USAID SEGIR Macroeconomic II IQC: Section C—
Contract Description/Specifications/Statement of Work

C.1. Overview

USAID's goal is to help countries achieve broad-based economic growth on a sustainable basis. This is because broad-based, equitable economic growth is the most effective means of bringing poor, disadvantaged, and marginalized groups into the mainstream on a sustainable basis and reducing poverty. Key to achieving broad-based equitable economic growth are the following factors: (1) human capacity continuously expanded and renewed by education and training; (2) a policy environment that promotes efficiency and economic opportunity for all members of society; (3) soundly organized and managed institutions; and (4) good governance. The result of their joint operation is widespread increases in country's income, higher wage employment and output, leading to reduced poverty, increased food security and higher standards of living including better health and education. For transitional countries, broad-based economic growth offers the best chance to for them to enhance political stability as they transform their economies in to market- and private enterprise based ones.

USAID's goal of broad-based economic growth focuses on three objectives: (1) expansion and strengthening of critical private markets; (2) enhanced agricultural development and food security; and (3) expanded access to economic opportunity for the rural and urban poor.

Within this overall context, the Agency's Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture & Trade (EGAT) is dedicated to promoting prosperity and reducing poverty in developing and transition countries. EGAT's goals are to raise incomes, end hunger, protect the environment, and equip institutions and people with the knowledge and skills to build equitable and sustainable economies and societies. One important mechanism for achieving these goals is the Support for Economic Growth and Institutional Reform (SEGIR) project. SEGIR, an efficient and effective multi-tasking delivery mechanism for encouraging economic growth, was established in 1995.

The SEGIR project operates by means of five sets of multiple year Indefinite Quantity Contracts (IQCs) that enable the Agency to combine direct-hire and contracted resources to provide technical and Mission Services in its 5 component areas. SEGIR encompasses mutually reinforcing research and technical support activities that can realize economies of scale and greater efficiency in responding to technical needs within USAID, particularly in the field.

The five original SEGIR IQC's are approaching their expiration dates. To continue and build on the work accomplished under them, USAID is competing a series of follow-on IQC's.

The five SEGIR IQC component areas are the following:

1. Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Alleviation and Economic Institutions and Analysis;
   
2. Privatization;
   
3. Financial Services;
   
4. General Business Development and Trade and Investment; and
   
5. Legal and Institutional Reform.

C.2. The SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy I IQC

SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy I task orders have been issued for work in a broad range of countries and administrative areas, including the following: Afghanistan, Bosnia, Egypt, Georgia, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Ukraine.

A number of A.I.D. Bureaus have also used the SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy IQC. These Bureaus include, the Bureau for Africa (AFR), the Bureau for Asia and the Near East (ANE), The Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade (EGAT), and the Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination (PPC).

Technical areas(subject areas) in which work was done under the SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy IQC included: fiscal reform, tax administration in El Salvador, Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, India, Guatemala; budgetary policy and management in Nigeria, El Salvador; poverty-reduction and related in Jordan, Zambia, Senegal, and for PPC, EGAT, monetary reform in Bosnia and Afghanistan, economics training in Russia, think tank networking in Russia, environmental economics for ANE, regional economic integration in West Africa.

The distribution of demand among subject categories for services for SEGIR Macro II is anticipated to be much the same as that for SEGIR although past experience does not guarantee that this will be the case and Offerors should be prepared, by appropriate choice of proposed contractors, to meet demand in any of the categories.

Task orders by topic under SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy I by percentage share of total dollar value of task orders and by percentage share of total number of task orders.

SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy I Task Orders

C.3. The SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy II IQC

USAID has several overlapping objectives in establishing the SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Alleviation and Economic Institutions and Analysis II (The Macroeconomic Policy II IQC) IQC.

1. USAID's primary objective is in establishing this follow-on IQC is to empower missions to engage in economic policy and institutions reform projects by enabling them to procure short- and long-term services through a structured and easy-to-use procurement system.
   
2. The Macroeconomic Policy II IQC seeks to build upon the work completed under the original SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy IQC, Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Alleviation and Economic Institutions and Analysis I, accumulating the intellectual and technical resources necessary to better understand, and thereby help overcome, economic policy and institutional constraints to economic growth experienced by developing countries.
   
3. With this follow-on SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy IQC, as with its predecessor IQC, USAID hopes to achieve economies of scale in its response to the technical assistance demands of developing countries (as communicated through USAID missions worldwide).
   
