Consultancy Firm

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

RFQ Nº UNFPA/SLE /RFQ/19/019

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Sierra Leone Country Office UNFPA hereby solicits a quotation for the following services:

Consultancy Firm

UNFPA requires the provision of a Consultancy Firm to provide technical support to UNFPA and MOHS to implement quality improvement initiatives to improve MNCH outcomes in Sierra Leone.

This Request for Quotation is open to all legally-constituted companies that can provide the requested services and have legal capacity to deliver/perform in the country, or through an authorized representative.

About UNFPA

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is an international development agency that works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child birth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.  

UNFPA is the lead UN agency that expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives. To read more about UNFPA, please go to: UNFPA about us

II – Service Requirements/Terms of Reference (ToR)

Objectives and scope of the Services

Background

Across the world, the demand for quality health services and patient safety is higher than ever before, and Sierra Leone has followed this global trend. Provision of quality health service means: safety of patients and health professionals; effectiveness to avoid overuse and misuse; provision of care that addresses the patients’ needs; limited waiting times and harmful delays for clients; and provision of equitable care. These health service gaps exist in the routine and systematic provision of quality care in Sierra Leone.

Evidence from the Sierra Leone Demographic Health Survey (SLDHS) 2013 shows that Sierra Leone remains the country with one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally with the maternal mortality ratio of 1,165 per 100,000 live births. This is multiple times more than the maternal mortality rate Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of 70 per 100,000 live births. Similarly, the newborn mortality rate remains equally poor at 39 per 1000 live births. The country could therefore benefit from a thoroughly focused and prioritized set of high impact interventions for accelerating reduction of maternal and newborn deaths.

The Government of Sierra Leone joined the Global Quality of Care network in December 2017, which includes ten countries taking leadership to improve the QoC of women and babies. The vision of the QoC Network is that every pregnant woman, newborn and child receives quality care. The aim is to decrease facility deaths by 50% for maternal, newborns and still births within 5 years in the participating countries.

UNFPA has over the years supported the government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS) to improve maternal and newborn services and quality of care with the aim of reducing maternal and newborn mortality and is currently supporting the MOHS to implement Quality of Care activities with the goal of institutionalizing QoC within the country.

 In 2018, UNFPA supported the MOHS to implement the following activities

• Conduct a situation analysis of Quality of Care in the country.
• In collaboration with WHO and UNICEF conduct baseline assessments of maternal and neonatal quality of care in some selected facilities.
• Adapt the WHO standards on maternal and newborn care to the Sierra Leone context.

Subsequent to these, the MOHS has implemented some quality improvement activities as enumerated below;

• Establishment of a Quality Management Program at the MOHS
• Establishment of national structures including;
  
  • Quality Management Program (currently under the directorate of reproductive and child health)
  • Quality Steering Committee
  • QoC technical working group
• Training of quality improvement teams in some learning sites
• Quality committees established in DHMTs and facilities

Main Objective

The aim of this consultancy is to provide technical support for the implementation of quality of care activities in Sierra Leone

Key Activity

Conduct a scoping visit to determine the state of QI infrastructure in Sierra Leone.

Expected Deliverable

• Implementation plan based on stakeholder interactions and review of documents highlighting gaps and areas to be strengthened.

Working Modalities

1. Duration of the Assignment

Activities under this consultancy are to be completed within 3 working days in Freetown. 

2. Operational/Administrative Support

The Country Office will provide daily subsistence allowance, office space and vehicle for travel.

Expertise required and criteria for awarding contract 

• Master’s degree in Public Health, Medicine, Sociology, Demography, or other related field
• Professional qualification in Quality improvement
• Experience in development and implementation of quality of care programs and quality improvement initiatives.
• 10 years of increasingly responsible professional experience with strong technical knowledge in the field of quality improvement.
• Fluency in oral and written English.
• Previous experience in working with the UN is a strong asset
• Questions

Questions or requests for further clarifications should be submitted in writing to the contact person below:

The deadline for submission of questions is [Tuesday 18^th June 2019 at 3.00pm]. Questions will be answered in writing and shared with all parties as soon as possible after this deadline.

