REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS “Consultancy to conduct the Annual review of the project: Together for Equality: Preventing and Responding to GBV”

International Organization for Migration

GPSU.SF-19.5

s

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

(PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES)

For Simple Assignments

SERVICES FOR

Consultancy to conduct the Annual review of the project: Together for Equality: Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Timor-Leste

Prepared by

IOM Timor-Leste

UN House, Building 09, Caicoli Street, Dili, Timor-Leste

26th May 2022

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

RFP No.: TL-003/22

Mission: Timor-Leste

Project Name: Together for Equality: Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Timor-Leste

WBS: DR.0046.TL10. Q1.03.001

Title of Services: Annual review of the project: Together for Equality: Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Timor-Leste

Request for Proposals

The International Organization for Migration (hereinafter called IOM) intends to hire Service Provider for the project Together for Equality: Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence in Timor-Leste for which this Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued.

IOM now invites Service Providers/ Consulting Firms to provide Technical and Financial Proposal for the following Services: Annual Review of the project. More details on the services are provided in the attached Terms of Reference (TOR).

The Service Provider /Consulting Firm will be selected under a Quality –Cost Based Selection procedures described in this RFP.

The RFP includes the following documents:

Section I. Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms

Section II. Technical Proposal – Standard Forms

Section III. Financial Proposal – Standard Forms

Section IV. Terms of Reference

Section V. Standard Form of Contract

The Proposals must be delivered by email to [email protected] on or before 10 June 2022 at 23.59 hrs (Timor-Leste time). No late proposal shall be accepted.

IOM reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and to annul the selection process and reject all Proposals at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to affected Service Providers/ Consulting Firms

Aishath Ihma Shareef

Chief of Mission

IOM is encouraging companies to use recycled materials or materials coming from sustainable resources or produced using a technology that has lower ecological footprints.

Table of Contents

Section I – Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms. 5

Section II – Technical Proposal Standard Forms. 14

Section III. Financial Proposal – Standard Forms. 21

Section IV. Terms of Reference. 26

Section V – Pro-forma Contract 31

Section I – Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms

  1. Introduction

1.1 Only eligible Service Providers/ Consulting Firms may submit a Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal for the services required. The proposal shall be the basis for contract negotiations and ultimately for a signed contract with the selected Consultant Firm.

    1. Service Providers/ Consulting Firms should familiarize themselves with local conditions and take them into account in preparing the proposal. Service Providers/ Consulting Firms are encouraged to visit IOM before submitting a proposal and to attend a pre-proposal conference if is specified in Item 2.3. of this Instruction.

1.3 The Service Providers/ Consulting Firms costs of preparing the proposal and of negotiating the contract, including visit/s to the IOM, are not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment.

1.4 Service Providers/ Consulting Firms shall not be hired for any assignment that would be in conflict with their prior or current obligations to other procuring entities, or that may place them in a position of not being able to carry out the assignment in the best interest of the IOM.

1.5 IOM is not bound to accept any proposal and reserves the right to annul the selection process at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms.

    1. IOM shall provide at no cost to the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm the necessary inputs and facilities, and assist the Firm in obtaining licenses and permits needed to carry out the services and make available relevant project data and report (see Section V. terms of reference).
  2. Corrupt, Fraudulent, and Coercive Practices

2.1 IOM Policy requires that all IOM Staff, bidders, manufacturers, suppliers or distributors, observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of all contracts. IOM shall reject any proposal put forward by bidders, or where applicable, terminate their contract, if it is determined that they have engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices. In pursuance of this policy, IOM defines for purposes of this paragraph the terms set forth below as follows:

  • Corrupt practice means the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or indirectly, of any thing of value to influence the action of the Procuring/Contracting Entity in the procurement process or in contract execution;
          • Fraudulent practice is any act or omission, including a misrepresentation, that knowingly or recklessly misleads, or attempts to mislead, the Procuring/Contracting Entity in the procurement process or the execution of a contract, to obtain a financial gain or other benefit to avoid an obligation; – Collusive practice is an undisclosed arrangement between two or more bidders designed to artificially alter the results of the tender procedure to obtain a financial gain or other benefit;
          • Coercive practice is impairing or harming, or threatening to impair or harm, directly or indirectly, any participant in the tender process to influence improperly its activities in a procurement process, or affect the execution of a contract
  1. Conflict of Interest

3.1 All bidders found to have conflicting interests shall be disqualified to participate in the procurement at hand. A bidder may be considered to have conflicting interest under any of the circumstances set forth below:

  • A Bidder has controlling shareholders in common with another Bidder;
  • A Bidder receives or has received any direct or indirect subsidy from another Bidder;
  • A Bidder has the same representative as that of another Bidder for purposes of this bid;
  • A Bidder has a relationship, directly or through third parties, that puts them in a position to have access to information about or influence on the Bid of another or influence the decisions of the Mission/procuring Entity regarding this bidding process;
  • A Bidder submits more than one bid in this bidding process;
  • A Bidder who participated as a consultant in the preparation of the design or technical specifications of the Goods and related services that are subject of the bid.

