ITT FY24-189- International Day of the Girl- Research Survey

1. Background Information on Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child, but this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination, and its girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood, and we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years and are now active in more than 75 countries.

Read more about Plan International’s Global Strategy: Girls Standing Strong at https://plan-international.org/strategy

1. Summary of the Requirement

Each year Plan International launches a global ‘State of the World’s Girls’ report (SOTWG) for International Day of the Girl in October, as part of our Girls Get Equal campaign. One of the methods that we apply is collecting data through a closed-question survey.

1. ITT Overview and Instructions
2. Overview

Plan are looking for firms to partner with in undertaking these surveys going forward, the requirements are:

• The chosen firm needs to have access to a large pool of survey respondents, the sample preferred for 2024 is girls (aged between 15-19) and young women (aged between 20-24) – including LGBTIQ+, non-binary and girls with disabilities. However, please note from 2025 onwards, the sample may include boys (aged between 15-19) and young men (aged between 20-24).
• The preference would be for representative samples in countries if possible. The least we should aim to have should be samples representative in terms of sex assigned at birth (only potentially applicable from 2025 on), age, and location (this would include urban and rural). And if the pool of participants allow, then sexual orientation gender identity and disability status.
• The topic of the survey may change from year to year OR we may repeat the same survey across years. The current plan is for a differing topic in 2024 and possibly a repeated survey from 2025-2028. Please note the topic of the survey is subject to change and the plan for 2025 onwards could change.
• Correct ethical and consent and safeguarding procedures would need to be applied when working with the pool of respondents including up to 1-minute screening those aged 15-17 years for parental confirmation of age and parental consent.
• Firms would need to have global reach across the regions where Plan International works, these include North America, Africa & The Middle East, Asia, Europe and Oceania [See full list of countries in Annex A].
• The number of countries that we require survey data from would be between 10-20 countries and each country would require 1,000 responses where possible. If both boys and girls are required in the sample, we would like an even split between girls and boys.
• The survey data should be representative of the age groups and populations of each country, where possible.
• Ability to programme and translate the survey into local languages where applicable.
• The survey would be a closed question survey consisting of about 20 questions and need to be completed within a 2-week field period expected to take place in normally in February or early March year to year.
• Ability to collect survey responses via online, Computer Assisted Web-Interviewing (CAWI), SMS modalities, Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI), and Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) and the ability to change methods where necessary e.g. if low response rate is occurring from a method like SMS then Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI).
• Thorough data cleaning will need to be carried out before submitting the data sets to Plan International and data cleaning steps will need to be clearly traceable and shared with Plan International (e.g. in do files). Raw and cleaned data files would need to be delivered in a self-documented Stata, SPSS(and excel) data set for all survey data (from all open-ended and close-ended questions) having complete variable and value labels (agreed with the Plan research team), translated values and statistical weights incorporating population benchmarks (if applicable) .
• If possible – sharing final report with survey respondents.
• The provider will not need to input on analysis or report writing but may be asked for feedback on the questionnaire design and submit a methodology report. This report should include:
  • timeframe for data collection
  • Data collection methodology e.g CAWI, CATI etc
  • Consent safeguarding and ethics
  • training of data collectors (where applicable)
  • testing
  • translations and language used
  • quality assurance and data monitoring
  • sampling and weights (where applicable)
  • incentives to participants (where applicable)
  • information on databases/how you reach out to participants
  • Limitations

Plan can provide a report outline for the above if necessary.

Successful Bidder(s) will be expected to enter into a Long-Term Agreement with our organization. Plan International reserves the right not to award a contract as a result of this Invitation to Tender, or to award to multiple successful Bidders.

1. Instructions to Tenderers

These instructions are designed to ensure that all Bidders are given equal and fair consideration. It is the Bidders’ responsibility to ensure their offer is complete and that you provide all the necessary information asked for in the format specified, or risk your offer being rejected. Further details can be found in section 8 of this ITT document, ‘Submission Checklist.’

Women-owned businesses and companies actively engaged or advancing gender equality and women empowerment in the workplace are especially encouraged to apply.

Documents comprising this tender pack are as follows:

• ITT FY24-189- International Day of the Girl- Research Survey (Plan Tender Dossier)
• ANNEX A – Full List of Countries
• ANNEX B – Pricing Schedule. Please feel free to add other relevant columns for costs if needed.
• ANNEX C – Supplier Questionnaire
• ANNEX D – Non-Staff Code of Conduct
  1. Key Dates and Timelines

Tenderers are required to submit their proposal, inclusive of all required annexes, via email to [email protected]. Offers must be received by the deadline specified in the section ‘3.3 Key Dates and Timelines.’

The offer and all correspondence and documents related to the tender must be written in English.

Each Tenderer or member of consortium or sub-contractor may submit only one offer.

Unless stated otherwise, all communications from Bidders in relation to this tender, including Clarification Questions, must be directed to [email protected] and must include the ITT reference number: ITT FY24-189- International Day of the Girl- Research Survey.

The following table outlines the key dates and timelines associated with this tender process. Plan International reserves the right to change these at any time as the tender progresses. To maintain transparency, fairness, and adequate time to prepare your offers, Plan International will inform all interested Parties of any changes to these key dates and timelines simultaneously and in a timely fashion.

Activity

Deadline Date

Issue of Invitation to Tender

30/11/2023

Deadline for supplier submission of clarifications questions

07/12/2023

Deadline for Plan to respond to clarification questions

12/12/2023

Deadline for submission of offers

05/01/2024

Plan Review of Offers

08/01/2024 – 12/01/2024

Supplier presentations / interviews

15/01/2024 – 19/01/2024

Contract Award

22/01/2024 – 26/01/2024

1. Pricing

Bidders are required to complete the pricing schedule attached separately in ‘Annex B – Pricing Schedule.’ Please feel free to add other relevant columns for costs if needed. All prices must be quoted in GBP, and exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT).

It is expected that prices will be fixed for the duration of the contract and quotes valid for a maximum period of 90 calendar days following the Closing Date of this tender. If for any reason you are unable to guarantee fixed pricing for the duration of the contract, any projected price increases should be clearly stated in your tender.

To ensure a fair and transparent process, Plan International will not be able to divulge budget information relating to this tender or associated Projects. It is expected that Bidders submit their best possible financial offer at the point of submission.

The successful Bidder will be required to pay their staff who work on this contract at least the National Living Wage.

Please refer to ‘Annex A – Specifications’ for full details of the requirement.

1. Selection Criteria
2. Bids will be assessed against predetermined criteria which has been developed and agreed by the Tender Panel prior to launching this Tender process. The information gathered in ‘Annex B – Pricing Schedule’ and any other requested documentation, will be used to evaluate and score each Bid against this set criteria. Please find further details in the below table: