The full Request for Qutoes can be found at this link; https://www.iri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PR003210-EURASIA2023MO02o-RFP.pdf

Questions deadline: February 10

Closing deadline: February 13 

Background
The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization
dedicated to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide. Since 1983, IRI has worked to
develop democratic institutions and ideals, carrying out a variety of international programs
to promote freedom, self-government and the rule of law worldwide. IRI provides technical
assistance in the areas of political party strengthening, developing civic institutions and open
elections, promoting democratic governance and advancing the rule of law.
IRI’s work in Moldova is specifically focused on developing the capacity of political parties –
with specific focus on internal structures and processes, financial compliance and outreach
to voters. IRI’s programming seeks to strengthen political leaders’ ability to organize
themselves, effectively communicate and represent Moldovan citizens, and advance
important reforms. A key component of this work involves regular polling that IRI conducts
in order to gauge public sentiment and in turn to inform political parties and local
stakeholders on issues relevant to constituents.
IRI is seeking quotations from qualified survey research and polling firms for polling public
opinion in five cities (approximately n=4000 across all cities, n=800 per city) on issues
related to decentralization, local governance, and other relevant socio-political issues.
Period of Performance
Date of Signature to September 30, 2023.
Statement of Work
OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
Public opinion data shall be obtained through a survey of municipalities in Moldova that is
designed to obtain the most accurate possible information about: (a) local issues and their
solutions, (b) upcoming elections, (c) opinions on political parties and candidates, (d)
opinions on EU membership, etc.

RESEARCH TASKS
(1) General Responsibilities of Bidder. The bidder shall be responsible for the project
design and execution, including the following specific tasks:
(a) translation, formatting, pretesting, adaptation, and printing of questionnaires
(unless using CAPI devices);
(b) development of a Sampling Plan, to be based a multistage stratified plan; list and
explain any geographic or other exclusions; the proposed Sampling Plan will be
reviewed by IRI Office of Research and any further changes agreed upon by IRI and
Bidder will be incorporated;
(c) training supervisors and interviewers;
(d) arranging and supervising all aspects of fieldwork, including back-checks;
(e) entering and processing the survey data, including data cleaning and encoding
survey responses;
(f) advising IRI or it’s designated representative on recommendations for the most
appropriate population parameters to use for weighting
(2) Questionnaire. IRI will provide a draft questionnaire and the bidder will provide
input, such as a need for rephrasing certain terms for local context.
IRI requests translation into Romanian and Russian. Translations will be reviewed and
approved by IRI.
Full versions should be printed and interviewers should be allowed to code the
questionnaire in the interview language. If CAPI devices are used, at least the main
interview language must be programmed into CAPI—only programming in English (unless
English is the main interview language) is not sufficient. The questionnaire may call for
showcards, which need to be printed in all translated languages. The estimated average
interview duration is 10 to 15minutes.
3) Sample Design. IRI requires samples of five municipalities across Moldova with 800
adults, age 18 or older, surveyed in each municipality. The municipalities to be surveyed
are Balti, Soroca, Stefan Voda, Cimislia, and Telenesti. The total sample should be 4,000.
The samples should be representative of the population of the survey universe. Planned
exclusions of the population of the survey universe (e.g. geographic, linguistic, lacking
accessing to a phone etc.) must be discussed during quotation stage.
The sample shall be drawn using recognized probability methods, all the way down to the
selection of the individual respondent at the household level. In the event that any
departure from probability sampling methods is recommended by the bidder for all or any
part of the survey, the sampling methodologies to be employed shall be described in detail
and a rationale for their use shall be provided. IRI’s general preferred sampling approach
is:
1. Stage 1: Equal allocation of 800 interviews per selected municipality, for a total of
4,000 interviews across the five target municipalities.
2. Stage 2: Proportional stratification by urban/rural status (if census data exists)
3. Stage 3: Random selection of Sampling Points (no more than 10 interviews per
Sampling Point) within each Stage 2 stratum
4. Stage 4: Random route household selection within each Sampling Point. Starting
point within Sampling Point ideally randomly determined by satellite map or GPS
coordinates.
5. Stage 5: Random selection of respondent within each selected household by KISH
grid or last/next birthday method.
Sample Sampling Plan for n=1000 with 10 interviews per Sampling Point (SP)

Sampling plan can be found in the full request for quotes at this link: https://www.iri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PR003210-EURASIA2023MO02o-RFP.pdf

