- Bid Timetable
The ABA will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:
Activity
Responsibility
Date
RFA submitted for posting
ABA
May 26, 2021
Deadline to submit clarification questions via e-mail to david.douglass@americanbar.org
Applicants
June 7, 2021
Deadline to answer clarification questions
ABA
June 14, 2021
Applications must be submitted electronically to david.douglass@americanbar.org by 6 p.m. June 24 (Eastern Time)
Applicants
June 24, 2021
Review is completed and finalists are notified
ABA
July 9, 2021
General Information
Purpose. The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) is a non-profit program, under the ABA’s Fund for Justice and Education, that implements legal reform programs in more than 50 countries around the world. ABA ROLI has more than 300 professional staff working abroad and in its Washington, D.C. office. In September 2020, ABA ROLI launched the project: “Transnational Partnership Against Money Laundering – Objective 4.” This program works with countries in Eastern Europe to facilitate the development of action plans and undertake implementation actions to advance national commitments to meet Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and other similar recommendations, with the primary focus on the area of anti-money laundering and asset confiscation/forfeiture. The program’s methodology uses and refers to mutual evaluations conducted by the FATF regional style body covering Europe, MONEYVAL. Under the current program, ABA ROLI aims to achieve the following goals:
Develop country-specific plans to implement FATF recommendations
Provide technical assistance, advocacy, and donor coordination to implement proposed country-specific plans in advancing tangible reforms (laws, policies, procedures, etc.) that respond to recommendations or commitments
Following ABA ROLI’s identification of Serbia as one of the candidate countries for technical assistance, the subaward recipient will conduct the in-country activities planned by ABA ROLI, including providing Strategic Advisory & FATF ME Preparation, Support, and Remediation Services as well as Training Services.
This request for applications (RFA) is to establish a preferred Subawards under this program. The goal is to provide to those organizations interested in submitting applications (“Applicants”) sufficient information to answer the RFA. Under this RFA, ABA ROLI will support one organization for a total amount of 125,000 USD (maximum amount for one organization should not exceed 125,000 USD).
Subrecipient Relationship: A subrecipient relationship the benefit flows down from the ABA to the receiving entity with the scope of work being drafted by the subrecipient. Some other characteristics of a subaward are as follows:
Has its performance measured against program objectives;
Has responsibility for programmatic decision making;
Is responsible for compliance to applicable donor requirements specified in the prime award;
Uses donor funds to carry out a program for a public purpose specified in the prime award, as opposed to providing goods or services for the benefit of the ABA.
Issuing Department. The Rule of Law Initiative has issued this RFA on behalf of the American Bar Association. The sole point of contact in the ABA for this RFA shall be:
David Douglass
Program Manager
david.douglass@americanbar.org
1050 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC
- Problem Statement:
The program activities of our future recipient should lay within the framework of the overall ABA ROLI Transnational Partnership Against Money Laundering (Objective 4), and may be focused on topics relating to:
Organization and delivery of educational events for both public sector and private sector partners focusing on counter illicit finance/financial crimes compliance (CIF/FCC)
Provision of country-specific technical assistance and strategic advisory services
Provision of coordination events/trainings for civil society groups aimed at improving knowledge of money-laundering issues in civil society
Development and enactment of country-specific CIF/FCC trainings
Development of cross-sector engagement between CSOs, the private sector, and Governmental stakeholders
Organization of coordination meetings with civil society and professional association group
Development of country-specific plans to implement Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations
Other topics that might be relevant for the program implementation.
Eligibility:
The following organizations are eligible to become subrecipients: Non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are registered as such according to the laws of the country. Specific legal or other circumstances making such registration unfeasible should be noted on the application.
The following are ineligible to become Subrecipients: a. Political parties, groupings or institutions, or their subsidiaries and affiliates. b. For-profit entities, except in special circumstances in which they will undertake award allowable activities (e.g., supporting a for-profit law firm’s development of pro bono activities). c. Organizations or projects that advocate, promote, or espouse anti-democratic policies or illegal activities. d. Applicants assessed as ineligible based on the Subaward Risk Assessment. e. Applicants who are debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participation in Federal assistance programs or activities.
Ineligible Activities/Purchases. Subaward funds may not be utilized for:
Activities which conflict with the activities of other U.S. supported programs in the country;
Research, unless it is instrumental for planning, implementing and evaluating legal reform
programs or for strengthening public policy efforts.
Capital development or endowment, unless considered necessary to further the goals of
ABA’s legal reform programs;
Unallowable costs as defined by 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements for Federal
Awards;
Projects that advocate, promote, or espouse anti-democratic policies or illegal activities;
Purchases or activities unnecessary to accomplish subaward purposes.
Rejection of Applications. The American Bar Association reserves the right, in their sole and complete discretion, to reject any application received because of this RFA. ABA reserves the right to reject all offers, to waive technicalities, and to pursue procurement in a manner that is in the best interests of the organization.
Incurring Costs. The ABA is not liable for any costs the Applicant incurs in preparation and submission of its application, in participating in the RFA process or in anticipation of the award of the contract.
Questions & Answers. If an Applicant has any questions regarding this RFA, including eligibility, the Applicant must submit the questions by email to the issuing employee named in Section 1.2 of the RFA. Questions should be submitted no later than the date indicated on the Bid Timetable. The Applicant shall not attempt to contact the issuing employee by any other means.
Response Date. To be considered for selection, electronic submissions must arrive to the issuing employee on the date specified in the RFA Bid Timetable. Applicants who send applications by mail or other delivery service should allow sufficient delivery time to ensure timely receipt of their applications.