4. Clarifications and Amendments to RFP Documents

4.1 At any time before the submission of the proposals, IOM may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification amend the RFP. Any amendment made will be made available to all short-listed Service Providers/ Consulting Firms who have acknowledged the Letter of Invitation.

4.2. Service Providers/ Consulting Firms may request for clarification(s) on any part of the RFP. The request must be sent in writing or by standard electronic means and submitted to IOM at the address indicated in the invitation at Five (5) calendar days] before the set deadline for the submission and receipt of Proposals . IOM will respond in writing or by standard electronic means to the said request and this will be made available to all those who acknowledged the Letter of Invitation without identifying the source of the inquiry.

  1. Preparation of the Proposal

5.1 A Service Provider/ Consulting Firm Proposal shall have two (2) components:

  1. the Technical Proposal, and
  2. the Financial Proposal.

5.2 The Proposal, and all related correspondence exchanged by the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms and IOM, shall be in*. English*. All reports prepared by the contracted Service Provider/ Consulting Firm shall be in English.

5.3 The Service Providers/ Consulting Firms are expected to examine in detail the documents constituting this Request for Proposal (RFP). Material deficiencies in providing the information requested may result in rejection of a proposal.

  1. Technical Proposal

6.1 When preparing the Technical Proposal, Service Providers/ Consulting Firms must give particular attention

to the following:

  1. If a Service Provider/ Consulting Firm deems that it does not have all the expertise for the assignment, it may obtain a full range of expertise by associating with individual consultant(s) and/or other consultants or entities in a joint venture or sub-consultancy, as appropriate. Service Providers/ Consulting Firms may associate with the other consultants invited for this assignment or to enter into a joint venture with consultants not invited, only with the approval of IOM. In case of a joint venture, all partners shall be jointly and severally liable and shall indicate who will act as the leader of the joint venture.[1]
  2. For assignment of the staff, the proposal shall be based on the number of professional staff-months estimated by the firm, no alternative professional staff shall be proposed.
  3. It is desirable that the majority of the key professional staff proposed is permanent employees of the firm or have an extended and stable working relationship with it.
  4. Proposed professional staff must, at a minimum, have the experience of at least five years preferably working under conditions similar to those prevailing in the country of the assignment.
    1. The Technical Proposal shall provide the following information using the attached Technical Proposal Standard Forms TPF 1 to TPF 6 (Section III).
  6. A brief description of the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms organization and an outline of recent experience on assignments of a similar nature (TPF-2), if it is a joint venture, for each partner. For each assignment, the outline should indicate the profiles of the staff proposed, duration of the assignment, contract amount, and firm’s involvement.
  7. A description of the approach, methodology and work plan for performing the assignment (TPF-3). This should normally consist of maximum of ten (10) pages including charts, diagrams, and comments and suggestions, if any, on Terms of Reference and counterpart staff and facilities. The work plan should be consistent with the work schedule (TPF-7)
  8. The list of proposed Professional Staff team by area of expertise, the position and tasks that would be assigned to each staff team members (TPF-4).
  9. Latest CVs signed by the proposed professional staff and the authorized representative submitting the proposal (TPF-5) Key information should include number of years working for the firm and degree of responsibility held in various assignments during the last two years.
  10. A time schedule estimates of the total staff input (Professional and Support Staff, staff time needed to carry out the assignment, supported by a bar chart diagram showing the time proposed for each Professional and Staff team members (TPF–6). The schedule shall also indicate when experts are working in the project office and when they are working at locations away from the project office.
  11. A time schedule (bar chart) showing the time proposed to undertake that the activities indicated in the work plan (TPF-7).
  12. A detailed description of the proposed methodology and staffing for training if the RFP specifies training as specific component of the assignment.

6.3 The technical proposal shall not include any financial information.

  1. Financial Proposal

7.1 In preparing the Financial Proposal, consultants are expected to take into account the requirements and conditions outlined in the RFP. The Financial Proposal shall follow the Financial Proposal Standard Forms FPF 1 to FPF 4 (Section IV).

