REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
To: Offeror
From: Creative Associates International, Inc.
Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. RFP-JTAP-041- External Consultancy Firm –MOY & MOE Media Departments – Capacity Building Program
Type of Award: Firm Fixed Price Award
Basis of Award: Best Value
RFP Issue Date: 11/19/2023
RFP Closing Date: 12/7/2023
RFP Closing Time: 4:00 PM – Local Time, Amman, Jordan
Reference: USAID Contract No. 72027821C00005
Enclosed is a Request for Proposal (RFP). Creative invites qualified firms and organizations to submit a proposal for the Jordan- Technical Assistance Project (TAP) under the referenced USAID 72027821C00005. After the evaluation, as described herein, resulting in selecting a winning proposal, the issuance of an award is subject to successful negotiation of the terms and conditions and receiving USAID’s Contracting Officer consent, Additionally TAP may award to one or multiple offerors.
The requirements for this activity are described in the “Statement of Work” in Attachment I. Creative encourages your organization to indicate its interest in this procurement by submitting a proposal according to the instructions in Attachment II “Instructions to Offerors”. Proposals will be evaluated based on the “Evaluation Criteria” in Attachment III. Creative will make an award to the responsible Offeror(s) submitting an offer which provides best value to the project: technical merit and price will be both considered.
To be considered, Offerors should submit a complete proposal no later than the closing date and time indicated above. Offerors should ensure that the proposals are well-written in English/Arabic, easy to read, follow the instructions provided and contain only requested information.
Any questions should be submitted via email to TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com no later than November 23 2023. No questions will be entertained if they are received by means other than the specified email address, and any communications to alternate e-mail addresses will result in the disqualification of the bidder. The solicitation number (listed above) should be stated in the subject line. Answers will be compiled and distributed on November 28, 2023.
Proposals must be comprised of one electronic copy of the Technical Proposal and one electronic copy of the Cost/Business proposal, sent in separate e-mails, and labeled with the above-stated RFP number and title. Submissions shall be delivered to:
Creative Procurement Department TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com
Sincerely,
Creative Procurement Department
Attachments:
Attachment I : Statement of Work
Attachment II : Instructions to Offerors
Attachment III : Evaluation Criteria
Attachment IV : Proposal Cover Letter as an attachment
Attachment V : Compliance Certification
ATTACHMENT I: STATEMENT OF WORK
External Consultancy Firm – MOY & MOE Media Departments – Capacity Building Program
Introduction
Creative Associates International is a dynamic and fast-growing professional service firm that specializes in international development in the areas of education, democratic transitions, and stabilization in post-conflict environments. Based in Washington, DC, the firm has a field presence in 30 plus countries worldwide with a strong and diverse portfolio that includes global contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other clients including the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Defense. The firm has earned a solid reputation among its clients and missions worldwide and is well-regarded by competitors and partners alike.
Program Summary
The Technical Assistance Program (TAP), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is a five-year education and youth program that seeks to transform the organizational culture and improve the abilities within the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth to ensure officials can implement desired reforms. Creative and its partners will provide technical assistance in the development, roll-out, and tracking of policies and procedures to incorporate international best practices for public education and youth programming. Among the many activities in the Jordan Technical Assistance Program, it will support curriculum development, promote inclusive learning techniques, improve the skills of teachers and school managers, and other tangible activities that ultimately support changing the organizational culture within the two ministries and relevant agencies. The program will further support Jordan’s outreach and behavioral change communications initiatives that are aimed at creating a culture of reading, the inclusion of vulnerable children, and increased youth engagement.
Background
Since its launch in 2021, TAP has been supporting MOY and MOE in developing the needed policy level strategies for an efficient and effective performance, while at the same time ensuring that capacities are built, and necessary resources are provided. Strengthening communication and outreach performance to enable the ministries to reach their target groups with its services and activities and motivating them to participate and interact is a major component TAP is supporting, TAPs aim to support the ministers in enhance community trust in their effort and interventions, as well as improving their internal communication through building their capacity and supporting them with the necessary tools.
MOE has (9) media staff in center and (84) in directorates, while MOY has (9) media staff in center and (19) in field, the successful offeror will work to design and implement a capacity building program that includes training, mentoring, and coaching for the ministries media.
1. OVERALL OBJECTIVE:
The overall objective of this consultancy is to support the TAP’s efforts to assist the Ministry of Youth (MOY) and Ministry of Education (MOE) in designing, planning, and implementing a capacity building program for the media staff in center and field based on international and regional best practices as well as the ministries institutional plans and strategies. The program aims to provide the media and communication teams with the essential competencies, knowledge, and skills necessary to achieve the goals of the ministries in communication and media strategies and plans.