Applications. To be considered, Applicants should submit a complete electronic response to this RFA, using the format provided in the Subaward Application with all relevant and required attachments. Applicants must submit one complete and exact electronic copy of the application via e-mail. For an application submitted electronically, the Applicant must submit the Subaward Application with an original signature (and stamp, if available) – no electronic signatures will be accepted. The Applicant shall make no other distribution of its application to any other Applicant or ABA employee or ABA consultant. An official authorized to bind the Applicant to its provisions must sign the application in Appendix A.
For this RFA, the application must remain valid for 120 days taking into consideration time required for evaluation of applications and processing of the contract or until a contract is fully executed. If the Issuing employee selects the Applicant’s application for award, the contents of the selected Applicant’s application will become, except to the extent the contents are changed through Best and Final Offers or negotiations, contractual obligations.
Discussions for Clarification. Applicants may be required to make an oral or written clarification of their applications to the issuing employee to ensure thorough mutual understanding and Applicant responsiveness to the solicitation requirements. The issuing employee will initiate requests for clarification.
Prime Responsibilities. The Subaward Agreement will require the selected Applicant to assume responsibility for all activities offered in its application.
Application Contents. Applicants should not label application submissions as confidential or proprietary. The issuing employee will hold all applications in confidence and will not reveal or discuss any application with competitors for the contract, unless disclosure is required:
Under the provisions of any State or United States statute or regulation; or
By rule or order of any court of competent jurisdiction.
All material submitted with the application becomes the property of the ABA and may be returned only at the issuing employee’s option. The issuing employee, in its sole discretion, may include any person other than competing Applicants on its application evaluation committee. The issuing employee has the right to use any or all ideas presented in any application regardless of whether the application becomes part of a contract.
Best and Final Applications. The issuing employee reserves the right to conduct discussions with Applicants for obtaining “best and final applications.” To obtain best and final applications from Applicants, the issuing department may do one or more of the following: enter into pre-selection negotiations, including schedule oral presentations and request revised applications.
Term of Agreement. The term of the Subaward Agreement will be for a 12 month period. The selected Subrecipient shall not start the performance of any work prior to the effective date of the executed contract and the ABA shall not be liable to pay the selected subrecipient for any service or work performed or expenses incurred before the effective date of the contract.
The Agreement is not considered approved until the terms have been reviewed and approved by the Office of General Counsel. An “American Bar Association Office of General Counsel” approval seal will appear on the contract with the signature of the attorney approving the terms of the contract.Use of Electronic Versions of this RFA. This RFA is being made available by electronic means. If an Applicant electronically accepts the RFA, the Applicant acknowledges and accepts full responsibility to ensure that no changes are made to the RFA.
Application Requirements
Applicants must submit their applications in the format and requirements outlined in the Subaward Application Form. To be considered, the application must respond to every requirement in this part of the RFA and the Subaward Application Instructions. Applicants should provide any extraneous information only as a separate attachment to their application.
Subaward Application. The applicant must submit all required attachments prior to a funding decision being made. Applicants are required to adhere to these subaward application guidelines and to attach any additional information requested in the application. Read the application carefully and follow all instructions. Incomplete applications will not be funded.
Required Attachments.
Proposal Application Form (please download this here)
Technical narrative
Budget (please download this template here)
Budget narrative
Supplemental documentation: Supplemental documentation which may be required to be submitted by the applicant with the Subaward Application includes the following:
Copy of registration certificate or an explanation why the applicant is not registered (required);
Copy of mission statement (optional);
Copy of organization charter (optional);
Copy of NICRA (required if organization receives funds directly from the US Government);
Copy of organizational indirect cost rate document (required if applying an organizational indirect cost rate). This indirect cost rate document would need to be reviewed and approved by ABA Finance prior to a Subaward Agreement being drafted;
Copy of the most recent single or program specific audit (required if organization has annual expenditures of $750,000 or more in USG funding);
Copy of cash handling policy
Copy of financial policy manual;
Copy of tax certificate or equivalent.
Criteria for Selection
Mandatory Responsiveness Requirements. To be eligible for selection, an application must:
Be received according to dates set in the Bid Timetable;
Be properly signed by a representative of the Applicant who is eligible to bind them in contract with the ABA;
Be in accordance with all instructions as set forth in Sections 1 and 2.
Technical Nonconforming Applications. The Issuing employee reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to waive technical or immaterial nonconformities in an Applicant’s application.
Criteria for Selection. The following criteria will be used, in no particular order, in evaluating each application:
Relevance of the proposed program idea for the Serbian context;
Relevance to the problem statement and topics expressed;
Quality of proposed program objectives and activities;
Plan and ability to partner and collaborate with entities and representatives from other sectors;
Organizational capacity and background in relevant program topics;
Potential for program’s sustainable impact;
Plan and ability to convey project topic and lessons learned to the broader anti-money laundering stakeholder community;
Financial/grant management capacity;
Overall cost of the program in relation to activities proposed;
Thank you for your interest in working with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative.
Appendix A – Applicant Response Sheet
Please submit this Appendix along with your subaward application.
Applicant Information:
Applicant Name
Applicant Mailing Address
Applicant Website
Applicant Contact Person
Contact Person’s Phone Number
Contact Person’s Email Address
Signature
Signature of an official authorized to bind the Applicant to the provisions contained in the Applicant’s application:
Printed Name
Title
Date
Failure to complete, sign, and return this form with the Applicant’s application may result in the rejection of the Applicant’s application.
How to apply:
Please submit your applications to david.douglass@americanbar.org by June 24, 2021.