7.2 The Financial proposal shall include all costs associated with the assignment, including (i) remuneration for staff (FPF–4) (ii) reimbursable expenses (FPF-5). If appropriate, these costs should be broken down by activity. All items and activities described in the Technical proposal must be priced separately; activities and items in the Technical Proposal but not priced shall be assumed to be included in the prices of other activities or items.

7.3 The Service Provider/ Consulting Firm may be subject to local taxes on amounts payable under the Contract. If such is the case, IOM may either: a) reimburse the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm for any such taxes or b) pay such taxes on behalf of the Consultant. [2] Taxes shall not be included in the sum provided in the Financial Proposal as this will not be evaluated, but they will be discussed at contract negotiations, and applicable amounts will be included in the Contract.

7.4. Service Providers/ Consulting Firms shall express the price of their services in US Dollars Currency.

7.5 The Financial Proposal shall be valid for 60 calendar days. During this period, the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm is expected to keep available the professional staff for the assignment[3]. IOM will make its best effort to complete negotiations and determine the award within the validity period. If IOM wishes to extend the validity period of the proposals, the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm has the right not to extend the validity of the proposals.

  1. Submission, Receipt, and Opening of Proposals

8.1 Service Providers/ Consulting Firms may only submit one proposal. If a Service Provider/ Consulting Firm submits or participates in more than one proposal such proposal shall be disqualified.

8.2 The original Proposal (both Technical and Financial Proposals) shall be prepared in indelible ink. It shall contain no overwriting, except as necessary to correct errors made by the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms themselves. Any such corrections or overwriting must be initialed by the person(s) who signed the Proposal.

    1. The Service Providers/ Consulting Firms shall submit one original and one copy of the Proposal. Each Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal shall be marked “Original” or “Copy” as appropriate. If there are any discrepancies between the original and the copies of the Proposal, the original governs.

8.4 The original and all copies of the Technical Proposal shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked “TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.” Similarly, the original Financial Proposal shall be placed in a sealed envelope clearly marked “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL” and with a warning “DO NOT OPEN WITH THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.” Both envelopes shall be placed into an outer envelope and sealed. The outer envelope shall be labeled with the submission address, reference number and title of the project and the name of the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm.

8.5 Proposals must be received by IOM at the place, date and time indicated in the invitation to submit proposal or any new place and date established by the IOM. Any Proposal submitted by the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm after the deadline for receipt of Proposals prescribed by IOM shall be declared “Late,” and shall not be accepted by the IOM and returned to the consultant unopened.

8.6 After the deadline for the submission of Proposals, all the Technical Proposal shall be opened first by the BEAC. The Financial Proposal shall remain sealed until all submitted Technical Proposals are opened and evaluated. The BEAC has the option to open the proposals publicly or not.

  1. Evaluation of Proposals

9.1 After the Proposals have been submitted to the BEAC and during the evaluation period, Service Providers/ Consulting Firms that have submitted their Proposals are prohibited from making any kind of communication with any BEAC member, as well as its Secretariat regarding matters connected to their Proposals. Any effort by the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms to influence IOM in the examination, evaluation, ranking of Proposal, and recommendation for the award of contract may result in the rejection of the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms Proposal.

10. Technical Evaluation

10.1 The entire evaluation process, including the submission of the results and approval by the approving authority, shall be completed in not more than Twenty (20) calendar days after the deadline for receipt of proposals.

10.2 The BEAC shall evaluate the Proposals on the basis of their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference, compliance to the requirements of the RFP and by applying an evaluation criteria, sub criteria and point system[4]. Each responsive proposal shall be given a technical score (St). The proposal with the highest score or rank shall be identified as the Highest Rated/Ranked Proposal.

10.3 A proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to important aspects of the TOR or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical qualifying score which is 80%.

