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PRGI/MyFedAccess
Contract Activity & Project Profiles: Asia - Bangladesh


1.    Acquisitions & Assistance Training Course for Cognizant Technical Officers (CTOs)
2.    Displaced Children & Orphans Fund


Contract Activity:    Acquisitions & Assistance Training Course for Cognizant Technical Officers (CTOs)

Background:    The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) routinely enters into contracts with vendors to acquire a variety of goods and services in support of its development projects and initiatives. When requirements that need to be fulfilled are identified, the requesting Program/Project Office submits its Scope of Work (SOW) to a Contract Officer. In turn, the Contract Officer incorporates the SOW into the resultant Request for Proposals/Quotations (RFP/Q).

To help ensure the agency receives responsive Proposals/Quotations, the SOW and RFP must clearly describe the technical requirements, as well as the rules and regulations that must be followed by all vendors. The next critical step in the Acquisitions & Assistance process is evaluating the Proposals/Quotations that are submitted by prospective vendors. Finally, after a contract is awarded, a Cognizant Technical Officer (CTO)--historically known as the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative--oversees the actual delivery of the goods and/or services that were procured.

Certain procurement policies are subject to change, and there is a constant turnover of Contract Officers and CTOs; hence, ongoing training must be provided in all phases of the Acquisition & Assistance/Procurement process to ensure compliance with the prevailing procurement policies.

Acquisition & Assistance Certification Training Program
Administered to COs & CTOs/COTRs from Over 40 Countries, including Bangladesh

Teaching COs & CTOs/COTRs How to Write a SOW and Evaluate Proposals


Project Profile:    Professional Resource Group International, Inc. (PRGI) was contracted to design a curriculum and training manuals, provide Subject Matter Experts, and Professional Facilitators to assist government procurement personnel in delivering the Acquisition & Assistance training course for Contract and Cognizant Technical Officers from Bangladesh and in other countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America (including the Caribbean Basin), and the Middle East. Case studies, audio-visual materials, small group discussions, and other tools were used to enhance the effectiveness of the overall training presentation.

The course included instructions and guidance on how to write a comprehensive Scope of Work and how to evaluate responses to Request For Proposals/Quotations.


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Contract Activity:    Displaced Children & Orphans Fund


Background:    An estimated 135 million children living in developing countries lack the support and protection of parents or suitable guardians. These most vulnerable children are usually innocent victims of dire social and economic distress, disease, or conflict. The number includes perhaps more than 400,000 unaccompanied refugee or internally displaced children, 200,000 child combatants, more than 100 million street children and 34 million children who have lost one or both parents to disease or other causes.

With support and encouragement from Congress, the U. S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF) began to address the needs of orphans in 1989. Its mission is to strengthen the capacity of families and communities to provide care, support, and protection for orphans, unaccompanied minors, and war-affected children. The fund works through nongovernmental organizations (NGO) in developing countries to develop models and implement programs that provide direct service to children and support local organizations so that work can be sustained beyond the length of the grant.

Displaced Children and Orphans Fund was Active in 25 Countries


1. Afghanistan

  7. Brazil

13. Guatemala

19. Sri Lanka

25. Zambia

2. Angola

  8. Cambodia

14. Kenya

20. Sudan

3. Azerbaijan

  9. Colombia

15. Liberia

21. Tanzania

4. Bangladesh

10. Congo*

16. Mozambique

22. Thailand

5. Belarus

11. Egypt

17. Nepal

23. Uganda

6. Burundi

12. Georgia

18. Philippines

24. Ukraine

____________________
*Democratic Republic of the Congo-Kinshasa


Support programs for displaced children and orphans fall into the following categories:

  • Children Affected by War - With no fewer than 25 civil conflicts being waged at the present time, more than 500,000 children are thought to be unaccompanied or separated from their families. Some 300,000 are thought to actually be fighting in these conflicts.

  • Children Orphaned by AIDS - In just the 23 countries included in USAID's study, Children on the Brink, the number of children orphaned as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic will increase from under 25 million in 1990 to over 41 million in the year 2010.

  • Street Children - An estimated 100 million children work or live on the streets of the developed and developing worlds. They are the innocent victims of family financial distress, and social, economic and political upheaval. Over the past decade, the problem has worsened, leaving a tremendous loss of human potential and a detrimental impact on economic and social development.

  • Children with Disabilities - Stigmatized by cultural values and religious beliefs, they are hidden in back rooms or placed in government institutions, displaced from communities and society. DCOF is supporting community-based approaches to provide care and training in life skills.

Project Title in Bangladesh:    Halt to Human Trafficking--Women and Children, in Particular

Cooperating Agencies in Bangladesh:    Various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Background:    Every year, 800,000-900,000 women and children worldwide are believed to be trafficked and sold for sexual purposes. This trade results in unimaginable mental and physical abuse, loss of human dignity, and violation of countless human rights. It is a modern form of slavery. It violates national and international laws against rape, torture, abduction and murder. The public health consequences of trafficking are significant. Many women and children are put at risk of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and thus condemned to a painful death.

Exact numbers on trafficking in Bangladesh are unavailable. However, estimates on the number of women and children trafficked range from 10,000 to 20,000 per year. Estimates cannot easily be tested because of the clandestine nature of trafficking. Trafficking occurs both within Bangladesh and across its borders to India, Pakistan, and Middle Eastern countries, primarily the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. From Bangladesh, most women and children are trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, domestic work and forced labor.

Displaced Children & Orphans Fund
Bringing a Halt to the Human Trafficking of Women and Children

Working with Various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Prosecuting Offenders and Protecting Survivors/Strengthening Bangladesh's Anti-trafficking Network


Project Description in Bangladesh:    USAID supports legal review of migration related rules and regulations to enhance the Bangladesh government's capacity to monitor recruiting processes, reduce abuses in labor migration, and protect the rights of the migrants. USAID also supports a study on trafficking to gauge the prevalence of trafficking in some targeted sectors internally. Other ongoing-efforts include an assessment of the current status and relevance of counter-trafficking interventions taken by both the US and Bangladesh governments. Recommendations from the assessment will be used to combat trafficking-in-persons through the new USAID-supported program.

Project Profile:    Professional Resource Group International, Inc. (PRGI) was contracted by USAID to administer these funds and provide Technical, Logistical, and Administrative Support Services for displaced children and orphans in more than 20 countries, including Bangladesh. Trafficking in persons is a significant transnational crime in Bangladesh. With USAID's support, the Bangladeshi government made significant progress in dealing with human trafficking, removing the country from prospective U.S. sanctions. USAID has provided assistance to more than 500 trafficking survivors since 2006.


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