MyFedAccess

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

1.    Acquisitions & Assistance Training Course for Cognizant Technical Officers (CTOs)
2.    Records Management & Administrative, Secretarial, Clerical and Computer Skills Training
3A. Displaced Children & Orphans Fund -- 3B. Patrick J. Leahy War Victims 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.

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 in the Philippines and 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:    Records Management & Administrative, Secretarial, Clerical and Computer Skills Training

Background:    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) maintains Missions and Representative Field Offices within various developing countries throughout Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America (including the Caribbean Basin), and the Middle East. USAID Missions and Field Offices are typically staffed with Direct-Hires, Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs), and Third Country Nationals. It is critical that the entire staff is equipped with the requisite skills to effectively implement USAID's initiatives. Hence, there is an ongoing need for Records Management & Administrative, Secretarial, Clerical and Computer Skills Training. Historically, personnel assigned to overseas Missions were systematically rotated to the USAID training facilities in Washington, DC, for training.

However, the training needs spiked significantly in the early 90's when more robust Management Information Systems began to be installed at overseas Missions and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) dissolved, making way for the formation of more than a dozen New Independent States throughout Central & Eastern Europe and EurAsia. It became imperative that all employees assigned to work at the established and new overseas Missions receive training concurrently and in a timely manner. This required the services of a contractor with an in-depth knowledge of USAID's Policies, Standard Operating Procedures, and Management Information Systems, as well as one with significant experience training adult-learners who speak/read English as their second or third language.

Project Profile:    Professional Resource Group International, Inc. (PRGI) was contracted to conduct a pre-cursor survey to assess the training needs, develop curriculum and course materials, and then provide Direct-Hires, Foreign Service Nationals, and Third Country Nationals with expert Records Management & Administrative, Secretarial, and Computer Skills Training. These were instructor-lead heads-on training programs, requiring PRGI personnel to be on-site between two to eight weeks in each country where training was administered, including in the Philippines.

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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

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*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 the Philippines:    Supporting Transformation by Reducing Insecurity and Vulnerability
    with Economic Strengthening (STRIVE)

Cooperating Agency in the Philippines:    Action for Enterprise

Background:    A longstanding U.S. ally and Southeast Asia's oldest democracy, the Philippines has historic ties with the United States and is an important development, trading, and regional security partner. Unfortunately, the Philippines has not enjoyed the same level of economic success as its neighbors have over the past 30 years. Approximately 40 percent of the Philippines' population lives on $2 a day or less. USAID's programs focus on reducing poverty by strengthening peace in conflict-affected Mindanao, promoting good governance, increasing economic opportunities, protecting the environment, strengthening health services, and improving basic education.

USAID works with the Philippine government to increase access to quality basic education focusing on English, science, and mathematics for more than 300,000 students. USAID also works to expand and improve opportunities for more than 100,000 out-of-school youth in areas most affected by conflict and poverty. In cooperation with international and local private sector and civil society groups, USAID supports community involvement in education, improvement of instructional quality, provision of computers and educational materials, construction and repair of classrooms, technical assistance to improve policies and the implementation of educational programs, and livelihood skills training for out-of-school youth. At the university level, USAID assists students to acquire English language proficiency, necessary in obtaining employment in key growth sectors.

Project Description in the Philippines:    In the Philippines, STRIVE works to ensure the well-being of children in poor coastal communities, were seaweed farming is a major source of income. The project aims to achieve lasting improvements in the local production of seaweed, which will bolster the economy of the region and provide income for local workers. It does so by implementing activities that develop a value chain based on the production of seaweed and seaweed-based products.

The project is developing additional value chain activities based on other resources in the region. It is working with several export companies to expand the exportation of crabs and abalone from the area. And, it is working to improve the production and exportation of locally produced woven baskets and other housewares. Here, the project teams with several of the largest exporters of woven products from the Philippines, which boast clients such as Crate & Barrel, TJ Maxx, Target, and Pier 1 Imports.

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Contract Activity:    Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (WVF)


Background:    The War Victims Fund supports programs that provide for the improved mobility of people with disabilities by providing accessible, appropriate prosthetic services. With a renewed focus on quality of service, the fund added patient follow-up and monitoring as part of its projects. In Laos a special program that upgrades medical and surgical services for victims of accidental detonations of unexploded ordnance has been successful and is being replicated in other parts of the country.

Historically, war victims and other people living with disabilities face daunting obstacles in gaining access to education, training, and employment opportunities. Appropriate policies and construction codes for barrier-free accessibility for people living with disabilities can help overcome these obstacles. Toward this end, an innovative program of assistance in Vietnam that began with a focus on barrier-free accessibility has resulted in passage of a comprehensive national disabilities law. This legislation was drafted with the assistance of Americans who participated in efforts to pass and implement the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund was Active in 20 Countries

1. Afghanistan	6. El Salvador	11. Laos	16. Philippines
2. Cambodia	7. Ethiopia	12. Lebanon	17. Sri Lanka
3. Colombia	8. Guatemala	13. Nepal	18. Sudan
4. Costa Rica	9. Honduras	14. Nicaragua	19. Uganda
5. Congo*	10. Kenya	15. Panama	20. Vietnam

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*Democratic Republic of the Congo-Kinshasa


Improved economic conditions and the ability to increase earned income are essential to the health and welfare of all individuals, including those living with disabilities. In Cambodia, the fund has supported a variety of innovative approaches to increase income-generating opportunities for war victims and their families. Lessons learned from these approaches can be used to develop similar programs in other countries.

Project Title in the Philippines:    Wheelchairs for Mindanao

Cooperating Agency in the Philippines:    Handicap International

The Wheelchairs for Mindanao Project
Produces and Distributes Wheelchairs to War Victims throughout the Philippines

Through Handicap International - Wheelchairs are Custom-Fit for the User's Disability

Project Description in the Philippines:    The purpose of the project is to support the integration of persons with disability into the socioeconomic life of their community by improving their mobility and providing them with access to development opportunities. The objective of the program is to work to set up an autonomous, sustainable entity that can provide adapted wheelchairs and related services to people with disabilities. The program works to improve the monthly production, distribution, and autonomy of this entity.

USAID's project in the Philippines is implemented by Handicap International. Its main features include a wheelchair production center, the Freedom Technology Center, on the southern island of Mindanao. There, the project produces wheelchairs custom-fit for the user's disability, as well as for the environment in which the chair will be used. Chairs produced at the center are also distributed through a network of project-established distribution units that bring necessary services to persons with disabilities in outlying regions. Included in the services provided by these units is training for the families of wheelchair users in how to provide daily assistance and adapt the living environment for the wheelchair user.

In addition to producing and distributing wheelchairs, the project also works on the community level to conduct activities to change the way that people view and behave toward people with disabilities and wheelchair users and to facilitate the integration of people with disabilities back into their respective communities. The project also provides capacity building and organizational support to local organizations of and for people with disabilities.

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 civilian victims of war in more than 20 countries, including Cambodia. The Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund (WVF) compliments the Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF), both were under the administration of PRGI. Each year, through the efforts of its collaborating partners and the dedicated and professional commitment of their local and international staff, the U.S. Agency for International Development's Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund provides assistance to thousands of war victims, their families, and other people living with disabilities.

Since 1989, the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund has worked in war-affected developing countries to provide a dedicated source of financial and technical assistance for civilian victims of war. The fund has now provided over $60 million in more than 16 countries, including Cambodia. The fund serves people who suffer from mobility-related injuries, including those with land-mine injuries, and those who suffer from polio as a result of interrupted immunization services.

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