4. Finally, USAID seeks to advance state-of-the-art practice within the international donor community by making contributions to development theory. As the knowledge management function is a core component of the Macroeconomic Policy II IQC, each successful offeror will be making a long term commitment to cooperating with USAID and other Macroeconomic Policy II IQC contractors to advancing development theory and practice, as detailed more clearly below.

Technical Leadership

Technical leadership focuses on strategies to alleviate poverty, to graduate key transitional countries from aid to trade, to promote open and competitive markets, to combine macroeconomic stability with rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, and to develop private funding sources for development assistance.

Technical leadership is an ideal that will be realized only if SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy II IQC contractors work together with each other and with USAID as collaborative partners. This involves honest scrutiny of both successes and failures in the provision of technical assistance. At a minimum, this means that each Contractor will be expected to make important contributions to knowledge management. This will take the form of making documents and deliverables available for posting on websites, participating at regular meetings and briefings initiated by USAID, and independently developing better ways of administering Macroeconomic Policy II activities.

Mission Services

The SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy IQC will fulfill its Mission Services mandate by developing and maintaining a competitively determined roster of eligible firms and subcontractors. Macroeconomic Policy II IQC contractors will be expected to provide a full range of services in such areas as macroeconomic policy, tax and budget policy and management, public finance, money and banking, central banking, regulatory policy, poverty analysis, trade and exchange rate policy, economics training, institutional reform and strengthening, sector analysis and policy, and environmental economics. Such services are not to be limited to USAID Missions abroad; they are also to be provided to USAID/W bureaus.

C.3.1 SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy II IQC

This second-generation set of 5-year Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Alleviation, and Economic Institutions and Analysis IQCs is designed to replace the first-generation one, which was launched in the summer of 2000 to replace the Consulting Assistance for Economic Reform (CAER) tasking mechanism and other economics IQC instruments of the 1990's.

USAID Missions' demand for macro economic and sector policy economic advisory, implementation and training services and related commodity procurements and grant administration tasks accessed through the SEGIR mechanism derives from a continuing and wide-spread need by developing and transition countries for high quality technical advisory and training services in the economic policy and economics institutions building/reform area. Better understanding of macro and sector economic analysis, policy and institutions is needed in these countries to provide policy environments and strategies favorable to sustainable broad-based economic growth. While overall macroeconomic policy environments in many countries have improved in recent years, in most cases much still remains to be done to improve economic policies and institutions to achieve sustainable rapid economic growth and reductions in poverty.

Certainly, in recent years openness of trade regimes has continued to increase, along with understanding of the benefits of increased participation in the global economy, and recognition of the disadvantages of protectionism. Receptivity to and support for market-and private sector based solutions are more widespread in part because of the impression made worldwide by Soviet Union successor states' and East European countries' abandonment of the central planning model a decade ago. But issues of the pace, timing and sequence of reforms of policies and economic institutions have remained largely unresolved and often controversial. Economic crises in a wide range of economies have highlighted the importance of sound macroeconomic and sector policies--manageable fiscal deficits, realistic and flexible exchange rates, and efficient, well-regulated financial sectors.

Without a firm macroeconomic level policy footing and well-thought out sector policies, countries can neither hope to attract nor to get allocated efficiently the private sector capital they need to sustain accelerated long-term economic growth. In today's world, economic policy, institutions, and government's role in providing the prerequisites for the market economy to function well to produce equitable sustainable economic growth are a central concern for countries pursuing pro-poor sustainable economic growth. How to help such countries bring about the improvements they need in their economic policies, institutions, and analytical capabilities is of concern to development institutions such as USAID that seek to support them effectively in this endeavor.

The past few years' experience with economic policy reforms and institutions affords new insights into the economic policy, institutional and analytical capacity needs of developing and transition countries and development organizations. The severe financial crisis experienced by East Asia's highly open economies in the late 1990's has been interpreted as following governments' over-involvement and control in the credit allocation process. But the crisis has also been seen as signaling the need for establishing sound and strong regulatory frameworks to assure good governance and prudential behavior of such institutions and their clients. Prior to the financial markets surprises of 1997, it had seemed for some reason not to matter that financial institutions might be not well regulated nor prudential norms not well established and clearly observed. As a result of the crisis, a much greater amount of attention, it was quickly concluded, to how a country's economic institutions functioned was in order—at least East Asia—and presumably elsewhere—than conventional wisdom had previously had thought necessary.

