REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
To: Offerors
From: Creative Associates International, Inc.
Subject: Request for Proposal (RFP) No. RFP-JTAP-048 – Climate Change Expert -Consultancy Service
Type of Award: Blanket Consultancy Agreement
Basis of Award: Best Value
RFP Issue Date: 05/09/2024
RFP Closing Date: 05/23/2024
RFP Closing Time: 4:00 PM – Local Time, Amman, Jordan
Reference: USAID Contract No. 72027821C00005
Enclosed is a Request for Proposal (RFP). Creative invites Individuals to submit a proposal for the Jordan- Technical Assistance Program (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, if required.
The requirements for this activity are described in the “Statement of Work” in Attachment I. Creative encourages individual 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, 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 May 14, 2024. 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 May 16, 2024.
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 Operations Department
TapProcurement@crea-jtap.com
Sincerely,
Creative Operations Department
Attachments:
Attachment I : Statement of Work Attachment IV : Proposal Cover Letter
Attachment II : Instructions to Offerors Attachment V : Compliance Certification
Attachment III : Evaluation Criteria Attachment VI : Creative Terms and Conditions
ATTACHMENT I: STATEMENT OF WORK
Climate Change Expert Consultancy Service
- PROGRAM SUMMARY
The Technical Assistance Program (TAP), funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is a five-year education and youth project 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.
- PURPOSE
The overall objective of this consultancy “Climate Change Expert” is to support TAP in streamlining climate change across TAP’s programs for Year 4 with a specific focus on several defined activities. The expert is expected to ensure that the principles of climate change are reflected, within the context of both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth, in key documents and activity plans. In addition, the consultant will deliver training for MoE and MoY staff on climate change concepts.
- OBJECTIVE
The primary aim of this consultancy is to collaborate closely with TAP team to develop and deliver a climate change training program aligned with the National Climate Change Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2022-2050 and USAID efforts to integrate climate change into TAP’s interventions.
- Primary Role and Responsibilities:
Desk Review
- Conduct desk revision of all existing relevant materials, plans, and strategies within the MoE, MoY, and the National Center for Curriculum Development (NCCD) on climate change. Utilize findings to develop training programs.
Training Delivery
- Design and deliver a training program for media officers at MoE and MoY to enhance their understanding of climate change concepts and to ensure inclusion of climate change topics in media and communications products, taking into consideration the need to align with the instructions, approaches, and tools for developing training materials for MoE.
- Design and deliver a training program for curriculum specialists at MoE and the NCCD to understand and incorporate general concepts of climate change into the science curriculum.
- Required Qualifications:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field (e.g., environmental science, sustainability, or a related discipline).
- A minimum of 6 years of experience in areas related to climate change.
- A minimum of 3 years of experience in designing and delivering climate change training programs.
- Previous work experience in National Climate Change Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2022-2050 is preferred.
- Previous work experience with MoE and MoY is preferred.
- Previous work experience with the National Center for Curriculum Development is preferred.
- Strong facilitation, presentation, and communication skills.
- Fluency in English and Arabic (spoken and written).
- ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE and LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE)
- ESTIMATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: June 2024 to May 2025.
* Creative anticipates issuing a Blanket Consultancy Agreement (BCA) valid for a Period of Performance of approximately one year base up to three -years options that will be exercised in writing by Creative.
- LEVEL OF EFFORT (LOE): 25 Days
*Ordering Procedure
Purchases may only be made by Creative via written Fixed Price Level of Effort (LOE) Work Orders and executed by the authorized individuals listed in the BCA.
Daily rates are based on an 8-hour working day. Any hours worked in excess of 8 hours will not be paid. Working days consisting of less than 8 hours shall be prorated accordingly.
*Key Working Relationships:
• The consultant will administratively report to the Operations and Security Manager in TAP
and technically report to the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) and collaborate with TAP’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director.
• The consultant will work closely with the relevant staff at both ministries and NCCD, as nominated by the DCOP, to foster collaboration in completing the desk review, designing, and developing training materials
*PLACE OF PERFORMANCE Amman – Jordan
*RESULTS AND/OR DELIVERABLE/MILESTONE SCHEDULE
Task #1: Conduct desk revision of all existing relevant materials on climate change. Utilize findings to develop trainings programs.
Deliverables #1: Desk Review Report.
LOE #1: 3 Days
Task #2: Engage with relevant stakeholders at TAP and government entities to assess the specific training needs of staff related to climate change.
Deliverables #2: Minutes of meetings
LOE #2: 2 Days
Task #3: Develop training program covering key topics of climate change for media officers training for both ministries; deliver training. Taking into consideration the need to align with the instructions, approaches, and tools for developing training materials for MoE.
Deliverables #3: Training materials Pre-Post assessment
LOE #3: 5 Days
Task #4: Develop training program covering key topics of climate change for curriculum experts at MoE and NCCD officials training; deliver training.
Deliverables #4: Training materials Pre-Post assessment
LOE #4: 5 Days
Task #5: Support TAP team to identify potential interventions to integrate climate change in Year 5 programming (including TAP Sustainability Plan currently under development).
