Inactive

[See attachment for the complete detail] 95332421K0007 Request for Information (RFI) DCO HCD Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) Consulting Service Note this is a Request for Information (RFI), not a R... [See attachment for the complete detail] 95332421K0007 Request for Information (RFI) DCO HCD Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) Consulting Service Note this is a Request for Information (RFI), not a Request for Quotes (RFQ). Millennium Challenge Corporation is seeking industry comments and responses. MCC is not currently neither accepting nor evaluating quotes at this time. Any quote submissions will be discarded. MCC's mission is to provide grant assistance to support economic growth and poverty reduction in select developing countries with a demonstrated commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investments in their citizenry. MCC's partner countries enter into a five-year agreement (Compact) with MCC that includes a plan for achieving shared development objectives and the responsibilities of each country in achieving those objectives. Our model is defined by core principles, of selectivity, country ownership, transparency, and a focus on results. Our values identify who we are and what is important to us. Our Values are CLEAR: Embrace Collaboration, Always Learn, Practice Excellence, Be Accountable and Respect individuals and ideas. MCC's values define how we behave on a daily basis, both as individuals and as an institution, in pursuit of our mission. They guide how we make decisions, set priorities, address challenges, manage tradeoffs, recruit and develop staff, and work together with our country partners and stakeholders. MCC has a requirement for Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) Consulting Service for MCC Department of Compact Operations (DCO), Human and Community Development (HCD) Sector Ops. MCC is contemplating one (1) time-and-materials (T&M) type contract for one (1) Base Year Period plus four (4) One-Year Option Periods. MCC plans to hold a Virtual Pre-Solicitation Conference on Tuesday, 2 March 2021, 1:00pm to 2:00pm ET. We encourage all interested vendors to attend to learn more about our requirement. If you’re interest in this requirement, please respond to Andrew Lee, Contracting Officer, at leeae@mcc.gov by Friday, 26 February 2021, 5:00pm ET with the following information: Official company name; Company Unique Entity ID / DUNS number; Small business status; Name(s), email addresses, and phone numbers of company points-of-contact (POCs); A brief narrative (no more than one 8.5 x 11” page) of your company’s capabilities to fulfill this requirement; and Any questions or comments regarding the Draft Statement of Work [included below]. After receipt of your expression of interest, we will email an invite for the Virtual Pre-Solicitation Conference. MCC plans to issue the RFQ in March of 2021 and expects to make an award decision in the Summer of 2021. The estimated base period of performance (POP) of this contract is 1-Aug-2021 to 30-Jul-2022. However, this detail is subject to change. The Draft Statement of Work (SOW) is as follows: Draft Statement of Work (SOW) INTRODUCTION The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a Federal Corporation created under Title VI[1] of the Foreign Operation, Export Financing, and related Programs Appropriations Act, 2004. As a United States government-owned corporation responsible for the stewardship of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)—MCC’s partner country colleagues and Compact implementers—MCC works with developing countries to promote sustainable economic growth to reduce poverty. MCC’s work is based on the principle that aid is most effective in countries that promote good governance, provide economic freedom, and make investments in people. MCC provides large grants to a small number of eligible developing countries. MCC looks at likely distributive effects of projects and, to the extent that data are available to perform such analyses, identifies their beneficiaries and estimates their impact on poverty reduction. Ultimately, MCC seeks significant and measurable decreases in the numbers of poor people and significant reductions of poverty. In addition, MCC-funded projects need to be implemented within a Compact period of five years. Further details on MCC and its methodology may be viewed at http://www.mcc.gov. The MCC Human and Community Development (HCD) practice group seeks a Social and Behavior Change (SBC) contractor to aid in formative research, make recommendations for design, and potentially support the MCC SBC team with troubleshooting technical components of behavior change for Compacts in implementation. This research will address key behavioral determinants of potential MCC investments, specifically why various stakeholders behave in relation to, interact with, and/or avoid relevant investments. The contractor should have expertise in using mixed-methodological behavioral research and designing and overseeing implementation of SBC interventions. This is a five-year contract with one (12-month) base year and four (12-month) option years. The selected contractor will conduct formative research in 2-3 countries and up to three sectors in the base year and up to two additional countries per option year