Somalia: Assessment of National Public Health Supply System using Logistics System Assessment Tool (LSAT)

1.0 PROCEDURES AND RULES

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 behaviour towards children. UNICEF’s role is to mobilise 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 world-wide. UNICEF also has a research centre in Florence, a supply operation based in Copenhagen and offices in Tokyo and Brussels. UNICEF’s 37 committees raise funds and spread awareness about the organisations mission and work.

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE RFP

The purpose of this RFP is to invite proposals from qualified institutional consultancy firms to conduct an assessment of Somaliland/Somalia using the Logistics System Assessment Tool (LSAT). The aim is to provide stakeholders with a comprehensive view of all aspects of the public health supply and logistics system, to identify logistics and commodity security issues and opportunities, raise collective awareness and ownership of system performance and goals for improvement, create a monitoring, costed work plan (to learn and continually improve performance) and provide input for work planning. This is the first time an LSAT has been carried out for the whole of Somalia/Somaliland as stipulated in the TOR.

1.3 FORECAST SCHEDULE

The schedule of the contractual process is as follows:

a) Closing date and time for submission of full proposal: 08/06/2016 at 10.00 a.m. Nairobi Time.

b) Award Notice: To be determined.

c) Signature of contract: To be determined.

1.4 RFP CHANGE POLICY

All requests for formal clarification or queries on this RFP must be submitted in writing via email to somsupply@unicef.org. Please make sure that the e-mail mentions the RFP reference number.

Only written inquiries will be entertained. Please be informed that if the question is of common interest, the answer will be shared with all potential RFP bidders.

Erasures or other corrections in the proposal must be explained and the signature of the applicant shown alongside. All changes to a proposal must be received prior to the closing time and date. It must be clearly indicated that it is a modification and supersedes the earlier proposal, or state the changes from the original proposal. Proposals may be withdrawn on written request received from bidders prior to the opening time and date. Bidders are expected to examine all instructions pertaining to the work. Failure to do so will be at bidder’s own risk and disadvantage.

1.5 RFP RESPONSE FORMAT

Full proposals should be submitted in English and must be received not later than 08/06/2016 by 10.30 a.m. Nairobi Time. Proposals received after the stipulated date and time will be invalidated.

The proposals should be submitted as follows:-

· Sealed Envelope 1: Technical proposal only without mention of the budget – the envelope should be clearly marked with “RFP No.; Name of Company; Technical Proposal”.

· Sealed Envelope 2: Financial Proposal - the envelope should be clearly marked with “RFP No.; Name of Company; Financial Proposal”.

· Sealed Envelope 3: Outer envelope containing the individual envelopes for Technical & Financial proposals – the envelope should be clearly marked with “RFP No.; Company Name”.

· Please remember to sign the “Request for Proposal for Services Form” on Page 3 of the RFP document and return together with the proposal.

Note: Proposals not submitted in this manner will be invalidated.

BIDS may be hand-delivered or sent by Courier to:-

UNICEF SOMALIA SUPPORT CENTRE OFFICE,

UN GIGIRI COMPLEX, BLOCK Q, GROUND FLOOR

P.O. Box 44145-00100

Nairobi

Bidders are requested to provide details (Name/ID No.) of the persons delivering a day in advance by sending an email to somsupply@unicef.org to facilitate clearance to enter the UN complex.

Due to the nature of this RFP, there will be no public opening of proposals and responsible officers will open technical proposals when the specified time has arrived.

1.6 BIDDER RESPONSE

1.6.1 Formal submission requirements

The formal submission requirements as outlined in this Request for Proposal must be followed, e.g. regarding form and timing of submission, marking of the envelopes, no price information in the technical proposal, etc.

1.6.2 Mandatory criteria

All mandatory (i.e. must/have to/shall/should/will) criteria mentioned throughout this Request for Proposal have to be addressed and met in your proposal.

All references to descriptive materials should be included in the appropriate response paragraph, though the material/documents themselves may be provided as annexes to the proposal/response.

It is important that you read all of the provisions of the request for proposal, to ensure that you understand UNICEF’s requirements and can submit a proposal in compliance with them. The bidder must also provide sufficient information in the proposal to address each area of the Proposal Evaluation to allow the evaluation team to make a fair assessment of the candidates and their proposal. Note that failure to provide compliant proposals may result in invalidation of your proposal.

1.7 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Information, which the bidder considers proprietary, should be clearly marked "proprietary", if any, next to the relevant part of the text, and UNICEF will treat such information accordingly.

