Invitation to Tender for Endline Evaluation Engaging Somali communities to improve wildlife trafficking and forest crime control

INVITATION TO  TENDER:

Endline Evaluation Engaging Somali communities to improve wildlife trafficking and forest crime control 

SOM 1058-22 Project   

Our Reference: SOM1058/2024/036Hargeisa, 16.05.2024

 Project Title: Engaging Somali communities to improve wildlife trafficking and forest crime control

Project Number: SOM 1058-22

Project Holders: WHH and CCF

Location: Maroodijex and Awdal Region

Project Period: 15.06. 2022 – 14.06.2024

ABOUT WELTHUNGERHILFE

Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany and has no political or religious affiliations. It was one of the first global initiatives in the fight against hunger when it was founded in 1962 as the German chapter of the Freedom from Hunger campaign, which was led by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). From rapid disaster relief to reconstruction and long-term development cooperation projects with local partners, we provide assistance from a single source. Since its foundation, WHH has provided 2.25 billion EUR of funding for more than 6,600 projects in 70 countries.

Welthungerhilfe has been active in Somaliland since 2001 (Currently operates Awdal, Waqooyi-Galbeed, Togdheer and Sool Regions) and has recently expanded into and South/Central Somalia in 2022 through cooperation with local implementing partners. Whilst our strategic focus is on building resilience and strengthening local humanitarian leadership, our 2023-2024 activities will also seek to respond to the present drought crisis through humanitarian relief. Welthungerhilfe has active projects in Mudug, Galagudd, Gedo and plans to expand its intervention in Bay and Hiran regions. Humanitarian emergency assistance, Food Security, Resilience programs-agriculture, WASH and infrastructure rehabilitation and infrastructure restoration are the core areas of our work in South Central Somalia.

About the project

For the very first time, WHH SOML in partnership with CCF secured funds from the European Union (EU) to implement a two-year-long project as co-implementers where WHH is the lead organization, to contribute to the sustainable reduction of wildlife trafficking and mutual reinforcement of rural livelihoods and conservation in Somaliland. The project will merge established anti-trafficking and area protection methodologies to achieve sustainable reduction of wildlife trafficking and forest crime and mutual reinforcement of rural livelihoods and conservation in Somaliland (the overall objective). The action will 1) build on previous efforts by CCF and WHH and 2) provide targeted support to fill capacity gaps that will enable progress toward the overall objective.

Purpose/Objective

The overall purpose of the Endline evaluation is to analyse and assess the effectiveness of the project in terms of its stated objectives (specific objectives, results, and impact). The evaluation will look at how far the services provided have had a positive impact on beneficiaries and their families, whether the support provided has been sustainable beyond the end of the project and measure the project’s outcome level indicators. There is also a learning function to identify and list best practices, challenges, and opportunities based on the implementation methods and steps taken during the project duration and the initial design and setup to gain insights and draw lessons for the future.  We are also expecting the Evaluation Questions will be based on OECD/DAC criteria framework.

Further information can be found in the attached ToR (Terms of Reference)

Important Dates:

Tender publication date: 16.05.2024

The deadline for submitting a Bid is: 

The deadline for submission of inquiries/questions is 26.05.24: 04:00 PM EAT.

1.       Tender Overview

This is a Public invitation to express interest in the above-mentioned service provision.

The following documents constitute the tender dossier:

A.  Tender invitation (this document)

B.  Annexes:

I: Supplier Declaration Form

III: Terms and Conditions for International Procurement of Goods and Services

III. Terms of Reference

2.  Expertise of the evaluators

This survey would require a consultant able to work in the study area without limitations.

Expected Profile of the Lead Consultant

-       Educational background: a master's degree or higher in environmental studies, development studies, agriculture, or related fields; an understanding of climate change, environmental sciences, and sustainable land management practices is desired.

-       Professional experience: extensive experience in conducting participatory rural appraisals (PRA) and engaging with communities. Experience in Somaliland or similar regions is an added advantage.

-       Technical knowledge: expertise in climate change, ecology, Wildlife protection, and environmental sciences is crucial, especially in dryland environments. Knowledge of sustainable land management practices, gender dynamics, and the development of action plans within community-based projects is essential.

