December 15, 2015
I. General Instructions
A. The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) requests proposals for a project to
promote good governance, including accountability and citizen participation in
governance. The goal of this project is to increase public awareness and
understanding principles of good governance and of the procedure by which the
national budget is developed and to promote transparency and accountability in
national budgeting and resource allocation.
B. USIP is not responsible for any costs incurred by the responding firms prior to
issuance of an executed agreement with the USIP.
C. Submissions must be typed and submitted in Microsoft Word and Excel files, and
must follow the organization of the requests for information in the Submission
Requirements section below. No changes or corrections to a response will be
allowed after the deadline.
D. Any questions concerning this Request for Proposals should be directed to
info-kbo@usip.org. pertinent responses will be made available to all proposers by
e-mail. No inquiries will be accepted or responses given after December 5th,
2015.
E. Your proposals should be sent to info-kbo@usip.org under the subject line of
USIP/KBO/RFP/0001-Good Governance. Proposals received with different
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subject line will not be considered. Final proposals must be submitted by email
no later than 5:00 p.m. (17:00) Kabul time, December 15, 2015.
II. Scope of Work
The USIP Good Governance program is focused on improving transparency,
accountability and participation in democratic processes through programming that
supports civil society organizations to generate demand for reform and engagement with
the government in a constructive manner. With this goal in mind, USIP is seeking to
partner with local organizations located in the east, and southeast, south, west and
northern regions of Afghanistan highlighting the negative effects of bad governance in
general and corruption in particular, and the importance of citizen involvement in
generating demands for reform.
This program will support 3 types of interventions:
Grass roots programming: Tailored activities that engage grass roots level
communities (CDCs, Shura, Associations), local organizations in promoting good
governance through awareness raising, carrying out social audit of service delivery
programs of government in their communities and establishing local anti-corruption
measures.
Government assessment: An assessment of how the National Budget responds to the
needs and priorities of the people, and an assessment of how the planned budget
matched budget execution. This analysis will also report on the level of public and
provincial government engagement in developing the budget, measuring priorities
against needs and resource allocation procedures.
National Advocacy: Multiyear advocacy programs at national level addressing the main
challenges and shortcomings of the national budget and monitoring the progress made
towards improving the current mechanisms and procedures of national budget
development and its execution.
Proposals should provide detailed information on their intervention, detailing the
proposed methodology and research tools, methods and strategies for disseminating
information at national and provincial level, strategies that shows grass roots
involvement in demanding for good governance and public awareness as a whole.
While preference will be shown for a single organization that can carry out all three
levels of intervention, USIP will also accept proposals that address only one or two,
there must be a demonstration of the organization’s previous experience and capacity to
implement the proposed interventions.
Proposals should suggest activities that achieves the following outcomes:
-
Local communities are sensitized and involved in overseeing government
performance, and better able to demand for accountability, and promotion of an
anti-corruption agenda.
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-
Local communities receive training on non-violent representation of grievances
and good governance.
-
Increased government transparency and accountability towards citizens.
Budget and Timeline: all proposal should address the above three components of the
program. The length of implementation can run between 1-3 years, with a total budget of
up to 170,000USDor all three interventions. The length and budget within these limits is
at the discretion of the organization submitting their proposal, but should be justified.
III. Submission Requirements
Technical Proposal
The narrative proposal should be no more than 8 pages in length must address all the
criteria below. Proposals that do not adequately address the selection criteria will not
be reviewed.
Your proposal will be scored out of 100 marks based on the following criteria:
A.
Description of Project: Describe how you would seek to strengthen good
governance. Propose activities that seek to address the following objectives:
a. Increased government transparency and accountability towards citizens
b. Local communities are sensitized and involved in overseeing government
performance, and better able to demand their rights
[Total 40 available marks]
B. Theory of Change: Outline the theory of change for your project approach. The
theory of change should demonstrate a causal link between project activities and
project outcomes.
[Total 5 available marks]
C. Past Experience: Describe at least two projects of similar scope and complexity
you have worked on previously. Provide a point of contact with telephone number
and email address at the client of each of described projects (example only).
[Total 10 available marks]
D. Current Capacity to Successfully Implement Project: What is your current level of
knowledge on the proposed subject matter? Where do you currently have field
staff, offices, or personnel? What relationships do you currently have with local
communities, the Afghan government, and other NGOs in the area in which you
are proposing to work? What is your plan to ensure that the community supports
the project? What is your plan to prevent harm to any of your staff or
participating members of the project?
[Total 10 available marks]
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E. Sustainability Plan: How does this project fit into the broader work of your
organization? How will you use the lessons learned from this project to shape
your future programming? How will you work to ensure any successes from the
project are continued?
[Total 10 available marks]
F. Key Personnel and Staffing Describe the key personnel as well as information on
the proposed staffing plan for the project.
[Total 10 available marks]
G. Budget: Provide an itemized budget with cost estimates for project activities,
personnel and overhead/admin rate. The total budget ceiling for this project is
170,000USD for up to a three-year implementation period.
[Total 10 available marks]
H. Implementation schedule: The implementation period will be up to three years
(projected implementation from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2019). Please
provide implementation timeframe for delivery of all activities over the
implementation period. Workplan/Timeline: A simple graph representation that
depicts the activities (as listed in the Outputs section) and the month by month
implementation plan in the format below:
Table 1: SAMPLE WORKPLAN
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
Month 4
etc
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
[Total 5 available marks]
Curriculum Vitae
For each of the key personnel, please provide a CV of no more than two pages. CVs
will not count as part of the 8 pages of the technical proposal.
IV. General Terms and Selection Process
A. The Selection Committee will review all submissions received on time using the
selection criteria established for the project. The successful service provider will
be selected on the basis of best value to the Institute.
B. The Selection Committee reserves the right to reject any submission or to reject
all submissions in the best interests of the Institute. The Institute may cancel this
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Solicitation at any time prior to contract award if it is in the best interests of the
Institute.
C. The submission of any materials to USIP in response to this RFP will constitute
(i) a representation that the submitting party owns or has unrestricted license to
use and license such materials and all intellectual property expressed therein;
and (ii) the grant of a non- exclusive license to USIP to use such materials and
intellectual property for any purpose, including specifically the evaluation,
negotiation and documentation of an agreement with any party.
D. The successful firm shall not discriminate against any person in accordance with
Federal, state, or local law.
E. The Institute reserves the right to make an award without further discussion of the
proposal submitted. Therefore, the proposal should be submitted initially with the
most favorable terms which the consultant can propose. There will be no best
and final offer procedure. The Institute does reserve the right to contact a
consultant for clarification of its proposal. The consultant should be prepared to
accept this RFP for incorporation into a contract resulting from this RFP. Contract
negotiations may
incorporate some or the consultant’s entire proposal. It is
understood that the proposal will become a part of the official procurement file on
this matter without obligation to the Institute. In addition, if the consultant is
selected as the apparent successful contractor, the Institute reserves the right to
enter into contract negotiations with the apparent successful contractor, which
may include discussion regarding the terms of the proposal and remuneration.
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