AIDSTAR Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is AIDSTAR?
The AIDS Support and Technical Resources (AIDSTAR informally) mechanism is an indefinite quantity contract (IQC) managed out of the Office of HIV/AIDS in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health. AIDSTAR is a flexible mechanism available to U.S. Government (USG) country teams, USAID/Washington operating units, Missions, and other USG agencies to access technical expertise and implementation support across a broad range of HIV/AIDS-related technical areas. AIDSTAR is available to work in both U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief focus and other bilateral countries. AIDSTAR contractors have demonstrated technical capacity in a range of technical areas related to prevention, care and support; treatment/antiretroviral therapy, and related services; stigma and discrimination; gender; and program-related data collection and analysis.
AIDSTAR Sector I may be used for:
- Long- or short-term technical assistance and program implementation support in specialized HIV/AIDS technical areas, including behavior change; clinical and community-based HIV/AIDS services; care for orphans and vulnerable children; monitoring and evaluation; and health systems strengthening specific to HIV/AIDS services
- Long- or short-term in-country support for coordination and scale-up for HIV/AIDS activities in support of USG country strategies
- Documenting and disseminating successful innovative approaches and sustainable models; evidence-based best practices and lessons learned; and new approaches, tools, and methodologies in HIV/AIDS programming
AIDSTAR Sector II may be used for:
- Management Systems – provide training in all aspects of management and institutional capacity building. As requested by USG teams, conduct assessments of the organizational development needs of public, private and NGO organizations involved in providing HIV/AIDS services.
- Building Capacity – build the capacity of host country institutions at all levels to undertake participatory planning processes involving varied stakeholders.
- Program Monitoring and Coordination – provide support for implementation planning, including setting goals, allocation of human and financial resources, strengthening program management and monitoring, together with strategic information and knowledge management.
- Networking and Linkages – facilitate more dynamic networking and coalition-building by indigenous institutions, to share resources and experiences and contribute to more cost-effective and comprehensive national programs.
- Technical Leadership and Knowledge Management (Institutional Capacity Building) – document, synthesize and disseminate successful models and experiences, best practices and lessons learned, and state-of-the-art in institutional capacity building.
- Management Strengthening of Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) Country-Level Institutions – where requested by GFATM and USG country teams, provide technical assistance to build the capacity of GFATM/Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) to engage local stakeholders through meaningful consultative processes.
- View a Presentation on How USAID's Office of Acquisition and Assistance Works [PowerPoint, 61KB]
2. How does the AIDSTAR indefinite quantity contract (IQC) work?
Seven prime contractors for AIDSTAR I and six prime contractors for AIDSTAR II, each with a team of diverse subcontractors, have been preselected through a competitive process and are eligible to bid on all task orders written against the AIDSTAR IQC. They are:
3. How can the field use AIDSTAR for implementation?
We encourage focus countries and USAID presence countries interested in programming major scopes of work to develop and award their own task orders. However, the centrally managed task order may be the option best suited for USAID non-presence and non-focus countries. These options are further detailed below.
- Any USG agency or operating unit can issue its own task order for competition among the IQC holders. Under this option, the USG entity develops its own scope of work and directly manages the task order (TO) procurement with its own contracting officer. Administrative, contractual and technical authority for the task order rests with the USG agency in question. Please note that all scopes of work (SOWs) must be approved in advance by the AIDSTAR Cognizant Technical Officer (CTO).
- USAID Missions can transfer field support into the USAID/Washington-managed AIDSTAR Sector I Task Order 1 (project name TBD), for activities in keeping with the overall scope of work for AIDSTAR (the full range of technical assistance services related to prevention, care, and treatment). Administrative and technical oversight for these activities occurs in a similar fashion to other centrally-awarded Global Health (GH) projects.
4. Does every task order need to be competed? How long does it take?
Beyond rare use of contractual regulations that permit exemption from competition, all seven contractors under this IQC must have the opportunity to bid on each task order. USG entities that plan to use AIDSTAR for programming should anticipate competing the SOWs that they develop.
Using an IQC significantly shortens the procurement timeline since the preselected contractors have already negotiated the basic terms of all task order contracts under the IQC. The actual time it will take to compete and award a TO will be determined by the particular scope of work, dollar value, and workload of the technical officer and contract officer involved in the procurement process.
5. Should the project name AIDS Support and Technical Resources always be spelled out?
A: The AIDS Support and Technical Resources Sector I name applies to all programs, projects, activities and public communications funded by USAID through the IQC and all task orders awarded under the contract. In all public documents and public materials produced under the IQC, the full name of the IQC contract should be used together with the task order identification number/name. The project name will not be abbreviated in external communications. The abbreviation “AIDSTAR I” may be used in internal and/or informal communications.
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