FAO Branch, Division A, Room 1535, SA-14, USAID, Washington, D. C. 20523-1428

U -- AFRICA TRAINING FOR LEADERSHIP AND ADVANCED SKILLS (ATLAS) SOL OP/RFP/AFAO504 DUE 062395 POC Contact Sherry Harless, 703/875-1093/Contracting Officer, Rosella Marshall, 703/875-1132 The ATLAS Project's goal is to improve the performance of African institutions and organizations to plan and promote sustainable development in Africa. This will require a three year effort with two one-year option periods to cover the second segment of the three-part project. Two main components are being procured: (1) the ATLAS participant training scholarship program, with its attendant activities for selection, placement and management of an estimated 1,500 African students in degree programs at U.S. universities and 350 postgraduate non-degree programs at U.S. universities or other institutions; and (2) the ATLAS post-training program, which promotes professional competence among graduates of U.S. funded training and reinforces their ability to contribute to African development. The request for proposals will be issued o/a 15 days from the date of this publication. Closing date will be o/a 23 June 1995. All responsible sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the Agency. No less than 10 percent of the total value of the contract will have to be subcontracted to Gray Amendment entities (U.S. socially and economically disadvantaged, including women-owned, businesses; historically black colleges and universities; U.S. colleges and universities with at least 40 percent Hispanic American students; and U.S. private voluntary organizations controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, including women.) To help identify potential subcontractors, a list of all organizations requesting a copy of the solicitation will be attached to the solicitation document. Organizations are encouraged to indicate whether they are Gray Amendment entities when requesting the solicitation. By providing the list, USAID does not endorse the listed organizations as being capable of carrying out the activity, nor does USAID verify the claimed status of the organizations. Necessarily, the list will contain the names of only those organizations known prior to the issuance of the solicitation document. Proposals shall include plans reflecting no less than 10 percent subcontracting with the above-defined entities. Proposals not including such plans will be considered to be non- responsive. Offerors are encouraged to consider additional small business subcontracting as well. All other selection criteria being found equal, the participation of such additional small business subcontracting may become a determining factor for selection. USAID will make this solicitation, including all attachments, available on INTERNET. Those requestors who will download the solicitation from INTERNET may submit a written request to be included on the mailing list. Fax requests may be sent to 703/875-1107. Those requestors who will not download from INTERNET may request the solicitation either on diskette (format WordPerfect 5.2) or in hard copy. Requests must be accompanied by three (3) self-adhesive self-addressed mailing labels. Due to limited time and resources we request that requestors seriously consider downloading from INTERNET or requesting issuance on diskette as it is extremely costly to produce the solicitation in hard copy. This CBD notice can be viewed and downloaded using the Agency Gopher. The RFP can be downloaded from the Agency Gopher. The Gopher address is GOPHER.INFO.USAID.GOV. Select USAID Procurement and Business Opportunities from the Gopher menu. The RFP text can be downloaded via Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The FTP address is FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. Logon using the user identification of ''anonymous'' and the password is your e-mail address. Look under the following directory for the RFP: pub/OP/RFP/AFAO504/afao504.rfp. Receipt of this RFP through INTERNET must be confirmed by written notification to the contact person noted above. It is the responsibility of the recipient of this solicitation document to ensure that it has been received from INTERNET in its entirety and USAID bears no responsibility for data errors resulting from transmission or conversion processes. (0117)

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