10.4 The technical proposals of Service Providers/ Consulting Firms shall be evaluated based on the following criteria and sub-criteria:

Points

  1. Specific experience of the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms relevant to

the assignment: 20

  1. Adequacy of the proposed methodology and work plan in response to the

Terms of Reference:

  1. Technical approach and methodology 30
  2. Work plan 15
  3. Organization and staffing 15

Total points for criterion (ii): 60

  1. Key professional staff qualifications and competence for the assignment:
  2. Team Leader 12
  3. Gender Specialist 10
  4. Project Performance Management Specialist 8

Total points for criterion (iii): 30

The number of points to be assigned to each of the above positions or

disciplines shall be determined considering the following three sub-criteria and relevant percentage weights:

  1. General qualifications 30%
  2. Adequacy for the assignment 50%
  3. Experience in region and language 20%

Total weight: 100%

The minimum technical score St required to pass is: 88 Points

10.5 Technical Proposal shall not be considered for evaluation in any of the following cases:

  1. late submission, i.e., after the deadline set
  2. failure to submit any of the technical requirements and provisions provided under the Instruction to Service Provider/ Consulting Firm (ITC) and Terms of Reference (TOR);
  3. Financial Evaluation

11.1 After completion of the Technical Proposal evaluation, IOM shall notify those Service Providers/ Consulting Firms whose proposal did not meet the minimum qualifying score or were considered non responsive based on the requirements in the RFP, indicating that their Financial Proposals shall be returned unopened after the completion of the selection process.

11.2 IOM shall simultaneously notify the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms that have passed the minimum qualifying score indicating the date and opening of the Financial Proposal. The BEAC has the option to open the Financial proposals publicly or not.

11.3 The BEAC shall determine the completeness of the Financial Proposal whether all the Forms are present and the required to be priced are so priced.

    1. The BEAC will correct any computational errors. In case of a discrepancy between a partial amount and the total amount, or between words and figures, the former will prevail. In addition, activities and items described in the Technical proposal but not priced, shall be assumed to be included in the prices of other activities or items.
    1. The Financial Proposal of Service Providers/ Consulting Firms who passed the qualifying score shall be opened, the lowest Financial Proposal (F1) shall be given a financial score (Sf) of 100 points. The financial scores (Sf) of the other Financial Proposals shall be computed based on the formula :

Sf = 100 x Fl / F

Where:

Sf – is the financial score of the Financial Proposal under consideration,

Fl – is the price of the lowest Financial Proposal, and

F – is the price of the Financial Proposal under consideration.

The proposals shall then be ranked according to their combined (Sc) technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights[5] (T = the weight given to the Technical Proposal = 0.80; F = the weight given to the Financial Proposal = 0.20; T + F = 1)

Sc = St x T% + Sf x F%

The firm achieving the highest combined technical and financial score will be invited for negotiations.

[1] This clause shall be included/revised as deemed necessary

[2] This clause shall be included/revised as deemed necessary

[3] For this purpose, the Mission may have the option to require short-listed Consultants a bid security.

[4] The criteria, sub criteria and point system may vary depending on the requirement of the Mission

[5] May vary depending on the requirement of the Mission; normally, weight assigned to Technical is .80 and .20

for the Financial.

  1. Negotiations

12.1 The aim of the negotiation is to reach agreement on all points and sign a contract. The expected date for contract negotiation is 24th June 2022.

12.2 Negotiation will include: a) discussion and clarification of the Terms of Reference (TOR) and Scope of Services; b) Discussion and finalization of the methodology and work program proposed by the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm; c) Consideration of appropriateness of qualifications and pertinent compensation, number of man-months and the personnel to be assigned to the job, and schedule of activities (manning schedule); d) Discussion on the services, facilities and data, if any, to be provided by IOM; e) Discussion on the financial proposal submitted by the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm; and f) Provisions of the contract. IOM shall prepare minutes of negotiation which will be signed both by IOM and the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms.

12.3 The financial negotiations will include clarification on the tax liability and the manner in which it will be reflected in the contract and will reflect the agreed technical modifications (if any) in the cost of the services. Unless there are exceptional reasons, the financial negotiations will involve neither the remuneration rates for staff nor other proposed unit rates.

12.4 Having selected the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm on the basis of, among other things, an evaluation of proposed key professional staff, IOM expects to negotiate a contract on the basis of the experts named in the proposal. Before contract negotiations, IOM shall require assurances that the experts shall be actually available. IOM will not consider substitutions during contract negotiation unless both parties agree that the undue delay in the selection process makes such substitution unavoidable or for reasons such as death or medical incapacity. If this is not the case and if it is established that staff were referred in their proposal without confirming their availability the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm may be disqualified. Any proposed substitution shall have equivalent or better qualifications and experience than the original candidate.

12.5 All agreement in the negotiation will then be incorporated in the description of services and form part of the Contract.

12.6 The negotiations shall conclude with a review of the draft form of the Contract which forms part of this RFP (Section VI). To complete negotiations, IOM and the Service Providers/ Consulting Firms shall initial the agreed Contract. If negotiations fail, IOM shall invite the second ranked Service Provider/ Consulting Firm to negotiate a contract. If negotiations still fail, the IOM shall repeat the process for the next-in-rank Service Providers/ Consulting Firms until the negotiation is successfully completed.

