Terms of reference (ToR)
for
Assessment of Procurement and Logistics Policies of ACT Agencies Responding to the Rohingya Crisis

Background:

More than three years ago (25 August 2017), the world witnessed one of the largest forced displacements of recent times. Currently, about 911,566 Rohingya refugees are living in spontaneous settlements in Cox’s Bazar. They remain dependent on essential humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs.

ACT Alliance with support from its partners, including ICCO, CAID, DCA, HEKS EPER, Lutheran world, NCA, World Renew and CCDB (8 organizations) to provide emergency assistance to Rohingya and host communities after influx. The assistance includes, shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene, health and nutrition, protection, early recovery and livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, and resilience building. The expected impact is to ‘Provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable Rohingya refugees and host communities, contributing to their protection, well-being and dignity.’ Regarding these, all the Country Representatives and Executive Director of ACT forum agencies in Bangladesh met virtually and decided to assess the existing procurement and logistics policies of ACT Agencies.

What is ACT Alliance: ACT Alliance is the largest coalition of Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organizations engaged in humanitarian, development and advocacy work in the world, consisting of more than 130 members working together in over 120 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalized people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards.

General Information:

Work description: Update of procurement and logistics management policy through assessing the existing policies and practice of ACT Forum agencies in Bangladesh.
ACT Forum Members: ICCO, DCA, CAID, HESKS EPER, NCA, Lutheran world, World Renew and CCDB
Type of Contract: Service Contract
Duration: 25 days
Expected Start Date: 1st May 2021

The forum agencies intend to attain followingOutcomes.

The policy will be guided to make effective plan and execution the planned activities of the team effectively and efficiently for Rohingya response

Objectives of the Work:
The objective of this work is to assessment of the procurement and logistics management policies of ACT Forum member organizations (Eight organizations) who are responding Rohingya crisis under Cox’s Bazar region and find out the way for gap strengthening of the policies.In addition to this, sharing the findings by a one-day workshop for coming to a common understanding.

Specific Objectives of the Assessment:

• To critically assess the existing policies of the procurement and logistics management of each organization
• To assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the current policies considering response Rohingya crisis
• To assess relevance, suitability, appropriateness and effectiveness of the clauses considering response Rohingya Crisis
• To identify the problems /gap/ issues those need attention to share and gap filling
• To critically assess the effectiveness of the resources pool of each organization
• To ensure compliance with existing procedures laid out in internal manuals

The selected firm/consultant will be responsible to

• Review all documents related to procurement and logistics management of each organizations
• Conduct interview with respective personnel who are engaged with procurement and logistics management for responding Rohingya Crisis in consultation with each organization
• Conduct interview with each Country Representative / Executive Director
• Conduct Interview with each Head of Humanitarian Response of each organization
• Analysis procurement and logistics management practice under Cox’s Bazar region through local area visit
• Identify the gap and sharing the findings through a one - day workshop for coming common understanding
• To conduct spotchecks of previous procurement procedures and ensure they were inline with existing manuals within the organization. Two previous procurement procedures as per organizations

Scope of Work

• The assessment will be executed in Cox’s Bazar where all the organization’s office are running and responding Rohingya crisis
• For this purpose, existing information regarding the mentioned policies are available which will be reviewed
• Existing practiced related information are available with the respective personnel/team members of each organization
• Identify the gaps and constraints which need to fill up for standard system
• Suggestions on ways of addressing the gaps and the constraints

Methodology (Proposed)

• Desk review on existing policies of procurement and logistics management of each organization
• Interview / Discussion with relevant personnel of each organization regarding their existing practice and procedure in responding Rohingya crisis in different aspects
• Assessing the gap between practical process atfield leveland existing policies
• Assessing the practical situation of Rohingya response procedure related to the assign activities
• Assess previous procurements by interviewing key stakeholders in the process including those who applied but were not successful in the process
• Interactions with some experts having a thorough understanding of procurement and logistics management considering rules/regulation of Dutchorganizations
• Finding sharing with key persons of respective organization - one day workshop

Deliverables

• A detailed roadmap for the assessment of the policies is prepared by selected consultants in communication with ICCO with other forum members
• A comprehensive 1st draft report (separate) of individual organizations for comments to be shared with each organization by 17 May’21 with the scope for two rounds of feedbacks
• A brief synopsis of the report (not more than two pages)
• Final Report by 25th of May 2021
• 2 copies (print copy) should be submitted to each organization contact persons

Reporting Relationship

The selected consultants/ firm will correspond directly with the individual forum members (ICCO, DCA, CAID, HESKS EPER, NCA, Lutheran world, World Renew and CCDB) communications team to submit drafts, seek approval of the final reports, discuss and adhere to timeline and submission of the final reports. Any changes to format, content or timeline must be communicated in a timely manner and in writing to forum members contact persons and implemented only upon receiving approval. The consultant will have a direct contact with the Head of Humanitarian for all reporting purpose, while the Project Coordinator for ACT Alliance will be in charge of day-to-day coordination with the consultant.

Time Frame of the assignment:

This consultancy is expected to be completed within one month from the date of award. It is expected that the work will start from 1st May 2021 and the deadline for submission of the final assessments report is 25 May 2021.

General Instruction

It is the responsibility of the Consultant to plan and carry out the assignment. ICCO will provide financial support as agreed between ICCO and consultant and ensure timely feedback. The consultant will be responsible for maintaining correspondence and outputs in a timely and efficient manner keeping ICCO informed via written email correspondence with contact person of each organization

Eligibility Criteria

The proposed consultant(s)/firms should meet the following profile:

• Master’s degree in finance or related field
• Applicant must have experience 5 years’ experience on research / study work on policy analysis, guideline development, logistics managementetc
• Applicant(s) must have a solid and proven track record on research/ study /assessment of policy, manual, guideline of different international and national organizations especially humanitarian crisis responding criteria
• Experience in study or research or assessment on policy, manual, guideline of the international organizations related to Rohingya crisis responding and adjacent areas under Cox’s Bazar region will be given preference

Please note that if any applicant does not meet the minimum eligibility criteria, the application will be disqualified without further evaluation.

Assessment Criteria of the Proposal

• Background of the organization/individual measured against the eligibility criteria: 15%
• Understanding of the assignment: 15%
• Team composition: 20%
• Prior experience of working on the Rohingya Crisis: 20%
• Budget: 30%

Fees and mode of payment

• The fees of the resource person/ consultant will depend on the assessment methodology and strategy and it will include VAT and Tax
• The payment will be made by bank transfer/cheque after submission and acceptance of the report by ACT forum agencies.
• VAT and Tax will be deducted at the source of payment

Schedule of Payments

Based up satisfactory completion of the Assessment /Services ICCO will pay for the assignment through bank transfer/cheque in the following instalments

PAYMENT MILESTONES AND AUTHORITY

The successful consultant /firm shall be paid according to the schedule detailed below:

How to apply

• Interested and qualified individuals/firms are invited to submit their Technical and Financial proposals via email to Martin Mondol, Head of HR & Admin, ICCO Cooperation, Bangladesh Country Office, House 14, Road 32, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212, T: +88 (02) 9861219, Email:procurement.bd@icco.nl with subject “Proposal for Assessment of Procurement and Logistics Policies”
• A financial proposal consisting per day rate of the proposed consultants. 
• One –page short CV of team members highlighting relevant assignment
• Copy of TIN certificate.
• Copy with Bank details

The deadline of submission of the bid: April 21, 2021 via email

Any queries about the consultancy should be addressed to Silvia Rovelli at email:S.Rovelli@icco-cooperation.org