Tender notice for “ Evaluation of DEVCO” in NRC Iraq (IRAQ-RFQ-135-2021)

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) welcomes you to the tender notification of 273175, External Evaluation of NRC DEVCO .

NRC is an independent, humanitarian, non-profit, non-governmental organization, which provides assistance, protection and durable solutions to refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. NRC promotes and protects the rights of people who have been forced to flee their countries or their homes within their countries. It is the only Norwegian organization that specializes in international ef orts aimed at this target group. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Office in Iraq invites eligible and interested suppliers to participate in the evaluation of DEVCO program, ref. Number IRAQ-RFQ-135-2021: Provision of Consultancy Services for the Evaluation of the Building Resilience and Empowering Communities towards Durable Solutions Project If your company is interested in participating in the tender it requires online registration in the web-based eSourcing system CTM. It is free to register as a user in the system, and once the company is created, you will obtain access to all of the current and future tenders notifications implemented by NRC through the system. After registration, you get access to all tender package, For registration instructions, please follow the link https://norwegianrefugeecouncil-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/zhala_jaff_nrc_no/Eatm8G3c1XlIuMBe-xdjSVMBvs0fYHnadBzz11-PL5_BLQ?e=rwg5S3

Background :

Nearly four years since the end of military operations against IS, the humanitarian situation in Iraq remains highly concerning, with residual impacts of the conflict still present and further compounded by the Covid-19 outbreak, first detected in Iraq in February 2020. The pandemic has further exacerbated vulnerabilities due to hindered access to healthcare, education, livelihood opportunities among others, and nationwide movement restrictions. The impact of Covid-19 is expected to continue well into 2021, requiring the humanitarian community to adapt modalities of intervention to continue, despite hardships, to deliver quality and safe programming.

According to the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) of April 2021[1], 1,198,940 people are still displaced throughout the country and over 6.13 million still need humanitarian assistance. 230,000 Syrian refugees also remain displaced in Iraq, primarily in the Kurdistan Region. As of April 2021, over 4, 867, 050 people in Federal Iraq have either returned to their areas of origin or have been forced into secondary displacement as the Government of Iraq closes IDP camps. Often, IDPs returning to their areas of origin struggle to access their home communities for various reasons including the poor conditions there that are not suitable for durable solutions. This issue leads to large-scale secondary urban displacement, which is expected to continue well into 2021. Camp Coordination/Camp Management (CCCM) cluster, IOM, and NRC data indicate that between 33% and 50% of persons who departed camps towards the end of 2020 will likely be secondarily displaced into urban areas and/or informal sites.

Conversely, hundreds of households that do want to return home are unable to do so due to perceived or real affiliation to IS. Female-headed households whose husbands are missing, or presumed dead or in judicial custody are disproportionately affected and continue to report that they cannot return due to perceived affiliation to IS.

NRC

NRC has been present in Iraq since 2010 and supports internally displaced Iraqis, Syrian refugees, and host communities, focusing on those in protracted displacement in camps, informal settlements and areas of return, with a particular emphasis on hard-to-reach populations.

In 2021, NRC continues to shift towards early recovery programming, aiming for sustainable development to assist displacement-affected populations, while maintaining our capacity to respond to emergencies.

NRC currently works across six governorates; Anbar, Basra, Dohuk, Kirkuk, Ninewa and Salah Al-Din in Iraq .

NRC values evaluations for their ability to:

a) Enhance accountability towards NRC’s target group and donors by regularly examining performance and adapting NRC’s response based on findings.

b) Use findings to immediately bring about changes and improvements to similar interventions in Iraq.

c) Strengthen agency-wide learning by drawing on evaluations to improve organisational approaches, strategy and policy.

The primary users of the evaluation will be the DRC and NRC programme teams in Iraq, specifically the legal support, community coordination and education teams, as well as the donor of this intervenrion, the EU Delegation to Iraq. The evaluation will help inform the country management group strategic directions of DRC and NRC’s work in Iraq. Secondary users in the Iraq country programme will include other core competencies and support functions, such as logistics, Human resources and finance. The evaluation report will be published on the DRC and NRC websites, and lessons learned and recommendations will be shared outside of the Iraq country programme. There will be a consideration for global use of the evaluation findings, however, the evaluation will be of specific use to partners and agencies implementing similar activities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

The primary purpose of the proposed evaluation is to inform organisational learning while the second objective is accountability to donors.

Scope :

The evaluation will cover the implementation period of the project, i.e. from 22 November 2019 to August 2021. The geographic focus will be on the three-targeted governorates of Diyala, Ninewa and Salah Al-Din. Within Diyala governorate, the evaluation will the focus on the Muqdadiya district, Ninewa the focus will be in Hamdaniya district (Bartella Sub District) and Sinjar district while in Salah Al-Din the evaluation will focus primarily on Tuz district.

The evaluation will seek to answer the following lines of inquiry:

1. Relevance

a. How relevant are the project activities to the context and needs in the programme locations?

b. Were project interventions delivered in a timely manner?

c. To what extent did NRC and DRC adapt project interventions to respond to the contextual changes resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic?

d. To what extent and how did the project deliver appropriate and effective programming for persons with disability?

1. Impact

a. Are the impact of the project sustainable? How ( if at all) did beneficiary’s circumstances change as a result of the project?

b. Did the project support people to find a path, or increase their chances of finding a path towards a durable solution?

c. Were there any unintended positive or negative consequences of the project?

1. Effectiveness

a. To what extent were the objectives of the project achieved?

b. What are the major factors influencing the outcome of the project in Iraq?

c. To what exten and how did the project deliver

1. Efficiency

a. Was the project able to use well the resources available for the provision of service?

b. How do stakeholders and beneficiaries perceive the quality of the service delivered by the project?

c. Is the project implemented in the most efficient way ( modalities) compred to alternative?

Methodology

The evaluation methodology will be developed by the Consultant and presented in the inception report, including a detailed evaluation matrix. The evaluation should be based on combined quantitative and qualitative research methods. All key evaluation questions should be addressed. The data collection strategy should include the use of appropriate tools to gain a deeper understanding of the outcomes of the project, including:

· Desk review of background documents, such as the project proposal, log frame, budgets, and interim reports

· Minutes of meetings, various M&E data, monitoring reports, including monitoring reports, progress reports and donor reports;

· Key informant interviews with key DRC and NRC programme and support teams (including area and field offices). A minimum of ten (10) NRC and DRC staff should be consulted as part of the evaluation exercise

· Participatory methods deemed appropriate by the research team. This should include qualitative data collection methods with project beneficiaries; all methods require adequate training by the research team on the data collection tools and methodology, and must adhere to do no harm principles and protection information management principles– including but not limited to confidentiality, informed consent, and managing expectations. At least 200 project participants should be consulted as part of the evaluation in Diyala, Ninewa and Salahadin governorates

· Interviews with other humanitarian actors (including cluster leads) implementing similar programmes in Iraq and if possible, also representatives from the Iraq government/authorities. A minimum of three (3) stakeholders should be consulted as part of the evaluation process

Evaluation follow up and learning

• A management response will be developed within two months of the evaluation report being finalised. This will be followed up and tracked by the Head of Programmes

· A dissemination plan will be developed to ensure that important learning is shared with internal and external stakeholders, including but not limited to, the National Protection Cluster, the Iraq HLP Subcluster, and other relevant stakeholders

Management of the evaluation

The person responsible for ensuring that this evaluation/ review takes place is the NRC Head of Programme. An Evaluation Manager has been appointed to internally coordinate the process and will be the evaluation team’s main focal point.

An Evaluation steering Committee has been established by DRC and NRC, with the following members:

· Evaluation steering committee chair;

· Evaluation manager;

· Evaluation steering committee members

The Evaluation steering committee will oversee the administration and overall coordination, including monitoring the progress of the evaluation. The main functions of the reference group will be to:

· Establish the Terms of Reference of the evaluation;

· Select evaluator(s);

· Review and comment on the inception report and approve the proposed evaluation strategy;

· Review of the evaluation tools including (Interview questioner, FGD form, Survey form,

· Review and comment on the draft evaluation report;

· Approve final report;

· Establish a dissemination and utilization strategy.

· at least three field visit have to be conducted in the targeted ares

Deliverables and reporting deadlines

The consultant will deliver, based on an agreed-upon work plan:

1. Data collection instruments for review and approval by DRC and NRC before commencing fieldwork in Iraq

2. An evaluation inception report (using NRC’s standard template), with a proposed methodology for the evaluation and a detailed work plan

3. Presentation of preliminary evaluation findings and validation workshop with the programme team, Country Management Group and implementation teams

4. A draft evaluation report (using NRC’s standard template);

5. A final evaluation report of a maximum of 25 pages (excluding

6. Annexes) in English including executive summary, key recommendations and supporting analysis.

Timeframe

The evaluation will start in last week of July 2021 with an initial briefing and document preparation. The consultant would then be required to conduct a review of the provided documents and submit an inception report. Following approval of the inception report, primary data collection will be conducted in the selected locations in Iraq and with key staff/stakeholders in Erbil. Key dates for the evaluation will be as follows:

1. Submission of draft inception report: Last week of July 2021

2. Briefing and primary data collection in Iraq August 2021

3. Presentation of preliminary findings and validation workshop with programme team, country management group and programme implementation focal points: Last week of August 2021

4. Submission of draft evaluation Report: 31 August 2021

5. Submission of final evaluation Report: 15 September 2021

Evaluation consultant team

NRC seeks expressions of interest from people or organisations with the following skills/qualifications:

1. Proven practical experience in project/programme evaluation, particularly in participatory evaluation

2. Minimum 5 years of experience with quantitative and qualitative research and experience

3. Technical understanding of humanitarian legal programmes, Livelihoods and community engagement interventions

4. Ability to analyse, synthesize, and write clear reports;

5. Good knowledge of the NGOs management in general and familiarity with organizational development;

6. Experience working with civil society organizations in conflict and post-conflict countries;

7. Adequate knowledge of the humanitarian, political and socio-economic situation in Iraq.

8. Ability to obtain access to all areas of evaluation.

PARTICIPATION:

Follow the below instructions when you want to participate in one of NRC’s tender procedures: Log into the system, read the access conditions, and click Accept. Be aware that when you click accept, you have not submitted bid response, but have just accepted that you have been given access to the tender package. By accepting you will get access to all the relevant material and you will be able to download them.6/21/2021 eu-supply.com https://eu.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/editinvitationletter.asp 2/3 Please note that the last date and time for submission is by 07/07/2021 at 23:30 Iraq time. Otherwise, your application to participate in the tender will not be accepted by the NRC. Offers must be submitted through the eSourcing system, and before the tender deadline expires. It will not be possible to submit your bid after the deadline or outside the eSourcing system Note: this consultancy is home-based with travel to Iraq expected, and both companies and individuals are welcomed to participate in the tender.
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Manner of Submission**
There are two ways for the bid submission. Via e-Sourcing Please submit your quotation in accordance with the requirements detailed below by e-Sourcing system, following the below instructions: 1- The bidders can download the RFQ documents from “Access documents” from the system. 2- Collect the RFQ. 3- Fill the requested documents. 4- Upload your Technical proposal documents in “Envelope 1 – Technical Documents”, The price shall NOT be mentioned in the technical bid. 5- Upload your financial proposal documents in “Envelope 2 – Quotation Documents”. 6- After uploading the required documents, please check that the progress bar will show green colour “100% percent complete”. 7- Click on “Submit Response” button. Note: For more information, please refer to Supplier guide. NRC Iraq will follow the two envelop process for this procurement. Failure to comply with the above submission instruction will lead to supplier disqualification immediately. Questions and Inquiry: Questions for the tender content and process must be made to the contracting entity via the Q/A message module inside the eSourcing system by clicking on “Supplier questions and answers”, and then click on “Ask Question” button.6/21/2021 eu-supply.com https://eu.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/editinvitationletter.asp 3/3 2- Via e-mail Submission Bids can be submitted by email to the following dedicated, controlled, & secure email address: (mailto:[email protected]) When Bids are e-mailed the following conditions shall be complied with: • The RFQ number (IRAQ-RFQ-135-2021 shall be inserted in the Subject Heading of the email • Separate emails shall be used for the ‘Financial Bid’ and ‘Technical Bid’, and the Subject Heading of the email shall indicate which type the email contains. The price shall NOT be mentioned in the technical bid. o The financial bid shall only contain the financial bid form, Annex 6. o The technical bid shall contain all other documents required by the tender, but excluding all pricing information • Bid documents required, shall be included as an attachment to the email in PDF, JPEG, TIF format, or the same type of files provided as a ZIP file. Documents in MS Word or excel formats, will result in the bid being disqualified. Email attachments shall not exceed 4MB; otherwise the bidder shall send his bid in multiple emails. The last date and time for submission is by 07/07/2021 at 23:30 Iraq time**.

BID ACCEPTANCE: NRC reserves the right to accept the whole or part of supplier’s bid. NRC may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for submission of the bids, by notifying prospective suppliers in writing through the eSourcing system.
*NRC is not bound to select any of the suppliers who submitted bids and does not bind itself to select lowest price offer. The Contract will be rewarded to the supplier considered most responsive to the needs and most conforming to NRC general principles, including economy, efficiency and best value for money.*
OTHER INFORMATION: All correspondence between potential bidders and NRC is through the system. Please note that both the NRC’s and the bidder’s actions are logged in the system for audit purposes. For technical questions about the system, *please contact [email protected]*