April 23, 2008 Subject: Pre-solicitation Notice to the Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure Program RFA No. 294-2008-011 Dear prospective recipients: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the West Bank and Gaza intends to issue a Request for Applications (RFA), to implement the program described below. The scope of this solicitation is to obtain the services of U.S. Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Public International Organizations (PIOs) to implement a program that addresses the following problems in the water, sanitation and other infrastructure sectors in the West Bank and Gaza: (1) critical shortage of material required to repair, upgrade, and expand water and sanitation distribution systems; (2) high drinking water losses; (3) inadequate sanitation systems and inadequate sewage distribution systems; and (4) inadequate infrastructure and service delivery that inhibit economic growth in other development sectors. The objective of the Emergency Water and Sanitation and Other Infrastructure program is to provide rapid response and emergency relief primarily in the water and sanitation sectors, and in other sectors as needed, to address the basic infrastructure needs of the Palestinian people. The program will rehabilitate, expand and upgrade water and sewage systems and will deliver potable water to needy communities. This includes installation of new pipes to carry potable water or sewage, and repair of water and sewer line breaks and small pumping systems. The program will support high priority activities in water conservation and community sanitation and will allow the USAID West Bank/Gaza Mission to quickly intervene in order to respond to emergency and humanitarian needs. The program will target the construction of infrastructure requested by USAID programs in support of the implementation of activities designed to promote democracy, functioning health systems, improved human capacity, economic recovery and growth, and other necessary infrastructure. USAID will support activities that address water and sanitation emergency needs and that promote a variety of development initiatives. In particular, this program will support qualified organizations that can mobilize quickly to address community-level needs by supporting village water and sanitation systems, improved physical infrastructure, such as health, education, and other public facilities. U.S. Agency for International Development American Embassy 71, Hayarkon St. Tel Aviv 63903 The Recipients technical approach toward achieving these objectives will require the explicit abilities to implement water and sanitation activities in addition to other infrastructure activities under difficult operating conditions with a clear ability to cope with changing conditions, political uncertainty and working in conflict zones. Given these requirements, the formation of partnership between the Recipient and organizations with construction expertise (e.g. commercial construction firms) would establish a mechanism that could be mobilized quickly to respond to emergencies. It is recommended that the program be implemented through a partnership of technical parties with diverse experience. The solicitation will be posted on the Grants.Gov web page (http:// www.grants.gov/). Availability of the solicitation is limited to this electronic medium only. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation to ensure that it has been received in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data error resulting from this transmission. Requests for other copies of the solicitation will be disregarded without notice to the requestor. Questions must be directed to Ms. Hourig DelDelian, Sr. Contract Specialist, U.S. Agency for International Development, email:
[email protected] , fax no. (972-3-511-4893). USAID/West Bank and Gaza anticipates issuing the RFA o/a April 29, 2008. Sincerely, /S/ Ron Breen Agreement Officer USAID West Bank/Gaza