Deliverables #5: Workplan for climate change interventions using USAID template.
LOE #5: 5 Days
Task #6: Perform other tasks as necessary based on emerging needs.
Deliverables #6: When and if requested
LOE #6: 5 Days
The above LOE/Working days are tentative and subject to increase or decrease depending on program needs / additionally this will be on a work order basis.
How to apply
Attachment II
INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS
- General Instructions
These Instructions to Offerors will not form part of the offer or of the Agreement. They are intended solely to aid Offerors in the preparation of their proposals. Read and follow these instructions carefully.
- 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.
- 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.
- Proposals and all cost and price figures must be presented in local currency or USD. All prices should be gross of tax.
- 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.
- The Technical Proposal and Cost 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 in order the technical evaluation to be made strictly on the basis of technical merit.
- No costs incurred by the Offerors in preparing and submitting the proposal are reimbursable by Creative. All such costs will be at the Offeror’s expense.
- Responsibility Determination: Award shall only be made to “responsive” vendors. To enable Creative to make this determination, the Offeror must provide a cover letter, as provided in Attachment IV.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 offerors that requested this RFP, or re-posted publicly if offered as a full and open competition.
- 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.
- Submission of Proposal:
Proposals must be submitted in two separate e-mails:
- E-mail 1 – Technical Proposal
- E-mail 2 – Cost 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.
- Content of Proposal:
The proposal shall be comprised of Three sections:
- The Cover Letter (Attachment IV)
- The Technical Proposal
- The Cost/Business Proposal
- The Cover Letter: should be on the Offeror’s letterhead and MUST contain the information requested in Attachment IV.Technical Proposal:
- The Technical Proposal is the opportunity for the Offeror to demonstrate that the Individual 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.
- 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 lower scores.
- 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.
Failure to comply with any of the above points will result in the Offeror being considered “unresponsive” and the proposal may 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, or multiple awards, under this RFP.
Attachment III
EVALUATION CRITERIA
- BASIS OF AWARD:A. 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 to an offeror other than the highest technically rated Offeror or the lowest price Offeror, in accordance with FAR 15.101-1.B. 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 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.
- EVALUATION CRITERIA
- Technical Competence – presented in the Technical Proposal.
The award will be given to the person who achieves the highest score within the following competitive criteria.
- Qualifications and Education 40 points
- Past Performance 30 points
- Technical Interview/Presentation 30 points
The offerors shall achieve a minimum of 50 out of 70 Points in the Qualification & Education, and Past Performance in order to be eligible for technical interview.
As described below: The evaluation will be done according to the criteria shown in the table:
Item#1: Qualifications and Education
Requirement#1: The applicant must attach any evidence of experience to support his/her file with most recent CV.
- Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field (e.g., environmental science, sustainability, or a related discipline).
- A minimum of 6 years of experience in areas related to climate change.
- A minimum of 3 years of experience in designing and delivering climate change training programs.
- Previous work experience in National Climate Change Policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 2022-2050 is preferred.
- Previous work experience with MoE and MoY is preferred.
- Previous work experience with the National Center for Curriculum Development is preferred.
Points Available#1: 40 points
Item#2: Past Performance/ Reference Check
Requirement#2: Document and summarize your proven track record of successfully implementing similar activities clearing using the above technical qualification 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. Offerors with past performance using the mentioned above technical qualification, 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#2: 30 points
Item#3: Technical Interview/ Presentation
Requirement#3: The qualified applicant will go through a technical interview, where the incumbent should prepare a Power Point presentation covering mainly the following:
- Understanding the scope of work.
- Experience: Description of the applicant’s qualifications and similar previous experience.
- Methodology: Explanation of the approach addressing the Technical required output.
- Action plan: should include milestones, deliverables, outputs, and timeframe.
Points Available#3: 30 points
Total points: 100 points
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.
Past Performance and Experience (at least 3)
- (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
Cost Reasonableness & Financial Capability – presented in Cost Proposal. Not Scored.
Submit fully burdened rates for each category, including illustrative consultant rates 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.
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.
ATTACHMENT IV
FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL COVER LETTER
City, Country
To: Creative Procurement Team
Dear Sir / Madam:
We, the undersigned, offer to undertake the [Insert RFP No], [Insert project title], in accordance with your Request for Proposal dated [Insert MM/DD/YYYY] and our Technical and Cost/Business Proposal submitted herein.
Offeror personal details are as follows:
- Offeror’s Name
- Offeror’s Address
- Telephone #/Cellular Phone #, Email address:
- Copy of the offeror ID
Our proposal shall be binding upon us, subject to any modifications resulting from negotiation, up to expiration of the validity period of the proposal. We understand you are not bound to accept this or any Proposal you receive.
The Offeror also certify that:
- is able to comply with the described delivery or performance schedule, taking into consideration all existing commitments and constraints;
- has a satisfactory performance record;
- has a satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics;
- has the necessary technical capacity,
- otherwise qualified and eligible to receive an award under applicable laws and regulations.
Sincerely,
Authorized Signature:
Name and Title of Signatory:
Date: