Request for Proposal - Endline Summative Evaluation & Impact Consultancy - RFPJOR2023475 - MENA Jobs For Worldwide Job Vacancies

WUSC is seeking qualified consultant(s) or a consulting firm to lead a mixed method endline evaluation and impact as per the Terms of Reference attached in Annex 1.

Eligibility and Qualification of Bidders
In order to be awarded the contract, bidders should possess the financial, economic, technical, and professional capacity to perform the contract. Bidders should fulfill their tax and social insurance liabilities in the country and should not currently be subject to a debarment penalty.
Bidders must adhere to the highest ethical standards, both throughout the bidding process and execution of the contract.
WUSC has zero tolerance for unethical behavior/corrupt practices including:

Bribery: the act of unduly offering, giving, receiving or soliciting anything of value to influence the procurement process;
Extortion or coercion: the act of attempting to influence the process of procuring goods or services, or executing contracts by means of threats of injury to person, property or reputation;
Fraud: misrepresentation of information or facts for the purpose of influencing the procurement process;
Collusion: an agreement between bidders designed to result in bids at artificial prices that are not competitive;
Guilt of misrepresentation in supplying the information required by the contracting authority as a condition of participation in the contract procedure or failing to supply this information;
Anti-terrorism: support of any terrorist or terrorist group as defined by donors;
Other civil, criminal acts or otherwise illegal activity which would be detrimental to the financial interests of WUSC

WUSC may declare the consultancy firms, their boards of directors and/or individual personnel ineligible to register with the organization either indefinitely or for a stated period of time.
WUSC will reject a proposal if it establishes that the bidder recommended for award has engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive, or coercive practices in competing for the contract.
Freelance consultants are eligible for this RFP.
Languageof the Proposal

The Proposal as well as all correspondence and documents related to the proposal shall be written in English Language.

Documents Included in the Proposal

The proposal will be prepared, submitted, and evaluated in two parts as follows:

Technical Proposal Format and Content

The Technical Proposal shall be prepared using the format provided below and shall comprise the documents listed**.** The Technical Proposal shall not include any financial information. A Technical Proposal containing material financial information shall be declared non-responsive.

Financial Proposal format and content

The Financial Proposal shall be prepared in the format below and it shall list all costs associated with the assignment, including (a) remuneration for Key Experts and Non-Key Experts, (b) reimbursable expenses as follows:

Summary of Costs
Breakdown of Remuneration of the key experts proposed
Reimbursable expenses if any

4.2.1 The prices given in the financial proposal must include all taxes and duties in accordance with the laws of the country.

4.2.2 The price offered must remain fixed during the contract performance.

4.2.3 The bid price must be in the requested Currency, which is Jordanian Dinar (JOD).

Clarification and Amendment

WUSC will, within 3 days, respond in writing or electronic mail to any request clarification received in writing or electronic mail no later than 7 days before the expiry of the deadline for submission of the bid. The response will be distributed to all bidders without identifying the source of the request. All inquiries should be written to WUSC through ([email protected])

Modification and Withdrawal
The bidder may submit a modified bid or a modification to any part of it at any time prior to the proposal submission deadline. The bidder’s withdrawal notice envelope must be marked as “Modification”. No modifications to the bid shall be accepted after the deadline.
The bidder may submit a bid withdrawal notice to any part of it at any time prior to the proposal submission deadline. The bidder’s withdrawal notice envelope must be marked as “Withdrawal”. No withdrawals to the bid shall be accepted after the deadline.
Payment and Currency
1. Payment under the Contract shall be made in the currency or currencies in the bid which is (JOD)
2. Payment will be made within 30 days upon submission of invoice and satisfactory receipt of goods.
Format, signing, and submission of Proposals
1. An authorized representative of the bidder shall sign the original submission letters in the required format as one original.
2. The original Technical Proposal shall be placed inside a sealed envelope clearly marked “TECHNICAL PROPOSAL” Tittle of assignment, name and address of the Consultant, and with a warning “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL November 29th 2023 16:00.
3. The original Financial Proposal shall be placed inside a sealed envelope clearly marked “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL” Tittle of assignment, name and address of the Consultant, and with a warning “DO NOT OPEN UNTIL November 29th 2023 16:00.
4. The sealed envelopes containing the Technical and Financial Proposals shall be placed into one outer envelope and sealed. This outer envelope shall be addressed to WUSC and bear the submission address, RFP reference number, the name of the assignment, the Consultant’s name and the address, and shall be clearly marked “Do Not Open Before November 29th 2023 16:00. The bidder will submit his bid in a sealed envelope which must be addressed and delivered to: WUSC Jordan Country Office.
Deadlinefor Submission of Bids

