The American International Health Alliance (AIHA) Announces a Call for Expressions of Interest for a Partnership to Develop a Medical Technology Program at the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN)
(for this announcement in PDF format, click here)
Date Issued: July 30, 2007
Closing Date and Time: August 31, 2007 5:00 PM (EST)
The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is Friday, August 31, 2007 5:00 PM (EST).
AIHA is pleased to announce a request for expressions of interest in support of establishing a new volunteer-based partnership between the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) in Windhoek, Namibia and a similar educational institution with expertise and experience in offering training in medical technology. Interested partners should be willing to devote substantial in-kind resources, mainly in the form of human resources committed on a volunteer basis, for an approximately one-year partnership in Namibia with the possibility, subject to funding, of an additional two- to three-year extension period.
I. Background
A. AIHA
The mission of the American International Health Alliance is to advance global health through volunteer-driven partnerships that mobilize communities to better address healthcare priorities while improving productivity and quality of care. Operating under a series of cooperative agreements, grants, and contracts with HRSA, USAID and other donors, AIHA establishes and manages partnerships between healthcare institutions in the United States and their counterparts overseas. AIHA also sponsors a number of supportive and collaborative activities, including inter-partnership conferences and workshops, and an online clearinghouse of healthcare information.
AIHA, through a Cooperative Agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has established an “HIV/AIDS Twinning Center” (www.twinningagainstaids.org) to support partnership and volunteer activities as part of the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through twinning partnerships, volunteers, and supportive assistance programs, the Twinning Center will contribute significantly to building key human and organizational capacity by: (a) directly training and mentoring care givers, (b) strengthening existing and new training and educational institutions and (c) developing models of care for improved organization and delivery of services for rapid scale-up of interventions to help meet the goals of the President’s Emergency Plan to prevent 7 million new infections, treat 2 million HIV-infected people, and care for 10 million HIV-infected individuals and AIDS orphans.
AIHA will award one partnership. Funds for the grant awarded through this request for expressions of interest are provided by HRSA via the US government team in Namibia to AIHA through a Cooperative Agreement.
B. Partnership Methodology
AIHA Twinning Center partnerships focus on an institution to institution peer relationship. Through sub-grants to successful applicants, AIHA typically provides support for partnership exchange travel, limited procurement and shipping of equipment and supplies, training and educational materials, partnership communication and coordination costs, participation in workshops and conferences, and other activities as specified in partnership work plans. AIHA staff in Washington, DC and regional offices provides technical and logistical support and assists in monitoring the progress of partnerships.
In addition to the partners themselves, AIHA also plays an active role as a “partner,” providing key support services as well as participating in partnership performance monitoring and evaluation. AIHA enables partners to maximize human and material resources by identifying and securing additional voluntary services from AIHA’s own strategic partners and providing a framework for collaboration within a larger international and policy context.
II. Partnership Strategy and Description
A. Goal and Objectives
The overall goal of the proposed partnership between the Polytechnic of Namibia (PoN) and a peer institution is to develop a medical technology program at the PoN. Over an initial period of approximately one year (with the potential, based on performance and subject to funding, of an additional two to three years), AIHA will support a partnership to strengthen the PoN. Through participation in the partnership, the PoN will work toward the development of a four-year degree program in medical technology. PoN teaching faculty will develop the expertise and teaching skills to be more effective instructors in the medical technology program to be established.
The partnership will contribute to HIV prevention, care and treatment objectives of the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and be integrated into Namibian and US government activities in Namibia. The following objectives have been preliminarily identified for this partnership. More targeted and measurable objectives and indicators will be developed jointly by the partners, with Namibian and US government input, during the initial months of the partnership, consistent with AIHA’s partnership methodology which emphasizes a highly participatory approach to work plan development:
Objective #1: To participate in the development of a nationally accepted and fully accredited curriculum for the medical technology program to be established at the PoN.
Objective #2: To participate in the development of a facilitator manual for the medical technology program, to be utilized by the teaching faculty at the PoN.
Objective #3: To assist in the training of the teaching faculty at the PoN on the newly developed curriculum for the medical technology program and on the effective use of the facilitator manual.
