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PRGI/MyFedAccess
Contract Activity & Project Profiles: Africa - Liberia

1.    Acquisitions & Assistance Training Course for Cognizant Technical Officers (CTOs)
2A. Displaced Children & Orphans Fund -- 2B. 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 from Liberia 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:    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 Liberia:    War Affected Youth Support (WAYS) Project

Cooperating Agency in Liberia:    UNICEF

Background:    Seven years of war have devastated the children of Liberia. Their lives have been dominated by violence, hunger, and homelessness. They have been displaced, separated from their families, or orphaned. Many have been subject to forced recruitment, child labor, and child prostitution. Others have moved to the streets, often turning to drugs and crime.

A significant number of children actively participated in the war-an estimated 5,000 of approximately 33,000 combatants. During the disarmament and demobilization exercise in 1996-97, a total of 4,300 child combatants were demobilized. Although the majority went back to their communities, about 20 percent had to be temporarily placed in transit homes while family tracing and alternative placements were pursued. It has since surfaced that an even larger number of children were never formally demobilized.

Project Description in Liberia:    The Project has supported the reintegration into civil society of demobilized child soldiers and displaced youths. The program offers psychosocial and physical rehabilitation programs and educational and training opportunities. As with all war-related programs, the first step involves a tracing component to assist in reuniting children with their families. Six transit homes have been set up and operated with Don Bosco and Save the Children (UK) to help with the logistics of tracing and caring for children not yet reunited with their families or communities.

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 Liberia. Since 1989, DCOF has contributed more than $74,000,000 to programs in these countries. Funds were used to expand support of activities in four new countries while the DCOF was being administered by PRGI.

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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. Special programs that upgrades medical and surgical services for victims of accidental detonations of unexploded ordnance has been successful in some countries (like Laos) and is being replicated in other countries.

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. 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.

As the fund evolved, its agenda became more challenging. Plans were made to include people with disabilities in planning and implementing programs; improved training; expanded community-based rehabilitation; development and production of appropriate wheelchairs; and increased coordination with other donors.

Project Title in Liberia:    Physical Rehabilitation of War Victims Project

Cooperating Agency in Liberia:    UNICEF

Background:    In 1996, Liberia's seven-year civil crisis came to an end, leaving behind a legacy of destruction, suffering, and uneasy peace. Out of the estimated pre-war population of 2.8 million, 480,000 Liberians were driven out of the country, up to 1 million were internally displaced, and an estimated 150,000 were killed. Exact data is scarce on the number of people who were disabled during the war, but it is suggested that there are some 4,500 people with disabilities in Monrovia alone and as many as 81,000 disabled children countrywide.

Another serious effect of the conflict has been the breakdown of immunization services against communicable childhood diseases. The lack of services has lead to a drastic increase in the incidence of polio in Liberian children.

Almost two years after the establishment of a government in Liberia, most Liberians still do not have access to health facilities, and services for the physically disabled, which had been inadequate prior to the war, are nonexistent.

Since 1994, USAID has worked through a UNICEF-implemented physical rehabilitation program to help address the needs of disabled adults and children in Liberia.

Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund
Provides Accessible and Appropriate Prosthetic Services

UNICEF
Physical Rehabilitation of War Victims Project

Project Description in Liberia:    This project is to provide prosthetics, orthotics, physical therapy, and surgical care for amputees and handicapped children and adults through an integrated referral and service system; and to build the technical capacity of prosthetists, orthotists, physical therapists, and community outreach workers.

As part of this assistance, a network of community-based rehabilitation outreach centers have been established in 5 counties and 30 community rehabilitation staff have been trained. Additionally, a 6-week training course for orthopedic technicians was conducted in collaboration with the Tanzania Training Center for Orthopedic Technologists. Also, in addition to equipment and supplies, 75 prostheses were produced manually in one year.

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 Liberia. 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 Liberia. 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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