thereafter. Currently, MCC anticipates that Lesotho (agriculture sector) and Malawi (agriculture and land sectors) will be included in the base year and that more countries will follow in subsequent option years once they are selected and it is determined that SBC work will be included. The contractor may also be tasked to provide due diligence of SBC intervention design and/or technical oversight of implementation of SBC interventions, though the MCC SBC Team will lead and be primarily responsible for implementation. The list of potential countries and sectors for these tasks could include any country/sector that undertakes formative research during the contract as well as countries/sectors with SBC work already in implementation. These countries in which SBC will be in implementation during this contract include: Kosovo (energy), Mongolia (water tariff reform), Morocco (education), Senegal (rural electricity), and Timor Leste (water, sanitation, and drainage infrastructure). Additionally, the contractor will be tasked with performing two or three cost-effective process evaluations (not to interfere with the work of MCC Monitoring and Evaluation nor on the same scale) from this same list of potential countries/sectors. Not all of these countries or sectors will be included and the selected contractor will be provided distinct technical directives when tasked with work related to any of these countries/sectors. The contractor should plan for up to $30,000 total of due diligence/technical oversight per year in each option year of the contract and one process evaluation per year starting in year 3 of the contract, to equal 2-3 process evaluations during the life of the contract. Costing estimates Task Anticipated cost Formative research $300,000 per country/sector where formative research is conducted Process evaluation $80,000-100,000 per country where a process evaluation is conducted Due diligence of design, technical oversight support, additional support $30,000 per year and per country in the MCC SBC portfolio BACKGROUND MCC’s mission is to provide grant assistance to support economic growth and poverty reduction in select developing countries with a demonstrated commitment to just and democratic governance, economic freedom, and investments in their citizenry. MCC’s partner countries enter into a five-year agreement (Compact) with MCC that includes a plan for achieving shared development objectives and the responsibilities of each country in achieving those objectives. Our model is defined by core principles of selectivity, country ownership, transparency, and a focus on results. Our values identify who we are and what is important to us. Our Values are CLEAR: Embrace Collaboration, Always Learn, Practice Excellence, Be Accountable and Respect Individuals and Ideas. MCC’s values define how we behave on a daily basis, both as individuals and as an institution, in pursuit of our mission. They guide how we make decisions, set priorities, address challenges, manage tradeoffs, recruit and develop staff, and work together with our country partners and stakeholders. The Department of Compact Operations (DCO) is responsible for developing and implementing MCC’s Compacts. The department ensures that MCC Compacts are designed and implemented in compliance with agency standards for procurement, financial management, environmental and social performance, and gender integration and social inclusion. Within DCO, the Sector Operations (SO) Division is responsible for the development and oversight of MCC’s agriculture, land, and human and community development investments, including social and behavior change, as well as program procurement, financial services and gender integration and social inclusion. Within Sector Operation, the Human and Community Development Practice Group (HCD) is MCC’s institutional home to the health, education and community development sectors and aims to ensure that all community members are accounted for in Compact design, implementation, and evaluation. HCD is also the center of expertise for Social and Behavior Change (SBC), participatory development, and user experience (UX). In 2018, HCD proposed the integration of an SBC approach into MCC’s model of sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. This approach, in the form of an SBC model and methodology, is unique to MCC because it is applicable across sectors, complements large infrastructure investments by addressing demand and uptake, incorporates the Economic Rate of Return (ERR) and Constraints Analysis (CA), prioritizes country ownership, fuels projects through rigorous evidence, promotes evaluation and assessment, and seeks sustainability of investments. MCC’s Compact Development process is defined by thorough economic, social, and sectoral analysis. Country Teams typically approach the MCC SBC Team (or vice versa) concerning social and behavior change prior to presenting the Project Proposal Assessment Memo (PPAM) to MCC’s Investment Management Committee, though this timing is flexible and communication and commitments may occur earlier or later. Please see the below table for more information on MCC’s Compact Development Timeline. Compact Development Stages Stage Description Constraints Analysis (CA) Preliminary analysis Opportunity Memo (OM) Problem definition Project Proposal Assessment Memo (PPAM) Project