Strong Hubs for Afghan Hope and Resilience (SHAHAR)

The United States Agency for International Development in Afghanistan (USAID/Afghanistan) intends to award a contract modification to Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) that currently implements the Strong Hubs for Afghan Hope and Resilience (SHAHAR) in selected provinces of Afghanistan. The proposed modification will increase the total estimated cost (TEC) plus fixed fee of the Contract # AID-306-C-14-00016, by approximately $16,000,000 and extends the expiry date of the contract by two years from November 29, 2017 to November 29, 2019. Under the scope expansion, SHAHAR will remain engaged with four regional municipalities, and Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG). At the central level, SHAHAR will also provide technical support to Kabul Municipality in areas of public financial management, house numbering and street addressing, and solid waste management. SHAHAR will continue supporting the selected municipalities in areas that have the potential to expand and diversify the revenue streams of respective municipalities, and will implement a range of customized capacity building plans aiming at enhancing both the human and institutional capacities of partner municipalities. Launching a competition at this stage of the activity would result in significant additional mobilization costs and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Mission's targets. In addition, this would likely impact the existing strong relationship with Government of Afghanistan Officials that is critical to activity implementation. Continuing performance with the same contractor is necessary to ensure that USAID/Afghanistan's Democracy and Governance objectives are achieved, and it is in the best interest of the United States Government. The statutory authority permitting the award without providing full and open competition is AIDAR 706.302-70(b)(5) and may be used for an award for the continued provision of highly specialized services when award to another resource would result in substantial additional costs to the Government or would result in unacceptable delays. The award of this contract modification is planned on or before November 29, 2017. Interested organizations may signify interest and capability to respond to the requirements no later than fifteen (15) calendar days after issuance of this notice. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation will be issued. A determination not to compete this proposed contract modification based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the US Government. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement for this proposed modification.