Consultants to conduct a midterm evaluation enhancing participatory governance and accountability (EPGA) project

Trócaire
is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland,
established in 1973 and currently has presence in more than 17 countries in
Latin America, Africa and Asia including Rwanda. Trócaire has been operating in
Rwanda since 1994 and its office is located in BHC Building, 260 Bvd de
l’Umuganda, Kacyiru
.

Terms
of Reference (TOR) for suitably qualified consultants to conduct a Midterm
Evaluation Enhancing Participatory Governance and Accountability (EPGA) Project
Organization
Trócaire
Rwanda
BHC
Building, 260 Bvd de l’Umuganda, Kacyiru, P.O. Box 2040,
Kigali,
Rwanda
Tel :
(+250) 0252 502663 / (+250) 0252 502664
Programme
Pillar
Resource
Rights
Project
title
Enhancing
Participatory governance and Accountability of Local Leaders and Public
Institutions towards Citizens, Particularly Women and Youth
Reference
Trócaire-AID-696-A-17-00011
Assignment
Project
Midterm Evaluation by a suitably qualified consultant(s)
Assignment
Focal person
Project
Coordinator  – Grant Management
Release
date
24
September 2018
Deadline
for submission of bids
17
October 2018 – 4:00 pm
Duration
of the assignment
20
calendar days
  1. Introduction
Bids
are invited from suppliers who wish to be considered for selection as the
supplier of below services and/or goods Trócaire.
This
RFB document deals with:
  • Section
    2 : Confidentiality
  • Section
    3: Profile of Trócaire
  • Section
    4: Scope of the work
  • Section
    5: Content and format of bids
  • Section
    6: General Terms and Conditions
  • Section
    7: Conflict of Interest
  • Section
    8: Contract Period
  • Section
    9: Intellectual Property
  • Section
    10: Termination of Contract
  • Section
    11: Evaluation of bids
  • Section
    12: Submission of bids
  1. Confidentiality
Trócaire
will treat the content of all bids as strictly confidential and information
provided in the bids will be used solely for the purpose of deciding on the
award of a contract as described in this document.
  1. Profile
    of Trócaire
Trócaire
is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland,
established in 1973 and currently has a presence in more than 17 countries in
Latin America, Africa and Asia including Rwanda. Trócaire has been operating in
Rwanda since 1994 and is currently focusing on 3 programme pillars: Resource
Rights, Women’s Empowerment, and Preparing and Responding to Emergencies.
Trócaire does not implement programmes directly. Instead, the organization
works in partnership with local civil society organizations.  More
information about Trócaire can be found on http://www.trocaire.org/.
Trócaire
secured a USAID cooperative agreement Award to implement the project
entitled Enhancing Participatory Governance and Accountability effective
13 April  2017. The project is oriented towards strengthening
participatory and accountable governance through the participation of civil
society and citizens, particularly women and youth, in the formulation, implementation,
and monitoring of development policies and programmes in the agricultural
domain across 15 sectors of five districts of Rwanda namely Rulindo, Gakenke,
Nyanza, Nyamagabe and Nyaruguru.
This
project is strengthening the capacity of partner staff and civil society
organizations to actively engage in agriculture policy dialogue, budget
monitoring, and advocacy. It intends to better link the national agriculture
budget to the population’s priorities, needs and rights through informed
analysis and contributions to budget proposals, monitoring and tracking public
revenues and expenditures, and supporting citizens’ budget literacy. The
project specific objective is to promote the effective participation
of citizens, especially women and youth, and civil society organizations in the
development; implementation and monitoring of agriculture policy and budget in
five districts in order to ensure that they respond to the priorities of
vulnerable people and contribute to sustainable and inclusive development in Rwanda.
This
3 year project is being implemented by Trócaire as the lead organization in
partnership with the Episcopal Justice and Peace Commission (CEJP), the
farmer’s cooperative “Union des Coopératives Agricoles Intégrées” (UNICOOPAGI),
and the Rwanda Development Organisation (RDO)
 and the target
population is made of 3,675 citizens especially women and youth, Village
agricultural Committees members of 63 villages, local authorities from village
to district; and local and national Civil Society Organizations, CSOs.