The sealed envelopes containing the bid shall be addressed to WUSC and bear the submission address, RFP reference number, and the name of the assignment, must be received by WUSC by November 29th 2023 at 4.00 pm. Bids received after this date will be rejected.

Proposals submitted must be valid for 90 days from the bid submission date.

Bid Opening
1. WUSC evaluation committee shall conduct the opening of the proposals immediately after the bid submission time in the presence of the bidder’s authorized representatives who choose to attend (in person, or online if this option is offered). The opening date, time, and address are stated above.
2. At the opening of the proposals, only the envelope with the Technical proposal shall be opened while Financial Proposal shall remain sealed and shall be securely stored. bids the following shall be read out: (i) the name and the country of the bidder (ii) any modifications to the bid submitted prior to the proposal submission deadline; (iii) the presence or absence of a duly sealed envelope with the Financial Proposal (iv) any other information deemed appropriate. This information will be filled in the bid opening form.
Evaluation of Technical Proposals
1. The evaluators of the Technical Proposals shall have no access to the Financial Proposals until the technical evaluation is concluded
2. The tender committee shall evaluate the Technical Proposals on the basis of their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference and the RFP, applying the evaluation criteria, sub-criteria, and point system specified below. Each responsive Proposal will be given a technical score.

A Proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to important aspects of the RFP or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score.

During evaluation of bids, WUSC may request of the bidder, in writing using the mailing address or email address, to provide clarification of his bid. No change in price or substance of the bid shall be sought, offered or permitted.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

Criteria, sub-criteria, and point system for the evaluation of the Technical Proposals:

Points

Technical (which includes; Pre-interview with the bidder, Relevance of education and experience, Experience in conducting end-line surveys and assessments that include quantitative and qualitative research evaluations, Experience in database management, Experience of working with UN/Donor Agencies/ INGOs – (70 points)
Financial Proposal (30 points)

Total points for the four criteria***:*** 100

The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is: 65

The minimum Overall score 70

Evaluation of Financial Proposals
1. The Financial Proposals of the bidders who attain the minimum technical scores are opened (can be made public to all bidders who participated, and if a public opening is called all bidders must be informed in advance of their technical scores and those qualifying informed that their financial proposals will be opened during the public opening and those who did not attain the minimum points are informed that their financial proposals will be returned unopened after the contracting process is complete ) and the summary of cost prices read out and recorded in the bid opening form by the tender committee. All other Financial Proposals are returned unopened after the Contract negotiations are successfully concluded and the Contract is signed.
2. Arithmetical errors will be rectified in the following manner. If there is a discrepancy between the unit price and the total price, obtained in multiplying the unit price by quantity, the unit price will prevail. If there is a discrepancy between the words and figures, the amount in words shall prevail. If the bidder disagrees with such his bid will be rejected.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

The lowest evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) is given the maximum financial score (Sf) of 100.

The formula for determining the financial scores (Sf) of all other Proposals is calculated as following:

Sf = 100 x Fm/ F, in which “Sf” is the financial score, “Fm” is the lowest price, and “F” the price of the proposal under consideration.

[or replace with another inversely proportional formula acceptable to the WUSC]

The weights given to the Technical (T) and Financial (P) Proposals are:

T = [70], and

P = _______[30]

Proposals are ranked according to their combined technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = the weight given to the Technical Proposal; P = the weight given to the Financial Proposal; T + P = 1) as following: S = St x T% + Sf x P%.

