Haiti: Consultancy Services for an External Evaluation of the ECHO-Funded Project: "Support to Nationwide Cholera Support Activities"

1. Background and Rationale

1.1. Context

In October 2010, the first case of cholera was reported in Haiti which has led to one of the worst cholera epidemics in modern history. In 2013, some 47.3% of all reported cholera cases globally originated from Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Since the beginning of the outbreak, there have been 738,360 suspected cholera cases, with 8,771 reported cholera related deaths as reported by the Haitian Ministry of Health on 18 April 2015.

In February 2013, the Government of Haiti launched the National Plan for the Elimination of Cholera, a 10-year strategic plan outlining health, water and sanitation activities necessary to eliminate cholera and other diseases. The Government also developed a 2-year operational plan to prioritize key short-term activities for 2013-2015 to contain the disease. This plan aims to reduce the incidence of cholera from 3 to 0.5 per cent and to achieve 80 per cent coverage of treated water in cholera-affected areas.

Concerted efforts by national authorities and international partners have succeeded in drastically reducing the number of reported cholera cases – down from a peak of over 350,000 reported cases in 2011, to 27,388 reported cases for 2014 . This is a decrease of approximately 92% since 2011. However, despite significant strides made in addressing the cholera epidemic in Haiti, the underlying vulnerability due to poor access to potable water, improved sanitation and good quality health care remains similar to that observed in 2010 as demonstrated by the recent spikes in the capital Port au Prince in October and December 2014 and in January 2015.

While some areas of Haiti have seen a significant reduction in suspected cholera cases, there remain certain high-risk areas (West Department, Artibonite, North, Centre) which have accounted for 88% of all suspected cholera cases observed in 2014. In late 2014, large outbreaks in the West Department played a significant role in the transmission of cholera to the rest of the country. An analysis of the Port-au-Prince outbreaks identified contamination of water networks as a key driver in the propagation and proliferation of the outbreak.

1.2.Description of the project

In June 2013 UNICEF developed a strategy to support the two-year National Plan to eliminate cholera. This strategy is based on three pillars: reinforcement of coordination, rapid response activities following alerts including improved surveillance and prevention. The UNICEF strategy is also in line with the ten-year National Cholera Elimination plan.

The project: “Support to Nationwide Cholera Prevention and Response Activities”, supported by ECHO and other donors, started in January 2014 in support of the strategy with a principal objective to “Reduce the morbidity and the mortality of cholera within the Haitian population during the period of 2014-2015” and a specific objective to reduce “Reduce cholera morbidity (incidence rate below 0.5%) and mortality (case fatality rate below 1%) in Haiti through effective cholera response activities in 2014 -2015”.

The two key operational components of the project are strengthened coordination and effective rapid quality response to reported outbreaks. During the implementation of its cholera strategy, UNICEF's partner NGOs reinforced the roles of health and WASH authorities at departmental levels, which led to improved coordination and consequently increased efficiency of rapid response activities. UNICEF also reinforced the cholera coordination mechanism by organizing regular workshops among partners and providing capacity building activities to local actors.

UNICEF works through a network of 6 experienced NGOs in all ten departments to ensure rapid response to every alert. UNICEF's partner NGOs not only ensures rapid response activities, but have also been strengthening surveillance and implementing preventative measures such as community outreach and rehabilitation of water sources.

1.3.Rationale for the evaluation

UNICEF started the implementation of its current strategy two years ago, in June 2013. Despite the progress depicted above, cholera is still a major threat for the Haitian population.

To date, no evaluation has sought to undertake a systematic and independent assessment of UNICEF’s performance in coordinating this national operation. After two years of implementation of the strategy, it is an opportune moment for in-depth reflection on UNICEF’s achievements and gaps to date, in order to undertake an update the strategy for the period 2016-2017.

In this context, UNICEF and its partners are willing to evaluate the ongoing operation to better understand its weaknesses, strengths and the main barriers towards cholera elimination. Overall, this evaluation will evaluate the relevance and the impact of the implemented strategy to provide elements to adapt or design a new strategy for the next two years. The results will be used to improve the system of surveillance, coordination, response and monitoring.