1.8 RIGHTS OF UNICEF

UNICEF reserves the right to accept any proposal, in whole or in part; or, to reject any or all proposals. UNICEF reserves the right to invalidate any Proposal received from a Bidder who has previously failed to perform properly or complete contracts on time, or a Proposal received from a Bidder who, in the opinion of UNICEF, is not in a position to perform the contract. UNICEF shall not be held responsible for any cost incurred by the Bidder in preparing the response to this Request for Proposal. The Bidder agrees to be bound by the decision of UNICEF as to whether her/his proposal meets the requirements stated in this Request for Proposal. Specifically, UNICEF reserves the right to:

· Contact any or all references supplied by the bidder(s);

· Request additional supporting or supplementary data (from the bidder(s));

· Arrange interviews with the bidder(s);

· Reject any or all proposals submitted;

· Accept any proposals in whole or in part;

· Negotiate with the service provider(s) who has/have attained the best rating/ranking, i.e. the one(s) providing the overall best value proposal(s);

· Contract any number of candidates as required to achieve the overall evaluation objectives.

VALIDITY

Proposal must be valid for a minimum of ninety (90) days from the date of opening of this RFP and must be signed by all candidates included in the submission. For proposals from institutions, the proposal must also be signed by an authorised representative of the institution. Bidders are requested to indicate the validity period of their proposal in the Proposal Form. UNICEF may also request for an extension of the validity of the proposal.

1.8.1 Technical Proposal

The technical proposal should address all aspects and criteria outlined in this Request for Proposal, especially in its statement of work, terms of reference and paragraph 1.10 of this Request for Proposal. However, all these requirements represent a wish list from UNICEF. The bidders are free to suggest/ propose any other solution. UNICEF welcomes new ideas and innovative approaches. (NOTE: No price information should be contained in the technical proposal).

1.8.2 Price Proposal

The price proposal should be in line with the TOR, indicating overall/total cost of assignment and itemized budget.

1.9 PROPOSAL EVALUTION

After the RFP opening, each proposal will be assessed first on is technical merits and subsequently on its price. The proposal with the best overall value, composed of technical merit and price, will be recommended for approval. UNICEF will set up an evaluation panel composed of technical UNICEF staff and their conclusions will be forwarded to the internal UNICEF contracts Review Committee.

The evaluation panel will first evaluate each response for compliance with requirement of the RFP. Responses deemed not to meet all of the mandatory requirements will be considered non-compliant and rejected at this stage without further consideration. Failure to comply with any of the terms and conditions contained in this RFP, including provision of all required information may result in a response or proposal being disqualified from further consideration.

Evaluation Method

The evaluation method will be is the Cumulative Analysis evaluation (point system with weight attribution) which uses a total score from the combination of weighted technical and financial attributes,

TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

The technical proposals will be evaluated against specified criteria below. The total amount of points allocated to the technical proposal is 70 points and only technical proposals which receive a minimum of 40 points will be considered further.

Category/Points

1.OVERAL RESPONSE – Total 10 Points

Overall concord between UNICEF requirements and the proposals of the candidate organization / firm

(i) Understanding of, and responsiveness to the requirements of the assignment in terms of technical and expert services as per the attached ToR

(ii) Detail and thoroughness of the proposal in respect of the requirements of the ToR and assignment

2. STRATEGY/METHODOLOGY OF ASSIGNMENT – Total 25 Points

The Technical Offer including Work Plan and Approach, comprising of;

· Proposed design of the process, methodology, preparations and implementation of the analysis and program design process and description of how the consultant/institution or company is intending to carry out the tasks (e.g. how to organize the required staff/experts and support their activities in South Central Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland, schedule of planned activities, proposed implementation of the required work, etc.)

1. Demonstrates clear understanding of public health supply chain systems in Somalia.

2. Clear and effective methodology on how to successfully complete assessment.

3. Clear and realistic work plan with activities.

4. Clearly states how to ensure participation and inclusion of key stakeholders including government counterparts.

5. Timetable with key deliverables.

3.TECHNICAL CAPACITY: Organization’s Background, Experience, Expertise and Other Attributes – Total 35 Points

Experience (16 points: 4 each)

The proposal should demonstrate:

1. Extensive experience (minimum 5 years) in assessments / humanitarian supply chain management.

2. Proven record and experience in design and implementation of supply chain assessment projects.

3. Familiarity with Somaliland, Puntland or Central South and good knowledge of local Somali social, cultural, political, economic context

4. Experience in complex emergencies or conflict-affected contexts preferred

Expertise (14 points: 7 each)

The proposal should include the CVs of two proposed candidates

1. A senior consultant with an advanced degree in logistics and 8 years’ experience in conducting Logistics Assessments

2. A junior consultant with a university degree in logistics, with 2-4 years’ experience in conducting Logistics Assessments

3. Fluency in English for both.

4. Salary commensurate with degree and experiences

5. Position based in USSC with frequent travels to Somalia

· Other Skills and Attributes Required as per the ToR – where both consultants should possess (5 points: 1 each):

1. Experience in facility and community health services provision in Somalia/Somaliland

2. Experience in advocacy and policy dialogue with Ministry of Health

3. Experience in trainings

4. Experience in Behavior change Communication projects Experience in research (mandatory)

Financial Proposal

Bidders should provide a summary of clear and justified evidence of financial accountability, sufficient and consistent with project activities and goals and detailed breakdown of budget inclusive of professional fees, admin costs if any, travel costs (these shall be calculated based on economy class travel regardless of length of travel), DSA (these will be paid as per UN rates); etc.