-       Analytical skills: Proficiency in data analysis, both quantitative and qualitative, is imperative. The consultant should have strong analytical skills and the ability to analyze complex data and information, identify trends, and draw conclusions.

-       Communication skills: The consultant should have excellent oral and written communication skills in English, with experience in producing high-quality reports and delivering presentations to diverse audiences.

3.  Documents and information to be submitted

-          Design of the proposal (Technical Proposal) in connection with ToR  (Incl. methodology for performing the services, work plan or timetable, Short profile, including CV, certificates of relevant fields)

-          Company Profile - Brief introduction of the company/consultant (attach registration of the consultancy/firm).

-          Financial offer (Financial Proposal) for conducting the assignment

-          previous relevant experience (examples of projects and clients; reference contacts).

-          Attach atleast 2 Sample Evaluation/Study reports

-          Please complete the "Supplier Declaration" attachment. (Submit the signed Supplier Declaration form.

 4.  Participation

Only prequalified service providers are invited to participate in the assignment.

 5.  Anti-Terrorism Policy

The Contracting Authority renounces all forms of terrorism and will never knowingly support, tolerate or encourage terrorism or the activities of those who embrace terrorism or money laundering. Consistent with numerous United Nations Security Council resolutions, including S/RES/1269(1999), S/RES 1368(2001), and S/RES1373(2001) and the European Union, the Contracting Authority is firmly committed to the international fight against terrorism and, in particular, against the financing of terrorism. The Contracting Authority's policy ensures that none of its and its donor funds are used, directly or indirectly, to support individuals or entities associated with terrorism or money laundering. Therefore, the Contracting Authority will regularly match their suppliers and Service providers against the Sanctions lists. By submitting an offer, suppliers and service providers agree to this.

6.  The language of the bid

The tender, all correspondence, and documents related to the tender exchanged by the bidder and the Contracting Authority must be written in the language of the procedure, which is the English language.

 7.  Contradiction or errors in the bid documents

If the bidder notices contradictions or errors in the bid document or unclear specifications, the bidder must clarify the issue by making queries before the deadline for submitting inquiries/questions.

The principle hereby agrees to clarify all queries to all interested bidders upon request in email/ messaging form  in the given email shared by the procurement department.

8.  Alteration or withdrawal of bids

Bidders may alter or withdraw their tenders by written notification through the EU-supply portal before submitting the bid document. No bid may be altered after this deadline. Withdrawals must be unconditional and will end all participation in the tender procedure.

No bid may be withdrawn in the interval between the deadline for submission and bid opening of bids and the expiry of the tender validity period. Any correction of information must be explicit and confirmed in email/messaging form.

9.  Errors in Calculations

Bids submitted by interested bidders will be checked for any arithmetical errors in computation and summation. Errors will be corrected by the evaluation committee as follows:

·         Where there is a discrepancy between figures and words, the amount in words will be considered.

·         Where there is a discrepancy between a unit price and the total amount derived from the multiplication of the unit price and the quantity, the unit price as quoted will be the price considered.

·         Amounts corrected in this way will be binding on the bidder. If the bidder does not accept them, its bid will be rejected.

10.  Deliverables and Timeframe

The assignment is expected to commence starting immediately as soon as a consultant is recruited and is expected to take a maximum of 30 days, which includes desk-review, preparation, data collection and report-writing.

11.  Prices

All prices in your proposal must be indicated in the USD currency only. Quotations stated in other currencies will not be considered in the awarding process.

12.  Confidentially

All documents and data acquired from documents during interviews and meetings are confidential and used solely for the feasibility study. Interview partners will not be quoted in the report without their prior permission.

The documentation and all material linked to the study (produced by the consultants or the organization itself) are confidential and always remain on the property of the contracting party.

13.  Ordering Party / Consignee

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V.

Hargeisa, Masale area Behind Ambassador Hotel Close to Djibouti Consulate. 

14. Evaluation of the submitted documents

The evaluation will be conduction as follows;

Stage I

1)       Technical Evaluation (60%)

·         Design of the proposal in reference to the advertised ToR (30 points).