4.  
 The scope of goods and services required
4.1  
 Rationale of Mid Term Evaluation

Trócaire is requesting suitably qualified consulting firms to submit proposals
to carry out the Mid Term Evaluation for the Project “Enhancing
Participatory Governance and Accountability. 
 It is expected that
this Mid Term Evaluation (MTE) aims to assess the continued relevance of
planned intervention and the progress made towards achieving the project
objective since the Baseline conducted in September 2017. It will also provide
an opportunity to make modifications to ensure the achievement of pre-set
results within the lifetime of the project.  
4.2  
 Key Audience
The
evaluation will seek to apply a participatory approach and will include
different stakeholders to gain a deep insight into the key evaluation
questions. The key audience for the project evaluation will be:
  • Citizens
    from targeted communities: 3675 farmers from 63 villages in 5 Districts
    especially women and youth;
  • Village
    agricultural committee members from 63 villages;
  • Civil
    society organizations at district and at a national level;
  • Sector
    and District Directors of Agriculture and natural resources;
  • Relevant
    directors in Rwanda Agricultural Boards and Ministry of Agriculture and
    Natural Resources; and
  • Trócaire
    and implementation partners with technical and leadership teams.
4.3  
 Methodology
The
Mid Term Evaluation should be conducted in a participatory manner involving the
consultant, Trócaire project team composed of the Programme Manager, USAID
project coordinator who is the focal point of the project; Trócaire M&E
Officer, Executive Secretaries for CEJP, UNICOOPAGI and RDO and other relevant
stakeholders.
4.4  
 Key questions the MTE should address
Mid
Term Evaluation will seek to address the following questions related to
Relevancy and design, Efficiency, Effectiveness and management arrangement,
Impact and sustainability.
Relevancy
of design:
  • What
    are the actual project midterm values for impact and outcome indicators
    set out in the project result framework?
  • How
    appropriate and useful are the indicators described in the project result
    framework in assessing the project’s progress? Are the targeted indicator
    values realistic and can they be easily tracked?
  • If
    necessary, how should they be modified to be more useful?
 Efficiency
  • Based
    on actual progress, will the project be likely to achieve its planned
    objectives upon completion? What are the main constraints, problems, and
    areas in need of further attention?
  • How
    have stakeholders been involved in project implementation? How effective
    has the project been in establishing community level and national level
    national ownership?
  • Have
    project funds and activities been delivered in a timely manner?
The
effectiveness of management arrangements
  • Does
    project management facilitate good results and efficient delivery? Is
    there a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of all
    parties involved?
  • Does
    the project implementing partners receive a conducive environment,
    technical and administrative support from the Trócaire and USAID?
  • How
    effectively do the project management monitor project performance and
    results?
 
Impact and sustainability
  • Besides
    impacts outlines in the results framework, what are other changes in the
    target population that are directly or indirectly are attributed to the
    project?
  • What
    are the project interventions that are likely to remain in the community
    after the project lifetime?
 NB: Trócaire
is committed to mainstream gender across all the programmes and for the sake of
this mid-term evaluation, all research questions should seek to establish the
Mid-Term situation for men and women, boys and girls.
4.5  
 Roles and Responsibilities
Trócaire
will establish an evaluation team to oversee the MTE exercise. This will
consist of the Project Coordinator, Programme Manager, and Monitoring and
Evaluation Officer. They will be responsible for:
  • Providing
    guidance to the consultant and stakeholders throughout the evaluation
    process;
  • Approval
    of all deliverables; and
  • Overall
    responsibility and accountability for the MTE.
In
consultation with partners the evaluation management team will also undertake
the following tasks:
  • Identify
    key sources of secondary information that can be used to supplement the
    primary information gathered;
  • In
    collaboration with the consultant, conduct fieldwork to gather data; and
  • In
    collaboration with the consultant, select sample communities based on a
    clear sampling strategy.
