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USAID ABE

Assistance to Basic Education (ABE) Task Order (IQC)

Contract #EDH-I-00-05-00033-00 (September 2005 – September 2010)
For more informations, see the ABE Brochure

Juárez & Associates heads a consortium that recently was awarded an Indefinite Quantity Contract (IQC) to assist USAID Missions and Regional and Pillar Bureaus in helping developing and newly-independent countries improve the quality, relevance, equity and access of their education systems. This award — under USAID’s Assistance to Basic Education (ABE) Project — addresses all aspects of formal and non-formal education. The award covers the period September 2005 to September 2010, with actual, on-the-ground work permitted until September 2013.

The J&A team includes four experienced organizations as sub-contractors: Management Systems International (MSI), DevTech Systems, Children’s Resources International (CRI) and Mariposa Consulting LLC. Our five firms came together specifically for this ABE/IQC effort after having worked together successfully in different tandems over the past 20 years. Our union represents complementary skills regarding the types of educational technical assistance and advisory services to be provided under this IQC. All five firms have solid records of working well with Ministries of Education and other national governmental units — as well as with NGOs, parents and other local citizens, the private sector, other donor/lender organizations, and provincial, district and municipal governmental bodies — to bring about educational strengthening and reform. We take pride in carrying out high-quality, cost-effective work which benefits host nationals, their institutions and educational systems.

Our team brings multiple advantages to USAID and host countries. Each of our five entities has rich experience with implementing multi-country and regional programs. We listen to USAID and host country needs, and have a history of helping organizations in developing and newly-independent nations hone their values, priorities and skills. Perhaps because we are smaller firms than some others, we believe we are generally easier to understand and work with. We all emphasize the fostering of good governance, democratic principles and transparency. We have good coverage and quality experience in all four major geographical regions in which USAID operates. Also, our international work represents a balance between formal and non-formal education.

For instance, MSI carried out the non-formal Youth Reintegration and Education for Peace (YRTEP) program in Sierra Leone (and is implementing the Mission’s follow-on project), DevTech recently completed the Technical and Vocational Education Project in Honduras in the wake of Hurricane Mitch devastation, and J&A is working worldwide with education-based child labor projects. The first two projects focus on job-oriented education and training, workforce development, vocational skills training and raising incomes. MSI is engaged in vocational training in Morocco until 2009 by helping implement USAID’s Advancing Learning and Education for the Future (ALEF) Project.

In the area of formal education, CRI has successfully worked in most of the Eastern European and former Soviet bloc countries, Asia and the Middle East; DevTech is implementing the USAID-funded Safe Schools Project in Africa and Latin America; and J&A was the prime contractor for the seven-year, just completed New Horizons Project, USAID/Jamaica’s principal basic education program. J&A is now conducting the follow-on program in Jamaica. CRI and other team partners have valuable experience with teacher and administrator training, critical thinking skills, interactive teaching and learning, and participatory approaches for students, parents and community groups. We have also worked with youth and adult literacy, notable attempts to make education interesting and fun, and successfully utilizing higher education institutions to strengthen basic education.

The J&A team has expertise and experience in a range of broad and specific services. We can conduct short-term technical assistance and analysis, as well as long-term comprehensive educational programs. The consortium and our members can carry out adroitly the gamut of strategy development, policy analysis, program design, baseline data collection, program implementation, advocacy, monitoring and reporting, evaluation and information dissemination.

Our five organizations have expertly conducted numerous studies, assessments, evaluations and visioning exercises, together with the workshops and training sessions which frequently accompany these activities. For example, Mariposa Consulting brings valuable expertise in performance monitoring and the creation of school and community level systems of information generation and use. The firm also offers expertise in the organization and training of field teams for national and cross-national data collection and analysis and in the integration of qualitative and quantitative data sets. MSI developed and operates for USAID the Certificate Course in Evaluation, USAID’s standard monitoring and evaluation course.

South-South collaboration is promoted because past experience has shown that people in developing countries learn more easily from others in similar circumstances. Finally, J&A and our partners wish to continue promoting educational reform by prompting real, positive changes in awareness, knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and practices in formal and non-formal education.

To inquire about or contract for our services, please feel free to download our brochure or contact the following individuals:

	Susan Shafi	Nicandro Juárez
	Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel	ABE/IQC
	Juárez & Associates, Inc.	Juárez & Associates, Inc.
	12139 National Boulevard	12139 National Boulevard
	Los Angeles, CA 90064	Los Angeles, CA 90064
	Tel: (310) 478-0826	Tel: (310) 478-0826
	Fax: (310) 479-1863	Fax: (310) 479-1863
	E-mail: sshafi@juarezassociates.com	E-mail: njuarez@juarezassociates.com