USAID/Paraguay is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to identify individuals and organizations capable of conducting performance monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) within its Local Works Program. The objective is to gather insights on local entities that can support a dual MEL strategy: first, by providing expertise in performance monitoring and evaluations using innovative methods to address prioritized learning questions; and second, by enhancing the MEL capacity of grassroots organizations to enable them to assess their own development progress with appropriate tools. This initiative is crucial for empowering local communities in Paraguay to effectively tackle their development challenges and ensure accountability in results. Interested respondents must meet specific eligibility criteria, including being legally organized in Paraguay and having received no more than $5 million from USAID in the past five years. Submissions are due by November 30, 2020, and should be sent via email to paraguayoaa@usaid.gov.

Request for Information - RFI USAID Paraguay.pdf

The USAID/Paraguay issued a Request for Information (RFI) on November 5, 2020, seeking local and eligible entities to support their Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) strategy as part of the Local Works Program, with responses due by November 30, 2020. The RFI invites individuals and organizations to demonstrate their capabilities in performance monitoring, evaluation, and the capacity development of grassroots organizations, emphasizing local expertise and experience in Paraguay. Submissions should include detailed organizational information and relevant experience, and all responses will be treated confidentially with no implications for future procurement processes.

Request.pdf

USAID/Paraguay issued a Request for Information (RFI) to identify individuals and organizations capable of conducting performance monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) within its Local Works Program. This program aims to empower local communities to address their development challenges. The RFI focuses on a dual MEL strategy: first, seeking expertise for performance monitoring and evaluations utilizing innovative methods to answer prioritized learning questions; second, enhancing MEL capacity among grassroots organizations to enable self-assessment with appropriate tools.

Interested respondents must be local entities defined by specific legal and operational criteria in Paraguay, with no more than $5 million in prior USAID funding over the last five years. Submissions should encompass institutional information, relevant experience, and capabilities in MEL areas. The deadline for submissions is November 30, 2020, with responses to be sent via email.

This RFI, while not a solicitation for proposals, serves to gather insights into the availability of MEL services and expertise in Paraguay, facilitating USAID’s ability to implement locally led development initiatives effectively, ensuring accountability and fostering an environment of learning and adaptation among local stakeholders.