1. Evaluation Objectives and Purpose

The evaluation aims to generate credible evidence for results achieved or not achieved by UNICEF in order to make concrete improvements towards the elimination of cholera in Haiti. This evaluation is not intended to assess the overall national cholera elimination plan of the Ministry of Health, rather it will give key elements to develop a new two-year strategy covering the period mid-2015/2017, which will be aligned with the second medium-term phase of the National Elimination Plan.

This evaluation will not seek to assess the impact of UNICEF’s role in the elimination of cholera, understood as changes in the conditions of the affected population as a direct consequence of UNICEF’s role in coordination and rapid response. It will instead examine UNICEF’s *effectiveness*in facilitating cholera coordination, in strengthening rapid response mechanisms and achieving planned results.

This evaluation will serve a dual purpose of promoting continued learning and accountability through assessing the process as well as the effectiveness of the implementation of UNICEF cholera strategy, while allowing UNICEF to formatively drawing lessons and strengthening its role in the implementation of future strategies.

Toward this end, the evaluation’s objective will be to assess, as systematically and objectively as possible, the overall operation performance using the following UNEG/CAD quality criteria:

• Criteria 1: Relevance
• Criteria 2: Effectiveness
• Criteria 3: Efficiency
• Criteria 4: Connectedness
• Criteria 5: Coordination

The evaluation will broadly answer the following evaluation questions:

• 1. Relevance:To what extent is UNICEF’s project aligned with recent epidemiological knowledge of cholera in Haiti? How does UNICEF ensure implemented actions are adapted to the need of the affected population? Is the program showing enough flexibility to permanently ensure relevance of actions versus the needs at both national and department levels?
  
• 2. Effectiveness: To what degree has UNICEF’s strategy contributed to improve cholera response, including in clearer accountability, response quality and strengthened capacity and partnership between cholera response actors? To what extent is UNICEF’s strategy achieving the intended objectives, both immediate and longer-term?
• 3. Efficiency: How effectively has UNICEF harnessed the resources at its disposal to fulfil its

responsibility as successfully as possible? To what extent can it show value-for-money for its investments to date, and to what extent has it actively identified the most cost-effective means of achieving operation success?

• 4. Connectedness: How closely aligned is UNICEF’s strategy with the MSPP cholera elimination plan? How clearly linked is UNICEF’s cholera control and response strategy with other relevant initiatives/strategies (such as the National Sanitation Campaign, the long-term WASH projects funded by UNICEF, the DINEPA Household water treatment strategy, the World Bank, BID and AECID wash programs) and partners both within and outside the Organisation? How is the emergency response strategy coordinated with longer-term initiatives?
• 5. Coordination: Is there evidence of comparative advantages between a UNICEF-led coordination and a direct ECHO funded groups of NGOs? To what extent has UNICEF-led strategy enhanced coverage of humanitarian needs, both in terms of geographic and programmatic coverage? Is there evidence of WASH-HEALTH coordination improvement under this project? Is the coordination with GoH improved via this operation?

The main client for this evaluation will be the UNICEF office in Haiti and the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission. Other key intended users of this evaluation include the Haitian Ministry of Health, the Haitian National Directorate for Water and Sanitation, UNICEF NGOs partners, the Assistance Publique et Hopitaux de Marseille as the UNICEF scientific partner, and other donors contributing to the overall response strategy (DFID, OCHA).

2. Methodology

The evaluation will be staged in three phases: the Inception Phase, the Data Collection and Analysis Phase, and the Reporting Phase.

During the Inception Phase, in addition to exploring traditional scoping issues (e.g., further specification of evaluation questions, articulation of specific methods and data points to answer the evaluation questions, and so on) and an action plan for conducting the exercise, the evaluation team will undertake a rapid evaluability assessment. This evaluability component will be aimed at convening key stakeholders to develop and agree on the logic model to be used to measure UNICEF’s cholera strategy performance, and what the state of the data is for assessing such performance at each phase. This rapid evaluability exercise will be part of an Inception Report that the evaluation team will prepare for review by the intended clients.

In the data collection and analysis phase, the evaluation will employ a mixed-method approach entailing triangulation of the most appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods, so as to derive the best perceptual and documentary evidence available for measuring UNICEF’s performance. Although the Inception Report will be a platform for identifying the precise data sources the evaluation team will use to answer each of the evaluation questions, at minimum these sources will include the following:

**Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)**and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)with key stakeholders, in person or by telephone or Skype. Key stakeholders will include, but not limited to, UNICEF staff, Regional Office (RO) and Country Office (CO) levels, national and sub- nationals authorities (MSSP, DINEPA staff), donors, civil society (UNICEF and non UNICEF partners / WASH and Health partners, local/international, CBO’s) , and directly affected populations’ voices (including children’s).