The
external consultant/s will be expected to:
  • Participate
    in briefing and consultative meetings on the assignment; 
  • Develop
    a work plan and inception report that will operationalize and direct the
    Mid Term Evaluation (MTE) addressing:
  • Expectations
    of the evaluation exercise;
  • Roles
    and responsibilities of consultants, Evaluation management team and
    partners;
  • Evaluation
    framework and methodology;
  • Data
    collection and analysis; and
  • Work
    scheduling and reporting.
  • Develop
    data collection tools such as questionnaire surveys, focus group
    discussion questions and key informant interview questions in
    collaboration with the evaluation management team and Programme partners;
  • Train
    partners and the evaluation management team on data collection, entering
    and processing in relation to this Mid-Term Evaluation;
  • Carry
    out fieldwork, analyze data, and draft a preliminary report for feedback
    from the evaluation management team;
  • Finalize
    the data analysis and submit a final report setting out the Mid Term
    Evaluation key findings;
  • Present
    the information formally at a workshop with partners and key stakeholders;
    and,
  • Deliver
    on all agreed deliverables (inception report, evaluation report and
    database, and data collection tools).
  1. Content
    and Format of bids submitted
Consultants
should enclose the following documents with their proposals:
  • Letter
    of interest addressed to the Country Director of Trócaire Rwanda;
  • The
    technical proposal that will provide the following:
  • Description
    of the consultancy company, proving the good understanding of these TOR,
    experience of the consulting company in the domain of agriculture,
    agricultural policy implementation and monitoring;
  • Detailed
    methodology, and time plan for all proposed activities;
  • CV
    of 2 senior officials whom will take the lead on the Mid-Term study as an
    annex;
  • Contact
    details of 3 references to facilitate reference checks; and
  • At
    least 2 certificates of good completion of services for similar work with
    international organizations, donor organizations or government agencies.
  • A
    financial proposal detailing the cost for each planned activity and
    related logistics in RWF and clearly indicating VAT cost. VAT registration
    certificate issued by RRA and Company registration certificate from RDB
    should be presented as an annex.
  1. General
    Terms and Conditions of this RFB
  • Trócaire
    does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced bids.
  • Trócaire
    does not guarantee exclusivity and reserves the right to engage other
    companies for the same services (if required) during the term of the
    contract.
  • Trócaire
    shall be free to:
    • To
      accept the whole, or part only, of any bid;
    • To
      accept none of the proposals tendered;
    • To
      republish this Request for Bids.
  • In
    the event of not accepting any of the bid submissions received on foot of
    this RFT, Trócaire shall be free to make such arrangements as it considers
    necessary in relation to the provision of the goods/services.
  • Trócaire
    will not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred in the preparation
    of a bid;
  • The
    Contract shall be considered as a contract made in Rwandaaccording
    to Rwanda law and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Rwanda
  • The
    Standard Terms and Conditions to which Trócaire expects all of its
    supplier to respect is found on the Trócaire website – https://www.trocaire.org/about/work-with-trocaire/supply-chain.
  1. Conflicts
    of interest
Any
conflicts interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to Trócaire.
Failure to disclose a conflict may disqualify an applicant or invalidate an
award of the contract. Applicants are required to declare any current or past
work which might reasonably be considered to represent a conflict of interest.
It will be for Trócaire to decide if a material conflict of interest exists and
applicants in doubt in this regard should seek the advice of Trócaire.
  1. Safeguarding
Trócaire
is committed to safeguarding programme participants from any form of
exploitation or abuse as a result of our programmes or activities.  Anyone
working for or on behalf of Trócaire must share this commitment. Trócaire’s
Position Statement on Exploitation and Abuse and Trócaire’s Child Safeguarding
Policy Summary document outline expectations in this regard, including a Code
of Conduct.   All consultants, representatives, and volunteers of
Trócaire will be expected to sign these documents along with a Declaration Form
and a Self-Declaration Form.