The capacity building program will cover a period of one year (2023-2024), during which a total of
- Five (5) training packages will be developed and delivered, in total 10 packages, 5 packages for each ministry.
- Each package will be 25 hours consisting of – 15 for training, 5 for practical, 5 for coaching.
- Each training session will be for 3 days, Each Session 20 participants.
- The training will be conducted in multiple locations in north, Central and South
The training packages shall consist of the following:
1. Mobile Journalism
2. Media Monitoring
3. Create and manage social media accounts.
4. Media content creation
5. Designing, developing, and managing effective social media campaigns
The successful offeror will also develop monitoring and evaluation tools to assess the delivery of the training packages and the skills acquired and deployed by the participants throughout the training program.
To ensure the effectiveness of the training program, the successful offeror shall provide post training support in the form of regular coaching and mentoring visits and will assist the media teams at the MOY and MOE to create communities of practice to facilitate knowledge sharing of best practices as well as solutions to some of the encountered challenges. Interactions through the communities of practice could be in person or virtual.
Given the diversity of the proposed training packages, the successful offeror shall have the option of sub-contracting and managing training providers, specialized in certain areas, for the development and delivery of some of the training sessions.
2. STATEMENT OF WORK
The completion of this award shall be in collaboration with MOY, MOE and technical support and quality assurance from TAP Communication and Outreach Advisor. Specific consultancy scope includes:
• Meeting with MOY and MOE to discuss and agree on the scope of work, the deliverables, and the desired outcomes over the implementation of the program.
• Reviewing the following MOY key documents:
o MOY media and communication policy
o MOY public perception survey 2023
o NYS communication and media plan
o MOY key messages
o National Youth Strategy 2019-2025
o National Youth Strategy Implementation Plan
o Any other relevant documents
• Reviewing the following MOE key documents:
o MOE media and communication strategy
o MOE media and communication annual plan
o National strategy for education
o National strategy for Human Resources Development.
o Any other relevant documents.
• Creating content and delivering 5 training packages approved by MOE &MOY to around (93) media staff from MOE and (28) from MOY in the following:
o Mobile Journalism:
- Introduction to mobile journalism.
- Techniques of mobile journalism
- Mobile news package development
- MOJO broad casting
o Media Monitoring reports:
- Introduction to media monitoring
- Media monitoring tools
- writing a professional media monitoring report
o Create and manage social media accounts:
- Create a social media business account (for business).
- Create a social media strategy.
- Manage social media content.
- Growing a community of loyal fans.
- Best practices for content marketing.
- The basics of social media advertising.
o Media Content creation:
- Content strategy.
- Social media content creation.
- Traditional media content creation including journalism.
- Creating engaging content.
o Designing, developing, and managing effective social media campaigns.
• Leading and managing the implementation, and delivery of the training program mainly but not limited to the workshops’ agenda, trainees’ handouts, assessment forms, and trainer’s guides.
• Analyzing the feedback from the training sessions and revising the content accordingly.
• Conducting coaching and mentoring sessions to media staff in center and field to ensure proper implementation of the skills and competencies acquired in the training.
• Supporting and following up on the establishment of communities of practice and the initiation of virtual interactions platform for knowledge sharing and trouble shooting.
• Contracting, managing, and facilitating discussions with the subcontractors to ensure timely and effective implementation of the training program.
3. KEY DELIVERABLES:
The successful offeror shall provide the following deliverables, subject to TAP’s and MOYs and MOEs approval, to meet the desired objectives:
• Inception report with a detailed action plan following meetings with TAP communication and outreach advisor, MOY and MOE relevant focal points.
• Initial program implementation methodology with a detailed time-bound outline of its different components.
• Training packages material developed (subject to MOE & MOY approval). The material should include manuals for trainees as well as for trainers and should consider principles, gender, and social inclusion.
• Proposed monitoring and evaluation framework for the three-year program implementation, including tools and handouts.
• Revise the content based on feedback received from the training workshops.
• Conducting regular coaching and mentoring activities to media staff across Jordan in the field and/or online to ensure effective implementation of the training packages.
• Provide the technical support needed in terms of establishing and following up on the implementation of communities of practice for knowledge sharing and troubleshooting during the whole implementation of the program.
• Training providers contracted and managed to deliver training in specialized areas, if needed.
• Submit monthly progress reports at the 5th of each month to TAP, MOY and MOE.
