RFI- Regional Disaster Assistance Program

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION / SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN REGIONAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Notice Number: 7200AA19Q00034 Release Date: August 22, 2019 Response Date: September 9, 2019 THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. NO PROPOSALS ARE SOUGHT Any responses to this Request for Information/Sources Sought notice should be submitted by September 9, 2019 at 12:00 PM EST. This notice consists of five parts: Part I - Introduction; Part II - Background; Part III - Areas in Which Information is Sought; and Part IV - Performance Based Acquisition Recommendations; and Part V - How to Respond to This Notice. I. Introduction This is a Request for Information/Sources Sought Notice. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and does NOT constitute a Request for Proposal. Please do not submit proposals or resumes as they will be discarded. Submissions will not be acknowledged. USAID may use any information provided without incurring any obligation. No phone calls or hand carries please. This notice is not to be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue any solicitation or ultimately award a contract on the basis of this RFI, or to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. It should be noted that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in the subsequent procurement. The U.S. Government will not provide answers to any question submitted in response to this request. Responses will be held confidential. Proprietary information should not be sent. This notice is issued under the authority of FAR 15.201 (Exchanges of information before receipt of proposals). FAR 11.101 (Order of precedence for requirements documents) requires agencies to development requirements documents to meet agency needs that utilize performance-oriented documents based on voluntary industry consensus standards to the maximum extent practicable. To similar effect , FAR Subpart 37.6 (Performance-Based Contracting) and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy's "A Guide to Best Practices for Performance-Based Service Contracting", encourages agencies to use performance-based contracting methods that describe work requirements in terms of results required rather than the methods of performance of the work, establish measurable performance standards for key elements of the work, use a quality assurance surveillance plan (QASP) to measure work accomplishment against the standards, and use performance incentives to encourage contractors to meet and/or exceed the referenced standards. Please frame any responses to this notice in accordance with the policies contained in these references. II. Background The United States Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) is the U.S. Government's (USG's) lead office for providing disaster assistance in foreign countries affected by natural or human-caused disasters. USAID/OFDA partners with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), among others, to provide critical humanitarian response and assistance. During a disaster response, OFDA activates a Response Management Team (RMT) to support the operations of a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) deployed for on-the-ground assistance to the region/area affected by the disaster. The purpose of an RMT is to coordinate USG strategy and activities in support of disaster response operations. The RMT is the primary liaison between the DART and other USAID entities, other federal agencies and offices, and Congress. In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is uniquely positioned to coordinate disaster response for the U. S. Government (USG) and provide support to risk management programs through its regional office in San Jose, Costa Rica. OFDA's program in LAC is field-driven, responding to needs identified by the OFDA/LAC regional office, which maintains the lead in communication with partners and beneficiaries, assessment and needs identification, and development of the regional disaster risk reduction (DRR) program. In support of its broader LAC strategy and program, OFDA requires support services to implement OFDA/LAC's Regional Disaster Assistance Program (RDAP) which provides program management, technical assistance, training, and disaster response support throughout the LAC region. USAID/OFDA is seeking information in response to this notice from interested parties to help us improve the attached draft Statement of Objectives (SOO). III. Areas In Which Information is Sought Responses may be submitted within the body of the email or as an attachment. USAID is requesting specific responses to the following: Section 1: Please provide the following information: Company Name; Address; Cage Code; Point of Contact including Phone Number and email; size of business using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code of 541611, Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services; average annual revenue for the past 3 years; ownership; whether large, small, small disadvantaged, 8(a), HUBZone, Veteran, Service Disabled Veteran, and/or Women Owned; number of years in business; and list of customers covering the past three years for work considered highly relevant to the SOO. Section 2: Please describe your proven capabilities and previous project experience in providing critical integrated services, relevant and similar in complexity and scope, outlined in the SOO. Support should be in the context of international civilian humanitarian assistance and international civilian disaster response. This should include administering international disaster response and disaster risk reduction programs and increasing the capacity of local and national authorities in the region to prepare for and respond to disasters, ultimately reducing and alleviating the need for USG and other external donor assistance within the Latin America and Caribbean region. In this context, discuss staffing critical functions on a surge basis in response to the changing global requirements on the ground and understanding of political awareness within an international disaster response context in the LAC region. Section 3: Please describe you methodology for providing anticipated numbers of personnel with appropriate experience particularly within the context of international civilian humanitarian assistance and international civilian disaster response. This includes administering international disaster response and disaster risk reduction programs and increasing the capacity of local and national authorities in the region to prepare for and respond to disasters, ultimately reducing and alleviating the need for USG and other external donor assistance within the Latin America and Caribbean region. In addition, describe your approach for recruiting, retaining and supporting staff surges based in response to the changing global requirements on the ground and understanding of political awareness in the LAC region. This includes deploying personnel within the LAC region in support of 24/7 international disaster response requirements considered highly relevant to the SOO. Section 4: Please demonstrate corporate experience and your capabilities to corporately administer a multi-million dollar contract (annually). This should include the ability to accommodate as-needed surge support to quickly expand and contract staff in response to the changing requirements on the ground and an understanding of political awareness in the LAC region. This includes administering international disaster response and disaster risk reduction programs and increasing the capacity of local and national authorities in the region to prepare for and respond to disasters, ultimately reducing and alleviating the need for USG and other external donor assistance within the LAC region to prepare for and respond to disasters. Please list dollar value of work considered highly relevant to the SOO. IV. Performance Based Acquisition Recommendations In addition to the information above, USAID requests that responses address the following: - What tasks and/or deliverables are susceptible to measurement? - What standards can or should be used to measure unsatisfactory, satisfactory, and outstanding performance? - What are the best sources of performance standards? - Should standards be expressed in terms of technical quality, timeliness, cost control, or some combination of these parameters? - Are there any non-monetary incentives that would induce quality performance for this requirement? V. How to Respond to This Notice Please submit your responses and comments, whether supportive or critical, to kredcross@usaid.gov not later than September 9, 2019 at 12:00 PM EST. USAID/OFDA has not finalized all aspects of this initiative and need meaningful and substantive comments from the broader community of interest. USAID/OFDA bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. Further, be aware that amendments to this Notice may be issued and will be posted on the same Internet site from which you downloaded this notice. You are advised to regularly check the above Internet site for amendments and are encouraged to sign up for update notifications. The use of information received in response to this notice may be used by USAID for acquisition planning and solicitation activities. USAID does not intend to pay for the information solicited and will not recognize any costs associated with responding to this notice. Proprietary information is neither sought nor desired by USAID. If such information is submitted, it must clearly be marked "proprietary" on every sheet containing such information and the proprietary information must be segregated to the maximum extent practicable from other portions of the response (e.g., use an attachment or exhibit). Please direct any questions concerning this notice to Kisha Redcross at kredcross@usaid.gov.