Confidentiality
1. No bidder will contact WUSC on any matter related to his bid except for requests related to clarifications of the bid. Information concerning procurement process and evaluation of bids is confidential. Any clarification related to the selection process, shall be done only in writing.
2. Any attempt by the bidder to influence improperly WUSC officials in the evaluation of the bid or Contract award decisions may result in the rejection of its bid, and may be subject to the application of prevailing WUSC’s debarment procedures.
Notification of Award
1. The Consultant with the Most Advantageous Proposal, which is the Proposal that achieves the highest combined technical and financial scores, will be notified of award of contract by WUSC in writing.
2. At the same time WUSC notifies the successful bidder, WUSC will notify all other unsuccessful bidders and provide a debrief where one is sought in writing within 3 days.
3. The notice of acceptance will be given by the successful bidder within 7 days of the notification of award.
Award of Contract
1. WUSC will award the contract to the bidder whose bid is determined to be substantially responsive and who offered the best evaluated bid.
2. WUSC reserves the right to accept or reject any bid or all bids and to cancel the bidding process at any time prior to award of the contact without thereby incurring any liability to bidders without being required to inform the bidders of reasons for such actions.
Signing of Contract and Performance Security
1. WUSC will send the successful bidder the Contract. The bidder will sign and date the contract and return to WUSC within 14 days of receipt of the notice of award.
2. Together with the signed Contract, the bidder will furnish WUSC with a Performance Security, if required to do so.
3. If the successful bidder fails to submit the performance security, if required to do so, within 14 days, then it shall be sufficient grounds to revoke the award of the contract. In this case, WUSC will award the contract to the next bidder.
4. A performance security may be required in cases where the supplier is given an advance payment. Performance Security must be in the form of a Bank Guarantee or a bond from an Insurance Company licensed by the Bank.
Settlement of Disputes

Disputes that may arise during the performance of the Contract shall be settled in accordance with the laws of the country, by arbitration or mutual agreement between the parties.

Compliances

Bidders must submit valid certificates of compliances from the relevant bodies as requested.

Annex 1: Terms of Reference (TOR)

Women’s Economic Linkages and Employment Development (WE LEAD)

An Endline Summative Evaluation & Impact Consultancy

Terms of Reference (PRJOR2023475)

Introduction

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a Canadian non-profit organization with a mission to foster human development and global understanding through education and training. Our programs and services improve access to and quality of education, expand employment opportunities and foster empowerment for youth. We work with and through our southern partners-government, civil society, and the private sector.

Vision: Our vision is a better world for all young people. It is a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world in which all young people, especially women and refugees, are empowered to secure a good quality of life for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Mission: We work with a diverse network of students, volunteers, institutions, governments, and businesses to improve education, economic, and empowerment opportunities for young people.

2. Project Background

The WE LEAD project covers a duration of seven-years between April 2017 and March 2024, with a budget of $9.993 million CAD. The project’s duration includes the two year no-cost extension of the project’s fifth year (October 2020) and the two year cost extension in December 2021 (to March 2024) with a focus on ensuring the sustainability of the project’s efforts that were approved and granted by Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

The WE LEAD project is designed and implemented by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and Canadian Leaders in International Consulting Inc. (CLIC) in collaboration with Jordanian project partners, including national and local governments, vocational training centers, the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA), the Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) , community organizations, and private sectors. The project has been designed to pilot targeted and sustainable interventions alongside key Jordanian partners, which can then be adapted and adopted by the stakeholders for wider dissemination and application.

WE LEAD’s ultimate outcome is to increase women’s economic empowerment in Jordan for sustainable economic growth for sustainable economic growth through two intermediate outcomes: Intermediate Outcome 1: “Increased employment of women by businesses in health and childcare sectors in East Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa” . Intermediate Outcome 2: “Reduced gender specific barriers to women entering into and remaining in the workforce”.