Tax systems and trade regimes are areas of concern throughout the developing world. A sustainable and efficient basis for public sector acquisition of resources to support the provision of needed public goods is sadly lacking in many places. Revenue shortfalls compromise the governance process, tend to undermine monetary discipline and pull (or crowd, if one likes to put it that way) resources out of the private sector. Ineffectual fiscal systems slow the modernization of the state, preclude effective social safety nets, and inhibit political willingness to accept market discipline, and encourage anti-market policies. Improved export performance is widely seen as the principal means of speeding up economic growth in most developing countries, and, therefore, a reason for them to demand better access to developed country markets for their goods and services, but many of these countries continue to be characterized by import restrictions, export subsidies, exchange rate problems, and unfair competitive practices.

Overall, in spite of problems of adjustment to policy changes, developing countries are showing increasing acceptance of the superiority of basic free market policies complemented by a clearly defined and effective regulatory framework and sound macroeconomic and sector policies and institutions. Nevertheless, macroeconomic and sector management problems continue to loom as major impediments to sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction in countries throughout the world. Thus the need for solid policy analysis and related technical assistance remains strong in USAID program countries.

C.3.1.(a) Objectives

The Macroeconomic component addresses the SEGIR objectives as they relate to macroeconomic and sector policies. This refers to the complex of government strategies, objectives, and actions intended to affect aggregate or sector economic variables. Macroeconomic and sector policies encompass (non-exclusively) the areas of:

1. Money and banking policy, including the operations of the central bank and any other monetary authorities.
   
2. Fiscal policy, including all aspects of public revenue generation and expenditure; and encompassing planning, budgeting, and fiscal operations at national and subnational levels.
   
3. The trade/exchange rate policy, including tariffs, non-tariff barriers to trade, capital transfers, anti-dumping/countervailing duties, foreign debt, free trade areas, customs unions, World Trade Organization accession, and trade openness.
   


4. National income accounting, measurement and analysis of aggregate economic data, and national development strategy and macro- level economic planning.
   
5. Policy-related studies of key economic sectors--including policy and regulatory frameworks, key pricing and investment issues, planning and analysis. Labor, energy, telecommunications, transportation and other key sectors are of particular concern owing to their importance to aggregate economic performance. Economic aspects of environmental policies are also included.
   
6. Analysis and recommendations on poverty, income distribution, regional disparities, safety nets, and equity concerns, and their relation to macroeconomic and/or sector policy/ies, aggregate economic performance, and design and implementation of pro-poor economic growth strategies.
   
7. Other areas of economics are also relevant, at the aggregate or sector level to the extent that they affect employment, productivity, production, consumption, savings, and living standards.

The objective of this contract is to provide USAID entities and host government counterpart organizations with the ability to task leading thinkers, practitioners, and research organizations across the full range of macroeconomic and sector policy issues.

Macroeconomic and other economic expertise under this contract will:

1. Position USAID to provide sound developmental policy advice and take a leadership role in fostering a better understanding of macroeconomic and sector policy issues.
   
2. Support USAID efforts to assist host countries in the design and implementation of economic and structural reform programs, and the elements of such programs.

C.3.1.(b) SEGIR Macroeconomic Outputs

SEGIR goals will include these outputs:

1. Core research on priority technical, policy and strategic issues, and applied research to meet specific, contextually defined requirements of countries, regions or sub-regions.
   
2. Information dissemination through seminars, workshops, conferences, and working papers, and other means;
   
3. Customized strategic and tactical development approaches;
   
4. Technical advice and implementation support to USAID regional bureaus, field missions, and host country officials on all aspects of relevant macroeconomic and sector policies;
   
5. Training of USAID and host-country decision-makers and technical personnel in the design and implementation of economic policy and institutional reforms; and,
   
6. Long-term, in-country coordination and management of field activities under the SEGIR mechanism.

C.4 Statement of Work (SOW)

Primary Tasks:

Contractor duties shall include, but not be limited to, the provision of technical and advisory services, training, research, and other services to USAID missions and offices, and their clients, through the execution of performance-based (as defined in section C.6, "Standards of Performance" of this contract) task orders. The Contractor shall:

• cooperate and coordinate with on-going Mission and Bureau activities on macroeconomic policy and related reforms in host countries as well as those on a global or regional basis;
  
• assure that the expertise assigned is appropriate to the needs of the task order and that the contract resources are used in a cost-effective manner;
  
• work closely with key Government, private sector, non-government and private voluntary organizations, and financing institutions, and utilize local expertise as appropriate;
  
• work closely with representatives of development assistance institutions to harmonize policies they are pursuing in allocating and coordinating assistance; and
  
• cooperate with and coordinate activities, under guidance of the IQC Cognizant Technical Officer (otherwise referred to as IQC Component CTO), or the IQC CTO's designee with emerging USAID global initiatives as they are defined. (Note: See Section G of this Solicitation for distinction between Contracting Officer (CO) & Cognizant Technical Officer (CTO).

