International Rescue Committee

Request for Expressions of Interest

To conduct a gender assessment in the Rohingya camps of Cox’s Bazar

Background

Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the world’s leading agencies working in post-conflict and development contexts, supporting communities in over 40 fragile, failed and developing states. In this capacity, we work to restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted, struggling to endure and wishing to advance on a path of development. The IRC has been present in Bangladesh since 2017 and obtained registration with the NGOAB in March 2018. Since the IRC obtained registration in March 2018, it has moved quickly to expand its integrated emergency health and protection response through both direct and partner-based programming focused on primary healthcare, women’s protection and empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and child protection. Through 2018, the IRC’s response strategy primarily targets Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, while meeting the significant needs in both refugee and host populations, as already existing vulnerabilities are compounded with cyclical monsoon and cyclone seasons that impose additional threats to the lives and protection of those refugees as well as vulnerable host populations.

The IRC Bangladesh’s Women’s Empowerment and Protection (WPE) programming facilitates healing, dignity, and self-determination of women and girls of Rohingya and host communities who have experienced, or are at risk of, violence. In coordination with our local partners, we provide lifesaving psychosocial (PSS) and referral services, gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response activities, life skills training, and promote women’s leadership through community engagement. The ultimate goals are to create opportunities for women and girls to transform their lives and to make their voices heard in pursuit of a safer, more equitable world.

Overview of the action research:

IRC with the support of GAC and PRM is conducting a gender assessment in the Rohingya camps to better understand the needs of women and girls which will help design future programming. The research will use both qualitative and quantitative data.

Specific Objectives:

A gender analysis document that will examine the needs of Rohingya women and girls which will guide in addressing the gaps in services, policy and practices including but not limited to identifying gender roles, power dynamics, decision making, vulnerability/coping mechanisms, inclusion, social norms and the socio-economic situation of women and girls in the Rohingya community of Cox’s Bazar. Assess the present status of women and girls on their knowledge and awareness about government and humanitarian services and their entitlements.
A strong evidence base that can feed into ongoing advocacy work to identify the gaps with respect to the promotion of the needs and rights of women and girls in Rohingya camps.
Identify interventions that address gender inequalities and meet the different needs of women, girls, men, boys with intersectional identities.
Concrete recommendations for policy advocacy with multiple stakeholders
A reference document for present and future academic studies, actions research, policy advocacy and development work.

Deliverables:

The deliverables will clearly depend on which approach is used and the time frame needs to be negotiated and approved by IRC – but the required outputs of the consultancy IRC expects is as follows:

A brief inception report (maximum five pages) outlining the proposed approach/methodology and execution programme/timetable. This document should be submitted for review and approval by IRC five days after the signature of the contract and before commencement of the work.
Deadline of the data collection tools should be submitted within five days after acceptance of the methodology for review and approval by the research team.
Draft report should be submitted within ten days after completion of the field work and shall be accompanied with the raw data as collected through the data collection tools.
Electronic versions of the final report should be submitted to IRC.
A presentation based on the findings of the assessment to be prepared and presented at a dialogue workshop.

Indicative time frame:
The work will be carried as soon as possible and completed by mid-November 2021.

Competency Required:
Qualification and Experiences

Professionals or experts having excellent technical knowledge on gender
Significant professional background and experience in conducting quantitative/qualitative surveys and gender analysis.
Previous experience in conducting similar work for international agencies will be preferred. Please provide proof document of similar work experience.
Relevant academic background (Doctorate Degree preferred). Need to provide details academic profile of all team members who will be working in this project.
Excellent analytical, interpersonal, communication and reporting skills.
Excellent written and spoken English.
Ability to consolidate and synthesize substantive comments and views of multiple stakeholders in a balanced and concise manner.
Cultural sensitivity and experience in moderating meetings of culturally diverse and international groups.
Valid business registration, TIN and BIN documents need to submit.
Filled IRC’s VIF form need to submit with proposal.