**Formal Document Review**, not to be conflated with more informal desk review (i.e., background reading). Formal desk review entails the systematic review of key documents (or a sample thereof) — such as strategic policy documents, plans, project proposals, reports, meeting materials, lessons learned, and previous UNICEF-led and inter- agency evaluative exercises. Data collection tools are used to document or code the qualitative and quantitative data obtained in the review.

**Direct Observation**of UNICEF activities, as well as UNICEF partners activities to inform the analysis on how UNICEF provides leadership and contribute to the elimination plan. Wherever applicable, the evaluation team will develop and use a checklist-type tool to record and compare observations. UNICEF’s partners’ activities will be also evaluated based on their performance and respect of the strategy.

KIIs, FGDs and direct observations will be done mainly during the proposed field missions which are supposed to cover both the national level and the 10 departments of intervention.

4. ETHICAL ISSUES

· Care should be taken when reporting statements or interviews[1]. When in doubt, it is recommended to feedback to the informant and ask them to confirm their statements.

· All informants will be offered the option of confidentiality, for all methods used.

· No participant other than UNICEF staff may be compelled to cooperate with the evaluation.

· Dissemination or exposure of results and of any interim products must follow the rules agreed upon in the contract. In general, unauthorized disclosure is prohibited.

· Any sensitive issues or concerns should be raised with the evaluation management team as soon as they are identified.

5. Management and Governance Arrangements

The evaluation will be managed by the Chief of Emergency, UNICEF Haiti, who will oversee the day-to-day progress of the evaluation from start to finish, including quality assurance of the evaluation team’s work, management of stakeholder relations, and efforts to ensure the credibility and utilization of the evaluation.

One Reference Group will be established, with both internal and external stakeholders, to help strengthen the relevance, accuracy and hence credibility of the evaluation. The Reference Group will serve in an advisory capacity, their main responsibility being to review and comment on the main evaluation outputs (i.e., this ToR, the Inception Report, and the draft and final reports). Additionally, members of the Reference Group might be asked to assist with the recruitment of the evaluation team.

The UNICEF Evaluation Office will be kept abreast of the evaluation’s progress on a regular basis, and will be consulted on the evaluation outputs by the Reference Group members.

6. Risks, Challenges and Opportunities

The UNICEF Country Office anticipates several risks in the management of this evaluation that will need to be monitored and addressed in the course of the evaluation process. First and foremost, external factors triggering cholera spikes (meteorology, political situation and government changes, partners’ constraints and limitations) can represent a challenge in determining what to hold UNICEF to account for at different times. The electoral context Haiti is entering into represents a serious risk for the timely and appropriate implementation of the field mission. To address this risk the evaluation team will need to begin this evaluation with a rapid context assessment which will be discussed during the kick-off meeting in order to adapt the timing and trips to the evolving context.

Furthermore, in looking backward the evaluation will focus primarily on the period since June 2013, rather than exhaustively reconstructing evidence of results in earlier periods when monitoring data might not have existed. However, this point will be also discussed during the evaluability exercise included in the kick-off meeting in order to agree on the period to be evaluated and data sources to be used.

Further, timing constitutes another potential risk for this evaluation, as it must be completed by September 2015. Toward this end, the CO will provide the necessary support to the evaluation team to prevent any delays in the completion of the evaluation process. In particular, the CO will be proactive in gathering secondary data for the evaluation team and ensuring smooth and efficient country visits. The CO will also ensure effective and efficient communications with the partners, so as to prevent any delays in the review of the evaluation outputs. The CO might also provide some back office analysis support and some support in data collection in the field, if needed, in order to finalize the evaluation on time. However, the support provided by the CO will depend on the level of emergencies in the country since the internal coordinating body for this evaluation is the Emergency section.