The Contractor shall provide technical and advisory services, training and/or research services in the activity areas listed in C.3, as specified in each Task Order.

Knowledge Management

SEGIR IQC Contractors are reminded that the U.S. Government retains rights in data produced and/or delivered under this Contract. See FAR 52.227-14, Rights in data—general.

USAID desires to advance technical leadership in each of the relevant SEGIR component specialty fields. Therefore, it is imperative that SEGIR IQC Contractors cooperate with one another and with USAID by sharing the knowledge and know-how created through task orders.

The promotion of knowledge management will be enabled through mechanisms more fully described in Section F. These mechanisms consist of Reporting Requirements (Section F.7); creation of websites for technical leadership (Section F.7); submission of Development Experience Documentation to CDIE (See Section F.8); and participation in Quarterly and Annual Review Meetings (Section F.9).

Mission Services

1. Provide technical and advisory services, training, or research services in the activity areas listed in C.3, as specified in each Task Order.
   
2. Work closely with representatives of development assistance institutions to harmonize policies they are pursuing in allocating and coordinating assistance.
   
3. Partner and/or sub-contract with local resource organizations on an as needed basis (governmental, NGOs and private companies). Develop local capacity for administering and implementing changes in the legal and institutional framework.
   
4. Work closely with key government, private sector, non-government, and private voluntary organizations, and utilize local expertise, as appropriate.

Technical Services

1. Institutional Development through Small Grants Management. The Contractor should have the administrative ability to make grants available for institutional capacity building. Such grants would generally be limited to administrative and start-up costs; participating organizations would be expected to provide a portion of their costs from their own resources. In this regard, the Contractor may be required to execute and/or administer grants under awarded task orders.
   
2. Administration of Grant and Loan Programs. Many Missions have requested contractor assistance in the many tasks of setting up and operating USAID-funded grant and loan problems. The previous SEGIR/Macroeconomic Policy IQC had this capability and it will be continued under the SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy II IQC. The Contractor may be called upon to furnish technical assistance to administer USAID funded grant and loan programs.
   
3. Grant and Loan Capitalization Funds through the SEGIR/Macroeconomic Policy II Contract.
   
4. Going beyond the administration of grant and loan programs, Missions and Bureaus have increasingly requested to use the SEGIR mechanism to obligate funds to the Contract to serve to capitalize USAID loan and grant programs. There was no provision for such a capitalization fund under the former SEGIR/Macroeconomic Policy IQC. SEGIR Macroeconomic Policy II will allow the obligation of capital funds under the Contract for loan and grant programs.
   
5. Sub-contracting Ability with Local Resource Organizations.

Increasingly, Missions and Bureaus have requested that SEGIR/MACRO Contractors be able to provide support to and to assist institutional partners in the field to achieve certain strategic objectives. Examples of these local institutional partners might include bar associations, professional and business associations, local consultancies, non-governmental organizations and other organizations. SEGIR/MACRO Contractors will have the capacity to sub-contract and partner with these local organizations as required.

C.5. Description of Technical Services

C.5.(a) Technical Areas

The Contractor must have the capacity to provide research, technical assistance, and/or training in the areas discussed below to USAID's pillar bureaus, USAID field missions, Africa (AFR), Europe and the Eurasia (E&E), Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Asia and the Near East (ANE ) Regional Bureaus, other operating units, and host country institutions (public sector, NGO, and private sector).

1. MONETARY POLICY, BANKING AND CENTRAL BANK OPERATIONS. This includes credit and interest rate issues, measurement and control of key monetary aggregates; structure of the banking system and its regulatory framework; structure and operation of the payments system, and capital market development, structure; and operations including international financial flows.
   
2. FISCAL POLICY. This includes all aspects of public finance and expenditure; e.g., tax policy and administration at all governmental levels; budget and revenue policy, fiscal and debt management, and operations at all governmental levels; subsidies; tax/revenue forecasting and projections; intergovernmental fiscal relations; public expenditure reviews and training in all of the above.
   