Objective #4: To mentor teaching faculty at the PoN to develop their expertise in the field of medical technology and to introduce new teaching methods and competencies.
Objective #5: To develop the organizational capacity of the PoN to more effectively administer and expand the medical technology program to be established.
B. Partnership Site
The partnership site will be located at the PoN’s campus in Windhoek, Namibia. Namibia is a politically stable, English-speaking country with relatively well-developed health and other infrastructure. The PoN offers full-time, part-time, distance education, and extra-curricular courses. Approximately 8000 students are currently enrolled at the PoN, which employs around 550 staff. The medium of instruction is English. Three dormitories on campus provide a bed-capacity of 429 to both male and female full-time students. The PoN has Schools of Business and Management; Communication, Legal and Secretarial Studies; Engineering; Information Technology; Natural Resources and Tourism; and Allied Health Sciences.
C. Collaboration and Coordination
AIHA seeks to ensure its partnerships and programs maximize effective use of resources and avoid duplication of efforts. Therefore, AIHA and its partners work to identify and develop synergies among related programs in a country. Such collaboration and coordination also facilitate the sustainability of partnership accomplishments. In Namibia, the partnership is expected to collaborate with all relevant GRN- and PEPFAR-funded health sector programs. The partnership work plan, developed in consultation with stakeholders, will pay special attention to the role and contribution of other US government partners as well as other foreign-sourced development activities, such as activities supported by the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria. In turn, the partnership’s outputs and outcomes will be shared with the appropriate officials within the GRN and US government, as well as other in-country partners.
D. Monitoring and Evaluation
Partners are expected to participate actively in program performance monitoring and evaluation (M&E) efforts, including developing measurable partnership objectives and output/outcome indicators, collecting data, designing surveys or other assessment tools, and reporting to AIHA. Partnership M&E activities will be responsive to national indicator targets and consistent with AIHA’s overall program M&E strategy (AIHA will provide the necessary orientation and training to partners). M&E activities will provide timely feedback about program performance and partnership progress and accomplishments (including established indicators), ensure optimum use of available resources and improve programmatic decision-making, and strengthen the capacity of the PoN to conduct monitoring and evaluation. AIHA will coordinate closely with Namibian and US governmental agencies on performance monitoring activities to serve stakeholders’ reporting and management needs.
As part of its monitoring activities, AIHA requires all partners to submit quarterly performance reports and progress against established indicators within seven days of the end of each quarter. These reports are used to prepare AIHA’s quarterly reports to the US government team and are critical to monitoring partnership progress. The reports include information on progress towards achieving established targets and objectives, status of activities and outputs, and a discussion of any obstacles or constraints affecting the project during the reporting period along with plans to address these.
Finally, partners will participate in a final program review and assessment towards the end of the funding period. Conducted jointly with local partners, this review will examine results accomplished during the life of the project, lessons learned, and future needs. The report will be submitted by AIHA to the GRN and US government teams within 90 days after the end of the contract.
E. Program Funding
The amount of funds to be awarded to this partnership is expected to total approximately $160,000 for the initial 12-month-period. Award of a partnership will be made once the AIHA selection process is complete and AIHA receives concurrence from the PoN and the CDC in-country team. Funds are disbursed in incremental amounts based on program progress and adherence to reporting requirements. The award can be renewed annually, based on partnership performance and funding availability.
The award to the lead partner institution is typically used to fund partnership program and exchange travel-related expenses (including economy class airfare, visas, immunizations, lodging, meals and incidentals per diem, local transportation, and excess baggage fees), limited partner-initiated purchases of equipment and supplies (require separate prior approval), shipping, translations, materials development and other training-related expenses – all of which must correspond with the approved work plan. In addition, AIHA allows for some minimal partnership administration and coordination costs. As this award is funded by the US Government, AIHA utilizes the US government Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) as the basis for determining the reasonableness of proposed costs. The FTR regulation international per diem and lodging rate ceilings may be found at: http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/prdm/.
Award recipients are required to forego indirect/overhead charges, but administrative costs related to coordinating the partnership are allowable. Awards should not be used to cover the salaries of personnel participating in partnership exchanges.