definition Investment Memo (IM) Project development Compact Signing Negotiation Entry into Force (EIF) Implementation launch MCC SBC’s model and methodology borrows components from best practices in the behavior change field and the behavioral sciences, as well as evidence generated over years of development assistance programs funded by various donors. MCC uses an MCC-specific Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behavior model, heretofore referred to as COM-B. COM-B postulates that individuals and communities must have the improved capability, improved opportunity and increased motivation in order to make needed behavioral adjustments that will allow them to optimally benefit from the MCC investment; where Capability is defined as the individual’s psychological and physical capacity to engage in the activity concerned; Opportunity is defined as all the factors that lie outside the individual that make the behavior possible or prompt it; and Motivation is defined as all those brain processes that energize and direct behavior, not just goals and conscious decision-making. Each of these constructs is accounted for in the theory of change (TOC). In its simplest form, the existing TOC for MCC Compact programs posits that economic growth must be increased to reduce poverty. To reach this goal, MCC partner countries identify constraints to economic growth and then research and design solutions. These solutions will invariably require the adoption of new behaviors and practices that have a demonstrated empirical effect on the desired development outcome. For example, providing access to clean water is only useful to the extent that people are aware of this resource and motivated to obtain it. Ultimately, MCC-supported solutions aim to create environments where individuals and communities have the capability, opportunity, and motivation to adopt key behaviors. Attention to SBC elements in development assistance is crucial. Ignoring these elements represents the risk that a project’s economic benefits may not materialize and revenue plans may be affected, with economic growth remaining unchanged and poverty stagnating or deteriorating. The COM-B model is complemented by a rigorous and mixed-methodological approach for identifying audiences and behaviors of interest by applying a doer/non-doer analysis framework to measure these three constructs and identify the determinants of behavior change to inform interventions. Most importantly, they place people at the center of the development process and consider new behavior by multiple actors as critical to reducing poverty and improving people’s lives. To address the constructs in SBC strategies and interventions, proposed solutions will most likely implement interventions at three levels: structural, social, and individual. Structural interventions are those efforts that target the context or physical environment within which the problem (i.e. poor educational outcomes or low worker productivity) is produced and reproduced. Social interventions are those efforts that target groups within which individuals associate and which have influence over individual decisions and actions. Individual interventions are those efforts that target individual persons and focus on skills, psychosocial determinants, or enabling products needed to perform proposed behaviors/practices. SCOPE The MCC HCD practice group seeks a Social and Behavior Change (SBC) contractor with expertise in researching, designing, overseeing implementation of, and evaluating SBC interventions. This is a five-year assignment with one (12-month) base year and four (12-month) option years. The work will occur in parallel in multiple countries so the selected contractor must be adequately staffed to provide excellent SBC technical advice and/or supporting multiple countries simultaneously. The selected contractor will support MCC SBC staff in prioritizing behaviors that are the most likely to lead to successful uptake and sustainability of relevant Compact investments. Through robust mixed-methodological research, they will support the entire MCC and partner country Compact teams in understanding why and how identified behaviors can/will influence project investments and objectives, though still reporting directly to the MCC SBC team. The contractor will create evidence-based recommendations for the design of SBC Compact interventions based upon the formative research and extensive experience in the field of social and behavior change The contractor will also advise MCC on how much the recommended design would cost and other relevant costing considerations, as defined in the technical directive. Once the partner country begins design of the SBC interventions, the contractor may be tasked to advise MCC as MCC conducts due diligence of the proposed interventions. During Compact development and implementation, the contractor may be tasked to advise MCC in discrete tasks related to MCC’s role in technical oversight. And, in option years 3-5, the contractor will be tasked to conduct a process evaluation of the SBC interventions in one country per option year. The selected contractor should be prepared to undertake: 1) SBC formative research in 2-3 countries and three sectors in the base year and in up to two new countries per option year thereafter; 2) provide due diligence of proposed