To: All Interested Respondents/Parties:   The USAID/Paraguay Local Works Program is designed to advance locally led development and enhance the Agency&#8217;s ability to empower local people to take the lead in addressing their development challenges (https://www.usaid.gov/localworks). The program is currently designing a two-pronged Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) strategy focused on learning. This will serve as a decision-making tool not only for the Mission, but for communities participating in the program, as well as accountability for results. Firstly, it will seek support from individuals and/or organizations to undertake the performance monitoring of the Local Works program, as well as performance and impact evaluations with innovative approaches to answer USAID/Paraguay&#8217;s prioritized learning questions. Secondly, it will strive for building the MEL capacity of local communities and grassroots organizations, to be more capable of assessing the progress of their own development path with simple and locally relevant tools.   This RFI seeks information on the availability of local and other eligible entities (defined below) with proven capabilities to provide support for this two-pronged MEL strategy.    For the purpose of the Local Works program, a &#8220;local entity&#8221; includes but is not limited to individuals, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and private sector organizations that:   Are legally organized under the laws of Paraguay;  Have as its principal place of business or operations in Paraguay; Are majority owned by individuals who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of Paraguay; and Are managed by a governing body the majority of who are citizens or lawful permanent residents of Paraguay.   Per the Local Works legislation, eligible entities must not have received more than $5 million (USD) from USAID in the past five years. USAID/Paraguay encourages submissions from local and regional individuals and organizations with experience working in Paraguay that possess any of the MEL capabilities listed below. Individuals and organizations do not need to have all the capabilities and experience listed below to respond. Individuals and organizations may also consider submitting as a consortium.  USAID seeks information on individuals&#8217; and organizations&#8217; capabilities to:  Conduct performance monitoring: a. Experience with conducting performance monitoring of development programs. USAID defines performance monitoring as monitoring of changes in performance indicators, which reveals whether desired results are occurring and whether implementation is on track. Performance monitoring tasks may include, but are not limited to conducting data quality assessments to determine the data&#8217;s validity, reliability, timeliness of collection, precision, and integrity; b. Ability to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data; and c. Ability to produce regular reports to share findings and conclusions for learning and adapting purposes. Conduct performance or impact evaluations through innovative tools: a. Experience in conducting evaluations of development programs; b. Experience in undertaking structured experimentation based on behavioral science; c. Ability in applying a developmental evaluation (DE) or other approach that also supports innovative, complex programming and focuses on learning; and d. Ability to produce regular reports to share findings and conclusions for learning and adapting purposes. Provide capacity development and training on basic MEL: a. Experience with developing performance monitoring, evaluation and/or learning capacities through mentoring, coaching, training or other approaches, b. Ability to adapt MEL concepts to simple language and using locally-relevant tools, c. Ability to train local communities and grassroots organizations in basic MEL as a learning tool, and d. Ability to accompany such organizations in the use of MEL tools to learn and assess the progress of their own capacity development plans.    Requested content: Please provide the following information in a maximum of three pages in Times New Roman font size 12 in spanish:   General Institutional Information  Organization/individual name/board members full names and corresponding position titles, physical address, and contact information (phone, email).  Number of full and part time staff members, and consultants.  Overview of your mission, technical expertise, language capabilities, and current services and programs.  Areas of geographic presence and focus in Paraguay. This can include where you have an office, as well as where you have experience working. How you heard about this RFI.    Experience and Expertise   Please provide the following information, as it applies to your organizational or individual experience and expertise. Feel free to omit information that does not apply to your experience or capabilities.   Overview of your capabilities in any/all of the areas specified in this RFI. Recent projects, results, and publicly available products in any/all of the capability areas listed above, noting the location of performance, funding sources, program focus, and total amount. Relevant specialized education and training in any/all of the capability areas. Experience training others in any/all of the capability areas. Professional references from those who have overseen your work in any/all of the capability areas.  Oral fluency in Spanish, English and Guarani languages; written fluency is highly desired.  Capacity to support travel, transportation, accommodation in Eastern and Northern Paraguay to undertake activities listed above, following local mobility restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic. Capacity and experience in undertaking remote/virtual MEL activities.   Submission Instructions:  Please send submissions in spanish to paraguayoaa@usaid.gov by November 30, 2020 at 5:00 pm Paraguay time. Please include the following on the email subject line: Subject: Local Works RFI 72052620RFI00001 &#8211; Name of Organization or Individual.   Interested individuals and parties should submit only one response by email as the prime submitter, but may join other organizations&#8217; submissions as sub-partners.  Conflict of Interest:  Responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization or individual in any potential, subsequent procurement and will not lead to an organizational conflict of interest. Responses will be held strictly confidential.  Disclaimer Notice:  This is not a solicitation. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes&#8212;it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP)/Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) or a promise to issue an RFP/NOFO in the future.   Interest will be treated as information only. Responses to this RFI are not official proposals and in no way will be deemed to form any binding agreement with the U.S. Government and will not be construed as a commitment by the U.S. Government to issue a solicitation or pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. Organizations responding to this request are solely responsible for bearing all expenses associated with the preparation and submission of the responses to the RFI. It is the respondent&#8217;s responsibility to monitor https://beta.sam.gov/ or www.grants.gov for the release of any further information. Note that responding to this RFI will not give any advantage to any organization in any subsequent procurement. All responses to this request should be submitted to paraguayoaa@usaid.gov. No telephone calls will be accepted, and neither will responses to questions be provided regarding this notice.     

Request for Information - Individuals and organizations with capabilities in conducting performance monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL), and MEL capacity development in grassroots organizations.

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