III. Terms of Solicitation
A. Eligibility Criteria
AIHA is seeking expressions of interest from educational institutions that are committed to the goals of this program. Eligible applicants include education institutions with expertise in offering an educational program in medical technology. While profit-making entities are eligible to receive funding under this solicitation, AIHA will not pay any profit or fee under the sub-grant.
B. Requirements and Expectations of the Lead Partner
AIHA is seeking expressions of interest from organizations that have the institutional capacity to meet the goals and objectives of the partnership program as set forth in section II. Expressions of interest are encouraged from institutions that have not traditionally been involved in international development and technical assistance programs. Unlike traditional consultancy approaches, the AIHA partnerships are voluntary, peer-based technical assistance programs, with an emphasis on professional exchanges, voluntary contributions, and leveraging private sector funds. Interested organizations are expected to demonstrate institutional capacity to meet program needs.
The following are key requirements and expectations of partners under the program:
- Interested organizations are required to demonstrate their willingness to undertake the commitments of a partner required under the AIHA partnership model, including significant in-kind contributions, travel to Namibia, hosting Namibian partners, reporting on partnership activities and outcomes, and attending partnership orientations, workshops, and conferences. The lead partner institution is expected to contribute the human resource component of their activities and forego customary institutional indirect charges.
- Interested organizations must agree to adhere to AIHA's objective-setting and results-oriented approach, including AIHA’s quarterly programmatic and monthly financial reporting, accountability procedures and requirements, and participate in program monitoring and evaluations to assess partnership progress and achievements.
- Interested organizations are expected to be flexible and responsive to changing needs of the Namibian partner.
- Interested organizations must agree to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with their Namibian partner and AIHA, which delineates specific objectives and responsibilities of signatories to the MOU.
- Interested organizations must be willing to share information openly and participate fully in AIHA's efforts to exchange information with other partnerships through the AIHA Web site and through dissemination conferences and seminars.
- Interested organizations must be willing to brief and debrief with the GRN and US government teams in Namibia, the Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services, and others as needed.
- The selected organization will be required to participate in a series of post-award preparatory activities, including AIHA orientation, initial visit to Namibia to conduct an assessment, and development of a partnership workplan.
- The selected partner organization is expected to work with its Namibian counterpart as equals and peers, jointly developing partnership work plans and implementing programs.
- The selected partner institution is required to designate a Partnership Coordinator whose role is to oversee the programmatic and administrative activities in support of the partnership and to serve as the point person in relations with AIHA. Partnership Coordinators are typically existing employees of the partner institution and serve in the position on a voluntary basis. AIHA provides partners with a detailed description of the Partnership Coordinator role and responsibilities which include:
- overseeing and guiding development of partnership work plans
- identifying and recruiting volunteers to participate in the partnership
- coordinating partnership exchanges, trainings and other activities
- monitoring progress of the partnership against stated objectives and tracking appropriate indicators
- submitting progress reports and other required paperwork to AIHA and managing partnership budgets
C. Role of AIHA
- AIHA will provide support and guidance to partners for work plan development, ensure effective work plan implementation, facilitate administrative functions, provide active support in problem solving, and identify and maximize synergies with other AIHA partnerships and programs worldwide.
- AIHA will maintain communications with the US government team in Namibia and involve the partners as needed.
- AIHA will ensure coordination at the governmental level and will establish a working relationship with key representatives of departments of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, as well as other relevant government entities and key stakeholders.
- AIHA will participate in planned site visits and will accompany partners during the first partnership exchanges.
- AIHA makes available centralized travel services, should the partners choose to use these services. During the start-up phase, prior to finalization of a sub-grant agreement, AIHA can assist in making all necessary travel arrangements. After that time, the partners may opt to make their own air travel arrangements funded under the partnership sub-grants.
- AIHA and its auditors will assess the lead partner organization’s financial management practices, based on a Risk Assessment Form to be completed by the lead partner. This risk assessment will determine the organization’s risk level from 1-4 so that appropriate monitoring and audit procedures can be applied. Depending upon the organization’s overall rank, AIHA will recommend specific steps to adequately monitor the partner and determine appropriate audit requirements.
- AIHA will approve a preliminary budget at the time of award of the partnership grant and approve subsequent annual budgets based on approved partnership work plans. Subsequent changes to the budget must be agreed to in writing by AIHA.
- AIHA will review and approve all partnership work plans. Subsequent changes to the work plan must be agreed to in writing by AIHA.
IV. Expression of Interest Process
A. Expression of Interest format
Expressions of interest should be submitted in the form of a letter no longer than five (5) pages in length which includes the following:
1. Cover Sheet: Indicate title of the project, and contact information (name, title, address, telephone, fax number, and e-mail, plus name and title of primary contact person) of lead institution, including specific department/division as appropriate. (Not included in limit of five pages.)
2. Description of Institutional and Personnel Capacity:
Institutional Capacity and Past Performance: Provide a brief description, including legal or registration status, of the institution(s) to be involved in the partnership. Describe how the strengths of the institution(s) match up with the priority needs of the program and identified needs of the Namibian partners. Describe applicant’s previous activities and concrete results that are pertinent to the proposed partnership.
Personnel Capability and Experience: This section should cover both partnership management and technical resource capabilities. Information on key personnel, including for each key person a short description of experience and capacity relevant to the project description, and indication of level of effort each will dedicate to the proposed activities and the roles and responsibilities of each. Clearly identify the proposed Partnership Coordinator and describe his/her program management skills.
3. Description of Qualifications and Experience: Based on information contained in this request for expressions of interest, the applicant is asked to describe both technical resources available to meet the program goals outlined above and possible approaches to addressing the key program areas. The applicant should propose approaches to the following components and related institutional experience and capacity (please refer to section II):
- To develop a nationally accepted and fully accredited curriculum for the medical technology program to be established at the PoN.
- To develop a facilitator manual for the medical technology program, to be utilized by the teaching faculty at the PoN.
- To train the teaching faculty at the PoN on the newly developed curriculum for the medical technology program and on the effective use of the facilitator manual.
- To train and mentor teaching faculty at the PoN to develop their expertise in the field of medical technology and to introduce new teaching methods and competencies.
- To develop the organizational capacity of the PoN to more effectively administer and expand the medical technology program to be established.
B. Guidance and Support for Interested Organizations
Interested organizations may obtain additional information and guidance in the following ways:
AIHA’s Web site at http://www.aiha.com contains information about AIHA, its partnership philosophy, institutional structure, and past experience in facilitating partnerships. The Twinning Center website can be found at http://www.twinningagainstaids.org/.
AIHA will accept questions and provide responses concerning this request for expressions of interest via e-mail. Please send questions to NAMSOLICIT@aiha.com or via fax at (202) 789-1277, Attention: Namibia Medical Technology Expression of Interest.
C. Submitting an Expression of Interest
Electronic Submission:
Expressions of interest may be submitted electronically as a Microsoft Word attachment to NAMSOLICIT@aiha.com. We recommend that applicants include a received/read receipt to the email. Expressions of interest also may be submitted by mail service as outlined below.
Hard Copy Submission
Applicants may submit one (1) hard copy of the proposal and/or (1) copy on diskette or CD-ROM in MS Word format. These should be submitted to the address below.
American International Health Alliance
1250 Eye Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Attn: Namibia Medical Technology Expression of Interest
Telephone: (202) 789-1136
Fax: (202) 789-1277
Applicants should retain for their records one copy of any and all concept papers, attachments, and other submissions to AIHA.
The deadline for submitting expressions of interest is Wednesday, August 31, 2007, 5:00 PM (EST).
D. Disclaimer
Expressions of interest are submitted at the risk of the applicant. Issuance of this request for expressions of interest does not constitute an award commitment on the part of AIHA, nor does it commit AIHA to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of expressions of interest. AIHA reserves the right to reject any or all expressions of interest received. Award of the grants contemplated by this request for expressions of interest cannot be made until funds have been appropriated, allocated, and committed to AIHA. Continued funding for all projects throughout their duration will be dependent upon the grantee's performance and availability of funds from HRSA. While AIHA anticipates that these procedures will be successfully completed, interested organizations are hereby notified of these requirements and conditions for the award.
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