A detailed sampling plan (template provided by IRI) shall be submitted to the IRI prior to
fieldwork, including a description of the survey coverage, allocation of the sample,
description of the sampling frame, description of any stratification criteria to be used,
description of the stages of selection and the selections methods to be used at each stage, a
definition of the Sampling Points and approximate number of interviews to be conducted
within each Sampling Point, the method to be used for selection of the respondent at the
household level, an explanation for any divergence from use of the KISH grid for
respondent selection, and call-back rules to be employed. It is assumed that the sample will
be distributed in proportion to the population of each region or other geographic unit to be
surveyed; in the event that the bidder wishes to propose a sample design departing from
this principle the proposal should describe the allocation to be used and the reasons for
doing so.
(4) Pre-test. The questionnaire shall be pre-tested by the bidder prior to the
commencement of any fieldwork. No less than 20 pre-test interviews shall be conducted
and in surveys with translations into multiple language, no less than 10 interviews per
language. The bidder shall provide IRI with a written report of the results of the pre-test,
along with details of any problems encountered and suggested remedies, prior to the
commencement of any fieldwork.
(5) Fieldwork. Interviews shall be conducted by experienced field workers who shall be
thoroughly briefed by bidder prior to commencement of any fieldwork. IRI may send a
representative to observe training and/or some interviews. The bidder shall ensure that
interviewers are thoroughly familiar with household and respondent selection procedures,
call back procedures (at least 3 attempts before substituting a selected respondent), and
the structure of the questionnaire, including routing and filtering. Interviewer training
shall include practice sessions in administering the questionnaire. All interviewers must
have at least completed secondary education and must be fully fluent (reading and
speaking) in the language(s) in which they are to administer the interviews. No
interviewer shall conduct more than 10% of the total interviews, but a 5% upper limit
would be preferable. A minimum of 10% of interviews shall be back checked or
accompanied by a team supervisor.
The interviews shall be face-to-face and they shall be conducted in the home of the
respondent. IRI prefers questionnaire administration via CAPI but is open to paper-andpencil questionnaire administration if CAPI use is not feasible or advisable.
Household and respondent selection must be tracked on a contact tracking sheet or
similar—this will be needed to calculate the response rate. Informed consent (oral is
acceptable unless country laws require written) must be sought prior to commencing the
interview. IRI will provide draft informed consent language to the bidder and this template
may be updated by the bidder to conform with the country’s legal requirements.
(6) Data Processing. The bidder shall be responsible for data entry with a 10% doublepunch standard (if using paper and pencil questionnaires), cleaning, and processing,
including development and implementation of a coding scheme for all open-ended
questions. The bidder shall supply data to IRI as a clean, fully labeled in English SPSS
“*.sav” file with a complete data dictionary of variable names and value labels. String is
only allowable for open-ended responses without precodes; note that the top 10 responses
will need to be coded for such cases. There shall be one data record for each respondent
and records shall be of fixed length. Each record shall include a unique respondent ID
number, interviewer ID number, interview duration, Sampling Point ID number, interview
start and end times, date of interview, GPS coordinates if using CAPI devices capable of
capturing this data, and interview language if there is more than one. Each record shall
include demographic information about the respondent, including: gender, exact age, and
education level.
(7) Technical Report. When delivering data, the bidder shall provide a Technical Report
(template provided by IRI) which shall include the following:
(a) A complete Sampling Plan, including list of PSUs and individual sampling points
and number of interviews conducted at each sampling point.
(b) Details of response rates, including tabulation of unsuccessful interview
attempts by sampling point, with reasons for non-response (i.e. respondent refusal,
proxy refusal, inability to locate selected respondent, etc.).
(c) A brief report on survey operations including any practical difficulties
encountered in carrying out the survey. Fieldwork photos (not showing any
respondent faces) would be highly appreciated as well;
(d) Estimated sampling error;
(f) any abnormalities encountered during data QC, including but not limited to:
suspicious patterns by interviewer ID (e.g. usually fast completion rates), GPS
coordinates not matching the selected sampling point, potential contradictions (e.g.
respondents who rate a certain politician as highly untrustworthy yet definitely plan
on voting for this person), significant data changes of indicators since the previous
poll etc.
(8) Summary of deliverables. The Deliverables to be provided to IRI by the bidder are as
follows:
(a) Sampling Plan
(b) Pretest report
(c) Copies of the final questionnaire, as fielded, in English and translations
(d) A complete unweighted data set formatted as SPSS file
(e) A technical report
(9) Delivery Schedule. Bidder will advise IRI on a feasible timeline for completing work
on this project as soon as possible, with the deliverables c-e listed in Section 8 above to be
submitted no later than two weeks after the conclusion of fieldwork. IRI prefers that bidder
starts fieldwork by May 1, 2023.
Bidder will complete the timeline table below for the proposal stage. Any deviations from
the proposed timeline caused by any party other than IRI will result in deductions of the
contract award and may disqualify the bidder from future procurements.