·         CV of the lead consultant with an advanced educational background in research, WASH, environmental engineering, civil engineering, water engineering, economics, public health, statistics, social science, or other relevant subjects and at least 8 years of experience in conducting research, evaluations, and assessments for the above-mentioned sectors in Somaliland or East Africa (20 points).

·         Sample (at least 2) of recent reports with public disclosure authorized, final version, that has been submitted and accepted by clients (10 points) NB. The reports MUST be prepared by the consultant - WHH will conduct a reference check on this and wherever deemed necessary.

      Stage II

2)       Financial Proposal (40%)

·         Financial: The lowest financial proposal will get 40 marks. NB. WHH will select the most advantageous bidder.

·      The points for the remaining bidders will be calculated as per this formula: ( 

15. Rights and obligations:

I. Participation

Any company with the necessary financial and economic capacities to carry out the required service may participate in this restricted invitation to tender. At the request of WHH, the bidder must provide evidence of its expertise, reliability, and performance.

Participation in this award procedure is free of charge. However, no mutual legal claims can be derived from participation until the Contract concludes.

II. Confidentiality

In this context, the contracting authority sends tender documents to the Partner. On the sending of the tender documents and, if applicable, subsequent discussions and the conclusion of a contract, confidential information about the contracting authority may be disclosed to the Partner. Against this background, the contracting parties agree on the following:

The Partner undertakes to treat all confidential information received from the Client in the context of the tender and any discussions as strictly confidential, including vis-à-vis third parties.

This agreement shall enter into force upon receipt of the tender documents and shall remain in force for the duration of the discussions, any future cooperation, and for two years after termination of the discussions or cooperation. Upon termination of the agreement, the parties must return any documents disclosed to the other party without request.

III. Bid opening, examination, and evaluation of the bids

In the non-public procedure, WHH will sift through incoming bids and evaluate them according to the evaluation matrix (point 5).

16.     Payment and supporting documents

(1)  Payment of submitted invoices by WHH does not imply acceptance of Goods or Services or any related work under the Contract. Unless otherwise specified in the Contract, the following provisions will apply concerning payment and supporting documents.

(2)  WHH shall generally make payment through banking channels to Contractor within 30 days upon receipt of the following documents and any other documents/reports that may be specified in the Contract, to be sent directly to Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V., Procurement Department, Friedrich-

Ebert-Strasse 1, 53173 Bonn, Germany, upon submitting a commercial invoice with proper banking instructions.

(3)  In case of installation of service provision by the Contractor, the payment terms will negotiate case by case.

(4)  WHH will make payment to the bank account indicated by the Contractor in its invoice, providing that the bank account is in the Contractor's name and located in its country of residence. Any request for payment to a bank account other than that of the Contractor or a bank other than one located in the Contractor's country of residence must be specified and justified when making its offer.

(5)  WHH may withhold payment, in whole or in part, without liability and prejudice to any other of its rights or remedies under the Contract, should the Contractor fail to provide the documents required by Article 26 of the Welthungerhilfe Terms and Conditions for International Procurement of Goods and Services. Alternatively, as otherwise specified in the Contract or if the Contractor fails to perform or comply with its obligations under the

Contract, including the warranties for the Goods outlined in Article 10 of the said terms and conditions.

17.  LIABILITY, PENALTY FOR DELAY, NONCONFORMING GOODS OR SERVICES, SHORTFALLS

1According to statutory legal provisions, the Contractor shall be liable for its negligent breach of duty and negligent breach of duty by its legal representatives or vicarious agents.

(1)  The Contractor recognizes that the Contract concerns a provision of Services where "time is of the essence" and that failure to provide the Services by the scheduled date(s) or following the quantities and/or quality specified in the Contract may cause irreparable harm to WHH.

 Note:

All interested and qualified companies/firms or individual consultants must submit their corresponding documents (CVs, sample reports, technical proposal, Financial Proposals and three professional referees) to [email protected]  with the subject line of application of “Endline Evaluation for SOM1058 Project”- not later than 28 May 2024 at 23:59 PM EAT.

 1.     Appeals

Tenderers believing that an error or irregularity has harmed them during the award process may file a complaint at [email protected]

This invitation for expression of interest remains valid without signature validation!