Qualification of Consultant/ Consultancy firm

The following qualification, competencies, and skills are required to successfully carry out this assignment:

Specific skills and experience sought:

Post-graduate degree in research studies, social work, public health, gender studies, development Studies and/or related field
Expertise in qualitative and quantitative information collection, analysis, and reporting
Experience in working with government officials, donors, youth, civil society, adolescent girls, women, and being able to interact with a variety of stakeholders at different levels
Knowledge of relevant sectors in humanitarian contexts including Primary Health Care, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Gender Equality, Community Mobilization, Protection, and Inclusive WASH
Proven experience in the use of participatory action research methodology
Strong knowledge of and familiarity with Bangladeshi humanitarian context particularly the Ukhia and Teknaf.
Excellent writing, communications, and presentation skills in English
Experience collecting, analyzing, and interpreting qualitative information
Ability to write clear and useful reports (examples of previous work will need to be submitted)
Excellent command in English language is essential and local languages knowledge is desirable. However sound knowledge of local language for enumerator /field worker is mandatory
Ability to manage the available time and resources and workout in meeting tight deadlines
Independence from IRC, program stakeholders or other parties involved.
Experience on conducting similar assessments.
Knowledge on quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
Knowledge and understanding of gender
Understanding of empowerment and advocacy approaches in development

Technical Proposal:

A letter of interest stating why you consider yourself suitable for the assignment.
Consultant/ team of consultants CV and link of portfolio.
Work references - contact details (e-mail addresses) of referees.
Relevant Documents-Business registration, VAT & TIN document, Bank account no (for organization), TIN and Bank account for individuals.
Filled and signed IRC’s VIF form (attached)

Financial proposal:

Provider need to provide financial offer which should be inclusive of all necessary Vat/Tax as per Bangladesh Government regulation.
All payment will be through bank transfer and after service. Provider can submit proposal for partial payment process after any specific service delivery.

Evaluation Criteria:

Eligible documents	A Certificate of updated Business Registration or Trading License in Bangladesh (Mandatory for consultancy firm/companies). For individuals, this is not mandatory, but need the profile and team details. TIN (Mandatory for all) with Updated Taxpayers documents* in Bangladesh* VAT Registration Certificates/ Business Identification number (BIN)* (Mandatory for all). (Provider should have ability to process invoice in Musuk 6.3)* Intent to bid form, completed and signed IRC Conflict of Interest & Supplier Code of Conduct, completed and signed Filled Vendor Information Form, completed and signed. *Please find VIF form, Conflict of Interest, Code of Conduct in* Click here to download *OR Visit* https://rescue.app.box.com/v/VIF-COC-COI-ITB Bidders must submit above mandatory documents and other mentioned documents with necessary signature along with proposals. If in any case supplier fails to provide any of the mentioned mandatory documents, supplier may considered as disqualify for further evaluation process.
Criteria 1: Educational qualification	Post-graduate and advanced degree in research studies, social work, public health, gender studies, development Studies and/or related field. Highest educational qualification will be consider for highest scoring.	10%
Criteria 2: Past Experience and Team composition.	Refers to Bidders ability to demonstrate relevant experience and technical knowledge of the services required, experience working with UN, NGO, or GO especially in Primary Health Care, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Gender Equality, Community Mobilization, Protection, and Inclusive WASH in Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis context and Host communities. Gender balanced team (who will be working in this project) with fluency both in Bangla and English. maximum years of working experience (preferably Primary Health Care, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Gender Equality, Community Mobilization, Protection, and Inclusive WASH study). Only valid proof (PO/contract, project details /publications reference) of Baseline Survey or Study experience certificate/ POs for last three years will be considered for evaluation scoring. More qualified gender balanced team with highest relevant experience/skills will be scored highest.	15%
Criteria 3: Time-bound work plan	Refers to availability and capacity of immediate commencement/ mobilization of resources (skilled team/materials) to start the Baseline Survey or study. With consideration of Covid-19 movement restriction Provider need to provide a detail work plan with timeline on what activity will start when and by when work will be completed. provider need to submit a details alternative plan on how provider will mitigate the risk of any movement restriction imposed by local government. Good details with realistic timeframe will get highest score.	10%
Criteria 4: Detailed Methodology and proposal	Detail methodological/technical aspects of carrying out the study. Provider need to provide details of their understanding of the work and how they will conduct the study. Committee will review their methodology and will score out of 30% marks.	30%
Criteria 5: Presentation of top ranking provider/ supplier	Based on the evaluation score of criteria 1, 2, 3 and 4, only the top ranking suppliers who will score 40% and above out of 65% will be invited for presentation and financial evaluation. In presentation suppliers will demonstrate their understanding on the Scope Of Service (SOS) requirements and skills, competencies and relevant experiences to deliver the work in a timely manner. Based on their presentation and ability of well demonstration evaluation committee will provide score out of 10.	10%
Criteria 6: Financial proposal	Financial proposal will be open only for providers/suppliers who will successfully pass in technical evaluation. Consultant fees, breakdown of activity costs etc. All prices should be inclusive of Tax/Vat charges as per the government policy and rules. Lowest price will get highest score.	25%