• Submit a final report at the end of the year that covers:
o Executive summary.
o Progress / milestones updates.
o Revised materials and tools.
o Specific conclusions and actionable recommendations.
Noting:
− All above deliverables should be submitted in both Arabic and English.
− All deliverables should be submitted initially for TAP’s, MOYs and MOEs inputs, feedback, and approval before moving to the next task.
4. QUALIFICATIONS & REQUIREMENTS
The following criteria should be met by Offerors:
• Extensive knowledge and work experience in developing and managing media, communication, and outreach capacity building programs.
• 10 years of demonstrated experience in developing training material and delivering training packages and coaching programs across the requested fields.
• Strong reputation, good understanding of the Jordanian context, and ability to tap into relevant expertise.
• Proven ability to work with multiple stakeholders, including government.
• The consultancy lead team members must have at least 10 years of experience related to developing and implementing similar programs.
• Excellent command of the Arabic and English language
5. PAST PERFORMANCE
A. Offeror shall document and summarize proven track record of successfully implementing similar activities to include a description of similar services provided in the past and any lessons learned that will be incorporated into the activity described in this RFP. Experience in Arabic speaking country is preferred.
B. Offeror shall submit samples of similar work experience of the same scale and scope.
C. Offerors with past performance with similar projects, in the same geographic area and/or of similar scale to the activity described in this RFP will be scored more favorably than offerors that do not meet these criteria.
6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
Estimated Period of Performance: one year
7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Jordan
Attachment II
INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS
A. General Instructions
These Instructions to Offerors will not form part of the offer or the Agreement. They are intended solely to aid Offerors in the preparation of their proposals. Read and follow these instructions carefully.
1. The proposal and all corresponding documents related to the proposal must be written in the English language, unless otherwise explicitly allowed. Additionally, all proposals should be single-spaced with clear section headings, and be presented in the order specified in Attachment III – Evaluation Criteria.
2. The training packages to take place simultaneously, in the three regions Amman, Irbid and Aqaba
3. The financial proposals shall be submitted using “annex 1: cost proposal” attached, including venue (the offeror can revert to 3 Star hotels only), printing and refreshments for the workshops, training sessions, per-diem and/or lodging and accommodation costs, please prepare the cost for the workshop and meal plan in 3-star hotels only.
4. Jordan Transportation Rates Matrix as per USAID rates is attached to the RFP.
5. Proposals must include only the Offeror’s own work. No text should be copied from sources outside of your organization, unless those sources are adequately cited and credited. If Creative determines that any part of the proposal is plagiarized from outside sources, the Offeror will be automatically disqualified.
6. Proposals and all cost and price figures must be presented in local currency or USD. All prices should be gross of tax, but net of any customs duties.
7. The Offeror must state in their Proposal the validity period of their offer. The minimum offer acceptance period for this RFP is 90 days after the closing date of the RFP. If an Offeror has provided a validity period of less than 90 days, they will be asked to revise this. If the Offeror does not extend the validity period, their proposal will be rejected. Creative reserves the right not to make an award.
8. The Technical Proposal and Cost/Business Proposal must be kept separate from each other. Technical Proposals must not make reference to cost or pricing information at any point. This will enable the technical evaluation to be made strictly on the basis of technical merit.
9. Offerors must be authorized to conduct business in Jordan, as evidenced by submission of a copy of a valid Business License (if registered as a for-profit company), a valid Host Government license (if registered as a non-profit organization) or a municipal license (if registered as a local vendor of goods or import-export dealer). The copy of the license must clearly show a license number, official government stamp and a date of issue and date of expiry.
10. No costs incurred by Offerors in preparing and submitting the proposal are reimbursable by Creative. All such costs will be at the Offeror’s expense.
11. Responsibility Determination: Award shall only be made to one responsible Offeror. To enable Creative to make this determination, the Offeror must provide a cover letter, as provided in Attachment IV.
12. Late Offers: Offerors are wholly responsible for ensuring that their Offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated herein. A late Offer will be recommended for rejection, even if it was late as a result of circumstances beyond the Offeror’s control. Late offers will only be considered at Creative’s Procurement Department’s discretion.
13. Modification/Withdrawal of Offers: Offerors have the right to withdraw, modify or correct their offer after it has been delivered to Creative at the address stated above, and provided that the request is made before the RFP closing date.