3. TRADE AND EXCHANGE RATE POLICY. This includes analysis, recommendations and training with respect to all policy aspects of trade and exchange rate regimes:
   • tariff policy and schedules,
   • non-tariff barriers
   • exchange rate policy
   • balance of payments projections and forecasting
   • capital transfers, and international borrowing
   • trade trends and WTO related matters
   • customs unions, free-trade areas, special preferences regimes,
   • anti-dumping measures, countervailing duties, safeguards
   • openness of the trade regime;
   • export incentive schemes
   • foreign investment, foreign debt, debt service and international financial flows.
     
4. NATIONAL INCOME ACCOUNTING, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT PLANNING, and the collection and analysis of aggregate economic performance data. Included here are:
   • national income accounts
   • measurement of poverty
   • inflation measurement
   • monitoring and evaluation criteria; measures and progress tracking for macroeconomic performance and USAID projects in this field
   • Environmental degradation/depletion adjustment to national accounts
   • modeling at the macroeconomic or sector level
     
5. MACROECONOMIC POLICY COORDINATION / INTEGRATION. The contractor will be expected to provide research and/or technical assistance in all aspects of macroeconomic policy coordination -- e.g., harmonizing fiscal, monetary, and trade policy.
   
6. POVERTY REDUCTION. This includes training, research, and policy advice relating to poverty reduction and design and implementation of pro-poor economic growth strategies.
   
7. LABOR MARKET ANALYSIS AND POLICY. This includes training, research, and policy advice relating to labor force development, labor rights, and the structure and dynamics of the labor market.
   
8. SECTORAL POLICY ANALYSIS. This includes the analysis of key sectors in an economy--focusing on growth potential, policy constraints, reforms, training requirements, etc.
   
9. OTHER MACROECONOMIC OR SECTORAL POLICY AREAS. This is a residual category and includes areas such as USAID strategic planning documents, pension reform, pricing/subsidy policy, regulatory and pricing issues, the economics of environmental policies, economics of energy policies, economic literacy, or other macro or sector issues of particular importance from an economic growth perspective, and identification, recommendation, dissemination and assistance in implementation of sound economic policies in such areas.

ILLUSTRATIVE TASKS include:

• assist USAID field missions and Washington offices in (1) assessing macroeconomic context, (2) designing strategy and programs with respect to that context, (3) preparing policy dialogue documents, (4) educating host government officials and citizenry (5) evaluating macroeconomic performance, programs, and projects.
  
• advise USAID host countries in matters of crisis management of macroeconomic disequilibrium.
  
• analyze macroeconomic or sectoral issues deemed important by USAID staff, and provide new theoretical insight into contemporary macroeconomic or sectoral policy issues.
  
• provide short-term training and orientation programs for developing and transition country decision-makers and their economic technicians.
  
• provide collateral technical assistance in support of IMF, IBRD, or regional development bank reform
  
• programs.

Technical Skill Areas:

C.5.(b) Technical Training

The contractor shall be prepared to provide short-term training in the activity areas set forth above, as may be specified in a particular Task Order. Examples of anticipated training include (but are not limited to):

• small focus groups to deal with particular issues or obstacles encountered as part of technical assistance;
  
• workshops/conferences designed to bring together all interested parties in both host country governments and private sectors to discuss particular issues/ technology;
  
• a focused workshop to advertise the results of a successful project or policy demonstrations to other interested political and technical decision makers for whom the same results may be replicable; and
  
• placement of various participants in in-country or US long or short term training programs and organizing visitation tours to the US and to other developing countries.

C.5.(c) Commodity Procurement

To be responsive to USAID mission needs, especially of those with limited in country presence and resources, and to enhance opportunities for joint ventures between United States and host country private sector entities, USAID's partners in the public and private sectors from time to time will require equipment and other commodities. This could include innovative data management technology for demonstration, and transportation equipment and commodities, computer equipment, etc. Missions may wish to rely on the contractor's capabilities to specify and procure commodities for their in country programs.

Technical assistance and advisory services that may be required include, but are not limited to, the following illustrative examples:

• assess, analyze, and develop specification for commodities required by public and private organizations working with USAID assistance; and
  
• undertake the procurement of approved commodities for USAID partners according to USAID regulations.

[Note: Any request for commodities under this contract must demonstrate a direct relationship to activities, as articulated in the Statement of Work. All commodities are subject to source, origin and nationality requirements.]

