Dear Sir/Madam,

Subject: Request for Proposal

1. The American Red Cross, Haiti Delegation hereby solicits your proposal for the provision of a Consultancy – Malaria/PHAST Impact Evaluation as per the attached Scope of Work (SOW).

2. The Request for Proposal (RFP) consists of this letter of transmittal and the following enclosures: Enclosure 1: Specifications/SOW

3. Please note that this document is an RFP and not an invitation to bid. You should also note that the terms set forth in this RFP, the SOW (Enclosure 1) will form a part of any contract should the American Red Cross (ARC) accept your proposal.

4. It is anticipated that any contract or contracts entered into as a result of this RFP will be for a period of 4 – 6 weeks.

5. This RFP does not commit the ARC to award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in the preparation or submission of proposals, or costs incurred in making necessary studies for the preparation thereof, or to procure or contract for services or supplies. The ARC reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received in response to this RFP and to negotiate with any of the proposers or other firms in any manner deemed to be in the best interest of the ARC. It also reserves the right to negotiate and award separate or multiple contracts for the elements covered by this RFP in any combination it may deem appropriate, in its sole discretion; modify or exclude any consideration, information or requirement contained in this RFP, and to add new considerations, information or requirements at any stage of the procurement process, including during negotiations with proposers.

6. Proposers must provide all requisite information and clearly and concisely respond to all points set out in this RFP. Any proposal which does not fully and comprehensively address this RFP will be rejected. However, unnecessarily elaborate brochures and other presentations beyond that sufficient to present a complete and effective proposal are not encouraged.

7. The normal terms of payment of the ARC are within 30 days of satisfactory delivery of goods or services and documents in apparent good order. Proposers must therefore clearly specify in their Proposal the payment terms being offered if different from these.

8. Proposals must be in English and submitted no later than 28 February, 2011, Midnight, 12:00 AM Haiti time. Proposals must include the following:

a) Date of proposal
b) Signature, name, title, telephone number and email address of candidate submitting the proposal
c) Proposed Approach and Work Plan
d)Proposed full service costs quoted in USD
e) Proposed daily rate in USD
f) Availability (start date)
g) CV
h) Cover Letter
i) Three professional references

9. Any incomplete proposals received after the stated opening time and date will be rejected.

10. Proposals must be sent to: consultancyarc@yahoo.com and reference Consultancy – Malaria/PHAST Impact Evaluation.

11. Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated by the ARC in accordance with the provisions of the ARC’s Procurement Policy as well as the considerations, information and requirements contained in this RFP. The evaluation procedure will consist of a formal, substantive and financial assessment of the proposals received. Price is an important factor; however, it is not the only consideration in evaluating responses to an RFP.

12. Your proposal shall remain valid and open for acceptance for a period of at least sixty (60) days from the closing date of 28 February, 2011, indicated above for receipts of proposals. Please indicate in your proposal that it will remain valid for this period.

13. Following submission of the proposals and final evaluation, the ARC will have the right to retain unsuccessful proposals. It is the proposer’s responsibility to identify any information of a confidential or proprietary nature contained in its proposal, so that it may be handled accordingly.

Scope of Work
PURPOSE:
Since 2008, the American Red Cross has supported the Haitian Red Cross in implementing the “Vwazen Kore Vwazen – Neighbors Helping Neighbors” Haiti Community Health and Malaria Prevention Project (henceforth called “Malaria-PHAST”). Malaria-PHAST comprised malaria prevention and hygiene promotion projects using a community-level participatory methodology in six municipalities in the Northeast department (Fort-Liberte, Trou du Nord, Terrier Rouge, Caracol, Perches and Saint Suzanne). The goal of Malaria-PHAST is to reduce the incidence of hygiene- and malaria-related illnesses among children under 5 years old and women of reproductive age, especially pregnant women.
The Malaria-PHAST project ends on March 31, 2011. An external final evaluation, which should include an endline survey and which should last no more than four-to-six weeks, will be conducted to measure the impact of the project. The results will help provide evidence of impact of Malaria-PHAST on beneficiary knowledge and practices, identify best practice in terms of Malaria prevention at the community level and inform ARC decision-making. An external consultant will be employed to provide this service.
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SCOPE OF WORK:
An external consultant is sought to lead the design, implementation, analysis and report-writing of the impact evaluation. The consultant will define the methodology and the work plan of the evaluation, both of which must be approved by the ARC Health Delegate and the M&E Delegate, and is expected to work in coordination throughout the evaluation process with the above-mentioned ARC delegates in Haiti.

I. Objectives of the evaluation

1. Assess the impact, effectiveness, relevance, sustainability and coverage of the Malaria-PHAST project
2. Identify lessons learned and provide recommendations for informing future ARC projects in malaria prevention in Haiti

II. Evaluation questions

Impact
1. Did the project achieve the intended results/outcomes?
2. How did results at endline compare to the results found at baseline? Can the observed changes over time be attributed to Malaria-PHAST? What other factors might have contributed to the observed changes?

Effectiveness
3. Were all activities from the logframe implemented as planned? If not, why?
4. Did the activities that were implemented achieve their intended outputs? What are the main factors that contributed to the success (or failure) of activities?

Relevance
5. Was the Malaria-PHAST project the most appropriate mechanism for preventing malaria and promoting hygiene among the target population (children under 5 years old, women of reproductive age, pregnant women) within the target area? What other mechanisms might have been more appropriate, and why?

Sustainability
6. How likely are the results of the project going to be sustained over time? What factors are most likely to favor the sustainability of results, and what factors are most likely to limit sustainability of results?

Coverage
7. Was targeting effective?
III. Expected activities

1. Review all internal documents related to the project (in particular those relating to the baseline survey), in addition to relevant secondary information
2. Hold discussions with project stakeholders (to be defined by ARC Health Delegate and M&E Delegate)
3. Develop and submit methodology, sampling design and work plan to the ARC Health Delegate and M&E Delegate for approval
4. Develop data management system and protocols
5. Lead and supervise household listing operation
6. Draft, pre-test and finalize evaluation instruments
7. Train and supervise interviewers / enumerators
8. Lead and supervise the collection of data
9. Supervise data entry and cleaning process
10. Analyze data
11. Submit draft report to ARC for comments
12. Finalize report
13. Present final reports to ARC staff

IV. Timeline

Start date: March 2011
Duration: 4 - 6 weeks

V. International standards

Standard evaluation and survey methodologies and good practices utilized in the international humanitarian community should be applied. Such resources should include but are not limited to those promulgated by the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance and the Organization for Economics Co-operation and Development.

VI. Qualifications

The following are the expected qualifications of the consultant:
•Graduate degree from a recognized institution relating to monitoring & evaluation, social research or survey methodologies
• Minimum 7 years relevant M&E experience in the development/NGO sector in developing countries
• Extensive professional experience in the design and implementation of impact evaluations
• Demonstrated expertise in quantitative analysis and qualitative data collection and analysis
• Demonstrated experience in community-based participatory appraisals in developing countries
• Demonstrated experience in training of enumerators and in leading focus group discussions
• Experience with community-based public health programs strongly preferred
• Professional work experience in Haiti preferred
• Fluency in English required; fluency in French preferred

2011-02-28