(NOTE: bidders should provide an all-inclusive budget as successful company will be responsible for all project costs including security and insurance for its team members)

The total amount of points allocated for the price component is 30%. The maximum points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened and compared among those invited firms/institutions which obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical component. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price e.g.

Score for price proposal X = Max. score for price proposal x Price of lowest priced proposal/Price of proposal X

The currency of the proposal shall be in US Dollars. Invoicing will be in the currency of the proposal. The bidder will suggest a payment schedule for the Contract, linked to unambiguous Contract milestones. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes as UNICEF is a tax-exempt organization.

Weights: 70 Points Technical proposal; 30 Points Financial proposal

2.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background/Justification : The fragility of the situation in Somalia over the past two decades has resulted in health sector collapse and a subsequent focus on emergency health and nutrition interventions to respond to recurrent crises over the years. As such, a number of parallel and fragmented systems and structures for health and nutrition care exist; and health and nutrition service delivery is provided through health facilities with limited capacity to provide the necessary range of services. Supply chain management for health is challenged by the volatile security environment, poor infrastructure, human resource shortages and low capacity, limited access for supervision and monitoring, and a lack of integrated sector-wide information management systems. While the MoH (Ministry of Health) and its partners with support from the Joint Health and Nutrition Programme ( JHNP) have embarked on a process for strengthening service delivery through rollout of the Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) in selected districts and regions, nevertheless, significant gaps in supply chain management still exist within the overall health sector service delivery system. Understanding the scale, complexity, bottlenecks and issues is the first step to addressing many of these deficiencies in the current system.

General:** UNICEF Somalia is seeking a consultancy team (1 Senior Consultant – P4 equivalent and 1 Junior Consultant – P2 Equivalent) to conduct an assessment of Somaliland/Somalia using the Logistics System Assessment Tool (LSAT). The aim is to provide stakeholders with a comprehensive view of all aspects of the public health supply and logistics system, to identify logistics and commodity security issues and opportunities, raise collective awareness and ownership of system performance and goals for improvement, create a monitoring, costed work plan (to learn and continually improve performance) and provide input for work planning. This is the first time an LSAT has been carried out for the whole of Somalia/Somaliland. With this in mind, it is expected that 2 x LSATs will be conducted throughout 2016 and 2017. This consultancy is for the initial period with the possibility to extend. The consultants are expected to use agreed Public Health Supply Chain Management tools in Logistics Systems Assessment while carrying out this assignment.

Scope of Work: The scope of work is as follows:

Preparatory Research: Preparatory work is required in June, 2016 in the following areas:

1. Desk Review of quarterly supervision reports by National Supply Managers, LIATs (Logistics Indicator Assessment Tool), relevant JHNP document and previous agency (UNFPA / WHO / WFP) assessments / consultant reports in advance of the LSAT workshop.

2. Key Informant Interviews, by phone or skype: Using the LSAT as a guide, key informant interviews should be conducted for up to two weeks before the LSAT workshop and a final assessment report produced to inform the LSAT workshop.

Data collection: For the first LSAT, the consultancy should utilize the following 4 methods of information gathering and assessment.

1. Field Visits: Where feasible, field visits made prior to the discussion sessions/interviews, are required, in order to contextualize the information collection. These field visits should ideally be made to some health facilities as well as central warehouses for the Ministry of Health and 3 to 5 implementing partners.

2. LSAT workshop - Discussion groups: 3 day workshops will be held in all 3 zones, divided as follows:

a. Central-level (Day 1 & 2): These group sessions will include 20-25 participants and focus on LMIS, product selection, warehousing and storage, transport and distribution, forecasting, procurement, organizational structures and Finance/donor coordination and commodity security planning.

b. Lower-level (Day 1 & 2): These group sessions will include representatives 20-25 representatives from districts and facilities and focus on organization and staffing, LMIS, forecasting, inventory control procedures, warehousing and storage, transportation and distribution, organizational support and product use.

c. Joint discussion group (Day 3): 30-40 participants from the central-level and the lower-level will be brought together in 1 session to ratify the findings and produce a draft work plan.

1. Data Analysis and Recommendations for Work Plan: Data analysis, clarifications of findings, recommendations and the work plan should take place following the workshop following a final meeting in Nairobi as follows:

a. Ministry Level Work planning (Day 4 & 5): MOH - NSMs, UNICEF staff, WHO, World Vision (GFTB) and UNFPA colleagues should meet for 2 days to discuss outcomes and ratify a costed work plan.