Content of quotations

Quotations should be submitted in a single e-mail whenever possible, depending on file size. Quotations must contain:

Technical proposal, in response to the requirements outlined in the service requirements / TORs.

1. Price quotation, to be submitted strictly in accordance with the price quotation form.

Both parts of the quotation must be signed by the bidding company’s relevant authority and submitted in PDF format.

Instructions for submission

Proposals should be prepared based on the guidelines set forth in Section IV above, along with a properly filled out and signed price quotation form, are to be sent by e-mail to the contact person indicated below no later than Thursday 20 June 2019

Please note the following guidelines for electronic submissions:

• The following reference must be included in the email subject line: RFQ Nº UNFPA/SLE/RFQ/19/019, Consultancy Firm. Proposals that do not contain the correct email subject line may be overlooked by the procurement officer and therefore not considered.
• The total e-mail size may not exceed 20 MB (including e-mail body, encoded attachments and headers). Where the technical details are in large electronic files, it is recommended that these be sent separately before the deadline.

Overview of Evaluation Process

Quotations will be evaluated based on the technical proposal and the total cost of the services (price quote).

The evaluation will be carried out in a two-step process by an ad-hoc evaluation panel. Technical proposals will be evaluated for technical compliance prior to the comparison of price quotes.

Award Criteria

UNFPA shall award a [Purchase Order to the lowest-priced technically acceptable offer.

Right to Vary Requirements at Time of Award

UNFPA reserves the right at the time of award of contract to increase or decrease by up to 20% the volume of services specified in this RFQ without any change in unit prices or other terms and conditions.

Payment Terms

UNFPA payment terms are net 30 days upon receipt of invoice and delivery/acceptance of the milestone deliverables linked to payment as specified in the contract.

Fraud and Corruption

UNFPA is committed to preventing, identifying, and addressing all acts of fraud against UNFPA, as well as against third parties involved in UNFPA activities. UNFPA’s Policy regarding fraud and corruption is available here:  Fraud Policy. Submission of a proposal implies that the Bidder is aware of this policy.

Suppliers, their subsidiaries, agents, intermediaries and principals must cooperate with the UNFPA Office of Audit and Investigations Services as well as with any other oversight entity authorized by the Executive Director and with the UNFPA Ethics Advisor as and when required.  Such cooperation shall include, but not be limited to, the following: access to all employees, representative’s agents and assignees of the vendor; as well as production of all documents requested, including financial records.  Failure to fully cooperate with investigations will be considered sufficient grounds to allow UNFPA to repudiate and terminate the Agreement, and to debar and remove the supplier from UNFPA's list of registered suppliers.

A confidential Anti-Fraud Hotline is available to any Bidder to report suspicious fraudulent activities at UNFPA Investigation Hotline.

Zero Tolerance

UNFPA has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on gifts and hospitality. Suppliers are therefore requested not to send gifts or offer hospitality to UNFPA personnel. Further details on this policy are available here: Zero Tolerance Policy.

RFQ Protest

Bidder(s) perceiving that they have been unjustly or unfairly treated in connection with a solicitation, evaluation, or award of a contract may submit a complaint to the UNFPA Head of the Business Unit Dr. Kim E. Dickson at dickson@unfopa.org . Should the supplier be unsatisfied with the reply provided by the UNFPA Head of the Business Unit, the supplier may contact the Chief, Procurement Services Branch at procurement@unfpa.org.

Disclaimer

Should any of the links in this RFQ document be unavailable or inaccessible for any reason, bidders can contact the Procurement Officer in charge of the procurement to request for them to share a PDF version of such document(s).

PRICE Quotation Form

• Quoted rates must be exclusive of all taxes, since UNFPA is exempt from taxes.

I hereby certify that the company mentioned above, which I am duly authorized to sign for, has reviewed RFQ UNFPA/SLE/RFQ/19/019 including all annexes, amendments to the RFQ document (if applicable) and the responses provided by UNFPA on clarification questions from the prospective service providers.  Further, the company accepts the General Conditions of Contract for UNFPA and we will abide by this quotation until it expires.