14. Disposition of Proposals: Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will not be returned. Reasonable effort will be made to ensure confidentiality of proposals received from all Offerors. This RFP does not seek information of a highly proprietary nature, but if such information is included in the Offeror’s proposal, the Offeror must alert Creative and must annotate the material by marking it “Confidential and Proprietary” so that these sections can be treated appropriately.
15. Clarifications and Amendments to the RFP: Any questions regarding this solicitation must be emailed to TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com. No questions/clarifications will be entertained if they are received by another means. The solicitation number should be stated in the subject. Responses will be complied and emailed to the requesting potential Offeror and will be sent to all organizations that requested this RFP or re-posted publicly if offered as a full and open competition.
16. Creative anticipates that discussions with Offerors will be conducted; however, Creative reserves the right to make an award without discussions. It is strongly recommended that Offerors present their best offer.
Failure to agree and comply with any of the above specifications will result in the Offeror being considered unresponsive and the proposal may be rejected.
B. Submission of Proposal:
Proposals must be submitted in two separate e-mails:
• E-mail 1 – Technical Proposal
• E-mail 2 – Cost/Business proposal
• Each e-mail should be clearly labeled with the RFP number and project title.
• Proposals must be delivered no later than the specified date/time.
Offerors who do not submit their technical and cost proposals separately may be automatically disqualified.
C. Content of Proposal:
The Offeror’s Proposal shall be comprised of four sections:
i. The Cover Letter (Attachment IV)
ii. Copy of the Offeror’s Valid Business license/Copy of commercial registration
iii. The Technical Proposal
iv. The Cost/Business Proposal – Excluding sales tax as USAID-TAP is sales tax exempted.
1) The Cover Letter: should be on the Offeror’s letterhead and MUST contain the information requested in Attachment IV.
2) Business License
3) Technical Proposal:
a. Should clearly & precisely address theoretical and practical aspects that the Offeror has considered and will employ to carry out the statement of work.
b. The Technical Proposal is the opportunity for the Offeror to demonstrate that the firm is “technically capable” of implementing the activity and should demonstrate the Offeror’s understanding of and capabilities to carry out the work, and address the key issues described in the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment III.
c. The Technical Proposal should be divided into clearly separate sections following the same order of the Evaluation Criteria in Attachment III. A mis-ordered proposal that makes information hard to find will result in a lower score.
d. The technical proposal should include a management plan with a clearly laid out organizational chart.
e. If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be subject to disqualification.
4) The Cost/Business Proposal: must be submitted separately from the technical proposal and will primarily indicate the price for performing the work specified in this RFP. At a minimum, the Cost/Business proposal should include the following information:
a. A detailed budget that provides a breakdown of costs by line item.
b. Detailed and comprehensive budget notes that provide information on each of the line items and explain why these items are needed for implementation of the activity.
c. Detailed CVs for key personnel shall be provided.
d. Labor:
1. Offeror must provide: a time-phased (e.g., monthly, quarterly, etc.) breakdown of labor hours, fully burdened labor rates, for each labor category bid.
2. Offerors should bid fully burdened labor rates per labor category.
3. Labor category descriptions to include education and experience for each category.
e. Other direct costs:
1. Any travel costs shall be broken down by person, trip, flight, hotel, periderm in accordance with US State Department rates and regulations.
2. Any other direct costs including subcontracted items will be fully justified to include a fair and reasonable determination based on generally accepted price analysis techniques.
5) Creative’s review of the Cost Proposal shall determine if the overall costs proposed are realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a correct understanding of the project requirements, and are consistent with the Offeror’s Technical Proposal. Creative will also review individual line items and determine if they are allowable, allocable and reasonable.
Professional References
Using the exact table format provided below or equivalent, please list (at least three )only the projects implemented within the past 3 years, a brief description of how each is relevant to this RFP and the contact details for each previous client or donor. Please include recommendation/appreciation letters and certificates as attachments.
Attachment III
EVALUATION CRITERIA
A. BASIS OF AWARD:
1. Creative will evaluate proposals on a best value basis, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.1 – Source Selection Processes and Techniques. In all solicitations, Creative will consider and conduct an evaluation on the basis of both technical and cost submissions. The relative importance of these two factors places technically above cost. In rare cases, Creative may also award a firm other than the highest technically rated Offeror or the lowest price Offeror, in accordance with FAR 15.101-1.
2. The award will be made to the Offeror whose offer presents the Best Value, which is the optimal combination of technical merits and reasonable cost and does not exceed the internal budget established for this effort. Proposals will be scored on technical factors first. Only the Cost/Business proposals of those offers that surpass the minimum qualifying score of 70 points in the technical evaluation will have their Cost/Business Proposal reviewed. Those that do not reach this qualifying score in the Technical Evaluation will be considered non-competitive and their Cost/Business proposals will not be considered.