7. Deliverables and Timeframe

The evaluation team will generate the following major outputs that will be reviewed by the UNICEF CO and ECHO Haiti before being disseminated more widely. These outputs are:

• An Inception Report of maximum 10 pages, excluding annexes. The inception report will outline the evaluation team’s understanding of UNICEF’s strategy and role at country level. It will include a desk review of previous evaluative exercises related to the cholera epidemic in Haiti, a stakeholder analysis to identify priorities and possible constraints, a logic model of analysis to assess UNICEF’s performance (and its partners as the whole operation is assessed), a proposed work-plan and timeframe for the evaluation. In the Inception Report the evaluation team will also include a data analysis plan articulating the specific methods and data sources it will use answering each of the questions in Section IV, including any proposed modifications to these.
• A Power-Point Presentationthat will be used by the evaluation team to present preliminary findings to key stakeholders in a participatory validation workshop with the Reference group in Port au Prince at the end of country visits.
• A Draft Reportof maximum 50 pages that outlines clear evidence-based conclusions and findings, SMART recommendations for the project and the overall strategy, and a crisp, clear and compelling Executive Summary. The draft report will be reviewed by the Reference group.
• A second Draft Reportincorporating the comments made to the previous draft, along with a response matrix to these comments.
• A Final Reportincorporating the final comments.
• A Power-Point Presentationpresenting the evaluation to key stakeholders.
• A short synopsis of the Final Report,to be translated in French and published by UNICEF CO for external circulation to UNICEF’s partners and other stakeholders.

The timeframe below sets out the critical components of the evaluation.

The evaluation is proposed in two field phases: a first one end of July 2015 for a kick off meeting which includes the evaluability exercise and preparation of the longer field mission in starting one month later. This timeframe is proposed due to summer holidays period in August during which many partners will not be present in Haiti.Final dates will be revised once the evaluation team will be contracted for the evaluation.

Figure 1 – Evaluation Timeframe

Recruiting and contracting consulting team10 July 2015 Kick off Skype conference, Desk Review of existing documents and material 13 July -18 July 2015 Kick off evaluation in Port au prince, haiti: scoping, expectation, planning with partners (preparatory meeting with partners on 21 July, submission of inception report on 25 July 21-25 July 2015 Undertake data collection, including field missions in the departments 31 August-132 September 2015 Undertake data analysis and draft report 14– 19 september 2015 Participatory validation workshop in Port au Prince 22 September 2015 Deliver first Draft Report 28 September 2015 Deliver second Draft Report 05 October 2015 Deliver Final Report 12 October 2015

8. Dissemination and Use

The final report for this evaluation will be published online and be publically available on UNICEF’s website, with the executive summary of the report translated in French. The final report will make maximum use of relevant images, graphics and other visuals to communicate the analysis clearly and concisely. The synopsis of the final report will also be translated in French, printed and shared with UNICEF’s partners and ECHO to enhance use and utilization of the evaluation. That said, it is paramount that all these products are, not only based on solid evidence, but also well written and that findings and recommendations are SMART.

Lastly, it is expected that a standard management response will be developed and implemented as per UNICEF’s Evaluation Policy, led by the Country Office Representative.

9. Evaluation Team

The UNICEF CO will hire an evaluation team comprising of three to four members to conduct this evaluation, including: 1 senior-level team leader expert in cholera response programs; 1 or more senior-level team members; and 1 or more data analysts.

The team leader will work on the evaluation full time from start to finish, and in a timely and high-quality manner. S/He will be responsible for managing and leading the evaluation team, undertaking the bulk of the data collection and analysis, as well as report drafting and editing. The senior team leader will also be responsible for data collection and analysis and s/he will contribute to drafting the report. The other team members will be responsible for carrying out most of the back-office support, conducting desk reviews, and assisting the team with data collection and data analysis. In addition, national consultants may be employed for in-country support during the country visits.

The evaluation team will comprise the following expertise and skills:

· Extensive evaluation experience in humanitarian approaches and programmes, especially in the area of emergency response to epidemics;

· In-depth knowledge of the cholera disease dynamics, WASH and public health issues;

· At least one member of the core evaluation team has previous significant experience in Haiti;

· Extensive technical and practical organizational development expertise and leadership, in order to help UNICEF think creatively about potential alternatives to its current strategy modalities;

· Proven experience and institutional knowledge of UN and NGOs, at both headquarters and field locations;

· Proven expertise in facilitating participative workshops for similar organizations and exercises;

· Excellent writing and communication skills in French and English; Haitian Creole an asset.