Outline of the Technical Proposal:
It is mandatory that the proposal should have the following:

Title of the assessment

Understanding of the EoI and the task to be accomplished

Methodology (state detail about the sampling design and strategy, data collection systems/ techniques/methods, data processing & analysis, data quality)

Work/Operational plan

Proposed team with team members names and curriculum vitae

Ethical Considerations:

The assessment should be conducted in accordance with the principles outlined in the IRC’s ethical guidelines and enact safeguards to protect the rights and confidentiality of information providers, provisions to store and maintain security of collected information and protocols to ensure anonymity and confidentiality.

Each potential respondent will be given full information about the book publication including the purpose and how the information collected will be used. Verbal/written consent is required from all adults who agree to participate. Participants under the age of 18 will require signed consent from a parent/guardian. All participants will be informed of their right to discontinue their participation at any point and approaches.

Intellectual property:

All information pertaining to this assignment belongs to IRC, which the consultant may come into contact with in the performance of his/her, duties under this assignment shall remain the property of IRC who shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the information shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever without written permission of IRC in line with the national and International Copyright Laws applicable.

Clarification of Bidding Documents:

A prospective Bidder requiring any clarification of the Bidding Documents may notify the Purchaser in writing at BD.clarifications@rescue.org. The request for clarification must reach the purchaser not later than 05th September 2021 before 3.00PM. The Purchaser will respond by e-mail providing clarification on the bid documents by 05th September 2021.

A Pre-bid meeting will be held on Zoom virtual meeting (Zoom conference meeting) on 05th September 2021, starting at 2.00 pm and finishing time 03.00 pm, where all interested bidders are invited. To attend such Zoom meeting, all interested bidders are requested to send their Email address to BD.clarifications@rescue.orgby 05th September, 2021 within 1.00 pm. IRC will then send the Zoom Link through email to attend and ask for any clarification during the meeting.

Deadline of proposal offer submission:

Interested bidders are requested to submit their proposal (both financial and technical) with necessary supporting documents mentioned above as a PDF copy through email with necessary attachments before 05.00 PM of 15th September 2021. After this mentioned date and time, no bid offer will be accepted.
Proposal Submission email address: BD.procurement@rescue.org.

(email attachment document size shouldn’t be more than 20 MB, in case of larger file, bidders can upload documents in google drive share the link in their proposal submission email: BD.procurement@rescue.org.)

IRC Core Values & Commitments:

The IRC workers and partners/consultants must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Adult Safeguarding, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity Anti-Retaliation and Combating Trafficking in Persons.
IRC is committed to ensuring that consultant is suitable to work with children and women / girls and have the knowledge s/he needs to uphold and abide by the IRC’s Child and Adult Safeguarding Policy.
Level of interaction with clients: Frequent direct contact with clients
IRC recognizes that gender equality is fundamental to the achievement of our organizational mission. As such, IRC is committed to the promotion of gender equality in all aspects of our operations and programs. Our organizational policies, procedures and actions demonstrate this commitment.
IRC highly expect that, the consultancy firms or freelancer consultancy teams will consider their team compositions as a diversified and gender balance team.