Inactive Total Small Business Set-Aside (FAR 19.5)

Introduction This Request for Information (RFI) notice is issued as part of market research being conducted by the U.S. Department of State (DoS) and the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) ... Introduction This Request for Information (RFI) notice is issued as part of market research being conducted by the U.S. Department of State (DoS) and the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) to seek expressions of interest from small businesses capable of providing the services needed for documenting, monitoring and evaluating the outcomes of $14.8 billion in Ukraine Supplemental assistance plus any additional amounts obligated in the future supplementals approved for Ukraine by the U.S. Congress, and producing quarterly reports to Congress on this information. DOS intends to award a contract for a base year plus two option years for this assistance to start in fall 2022. The firms interested in responding to this RFI will need to document their experience and capability in the full range of lines of effort that are designated by Congress for the use of the funds as listed below, in an active war zone, using methods that can mitigate the substantial risk of corruption in Ukraine. This RFI notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a Request for Quote/Proposal (RFQ/P) or a promise to issue a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the DoS is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondents are advised that the U.S. government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense. The Request for Information’s Purpose is to provide Monitoring, Evaluation, Audit (as Needed), and Reporting Services on the following lines of effort of U.S. Government assistance in Ukraine: Continuity of Government for critical local, regional, and national government functions, education, energy security including repairs to the energy grid, cybersecurity especially to defend against Russian cyberattacks and to protect GOU communications, support to local businesses and trade and efforts to shift production and trade to western Ukraine, help reestablish criminal justice in communities under Ukrainian control, and anticorruption efforts especially related to the GOU’s use of macroeconomic support. Societal Resilience that supports independent media, counters disinformation, and supports civil society organizations, including those that protect those vulnerable to human rights abuses, ensure continued agricultural production and the meeting of urgent health needs, provide services to internally displaced persons, veterans, and other vulnerable populations. Security and Resilience to support border security by Ukrainian border guards and national police responding to the impact of the Russian invasion, including provision of life-saving and operational equipment assistance to the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service, personnel protective equipment, medical kits, armored vehicles, ammunition, support the clearing of landmines and unexploded ordnance including in densely populated areas and on an emergency basis, and the provision of equipment for focused border management assistance to respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and non-proliferation. Some of these funds may also be used to support partner capabilities to implement global sanctions. Accountability to support the CSO Conflict Observatory and Global Criminal Justice projects and other efforts to hold the Russian government and Russian forces accountable for war crimes. Assistance will also support and re-engage rule of law and anti-corruption programming that was forced to pause in Ukraine because of the conflict in late February 2022.This funding will also support the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, a dedicated prosecutor in DOJ, and DRL assistance with exhumation and identification of remains, and USAID’s Human Rights program to work with lawyers to document damage to civilian property and support accountability mechanisms. Responding to this RFI Industry respondents with potential interest in performing services as defined in the attached SOW are requested to submit the following: Part I - Vendor Information and Past Experience (See Attachment 1). The completed Attachment 1 form shall not be more than 5 pages in length. This section shall include the three (3) recent (within 5 years) past experiences. Part I – Vendor Information and Past Experience 1. Name of Company 2. Point of contact name, telephone number and email address. 3. What contract vehicle(s) would you recommend for this requirement? 4. Business type: a. Small Business Small Disadvantaged Business 8(a)-certified Small Disadvantaged Business HUBZone SDVOSB WOSB/EDWOSB b. Other than small business Provide a brief description of up to three (3) past experiences performed in the past five (5) years that demonstrates your company’s capabilities to perform the requirements of the types of services described in the attached SOW. For each experience that demonstrates your capabilities, cite the name and contact information for the ultimate user organization and describe the size and scope in terms of numbers and geographic. Past experience must specify that the company was the prime contractor. Experiences at the subcontractor level is not considered to be qualifying experience. Please complete your response to Part I of this RFI using the form(s) included in Attachment 1 to this document. Part II - RFP Additional Information -Submission Requirements. Industry respondents need to provide a separate section addressing the company’s experience as requested in the items 1 through 8 listed in the next paragraphs. This separate document shall not exceed 10 pages in length and use 12 point, Times New Roman font with 1-inch page margins. The experience to be described shall be within the past five years as a prime contractor with contact information for references from clients of those services, and CPARs on the relevant contracts if available: Monitoring and evaluation of project portfolios valued at over $2 billion in value covering all of the four lines of effort listed in Part I above. Experience analyzing complex foreign aid portfolios and proposing typologies or categorization of the projects as a basis for effective and efficient M&E. Monitoring and evaluation of foreign aid in countries with active armed conflicts, including use of innovative methods, verifying that supplies and equipment purchased with USG funds were delivered to the expected entities, and verifying the end use of those supplies and equipment, including management of the security arrangements and other logistics for the M&E staff. Experience recruiting and managing local experts in project monitoring and evaluation in Ukraine and/or other Eastern European and/or Eurasian countries, and in using these experts to train assistance implementers in the development of logic models for project designs, definition of outcome indicators to measure the effectiveness of the assistance, and operationalizing data collection and data analysis for outcome indicators and evaluations. Experience designing and implementing statistically significant surveys, and high-quality analysis of key informant interviews and focus groups to collect data on the lines of effort listed above. Experience designing and implementing data quality verification for monitoring data including in zones of active conflict. Experience performing financial audits of foreign assistance and detecting or preventing corrupt use of assistance funds. Experience writing high quality monitoring and evaluation reports on foreign aid for submission to the U.S. Congress and the general public. Response Submission Deadline: Please provide your responses to this RFI by October 17, 2022. RFI submissions will be accepted as email attachments only. All responses must be sent to dominguej@state.gov , with “EUR – MEASURE RFI Response” in the subject line. Copies of your submission must include tejpara@state.gov To access information related to this requirement, please see Attachment 2 which include a link. Also, included within the SOW document, Annex A: Duties, Requirements and Responsibilities of Contractor Personnel. An email confirmation of receipt from DoS will be sent to each respondent’s designated point of contact as identified in Attachment 1.