Request for Proposals #S002129
Consultancy for development of a report on the key programmatic lessons learnt generated by the
Unitaid-funded Catalyzing Pediatric TB Innovations (CaP TB) project
In support of
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF)
Firm Deadline: 18 September 2020
LOCATION: The Consultant must be based in a location that allow compatible working times and easy communication with the following countries is possible: Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
Overview and purpose of the consultancy:
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a non-profit organization, is the world leader in the fight to eliminate pediatric AIDS. Our mission is to prevent pediatric HIV infection and to eliminate pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention and treatment programs. For more information, please visit http://www.pedaids.org.
Through its work in the Sub-Saharan African region, EGPAF has also been progressively and significantly engaging on delivery of TB care to the HIV-affected and to the pediatric population, providing technical assistance to the national TB programs especially on the underserved area of childhood TB programming.
Through the Catalyzing Pediatric TB Innovations (CaP TB) project, EGPAF is supporting the roll out of innovative models of care to improve pediatric TB case finding, diagnosis and treatment of active TB disease and latent TB infection in 9 sub-Saharan African countries (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe) and India. This four-year project (2017-2021) is funded by Unitaid.
More on the “Catalyzing Pediatric TB Innovations” (CaP TB) project can be found here: https://www.pedaids.org/resource/catalyzing-pediatric-tuberculosis-innovations-cap-tb-implementation-integration-new-tb-care-treatment-models/
The successful roll-out of the project has required the development of country- and context- adapted strategies to improve access to TB care for children by decentralizing the capacity to manage pediatric TB at the lower level of the health system and by integrating pediatric TB care in different child health entry points (i.e HIV clinics, MCH clinics, nutrition clinics, out-patients department).
In addition, the project has aimed at developing and implementing sustainable models for house-hold contact tracing in order to improve early case detection for active TB disease as well as access to TB preventive therapy (TPT).
The consultant will be required to develop a report on the key programmatic lessons learnt generated by the CaP TB project, focusing on critical workstreams and interventions that are needed to strengthen childhood TB programming and facility-level roll-out of pediatric TB management and care. The lessons learnt report is expected to be suitable for external distribution.
The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience in pediatric TB management as well as experience in supporting National TB programs in programming childhood TB interventions in resource-limited settings. Desirable skills include strong capacity to accurately collect, analyze and synthetize high volume information generated by different implementation teams and contexts as well as previous experience in developing quality reports targeting a public health audience.
Regular communication and close collaboration with the EGPAF HQ team will be required. Contractor Scope of work:
· Improve and finalize the methodological approach for collection of key information that will allow detailed descriptions of best practical approaches and models of care for pediatric TB management implemented under the CaP TB project
· Develop questionnaires for standardized collection of information and documentation of :
- National-level and programmatic solutions that can effectively support childhood TB programming as shown while implementing CaP TB project
- Facility-level practical approaches and solutions tested during CaP TB that can support successful implementation of pediatric TB interventions
- Approaches and solutions that were attempted under CaP TB but did not produce expected outcomes
· Organize interviews with key informants involved in the CaP TB project to collect information
· Perform the analysis of the information collected and produce a summary of key findings
· Develop and finalize the report, including the incorporation of reviewers’ suggestions
· Availability for travelling to selected project countries maybe required (this will only be considered if the COVID situation will allow safe travel)
Contractor deliverables:
· A description and workplan for the methodology to be used to collect high quality information on the approaches, solutions, models of care implemented by CaP TB in the different countries enrolled in the project
· Questionnaires and other tools needed to collected the required information
· Summary of key findings to be reviewed by the CaP TB management team (draft report)
· Final report
Contractor required qualifications and experience:
Education:
· Advanced degree in public health preferred
· Experience in qualitative research approaches
Required Experience and Capabilities:
· Experience in supporting implementation of TB and pediatric TB interventions in resource limited settings
· Proven experience in providing technical assistance to national TB programs on planning and programming of pediatric TB interventions
· Proven experience in analyzing large pools of information arising from different context and experiences
· Proven experience in writing quality reports for an international public health audience
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
· Strong knowledge of childhood TB programming in resource limited settings
· Strong knowledge and experience on implementation of pediatric TB care in resource limited settings
· Good understanding of the End TB Strategy
· Understanding of child and adolescent TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care
· Strong analytical skills and attention to details
· Problem solving skills and results driven
· Very proactive and self-directed
· Strong work ethic
· Tactful, respectful, and keen diplomacy skills
· Excellent oral and written English and French skills.
Logistics:
· Term: The contract is anticipated to begin on October 1st 2020 and end on 15th June 2021, unless extended by mutual agreement or terminated earlier by either Party.
· Compensation: This will be a labor hour contract. The consultant will be paid a fixed daily rate for labor.
· Duty travels:
-Airfare / airplane organization: Airplane tickets will be booked by EGPAF, and all costs will be paid directly by EGPAF for airline tickets. Dates for the flights will be established on the visit-specific SOW, and will need written confirmation by the consultant before being confirmed and purchased.
-Hotel: Consultants will be responsible for booking lodging on a given assignment and will be reimbursed for actual lodging costs. All lodging costs must be within the WHO publicized rates (http://apps.who.int/bfi/tsy/PerDiem.aspx) unless for security concerns, EGPAF requests the consultant to stay in an above-rate hotel. As needed the Foundation will provide hotel recommendations from our approved list. In addition, as requested, the Foundation may consider making hotel booking directly for the Consultant.
