Small business Sources Sought for: Conflict and Education - Evaluation of the Perceptions of Youth

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. a. Background. The USAID/Africa Bureau/Office of Sustainable Development's Conflict, Peacebuilding and Governance Division, in close collaboration with the Education Division, proposes to conduct research into the impact of varying levels of conflict on the perceptions of youth around education. This research will investigate the ways in which youth, as defined by the USAID Youth Policy, perceive the value and importance of educational interventions, including basic education, life skill, workforce development, civic education and recreation. This Conflict and Education study will be conducted in 4-6 countries in Africa over 18 months. b. Purpose and Objectives. This research project seeks to support U.S. Foreign Policy priorities and USAID's policies promoting conflict management and mitigation, gender equity, youth empowerment, and education. USAID's policy initiatives on these subjects have highlighted the importance of conflict, youth, gender and education as core issues in the formulation of the Agency's programs and projects. This research project seeks to answer three interlocking questions: - How do the different stages of conflict impact the perceptions of youth regarding the quality and value of various educational interventions? Why do these perceptions change (or stay the same) across various stages of conflict? And what are the implications for USAID's programming? The objectives of this project are to: -Gain additional insight and understanding into how and why conflict impacts youth perspectives on educational interventions; -Provide an in-depth understanding through rigorous evaluation methods of how the different phases of conflict impacts and shapes youth perceptions about education, at the time of a specific intervention and in the years following that intervention; -Inform USAID's understanding of the development challenges across sectors facing youth in a variety of conflict settings; -Enhance and focus the design of USAID-funded (and the wider USG-funded) educational and training programs with the use of qualitative and quantitative data, so they are more effectively implemented and better able support USAID's goals and objectives and U.S. Foreign Policy aimed at preventing and mitigating conflict, engaging the youth population in sustainable development, and providing quality educational opportunities in both conflict-affected and stable countries. c. Project requirements. Task 1. Evaluation of Youth Perceptions After developing a clear logic model, and a multi-site mixed methods (quasi experimental and qualitative) evaluation design, the offeror shall develop and test appropriate data collection tools, gather data, and conduct analysis in order to determine how and why the perceptions of youth change across different conflict stages. When analyzing the data, in addition to assessing how various conflict zones affect youth perceptions on education, the research should also consider the interactive effects of additional independent variables such as: age, gender, ethnic group, level of education, socioeconomic status, religion, political affiliation, access to transportation, residence (country, province, rural/urban), level of violence experienced, and participation in USAID and/or donor sponsored educational interventions (past and present). If appropriate, the offeror should suggest other variables that should be considered. Task 2. Conflict and Education Report: Youth Perceptions The offeror shall provide a detailed analytical report of no more than 80 pages based on the findings of Task 1. This report shall include an analysis of the current body of research and knowledge of this subject area, gaps within the literature, and the role of impact of conflict on education, youth and education programs and systems. Task 3. Conflict and Education: Youth Perceptions Data The offeror shall provide all survey data in a standard GIS formats according to the Geographic Data Reporting Requirements. Geographic data collection, geographic analysis, and data submission methods must be included in Monitoring and Evaluation and the work plan as a separate section. Task 4. Conflict and Education: Youth Perceptions Web Map Application The offeror shall provide a Web Map Application. This map will provide a visual representation of the data gathered. The Web Map Application should provide an interactive format that allows users to interact with and download the data collected for each country evaluated as well as a summary of the analysis and finding for that country. Further, the offeror shall provide a detailed management plan for how the Web Map Application will be adapted, updated, and maintained over time. Task 5. Conflict and Education: Youth Perceptions Dashboard (Monitoring Tool) The offeror shall provide a Monitoring Tool which will provide visual representations of the data collected and the finding of the research. The Monitoring Tool will allow users to see data in different formats, including charts and graphs. The Tool shall also allow users to use data sets to create original charts and data. Further, the offeror shall provide a detailed management plan for how this Tool will be adapted, updated, and maintained over time. Deliverables The variables associated with youth perceptions will be examined in 4-6 different Sub-Saharan African countries (representing the East, West, South, and Central/Great Lakes regions) each of which will represent one of the conflict environments (non-conflict, pre-conflict, active conflict, post-conflict, transitioning, and conflict-recovered). The main set of deliverables will likely include, but are not be limited to: a. Final and Interim Evaluation Reports, with Appendices (True Bound & Electronic); b. Annotated Bibliography; c. Data sets, Graphics, and Explanatory Tables; d. Focus group Interview Summaries & Session Notes; e. Data Collection Tools (Qualitative & Quantitative) & Code Books; f. Metadata g. Web Map Application h. Monitoring Tool d. Anticipated period of performance. The estimated period of performance of this contract is from the date of award through eighteen (18) months after the date of the award e. Other important considerations. None. f. Capability statement /information sought. Respondents must provide a capability statement, the details of said statement are included below: i. Statement must contain information regarding respondents: (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior and similar completed Government contracts, references, and other related information; ii. Examples of staff expertise requested above must include examples of the following type of personnel: a. Principal Investigator who will oversee all the activities and a Survey Statistician who will be responsible for quality control of rigorous data collection and analysis. The Principal Investigator should have a PhD in social sciences, such as economics, statistics, development, public policy/administration or other relevant fields. The candidate will possess at least seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in monitoring evaluation, and research in the public or private sector, preferably related to international development. The candidate should have regional experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and technical expertise in the fields of conflict studies and education. b. The Survey Statistician should possess a M.A. or PhD in statistics, survey methodology, or other related field. Candidates with a PhD must have a minimum of 8 or more years of related experience. Candidates with a M.A. must have a minimum of 12 or more years of related experience. All candidates must possess expertise in survey statistics, apply mathematical or statistical theory and methods to collect, organize, interpret, and summarize numerical data to provide usable information. c. Additionally, the offeror should have the capacity to hire additional personnel from within the countries of study. d. Overall, examples of organizational/staff expertise requested above should demonstrate experience in the following disciplines and/or areas: Evaluation, Regional Africa experience, Conflict and Education Technical Subject Matter, Statistical Analysis and Geospatial Mapping and Design. iii. Statement must contain respondents DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code; respondents technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses iv. The statement must be provided electronically to Contract Specialist Jimmie Curtis at jcurtis@usaid.gov Telephone and facsimile responses will not be accepted; v. Statement must not exceed five pages and must be provided in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. Specifications for five pages are as follows: including 11 pt Times New Roman on 8.5 x 11 paper size with standard/default margins and single spacing, etc.; vi. The total page limit of all and/or any resumes or CVs provided must not exceed six pages. Please note that this six page limit for resume/CV submission is separate from the five page limit for the capability statement. As such, a respondent may submit an up to five page capability statement in addition to an up to six page CV/resume submission. vii. Respondents shall determine how the requested material in sections i and ii above will be organized and presented in the five page submission. viii. Statement is due by July 15, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. EST. ----------------------------------------------------------------- This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government 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 in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).