3. Theory of Change

The project’s main objective is to increase women’s employment opportunities in the health sector and childcare sector in East Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa by providing targeted market driven and gender sensitive training programs, and aims to reduce gender related barriers to women entering and remaining in the workforce, including affordable childcare, safe transportation, and social norms.

The WE LEAD theory of change takes a Systems Change approach which is predicated on fostering local partnerships, capitalizing and building on local initiatives and capacities, and acting as a facilitator rather than a delivery agent, to generate sustainable results. The project has been designed to pilot targeted and sustainable interventions alongside key Jordanian partners, which can then be adapted and adopted by the stakeholders for wider dissemination and application.

The project’s theory of change assumes that by strengthening the capacity of training providers (public and private) to offer gender-sensitive and market-driven training programs in close collaboration with private health sector and childcare partners, an increase in women’s employment opportunities in the health and childcare sectors will ensue.

Related to addressing the barriers that prevent women from participating and remaining in the workforce; the project’s theory of change assumes that by supporting the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) with its national program “Support and Activation of the Establishment of Nurseries in the Public and Private Sectors Project”, childcare options would become more accessible, and more women would be encouraged to engage in the labor market. Through supporting them in piloting a new innovative strategy of piloting and supporting home based nurseries in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa.

During years of implementation the WE LEAD project has supported its partner, the NCFA with an innovative strategy that would pilot and support home-based nurseries in Amman, Irbid and Zarqa. This investment will increase the number of women who start their own businesses in addition to contributing to the increase of the number of women employed in such nurseries. The investment can solve the key barriers that prevent women from entering and remaining in the workforce.

Additionally, WE LEAD’s theory of change aimed to increase the awareness of women’s economic prospects, gender-based violence, gender equality, and conflict mediation among women, their families, and communities by conducting outreach initiatives at the national and local levels.

4. Purpose and Objectives of the Endline Study

WUSC is seeking qualified consultant(s) or a consulting firm to lead a mixed method endline evaluation. This endline study is a contractual obligation included in the project’s Contribution Agreement (CA) with Global Affairs Canada. The purpose of the WE LEAD’s endline study is to provide key project stakeholders with evidence on the project’s achievements related to a set of expected outcomes and to empower them to collaboratively draw learnings and identify recommendations to foster sustainability after the closure of the activities. Aligned with this purpose, and based on the methodology designed for the baseline study as much as possible.

The endline evaluation presents an opportunity to assess the achievements of the WE LEAD project to determine its overall added value to increasing women’s empowerment for sustainable economic growth and it is expected to achieve four specific objectives:

To establish endline values and analysis for key performance indicators of the WE LEAD Performance Management Framework (PMF), as well as measures of the level of achievement of each target. Quantitative data should be triangulated with qualitative data gathered through Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews;
To assess the validity of the assumptions identified in the project’s Theory of Change (ToC) and validated at baseline;
To provide an overall assessment of WE LEAD, based on a set of the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria;
To identify lessons learned and recommendations for partners and stakeholders, to foster the sustainability of the achieved results and promote the replicability of successful interventions.

5. The Mandate of the Consultancy

The Consultant (or consultancy firm) will serve as the technical lead for this endline evaluation and will be responsible for revising and updating the methodology and tools developed for the baseline study, coordinating through WE LEAD Jordan office throughout the data collection and interpretation, analyzing the collected data, preparing a final consolidated report, and inserting the data into the Performance Measurement Framework. The Consultant will design and facilitate a plan in close collaboration with the WE LEAD team. Specifically, the mandate of the consultancy is to:

Revise/design the endline methodology and tools: Work with designated WE LEAD staff during an inception phase to revise the study design developed at baseline (including data collection methodologies, tools, data analysis plans, etc.) for the purposes of the endline study. This includes finalizing all timelines and necessary contingency plans;
Support in-country collaboration/input on endline design: Ensure collaborative adaptation of the overall endline design to the local context through the direct involvement of key project staff and identified implementing partner representatives;
Lead the data collection phase: The consultant will train enumerators who will be selected, recruited by WUSC Jordan to conduct the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data as required to fulfill the scope of the evaluation;
Guide data quality control processes: ensure quality during sampling, data collection, data entry, and preliminary data cleaning. Conduct data spot-checks and quality assurance on submitted datasets, following up as needed on data quality issues;
Conduct data analysis and compile consolidated findings: Analyze the all collected data in line with the endline data analysis plan, integrate the findings to create a final consolidated endline study report that meets the objectives outlined above.