design of SBC interventions and/or technical oversight of up to $30,000 per year, per country for each option year of the contract; and 3) conduct a process evaluation of past MCC SBC work in one country per year in option years 3-5. The selected contractor should be adept at managing sub-contractors, have excellent verbal and written communication skills, and send MCC only fully-edited documents. As detailed in the above background section, MCC’s selected social and behavior change method since 2018 is an MCC-specific form of the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation Behavior Change Model (COM-B), and incorporates a “doer/non-doer” analysis. Applicants should illustrate expertise with COM-B and/or other relevant doer/non-doer social and behavior change models that are appropriate for multi-sectoral work (not only work in health or WASH). Furthermore, applicants should be fully conversant in the methodologies and approaches of other large donors and international organizations (i.e. behavioral economics, behavioral insights, etc.), and be able to apply these approaches to the MCC model where appropriate. Though MCC is not interested in moving away from the COM-B model and proposals for so doing will not be entertained, we are open to incremental improvements in our application of the COM-B model and the doer/non-doer framework. STAGES General stages are as follows: MCC country team workshop Targeted behavioral review Scoping mission Research protocol and tool development Data collection and data analysis Recommendations for design and workshop Final report Due diligence of design Iterative technical support Process evaluation Stages 1-8 are standard in all new SBC countries (two per contract year). The aforementioned countries may also require support for stage 9, if requested by MCC and if implementation of the SBC activity occurs during the life of the contract. Stage 10 is only required as noted in previous sections. All tasks and deliverables will be detailed in technical directives. Stage Timing The applicant must provide evidence of their ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously. It is imperative that the selected contractor have the staffing and resources available to support multiple countries/sectors simultaneously. This will include formative research in 2-3 countries/three sectors in the base year and two new countries per option year, as well as support with due diligence of design work, technical oversight of previous work that has moved into the implementation phase, and one process evaluation per option year in option years 3-5. MCC also requires flexibility in a contractor, as Compact work can be delayed or fast-tracked for a variety of reasons outside of the control of the SBC Team. Stage Summaries *Of critical importance is how the contractor should interface with MCC partner countries. Work with partner countries will be tasked directly by the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and/or Project Monitor (PM) and cannot happen outside of that loop. The COR/PM will provide the appropriate contact person for each country or sectoral assignment and will ensure appropriate timing for work, etc. The research process overviewed below is one of implementation science, characterized by methodological rigor balanced with the realities of Compact development and implementation, including but not limited to set budgets for the SBC research, strict timelines, narrow windows for optimal influence, and politics in the partner country and at MCC. MCC expects that investments are made using strong evidence and sound reasoning. MCC typically operates under strict timelines and with set budgets, and both of these factors will be fully communicated to the selected contractor in the technical directives. The selected contractor should not propose work that exceeds either the time or budget allotted, but rather should note what could be improved with elevated resources, though should not anticipate elevated resources to materialize. It is also critical for the contractor to understand that SBC at MCC is in large part judged by the quality of work produced by the contractor in the tasks outlined below. The work produced must be professional, thoughtful, and show expertise in research and SBC. All versions of deliverables must be well-written and fully edited. All tasks and deliverables will be detailed in a technical directive issued by MCC to the contractor prior to commencement of the work. The contractor should seek clarification on any points of confusion or issue at this time. Deliverables will be approved using the quality assurance criteria located in Section 6 of this document. MCC typically expects two to three rounds of feedback and revision, though the contractor should submit complete drafts each time. The composition of those providing feedback typically expands with each round of feedback. The first round of feedback is provided by the MCC SBC team, adding the MCC country team in the next round, and adding partner country counterparts in the final round. All versions must be complete and professional in quality. All deliverables will be required in English, and some will be required in the preferred partner country language as well, as detailed in the technical directive. MCC has developed templates of many tools which will be of use to the selected contractor, including but not limited to: introductory workshop facilitation tool, scoping mission SOW template, research protocol template, and recommendations for design workshop tool. Stage 1: MCC country team preparation and workshop This workshop is a Washington, D.C.