· Extensive experience conveying complex evaluation analyses clearly and compellingly, including through the use of clear graphics and visual media

10.Cost Proposal

The cost proposal will be divided into two parts: (1) fixed costs-central management, coordination costs, overhead costs; (2) reimbursable costs-fees for study team experts, travel and miscellaneous costs for countries.

The currency of the proposal shall be in US Dollars. The proposer will suggest a payment schedule for the Contract, linked to unambiguous Contract milestones. Invoicing will be in US Dollars. Payment will be effected by bank transfer in US Dollars.

UNICEF reserves itself the right to award/split the Contract to one or more companies.

Please be reminded that UNICEF has limited funds for this study, as UNICEF is a non-profit making organisation, raising all its funds through voluntary contributions. UNICEF is looking for a cost-effective proposal.

The Cost Proposal must include detailed item-wise quotations, based on the terms of reference and other relevant documents. Please note that subsistence rates (lodging, food, local transport, incidentals) will be based on official and prevailing United Nations rates. The rates prevailing as of 01.06.2015 should be used for purposes of costing the contract.

Your quotation will be considered a firm high ceiling limit for the project and not subject to revision.

All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes as UNICEF is a tax-exempt organisation.

Payment will be made only upon UNICEF's acceptance of the work performed in accordance with the Contract milestones. The terms of payment are Net 30 days, after receipt of invoice and acceptance of work.

[1]*UNICEF Procedure for Ethical Standards in Research, Evaluation and Data Collection and Analysis*, UNICEF Office of Research, 2015

PROPOSAL FORM

THIS PROPOSAL FORM must be completed, signed and returned to UNICEF(please contact kdaniel@unicef.org to obtain documents if needed).

Proposal must be made in accordance with the instructions contained in this INVITATION.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONTRACT

Any contract resulting from this INVITATION shall contain UNICEF General Terms and Conditions and any other specific Terms and Condition detailed in the INVITATION.

INFORMATION

Any request for information regarding this INVITATION must be forwarded by e-mail to the attention of the person identified above, with specific reference to the Invitation number. See section 7, Changes and Alterations (p. 10) for full details on contact procedures.

The Undersigned, having read the Terms and Conditions of RFP-HTI-2015-9119452 set out in the attached document, hereby offers to execute the services specified in the Terms and Conditions set out in the document.

Signature: \*********__***************

Date: \*********__***************

Name & Title: \*********__***************

Company: \*********__***************

Postal Address: \*********__***************

Tel No: \*********__***************

Fax No: \*********__***************

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Please indicate after having read UNICEF Terms of Payment stated in document, which of the following terms are offered by you

10 days 3.0%**_** 15 days 2.5%**_** 20 days 2.0%**_** 30 days net**_**

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FOREWORD

UNICEF is the agency of the United Nations mandated to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child UNICEF strives to establish children's rights as international standards of behavior towards children. UNICEF's role is to mobilize political will and material resources to help countries ensure a "first call for children". UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children.

UNICEF carries out its work through its headquarters in New York, 8 regional offices and 125 country offices worldwide. UNICEF also has a research centre in Florence, a supply operation based in Copenhagen and offices in Tokyo and Brussels. Its 37 committees for UNICEF raise funds and spread awareness about the organization's mission and work.

Table of Contents Page

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS: ..................................................................................... 5

1. INFORMATION IN THE PROPOSAL ............................................................ 5
2. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS …………………………………………… 6
3. CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION …………………………………………. 7
4. VALIDITY …………………………………………………………………… 7
5. FORCASTED SCHEDULE …………………………………………………... 7
6. CHANGES AND/OR ALTERATION ……………………………………….. 8
7. REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………… 8
8. CONTRACT AND PAYMENT ………………………………………………. 8
9. WORKING ARRANGEMENTS ……………………………………………… 8
10. RIGHTS OF UNICEF …………………………………………………………. 8
11. PROPOSER’S REPRESENTATION …………………………………………. 8
12. FULL RIGHTS TO USE AND SELL ………………………………………… 8
13. PROPERTY OF UNICEF……………………………………………………… 9
14. POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS… ………………………………….. 9