C.5.(d) Implementation and Program Management

The Contractor shall provide contract management necessary to fulfill all the requirements of this Contract. This includes cost and quality control of all tasks and assignments undertaken in pursuit of any and all requirements as contracted as well as the following functions:

Project Manager: The Contract shall designate, for USAID approval, a principal point of contact (Project Manager), that USAID may contact for procedural and substantive matters. In addition to the technical leadership role and responsibilities vested in this person responding to Activity CTOs' requests for Task Order proposals, and for responding to Activity CTOs' requests for services under signed Task Orders. The Project Manager will also be responsible for ensuring quality control and the overall responsiveness of technical assistance provided under the Contract. The Project Manager can be substituted but only after the Contractor has received the prior written approval of the USAID/ Washington CTO for the contract and of the Washington CO for the contract for both the substitution and the proposed replacement. The individual can be directly charged to task orders subject to the prior written approval of the IQC CTO (Activity CTO) when not serving in the capacity of Project Manager assuming he/she is proposed and accepted under a labor category for particular technical services under a task order, up to a total of 104 days. The contractor is responsible for assuring that there is always a Project Manager and the costs for that function are therefore included in the loaded rates and multiplier, taking into account the billed labor anticipated for the position (i.e., bidders are not to double calculate the costs of this position.

1. Select, prepare, place and support all technical experts carrying out technical requirements;
   
2. Report to USAID technical and contract personnel in accordance with USAID reporting requirements; and
   
3. Ensure quality and control methods in a consistent and transparent manner for all contracted tasks and functions.
   
4. Project Managers will participate in annual reviews sponsored by USAID with the mandatory participation of all the SEGIR Macro II contractors.

Note: The cost for providing Contract Management shall be incorporated into the fixed daily rate and multipliers set forth in Section B.

C.5.(e) Technical Skill Requirements

Personnel Requirements. As stated previously in Section B, offerors shall furnish expertise with the necessary education and/or relevant experience.

C.6 Partner Institutions

In situations where the contractor requires the assistance of partner institutions to achieve results in a Task Order, a clear delineation shall be made (in the Task Order) as to each partner's duties and responsibilities, including USAID. Partner institution in this context is defined as any organization with a non-contractual relationship with the contractor (other than USAID).

C.7 Standards 0f Performance

USAID's effort to measure meaningful developmental impacts of its activities is on-going. This section defines some of the performance requirements, which the contractor shall be held to, establishes the performance levels or standards and defines how these performance standards will be measured.

C.7.(a) Performance Standards

Measurable performance standards will be established in individual task orders for each of the major activities. These performance standards will be consistent with the performance standards set forth above and with the following general performance standards:

• Technical competence: Performance may be measured by the contractor's effectiveness on the assignment. Effective technical assistance will produce reports that contain actionable recommendations which can/will be successfully implemented by the client organization. Ineffective technical assistance is marked by superficial or theoretical findings and recommendations, which are irrelevant or cannot be implemented.
  
• Ability to assemble/prepare effective expertise: Performance may be measured in several different ways. For example, superior contractor recruitment ability goes beyond a simple review of candidate’s resumes before submission to USAID. Individually, some candidates might appear qualified on paper, but may lack effectiveness in action. Superior recruitment processes shall be based on references and first-hand contacts with the technical expertise proposed. Similarly, in team building, superior contractor performance will be demonstrated by assembling teams which function smoothly in a team effort to accomplish the required task. Superior contractor performance shall take into consideration how each individual will contribute to create positive group chemistry when assembling team efforts. Inferior performance is marked by disruptive team relations, not withstanding the sometimes stellar reputation of individual members on the team.
  
• Contractor responsiveness: Performance may be measured by the contractor's ability to maintain open, direct and responsive communications channels with EGAT/OEG and its clients. Superior contractor performance is marked by a rapid, helpful response to clients without undue delays. Inferior performance may result from a lack of strong communications efforts with EGAT/OEG and its clients.
  
• Client satisfaction with the finished product: Performance may be measured in many ways. Superior contractor performance is distinguished by the high quality of the final deliverable. High quality deliverables should be clear, concise, accurate, well-structured and easily comprehended. Advisory services may be measured by the results from recommendations followed.
  
• Proficiency of the client: Performance may be measured based on the increased ability of the client (USAID Mission and/or host country government) to understand and act on the technical subject matter subsequent to contractor's provision of services.