Delivery schedule can be found in the RFQ at this link:https://www.iri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PR003210-EURASIA2023MO02o-RFP.pdf

Technical Proposals
All proposals submitted to IRI must include:
1. Information addressing Bidder’s experience in providing each of the services
identified in the above Statement of Work and Bidder’s proposed specific approach
for providing those services to IRI under this contract, including sufficient
information to determine a clear definition of services as it relates to other providers
that may be involved.
2. The name, address, and telephone and facsimile numbers of the Bidder (and
electronic address if available). If the Bidder is a firm, name(s) should be provided for
individuals authorized to conduct business on behalf of the firm.
3. Bidders may provide a list of up to three references for work performed of a similar
nature during the last three years, along with contact details. IRI may contact the
references to evaluate past performance.
4. If the Bidder is a U.S. organization/resident, or a foreign organization/resident which
has income effectively connected with the conduct of activities in the U.S. or has an
office or a place of business or a fiscal paying agent in the U.S., the information
submitted must contain Bidder’s Taxpayer Identification Number.
5. Proposals will not exceed 10 pages (not including cover page).
Price Proposals
Bidders must propose a firm-fixed Unit Price for each of the deliverables identified below
and in the format of the table below. The Bidder’s pricing must be valid for at least 60 (sixty)
calendar days after the due date for proposal submission. The proposed Unit Price should be
fixed and inclusive of all costs to perform, including inspection services, transportation,
taxes, import duties (if any), and other levies. To the extent that a Bidder proposed to include
any pricing not reflected in the table below, such pricing must be fully described in the
proposal. Proposals must be submitted in USD, payments under any resulting contract will
be made in this currency

Price proposals tables can be found at this link: https://www.iri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PR003210-EURASIA2023MO02o-RFP.pdf