  1. Contract
    Type and Period
The
consultancy contract is a fixed term consultancy contract and will commence
with the 12th day of November 2018 and it will expire on
December 7th, 2018 and by this date, the Consultant is expected
to have submitted the final report to Trócaire Rwanda. The contract duration
will have a maximum of 20 working days assigned to this Mid-Term Evaluation.
  1. Intellectual
    Property
Any
concept, guidelines or other material developed during the contract will be
considered the property of Trócaire and may be used by Trócaire at any time.
11.  
 Termination of Contract
  1. Trócaire
    reserves the right to terminate the contract at any stage on payment of
    reasonable and agreed costs accrued to the date of termination. The
    contract may be terminated by either party on giving appropriate written
    notice.
  2. If
    at any stage of the contract,
    the goods/services delivered by the consultant is found to be
    unsatisfactory, the contract may be terminated by Trócaire. In the event
    of such a termination, the consultant will only be entitled to receive payment
    in relation to the acceptable goods/services rendered at that
    time.
12.  
 Evaluation of Bids

a)    All suppliers should at least meet the relevant and
demonstrable experience in the following areas:
  • Programme/project
    planning and evaluation;
  • Participatory
    research techniques;
  • Extensive
    experience in digital data gathering, entering and processing applications
    especially with Survey CTO platforms;
  • Developing high-quality monitoring
    and evaluation systems for similar programmes;
  • Strong
    background and experience of working in the region/country and programme
    context;
  • Knowledge
    of relevant thematic programme such us public policy cycle;
  • Extensive
    knowledge about agricultural policy implementation and monitoring;
  • Knowledge
    of Trócaire’s work;
  • Producing high-quality reports;
  • Working
    to demanding deadlines; and
  • Digital
    data collection and management.
b)  
 The successful Consultant will be the one who, in the opinion of
Trócaire, submits the most economically advantageous proposal applying the
following award criteria: 
  • Understanding the
    Terms of Reference;
  • Proposed
    methodology and planning of the assignment;
  • Experience in developing
    evaluations for similar programmes;
  • Past
    experience of the company in working with evaluation exercises for
    international NGOs or for donor organizations;
  • Relevant
    qualification and experience of 2 senior consultants proposed for this
    assignment,
  • Overall the
    quality of the proposal;
  • Cost,
    RRA and RDB company registration and applying electronic billing machine
    while issuing invoices; and
  • The
    work plan must clearly outline which individual will actively lead and
    deliver the assignment. The senior consultant/ team leader will be
    responsible for the successful and timely delivery of the assignment. The
    financial proposal should be inclusive of tax and quoted in Rwanda
    Francs (RWF) clearly indicating the cost per day. Demonstrable experience
    and Value for Money (VFM) will be key considerations in evaluating
    proposals submitted.
c)  
 During the evaluation, period clarification may be sought in writing from
prospective consultants. Responses to requests for clarification may not
materially change any elements of the bids submitted. 
d)  
 No unsolicited communications from prospective consultants will be
accepted or entertained during the evaluation period.  Any such
unsolicited communication will result in disqualification of bids.
A
shortlist of those who have submitted bids will be drawn up by the Procurement
Committee and a certain number of those who have submitted bids may be invited
to make a final presentation of their bids.
13.  
 Submission of Bids
Your
proposal clearly marked: “Mid Term Evaluation for Enhancing
Participatory Governance and Accountability (EPGA) project
 should
be submitted under sealed envelope to the Trócaire offices– Kacyiru BHC
building, 260 Boulevard de l’Umuganda, Kacyiru, Kigali, Rwanda or through email
submitted to fred.ntakirutinka@trocaire.org and
copying modeste.sibomana@trocaire.org and desire.nduwayezu@trocaire.org not
later than October 17th, 2018. Any
queries relating to this request for Quotation should be directed by e-mail
only to fred.ntakiturinka@trocaire.org; the staff member
who will follow up on this TOR.
The
deadline for the receipt of bids is 4:00 PM on 17 October 2018.
 Done
on 24 September 2018
Trócaire
Rwanda Country Director
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