TERMS OF REFERENCE …………………………………………………. 10

1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE ……………………………. 10
2. EVALUATION OBJECTIVE AND PURPOSE ………………….. 11
3. METHODOLOGY ………………………………………………… 13
4. ETHICAL ISSUES ………………………………………………… 13
5. MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS ….. 14
6. RISKS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ………………. 14
7. DELIVERABLES AND TIMEFRAME ………………………….. 15
8. DISSEMINATION AND USE …………………………………… 16
9. EVALUATION TEAM …………………………………………… 16
10. COST PROPOSAL ……………………………………………….. 17

ANNEXES

ANNEX I : UNICEF GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS ……...... 18

ANNEX II: BID SUBMISSION FORM …………………………………. 24

ANNEX III: BIDDERS IDENTIFICATION FORM ……………………. 25

ANNEX IV: FORMAT OF BIDDER’S PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AND CLIENTS.. 26

ANNEX V: PRICE SCHEDULE FORM …………………………………………….. 27

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

IF THIS REQUEST WAS DELIVERED TO THE WRONG ADDRESS, we request that it be promptly re-directed to the person responsible for this field of activity within your organization. We apologize for any inconvenience.

1. Information in the Proposal

The proposer must provide sufficient information in the proposal to demonstrate compliance with the requirements set out in each section of this Request for Proposal.

The proposal shall include, as a minimum:

1. PROPOSAL FORM

The proposal should be submitted in the English or the French language in an electronic pdf version in two different files protected with a password.

File 1: LRPS 2015-9119452-Technical Proposal

File 2: LRPS 2015-9119452-Cost and Financial Proposal

Bidders are invited to send by email at bidhti@unicef.org with copy to kdaniel@unicef.org their protective password on 03.07.2015 at 10:00 Haiti time.

1. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL:

2.1. Proposed methodology, expanding on the outline provided here, and including key assumptions, and proposals for document analysis, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, stakeholder participation, building consensus, feedback and reporting.

2.2. Composition of Evaluation Team, CV/Résumés of all evaluation team members, highlighting experience relevant to this evaluation. Individual CVs should not exceed 4 pages.

2.3. Managerial aspects.

2.4. Evaluation work plan, showing tasks, timelines and allocation of work to team members.

2.5. A sample report from a prior consultancy assignment with content directly relevant to this evaluation and completed by one or more of the proposed team members.

2.6. Contact details of at least two references from among recent employers or clients for each team member.

1. PRICE PROPOSAL

3.1 The technical proposal and the price offer must be separate. The technical proposal shall not contain any price information.

1. TERMS AND CONDITIONS

4.1. Compliance with UNICEF General Terms and Conditions.

1. CORPORATE PROFILE

5.1. Information as requested under “Terms of Reference”, Section 4.0

5.2. Certificate of incorporation.

5.3. Copy of the latest audited financial statements.

1. COST AND FINANCIAL PROPOSAL (to be submitted under separate cover)

6.1. classification and rates for team members;

6.2. duration of work for each team members;

6.3. cost of travel, including subsistence allowances, travel by air, road, etc..

6.4. overhead, general and administrative expenses

6.5. miscellaneous expenses

2. Evaluation of the Proposal

UNICEF invites Proposals from suitably qualified companies with substantial consultancy experience in evaluations in line with the Terms of Reference. Individual consultants may not apply unless joined together as a collaborative group. Please see section 4 of the Terms of Reference for details on who may bid and how a collaborative group must present itself.

The selection of successful proposal will be based on the quality of the proposal, the profile of the proposed team, and on cost.

2.1. TECHNICAL EVALUATION

Technical proposals will be rated before financial offers are assessed.

The technical assessment of the proposals will use the following criteria and weighting:

CriteriaWeighting % Proposed methodology (relevance, logic, rigor, practicality, creativity) 40 Team profile (as per evaluation profile) 35 Evaluation work plan (clarity, fit with timetable, resource allocation) 15 Sample report (clarity, relevance) 10

UNICEF may request additional information from the proposer and/or arrange interviews with the proposer.

Each Proposal will be evaluated against a weight allocation of 60% for the technical proposals and 40% for the price proposal. The total maximum obtainable points is 100.

Technical ProposalPrice Proposal 60 points 40 points

The UNICEF evaluation team will select the Proposal which is of high quality, clear and meets the stated requirements and offers the best combination of technical and price score.