Table 2
(a) Activity Title
(b) Location(s) of activity
(c) Synopsis of the activity and its relevance to this RFP
(d) Performance period (date, duration and if completed on schedule)
(e) Prime or Subcontractor?
(f) Amount for the activity
(g) Name & Contact Info (E-mail and phone) of client
Failure to comply with any of the above points will result in the Offeror being considered “unresponsive” and the proposal will be rejected.
If an Offeror provides insufficient information in their technical and/or cost proposal, Creative reserves the right to request additional information, or to request a revised proposal from the Offeror, if necessary.
Creative reserves the right to make no award under this RFP.
Attachment III
EVALUATION CRITERIA
A. BASIS OF AWARD:
1. Creative will evaluate proposals on a best value basis, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) Subpart 15.1 – Source Selection Processes and Techniques. In all solicitations, Creative will consider and conduct an evaluation on the basis of both technical and cost submissions. The relative importance of these two factors places technically above cost. In rare cases, Creative may also award a firm other than the highest technically rated Offeror or the lowest price Offeror, in accordance with FAR 15.101-1.
2. The award will be made to the Offeror whose offer presents the Best Value, which is the optimal combination of technical merits and reasonable cost and does not exceed the internal budget established for this effort. Proposals will be scored on technical factors first. Only the Cost/Business proposals of those offers that surpass the minimum qualifying score of 70 points in the technical evaluation will have their Cost/Business Proposal reviewed. Those that do not reach this qualifying score in the Technical Evaluation will be considered non-competitive and their Cost/Business proposals will not be considered.
B. EVALUATION CRITERIA
1. Technical Proposal - Total Points: 100
Provide a clear, specific, and succinct technical proposal that covers both the conceptual and practical approaches of how to achieve the objectives of this project. Specifically, please address the following, in the order specified below:
Item # 1: Technical Proposal
Requirement: Technical Proposal for the capacity building program includes proposed methodology, work plan and timeline.
Points Available: 30
Item # 2: Company Profile
Requirement: Company profile and the projects or activities that were successfully implemented
Points Available: 20
Item # 3: Qualifications & Requirements
Requirement:
• Extensive knowledge and work experience in developing and managing media, communication, and outreach capacity building programs.
• 10 years of demonstrated experience in developing training material and delivering training packages and coaching programs across the requested fields.
• Strong reputation, good understanding of the Jordanian context, and ability to tap into relevant expertise.
• Proven ability to work with multiple stakeholders, including government.
• Demonstrated experience in undertaking similar consultancies for international development agencies/ projects, preferably USAID.
Points Available: 20
Item # 4: Past performance
Requirement: Reference Contacts of three organizations that have recently contracted you to carry out similar assignments, including samples of work conducted within similar SOW.
Offerors with past performance with similar projects, in the same geographic area and/or of similar scale to the activity described in this RFP will be scored more favorably than offerors that do not meet these criteria.
Points Available:15
Item # 5: Key personnel
Requirement:
• Suitability statement including CVs of lead team members with details of qualifications and experience.
Key personnel with qualifications and experience related to the tasks in this RFP will be evaluated more favorably than those who are not a qualified and experienced.
Points Available:15
2. Cost Reasonableness & Financial Capability – presented in Cost/Business Proposal.
Creative’s review of the Cost Proposal shall determine if the overall costs proposed are realistic for the work to be performed, reflect a correct understanding of the project requirements, and are consistent with the Offeror’s Technical Proposal. Creative will also review individual line items and determine if they are allowable, allocable and reasonable.
a) Please provide the financial proposal under the same line items in below table as well as to fill out the annex Excel sheet attached herewith:
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Activities Cost Personnel Cost Other indirect cost including operational, support and logistical Cost
Unit (day, person, night,..)
Unit Cost
No. of units
Total Cost
Grand Total
b) unresponsive and may be disqualified from further consideration.
c) References provided will be contacted for verification of information provided and assessment of Offeror performance.
If an Offeror submits a proposal that fails to respond to the majority of the information requested in this RFP, as outlined specifically in the statement of work and the evaluation criteria, the Offeror’s proposal will be automatically disqualified.
Creative reserves the right to request additional supporting documentation or a revised proposal from an Offeror if insufficient information has been provided in the Offeror’s technical and/or cost proposal. If the requested information is not provided, Creative has the right to disqualify the firm from further consideration.