-based two-way discussion between the contractor and the MCC country team with the MCC country team orienting the contractor about the country, sector, and project and the MCC SBC team and contractor teaching the MCC country team about SBC. For the portions of the workshop where the MCC SBC team and the contractor are teaching about SBC, the contractor, with support from the MCC SBC Team, shall prepare a PowerPoint and/or an interactive experience that explains SBC. The MCC SBC Team, with contractor support, shall facilitate the aspects of the workshop related to SBC, working to explain SBC with direct discussion towards how best to incorporate SBC into the Compact, including strategizing roles and responsibilities, timeline, process, potential key behaviors for study, etc. Using limited LOE, the contractor shall develop a post-workshop summary detailing key themes, process moving forward, timeline, risks, and mitigation plan, etc. Deliverables: workshop materials, post-workshop summary Stage 2: Targeted behavioral review The targeted behavioral review is a succinct review of the literature on a specific behavior or set of behaviors related to a specific sectoral context. Honoring its goal of implementation science rather than academic science, MCC aims to limit the LOE, time, and budget of this stage, while still answering questions which are imperative to address before moving forward. Thus, this review is not a standard literature review or gap analysis, but rather a dissection of what is known about a relevant behavior(s) in a given country and sector (most importantly, factors that influence the behavior), as well as what is known outside of the country and sector that relates directly to the behavior being studied, ideally organized by COM-B constructs. Deliverables: behavioral review Stage 3: Scoping mission The scoping mission is a 1-2 week mission and the SBC team and contractor’s first trip to the partner country. Through a workshop with partner country colleagues similar to the MCC country team workshop undertaken in Task 1, the SBC team will socialize social and behavior change with partner country colleagues, better understand the country and sectoral context within which SBC will operate, and hear from partner country colleagues about their needs. In addition to the workshop, the SBC team will engage in preparatory fieldwork (to include observation, key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), etc.), meet relevant stakeholders, determine appropriate field sites for future data collection, meet potential sub-contractors for data collection, and learn about IRB requirements. By the end of the scoping mission, the contractor should be prepared to develop the research protocol. The scoping mission requires advanced preparation by the contractor, including hiring local staff, as warranted by the statement of work and mission plans. This may include a driver, translator, note-taker, sub-contractor to arrange FGD recruitment and/or facilitation, etc. Deliverables: joint scoping mission statement of work with MCC, partner country workshop presentation, research participant recruitment for and facilitation of KIIs and FGDs guides, and joint mission report with MCC SBC team. Stage 4: Research protocol and tool development The research protocol is the guiding document for the data collection and analysis leading to recommendations for design. The selected contractor will develop a thorough protocol detailing the proposed work, mixed-method data collection methods and rationale, sampling, analysis plan, data management plan, cognitive interviewing and field-testing plan, timeline, etc. The annexes, which will be prepared later than the original research protocol, will include the data analysis plan and the data collection instruments (including surveys and questionnaire and qualitative research guides to be tested via cognitive interviewing). The research protocol will be used by the contractor to obtain IRB approval. The contractor will also prepare the enumerator manual, which will guide the sub-contracted data collectors, field managers, and other relevant staff in the details of data collection processes and their responsibilities in data collection. Additionally, the contractor will prepare or sub-contract any needed enumerator training materials. Deliverables: research protocol including annexes such as the data analysis plan, enumerator manual, enumerator training materials, etc. Stage 5: Data collection and analysis The data collection and analysis are the heart of the SBC formative research with the end goal of providing robust and data-driven recommendations for potential SBC interventions. As outlined in the approved research protocol developed in Task 4, the selected contractor will undertake and/or guide the sub-contractor through enumerator training, cognitive interviewing, field testing, data collection, and data analysis. Throughout the process, it is critical that the contractor proactively manages the sub-contractor to anticipate challenges and communicates regularly