2.2. FINANCIAL evaluation

The maximum score will be assigned to the lowest priced proposal; all other price proposals receive scores in inverse proportion according to the following formula:

Maximum score for

Price Proposal X Price of lowest Priced Proposal

Score for Price Proposal X = -----------------------------------------------------------------

Price of Proposal X

2.3. Award of Contract and Final Considerations

The final score will be the addition of the technical and price scores then the overall highest score (Proposal offering the Best Value for Money) will be recommended for award of contract.

3. Confidential Information

Information which the proposer considers proprietary must be marked clearly "proprietary" next to the relevant part of the text, and UNICEF will then treat such information accordingly.

4. Validity

Proposals shall remain valid for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of closing for the Proposals.

5. FORECASTED SCHEDULE

Launch of the request for proposal: 18 June 2015

Closing date and time: 03 July 2015, 14: 00

Opening: 03 July 2015, 14:30

Signature of contract: 10 July 2015 [estimated]

Completion of work and submission of all deliverables: 12 October 2015

6. Changes and/or Alterations

All requests for changes or alterations to the Request for Proposal or requests for clarifications must be submitted in writing by e-mail to bidhaiti@unicef.org, with copy to kdaniel@unicef.org.

Only written inquiries will receive an answer. All inquiries and answers will be provided to all invitees in writing, regardless of the source of the inquiry.

7. References

UNICEF reserves the right to contact the references, without notifying the Proposer.

8. CONTRACT AND PAYMENT

A lump sum contract will be agreed with the successful consultant. The contract will be issued to an institution, Consultancy Company or other corporate entity, which will take full responsibility for the conduct of the evaluation and the production of evaluation products. (Teams of independent consultants may only apply where they apply under a corporate identity). The evaluation team will manage its own travel arrangements in close coordination with UNICEF.

Payment will be by results. Payment will be made in stages with allotments corresponding to the completion of key intermediate phases and products. Dates and sums will be negotiated with the consultant. Financial proposals should include proposed stage payments.

9. Working Arrangements

The Evaluation Team will be expected to provide its own equipment. When the Evaluation Team is required to work in UNICEF offices, space will be provided.

10. Rights of UNICEF

UNICEF reserves to right to accept any proposal, in whole or in part; or, to reject any or all proposals. UNICEF also reserves the right to negotiate with the Proposer who has submitted the best proposal. UNICEF shall not be held responsible for any cost incurred by the Proposer in preparing the response to this Request for Proposal. The Proposer agrees to be bound by the decision of UNICEF as to whether her/his proposal meets the requirements stated in this Request for Proposal.

11. Proposer’s Representations

The proposer represents and warrants that it has the personnel, experience, qualifications, facilities, financial resources and all other skills and resources to perform his or her obligations under any resulting Contract.

12. Full Right to Use and Sell

The proposer warrants that it has not and shall not enter into any agreement or arrangement that restrains or restricts UNICEF or the recipient Governments rights to use, sell dispose of or otherwise deal with any item that may be acquired under any resulting Contract.

13. Property of UNICEF

This Request for Proposal, inquiries and answers and the Proposals are considered the property of UNICEF. All materials submitted in response to this Request shall remain with UNICEF.

14. POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS

The United Nations (UN) has established restrictions on employment of (former) UN staff who have been involved in the procurement process as per bulletin ST/SGB/2006/15.

For a period of one year following separation from service, former staff members who have participated in the procurement process for the UN before separation of the service are prohibited from seeking or accepting employment with, or otherwise accepting any form of compensation or financial benefit from, any UN contractor or vendor of goods and services, regardless of location, which conducts business with the UN or seeks to do so and with whom such staff members have been personally involved in the procurement process during the last three years of service with the UN.

For a period of two years following separation from service, former staff members who have participated in the procurement process for the UN before separation of the service are prohibited from knowingly communicating with, or appearing before, any staff member or unit of the UN on behalf of any third party on any particular matters that were under their official responsibility relating to the procurement process during the last three years of their service with the UN.

The United Nations respectfully requests all contractors and vendors to adhere to these regulations. Any UN contractor or vendor who offers employment, hires or otherwise compensates staff members in violation of the provisions of the bulletin may be subject to having its registration as a qualified vendor with the UN barred, suspended or terminated, in accordance with UN procurement policies and procedures.

[1] The minimum period is 90 days from the date of opening.