The endline study will be managed by WUSC and CLIC, with close collaboration between WUSC’s MERL Advisor’ CLIC’s MERL Manager and WE LEAD Jordan’s MERL Team. A more detailed consultative and decision-making management structure with clear roles and responsibilities will be determined during the inception phase of the study.

6. Scope and Methodology of the Endline Study

The following elements should guide the revision of the design and implementation of this endline study:

The study should consciously apply qualitative and quantitative research methods that are gender and youth-sensitive, and engage as much as possible in participatory and consultative approaches;
The geographic scope of the study will be aligned with the targeted areas, training centers and individuals targeted by the project as laid out in the baseline report and all other relevant documents;
The data collection approaches and specific tools used to establish indicator endline values should be adapted to the local contexts, to assure the appropriateness and reliability of the data collected.

The endline study is expected to collect data for all outcome indicators in the PMF. Outcome statements, indicators, sources and data collection methods for each indicator are included in the project PMF and summarized below. While the Consultant, informed by discussions with the WE LEAD team is encouraged to make suggestions regarding methodological approaches and tools, the PMF outlines the following data collection methods or evidence streams that were used during the baseline and should ideally be replicated at endline as much as possible:

Literature and document review, including reference to rapid gender equality analyses conducted, baseline reports and annual reports, outcome monitoring reports as available, and extraction of data points from education management information systems, whenever available and appropriate;
Key informant interviews;
Facilitate small group or focus group discussions
Surveys.

The Consultant will be expected to review the methodology/tools used at baseline for collecting data on all WE LEAD’s Project Outcome Indicators and propose detailed refinements as appropriate, using a combination of the above mentioned qualitative and quantitative methods. The consultant is expected to propose adjustments in all data collection tools for which challenges were experienced during the baseline and that caused gaps in the baseline values and/or limitations in the interpretation of the findings. The indicators to be informed through the study include, but are not limited to, the following (the full list of indicators and final research questions will be shared with the selected consultant/s during the inception phase):

Percentage of women who are employed or self-employed in the health and child care sectors in the targeted locations (disaggregated by age).
Percentage of women that report their participation in different levels of household decision making, and the degree to which they feel they are able to make decisions in their household and personal domains in targeted locations (Level of decision making ability of women) (disaggregated by age).
Percentage of targeted female graduates employed 6 – 12 months after graduation in the health and child care sector(s) in the training programs in the targeted locations (disaggregated by age).
Percentage of women reporting improvements in the availability of child care services in targeted locations (disaggregated by age).
Percentage of women working at partner locations reporting improvements in their working conditions as a result of project interventions (disaggregated by age).
Percentage of instructors and other senior training providers staff with improved capacity to implement gender-sensitive training practices.
Percentage of participants trained reporting satisfaction with the quality of training provided (disaggregated by sex ).
Number of practices/programs adopted and applied by training providers.
Percentage of trained instructors accredited to deliver curricula in soft skills and/or financial literacy.
Level of satisfaction of local businesses with the quality and relevance of the skills of WE LEAD trainees.
Number of linkages created as a result of project interventions.
Number of improvements made to the training programs as a result of review sessions.
Percentage of annual enrollment of females in health and childcare sectors related training programs offered by targeted training providers.
Percentage of training participants who report satisfaction with the quality of training provided (disaggregated by age and by sector – child care/health)
Number of women benefiting from daycare/child care spots available to women through WE LEAD pilots
Percentage of trained employers and training providers staff with improved understanding of a more equitable, inclusive, and safe working conditions (disaggregated by stakeholder type).
Level of perceived importance of women’s economic empowerment and rights by parents and community membe

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