-Per-diem: The Consultant will be paid a fixed daily rate for meals and incidentals based on the published WHO rates found here: http://apps.who.int/bfi/tsy/PerDiem.aspx. The rate will be based on where the consultant spends the night and 75% of the total rate will be paid on the initial and final travel days.
-Additional expenses: The Foundation will also cover additional approved travel related expenses including required visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, airport transfer, in-country transport, etc.
Duration and timeline of contractor activities/deliverables (to be confirmed with selected candidate following the finalization of methodology and workplan).
Deliverable
Timeline
Finalization of methodology
October 1st-15th 2020
Development of questionnaire(s)
October 15th-October 30th 2020
Piloting of questionnaire(s) and finalization
November 1st-November 20th 2020
Introductory sessions with country teams to present scope of work and questionnaire(s)
December 1st_December 15th 2020
Interviews of key informants (or group)
January 1st- January 30th 2021
Analysis of data/information collected and preparation of summary of key findings
February 1st -February 28 2021
Revisions of key findings, collection and incorporation of additional missing information
March 1st-March 15th 2021
First draft of the report
March 15th- April 15th 2021
Incorporation of revisions
May 1st-May 30th 2021
Final report
June 15th 2021
KEY CONTRACT TERMS:
The anticipated contract type is Labor Hour where the contractor will be reimbursed for days worked at the agreed upon rate in the contract. Unless stated otherwise in the statement of the work, the Contractor is responsible for providing equipment and/or supplies required to perform the services.
All deliverables provided to the Foundation must be furnished for the use of the Foundation without royalty or any additional fees.
All Materials will be owned exclusively by the Foundation. Contractor will not use or allow the use of the Materials for any purpose other than Contractor’s performance of the Contract without the prior written consent of the Foundation.
The Contractor will be fully responsible for complying with applicable laws including applicable taxation requirements.
EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
The Foundation will accept the proposal that presents the best value. This will be a two-part evaluation process conducted as outlines below.
Part 1: Short-list
All interested applicants should submit the following to be considered for the short-list:
1. CV
2. Daily Rate
3. Cover Letter
The candidates with the strongest experience based on the “Contractor required qualifications and experience” outlined in this RFP will be asked to submit a full proposal.
Part 2: Final Evaluation
The short-listed proposals will be evaluated against the following Evaluation Criteria. Each proposal must contain the items listed in the Submission Requirements column in the following chart. Please submit your Submission Requirements in the order that they appear below.
Evaluation Criteria
Submission Requirements
Weight
2. Contractor’s proposed process and approach to meet our needs efficiently
A maximum 5-page written proposal explaining the process and timeline for implementation
30%
3. Contractor’s daily rate
4. Contractor’s daily rate
20%
4. Qualifications of proposed individual
5. CV/Resume of proposed individual to work on this project
25%
Total
100%
PROPOSED TIMELINE:
DATE: 12 August 2020 – Release of RFP
Ongoing between 11 and 21 August 2020 – Submission of Questions to: Christa Moore, cmoore@pedaids.org with a “cc” to Mikhael de Souza mdesouza@pedaids.org and Maude Berset mberset@pedaids.org
DATE: 28 August 2020 – Answers to questions posted to the Foundation’s website
DATE: 4 September 2020 – Submission of Part 1 Proposals
No phone calls please.
DATE: TBD – Submission of Part 2 Proposals. Date of submission will be communicated to the short-listed applicants. Completed proposals from short-list applicants must be delivered electronically by the deadline mentioned on page one to: Christa Moore, cmoore@pedaids.org with a “cc” to Martina Casenghi, mcasenghi@pedaids.org , Mikhael de Souza mdesouza@pedaids.org and Maude Berset mberset@pedaids.org
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
All proposals and communications must be identified by the unique RFP# reflected on the first page of this document.
Any proposal not addressing each of the foregoing items could be considered non-responsive. Any exceptions to the requirements or terms of the RFP must be noted in the proposal. The Foundation reserves the right to consider any exceptions to the RFP to be non-responsive.
Late proposals may be rejected without being considered.
This RFP is not an offer to enter into agreement with any party, but rather a request to receive proposals from persons interested in providing the services outlined below. Such proposals shall be considered and treated by the Foundation as offers to enter into an agreement. The Foundation reserves the right to reject all proposals, in whole or in part, enter into negotiations with any party, and/or award multiple contracts.
The Foundation shall not be obligated for the payment of any sums whatsoever to any recipient of this RFP until and unless a written contract between the parties is executed.
Equal Opportunity Notice. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and represents that all qualified bidders will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.
ETHICAL BEHAVIOR:
As a core value to help achieve our mission, the Foundation embraces a culture of honesty, integrity, and ethical business practices and expects its business partners to do the same. Specifically, our procurement processes are fair and open and allow all vendors/consultants equal opportunity to win our business. We will not tolerate fraud or corruption, including kickbacks, bribes, undisclosed familial or close personal relationships between vendors and Foundation employees, or other unethical practices. If you experience of suspect unethical behavior by a Foundation employee, please contact fraud@pedaids.org or the Foundation’s Ethics Hotline at www.reportlineweb.com/PedAids/ Any vendor/consultant who attempts to engage, or engages, in corrupt practices with the Foundation will have their proposal disqualified and will not be solicited for future work.
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a non-profit organization, is the world leader in the fight to eliminate pediatric AIDS. Our mission is to prevent pediatric HIV infection and to eliminate pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention and treatment programs. For more information, please visit http://www.pedaids.org.