1. Expected Timelines and Outputs: The following are the expected outputs/timelines from this activity.

Stage

Month

Days

Expected Output

Preparatory Research

June 2016

14

Desk Review Report including analysis of Quarterly supervision reports by National Supply Managers and of Previous Agency (UNFPA/WHO/WFP) Assessments/consultant reports

Key Informant Interview Reports

Data Collection (including 1 day field visit in each zone)

June – July 2016

21

Field Visit Reports (Including Participants information)

LSAT Workshop Report

Data Analysis

5

LSAT Analysis and Final Report

Ratification of Work Plan

2

Costed Work Plan

Develop Presentation of Findings for HSC

1

Presentation

Outputs/Deliverables and Payment Terms

1. Inception Report based on Literature Review 25%

2. Draft Report on LSAT Assessment Findings 50%

3. Final Report on LSAT Findings and Costed Work Plan for Logistics Systems Improvement 0%

4. Final Costed Work Plan for Logistics Systems Improvement in Somalia and Presentation to HSC 25%

Standards of Conduct

a) General. The Consultant shall maintain satisfactory standards of employee competency conduct cleanliness, appearance and integrity and shall be responsible for taking such disciplinary action with respect to employees as may be necessary. Each Consultant employee is expected to adhere to standards of conduct that reflect credit on themselves, their employer and UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to direct the Consultant to remove an employee from the worksite for failure to comply with the standards of conduct. The Consultant shall immediately replace such an employee to maintain continuity of services at no additional cost to the UNICEF.

b) Neglect of duties shall not be condoned. This includes unreasonable delays or failures to carry out assigned tasks, conducting personal affairs during duty hours and refusing to render assistance or cooperate in upholding the integrity of the worksite security.

c) Disorderly conduct, use of abusive or offensive language, quarrelling, intimidation by words, actions, or fighting shall not be condoned. Also not condoned is participation in disruptive activities which interfere with normal and efficient UNICEF operations.

d) Intoxicants and Narcotics. The Consultant shall not allow its employees while on duty to possess, sell, consume, or be under the influence of intoxicants, drugs or substances which produce similar effects.

e) Criminal Actions. The law will be applied to Consultant’s employees incurring in criminal actions. It includes but are not limited to the following actions: falsification or unlawful concealment, removal, mutilation, or destruction of any official documents or records or concealment of material facts by wilful omission from official documents or records; unauthorized use of UNICEF property, theft, vandalism, or immoral conduct; security violations; unethical or improper use of authority or credentials; and organizing or participating in gambling in any form.

Tools and Equipment:** The Consultant shall provide all necessary tools, instruments and equipment to execute the services as per the scope of works. These must be available for the Consultant’s’ (and subcontractors’) use during service operations.

Quality Assurance:** The Consultant shall institute an appropriate inspection system including control tables of duties to ensure the predetermined duties are carried out by the staff. Any shortcomings and/or substandard conditions noted in such inspections shall be promptly corrected and improved; any conditions beyond the responsibility of the Consultant shall be brought to the attention of the Supply Officer for disposition.

Payment:** All invoices should attach a copy of the signed Service Orders, completed during that month. Completed Service Orders shall bear the signature of the Consultant’s Manager. Invoices shall be submitted in an original and three (3) copies to the Supply Officer. YUa7

RFP RESPONSE FORMAT

Full proposals should be submitted in English and must be received not later than 08/06/2016 by 10.30 a.m. Nairobi Time. Proposals received after the stipulated date and time will be invalidated.

The proposals should be submitted as follows:-

· Sealed Envelope 1: Technical proposal only without mention of the budget – the envelope should be clearly marked with “RFP No.; Name of Company; Technical Proposal”.

· Sealed Envelope 2: Financial Proposal - the envelope should be clearly marked with “RFP No.; Name of Company; Financial Proposal”.

· Sealed Envelope 3: Outer envelope containing the individual envelopes for Technical & Financial proposals – the envelope should be clearly marked with “RFP No.; Company Name”.

· Please remember to sign the “Request for Proposal for Services Form” on Page 3 of the RFP document and return together with the proposal.

Note: Proposals not submitted in this manner will be invalidated.

BIDS may be hand-delivered or sent by Courier to:-

UNICEF SOMALIA SUPPORT CENTRE OFFICE,

UN GIGIRI COMPLEX, BLOCK Q, GROUND FLOOR

P.O. Box 44145-00100

Nairobi

Bidders are requested to provide details (Name/ID No.) of the persons delivering a day in advance by sending an email to somsupply@unicef.org to facilitate clearance to enter the UN complex.

Due to the nature of this RFP, there will be no public opening of proposals and responsible officers will open technical proposals when the specified time has arrived.