*The cost for Payment 1 may not exceed 30% of the total amount quoted.
Evaluation and Award Process
1. IRI may contact any Bidder for clarification or additional information, but Bidders are
advised that IRI intends to evaluate the offers based on the written proposals, without
discussions, and reserves the right to make decisions based solely on the information
provided with the initial proposals. IRI may but is not obligated to conduct additional
negotiations with the most highly rated Bidders prior to award of a contract, and may
at its sole discretion elect to issue contracts to one or more Bidders.
2. Mathematical errors will be corrected in the following manner: If a discrepancy exists
between the total price proposed and the total price resulting from multiplying the
unit price by the corresponding amounts, then the unit price will prevail and the total
price will be corrected. If there is a discrepancy between the numbers written out in
words and the amounts in numbers, then the amount expressed in words will prevail.
If the Bidder does not accept the correction, the offer will be rejected.
3. IRI may determine that a proposal is unacceptable if the prices proposed are
materially unbalanced between line items or sub-line items. Unbalanced pricing
exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more
contract line items is significantly overstated or understated as indicated by the
application of cost or price analysis techniques. A proposal may be rejected if IRI
determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk.
4. IRI will conduct a source selection based as follows:
IRI intends to make an award to the responsible Bidder based on the following
evaluation factors:
a) Technical evaluation, (including technical capabilities, proposed technical
approach, and personnel qualifications) – 40 percent.
i. Sampling methodology – 20 Percent
ii. Capacity to perform scope of work– 20 Percent.
b) Proposed timeline and demonstrated adherence to project timelines approach–
15 percent
c) experience in performing similar projects – 20 percent
i. Experience conducting face to face and telephone polling in
Moldova – 20 Percent
d) Price – 25 Percent
IRI intends to evaluate Bidders’ proposals in accordance with these factors and make an
award to the responsible Bidder whose proposal is most advantageous to the program.
5. If a cost realism analysis is performed, cost realism may be considered in evaluating
performance or price.
Submission Instructions
Bids must be submitted via email to Eric Peterman at epeterman@iri.org with the subject
line EURASIA2023MO02o by the deadline listed above.
RFP Terms and Conditions
1. Prospective Bidders are requested to review clauses incorporated by reference in the
section “Notice Listing Contract Clauses Incorporated by Reference”.
2. IRI may reject any or all proposals if such is within IRI’s interest.
3. Proof of costs incurred, such as but not limited to receipts, pictures and financial
documents, may be requested during and for up to three years after the end of the
contract period.
4. The Bidder’s initial proposal should contain the Bidder’s best offer.
5. Payment will be made upon receipt of invoices and deliverables/services.
6. Discussions with Bidders following the receipt of a proposal do not constitute a
rejection or counteroffer by IRI.
7. IRI will hold all submissions as confidential and submissions shall not be disclosed to
third parties. IRI reserves the right to share proposals internally, across divisions, for
the purposes of evaluating the proposals.
8. For any currency conversion, the exchange rate to US Dollars listed on oanda.com on
the closing date of this solicitation shall be used.
9. Every contract will contain provisions governing termination for cause and
termination for convenience.
10. By submitting a proposal, offeror agrees to comply with all terms, conditions, and
provisions included in the solicitation and agreement to the services identified above,
and will specifically identify any disagreement with or exceptions to the terms,
conditions, and provisions.
11. Offerors confirm that the prices in the proposal/proposal/application/quote have
been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or
agreement with any other Bidder or competitor for the purpose of restricting
competition.
12. If IRI continues to require the goods and services and the price remains reasonable
and within market norms, resulting contract may be renewed each year for up to 5
years with 30 days’ notice to the Contractor. Bidder must establish any price increase
for each renewal year in the initial bid.
13. By applying to this RFP, applicant is certifying that if it is awarded a contract, none of
funds payable under the resulting contract will be used to (1) procure or obtain,
extend or renew a contract to procure or obtain; (2) enter into a contract (or extend
or renew a contract) to procure; or (3) obtain the equipment, services, or systems
that uses covered telecommunications equipment or services as a substantial or
essential component of any system, or as critical technology as part of any system in
compliance with the National Defense Authorization Act. Covered
telecommunications equipment and services mean any of the following:
i. Telecommunications equipment produced by Huawei Technologies Company
or ZTE Corporation (or any subsidiary or affiliate of such entities).
ii. For the purpose of public safety, security of government facilities, physical
security surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security
purposes, video surveillance and telecommunications equipment produced by
Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology
Company, or Dahua Technology Company (or any subsidiary or affiliate of
such entities).
iii. Telecommunications or video surveillance services provided by such entities
or using such equipment.
iv. Telecommunications or video surveillance equipment or services produced or
provided by an entity that the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the
Director of the National Intelligence or the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, reasonably believes to be an entity owned or controlled by, or
otherwise connected to, the government of a covered foreign country. (2 CFR
200.216).
14. Bidders agree to disclose as part of the proposal submission:
o Any close, familial, or financial relationships with IRI staff and agents. For
example, the Bidder must disclose if a Bidder’s mother conducts volunteer
trainings for IRI.
o Any family or financial relationship with other Bidders submitting proposals.
For example, if the Bidder’s father owns a company that is submitting another
proposal, the Bidder must state this.
o Any other action that might be interpreted as potential conflict of interest.
Notice Listing Contract Clauses Incorporated by Reference
IRI is required to make the contractor subject to certain flowdown clauses of the prime
award. This awarded contract will incorporate one or more clauses by reference, with the
same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Where “flow-down” to the contractor
is applicable, references to “USAID/Department of State” shall be interpreted to mean “IRI”,
“Recipient” to mean “Contractor”, and “Subrecipient” to mean “lower-tier subcontractor.”
Included by reference are the applicable provisions contained in Appendix II to 2 CFR Part
200 and USAID Standard Provisions for Non-US Non-governmental Organizations/US
Department of State Standard Terms and Conditions.
IRI Obligations
Issuance of this RFP does not constitute an award commitment on the part of IRI, nor does it
commit IRI to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal or
quotation.
Required Certifications
The following certificates need to be signed by all Bidders. These certifications are an
integral part of the quotation/proposal. Please print them off and send back to us with your
proposal after signature on each certificate. They are:
• Certification regarding debarment, suspension, ineligibility and voluntary exclusion
lower tier covered transactions
• Authorized Individuals
• Certification Regarding Lobbying

Required certifications  can be found at this linlk: https://www.iri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/PR003210-EURASIA2023MO02o-RFP.pdf