with the MCC for updates and collective problem-solving. Deliverables: N/A Stage 6: Recommendations for design Based on the results of the formative research and drawing on rigorous evidence, best practices, successful similar projects, and an understanding of implementation realities, the selected contractor will prepare recommendations for design, including which behaviors should be targeted in order to promote a successful Compact and how they may be targeted. The selected contractor will plan and facilitate a 2-day recommendations for design workshop to occur in the partner country which will detail the research findings and facilitate a discussion on how the data will be incorporated into future design work (not undertaken within this contract). The recommendations for design mission requires advanced preparation and a 1-week mission to the partner country. The contractor will need to hire local staff, as warranted by the mission plans. This may include a driver, translator, note-taker, etc. Before the mission, the contractor will also facilitate an abbreviated (2-3 hour) recommendations for design workshop with the MCC country team and incorporate team feedback into the mission agenda. Deliverables: shared mission scope of work with the MCC SBC team, recommendations for design presentation of early data analysis results and top-line recommendations for design, and a shared trip report with the MCC SBC team. Stage 7: Final report The final report is the culmination of all relevant social and behavior change work on the Compact to date. The selected contractor will detail the context, research (building from the behavioral review), analysis, recommendations for design, and recommendations for design workshop outcomes in a final report. Deliverables: final report with accompanying presentation Note for Stages 8-9: In preparing a proposal for this contract, it is critical to understand that, whereas the tasks and funding for the tasks to this point are managed directly by MCC, design and implementation of the SBC interventions is accomplished with the partner country as the accountable entity and, as such, will be funded using a different funding mechanism. MCC’s role thus becomes one of due diligence, technical support and oversight, and independent evaluation. Stage 8: Due diligence of design As tasked by technical directive, the selected contractor may be tasked to ensure that the social and behavior change project design—as created by a separate partner, firm, or entity using funds managed by the partner country—is technically sound and implementable. This may include working with the partner country to create a terms of reference to procure a contractor to undertake design of the SBC activity, advising the partner country regarding how to assess the design, desk review of the design proposed by the design firm, or other work. This task may or may not be required in each country, depending upon the partner country’s needs and/or requests, MCC’s needs, and available funding, among other potential considerations. Deliverables: Each technical directive will specify deliverable requirements, including milestones and due dates Stage 9: Iterative technical oversight During Compact development and implementation, one of MCC’s key roles is ongoing technical oversight and support. In each country where there are SBC interventions being designed and implemented, the MCC SBC team member serving on the country team is thus responsible for ongoing technical oversight and support of the SBC interventions. There may be times when the MCC SBC team member needs additional resources to perform this oversight and support function. In such cases, the contractor may be tasked with a discrete technical directive to serve as a technical advisor to MCC. The consultant will not be a technical advisor to the partner country. The work could include working on any of the following: Compact development Assess and make recommendations on the SBC design approach proposed by the partner government, including from document review and work in the field. Assess SBC project alternatives which might yield a stronger economic return, enhance poverty reduction efforts, promote equity and improve project sustainability. Conduct comprehensive analysis of existing data to improve understanding of local conditions and inform the program logic. Supplement this analysis with additional data collection to fill gaps as necessary. Ensure a strong program logic underlies the proposed SBC project through data analysis, application of economic and other relevant theory, international best practice and a thorough understanding of the local context. Based on this program logic, and the problem the project is meant to solve, recommend output, outcome, objective and impact indicators with corresponding baseline and annual targets that can serve as a basis for tracking the progress of activities and the achievement of expected results. Specify the exposure period (time) required for impact-level results to be measurable. Identify opportunities to leverage activities of foreign donors and other sponsors in related areas. Provide feedback on SBC project or project activity descriptions, and financial plans, for inclusion in the Investment Memorandum, Board or Compact documents. Collaborate with government counterparts to develop budgets...