  1. Award of Contract

13.1 The contract shall be awarded, through a notice of award, following negotiations and subsequent post-qualification to the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm with the Highest Rated Responsive Proposal. Thereafter, the IOM shall promptly notify other Service Providers/ Consulting Firms on the shortlist that they were unsuccessful and shall return their unopened Financial Proposals. Notification will also be sent to those Service Providers/ Consulting Firms who did not pass the technical evaluation.

    1. The Service Provider/ Consulting Firm is expected to commence the assignment on 1st July 2022.
  2. Confidentiality
      1. Information relating to the evaluation of proposals and recommendations concerning awards shall not be disclosed to the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm who submitted Proposals or to other persons not officially concerned with the process. The undue use by any Service Provider/ Consulting Firm of confidential information related to the process may result in the rejection of its Proposal and may be subject to the provisions of IOM’s anti-fraud and corruption policy.

Section II – Technical Proposal Standard Forms

TPF-1: Technical Proposal Submission Form

[Location, Date]

To: [Chairperson Name and address of IOM Mission]

Ladies/Gentlemen:

We, the undersigned, offer to provide the Services for [insert Title of consulting services] in accordance with your Request for Proposal (RFP) dated [insert Date] and our Proposal. We are hereby submitting our Proposal, which includes this Technical Proposal, and a Financial Proposal sealed under a separate envelope.

If negotiations are held after the period of validity of the Proposal, we undertake to negotiate on the basis of the proposed staff. Our Proposal is binding upon us and subject to the modifications resulting from Contract negotiations.

We acknowledge and accept IOM’s right to inspect and audit all records relating to our Proposal irrespective of whether we enter into a contract with IOM as a result of this proposal or not.

We understand you are not bound to accept any Proposal you receive.

We remain,

Yours sincerely,

Authorized Signature:

Name and Title of Signatory:

Name of Firm:

Address:

TPF – 2: Service Providers/ Consulting Firms Organization

[Provide here brief (two pages) description of the background and organization of your firm/entity and each associate for the assignment (if applicable).]

TPF – 3: Description of the Approach, Methodology and Work Plan for Performing the Assignment

[The description of the approach, methodology and work plan should normally consist of 10 pages, including charts, diagrams, and comments and suggestions, if any, on Terms of reference and counterpart staff and facilities.]

TPF – 4: Team Composition and Task Assignments

  1. Technical/Managerial Staff

Name

Position

Task

  1. Support Staff

Name

Position

Task

TPF – 5: Format of Curriculum Vitae (CV) for Proposed Professional Staff

Proposed Position:

Name of Firm:

Name of Staff:

Profession:

Date of Birth:

Years with Firm/Entity: Nationality:

Membership in Professional Societies:

Detailed Tasks Assigned:

Key Qualifications:

[Give an outline of staff member’s experience and training most pertinent to tasks on assignment. Describe degree of responsibility held by staff member on relevant previous assignments and give dates and locations. Use about half a page.]

Education:

[Summarize college/university and other specialized education of staff member, giving names of schools, dates attended, and degrees obtained. Use about one quarter of a page.]

Employment Record:

[Starting with present position, list in reverse order every employment held. List all positions held by staff member since graduation, giving dates, names of employing organizations, titles of positions held, and locations of assignments. For experience in last ten years, also give types of activities performed and client references, where appropriate. Use about two pages.]

Languages:

[For each language indicate proficiency: excellent, good, fair, or poor in speaking, reading, and writing.]

Certification:

I, the undersigned, certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief, these data correctly describe me, my qualifications, and my experience. I understand that any willful misstatement described herein may lead to my disqualification or dismissal, if engaged.

Date:

[Signature of staff member and authorized representative of the firm] Day/Month/Year

Full name of staff member:______________________________________

Full name of authorized representative: __________________________

TPF-6: Time Schedule for Professional Personnel

Months (in the Form of a Bar Chart)

Name

Position

Reports Due/Activities

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Number of Months

Subtotal (1) ________________

Subtotal (2) ________________

Subtotal (3) ________________

Subtotal (4) ________________

Full-time: Part-time:

Reports Due:

Activities Duration:

Location

Signature of Authorized Representative: ______________________

Full Name: _____________________________

Title : ________________________________

TPF-7: Activity (Work) Schedule

A. Field Investigation and Other Activities

No.

Duration

1st

2nd

3rd

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