Maternal and Newborn Health Project

Sources Sought Notice This is a Sources Sought Notice. This is not a request for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. It is a survey to identify potential sources. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is performing this market research to determine if an adequate number of organizations are interested in and capable of implementing and managing a program aimed at providing maternal and child health technical expertise to the government of Zambia (GRZ). Purpose/Objective High Maternal and Newborn Mortality remain huge challenges in the Zambian health sector. According to the 2007 Zambia Demographic Health Survey the mortality ratios stand at 591/100000 deaths and 34/1000 deaths respectively. Though tremendous strides have been made to address this problem, a concerted effort is required by all stakeholders to begin to reverse these trends. Implementing high impact interventions during the critical period around labor and delivery is therefore a cardinal strategy in addressing this problem. The United States government in collaboration with the government of Zambia is currently implementing the Saving Mothers giving Life Endeavor (SMGL). This is a project whose aim is to reduce maternal and newborn mortality by 50% in selected districts in Zambia through implementation of high impact interventions targeting the critical 24 hour period around labor and delivery. The proposed new Maternal and Newborn Health Project (MNCH Project) will therefore buy into this endeavor and focus on; Capacity building; training and mentorship in emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care; systems strengthening; infrastructure rehabilitation and procurement of necessary equipment; service delivery; employment of retired midwives to offer services in the public facilities and promotion of good health seeking behavior; involvement of community structures and networks. Project requirements: 1. Technical expertise in policy support; - use of evidence based best practices in the delivery of maternal and child health services. 2. Technical expertise in capacity building; - training and mentorship of health care providers; - Scale-up of Emergency Obstetric and New born Care (EMONC) - Scale-up of the Helping Babies Breathe concept for new born resuscitation (HBB) - Provision of mentorship in all intervention areas 3. Technical expertise working with community health workers and community structures; Behavioral Change Communication activities/ lifesaving skills - Scale-up of Safe Motherhood Action Group activities - Community mobilization and sensitization Anticipated Period and Place of performance The anticipated period of performance is for 4 years beginning October 1st 2014 - September 30th 2018 for a total estimated amount of $6.5 million dollars subject to funds availability. The project will be implemented in selected districts country wide. Submission Guidelines Interested organizations should submit a statement addressing the following: 1. Capacity of your organization to perform the work described above 2. Past experience implementing similar project activities 3. Sample of challenges encountered and creative solutions employed to overcome those challenges 4. Experience working with other stakeholders, including implementing partners on the ground, host country government officials. 5. If you are an international organization, are you willing and able to field needed expatriate assistance (long-term and/or short-term) within the total estimated cost? Statements sent in response to this sources sought notice should not exceed three (3) single - sided pages (including attachments and charts) using an 11 - point font size minimum. Send the statements electronically in Microsoft word or Adobe Portable document format (pdf) by Thursday, October 16th, 2013 at 17:00 Local Zambian Time to: Ms. Cecilia Kasoma Acquisition and Assistance Specialist USAID/Zambia oaa-solicit-lusaka@usaid.gov Disclaimer and important Notes This notice does not obligate the USAID to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in the response, USAID reserves the right to use information provided by the respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Respondents are advised that USAID is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published on the Federal Business Opportunities website www.fedbizopps.gov. Reponses to this notice will not be considered responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality No proprietary, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. USAID reserves the right to use any non-proprietary information in any resulting solicitation(s).