Project Monitor for the Strengthening Emergency Relief and DisasterResponse Capacity of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) Project

INVITATION

The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) is seeking to retain the services of a Consultant to assess the performance of DFATD’s bilateral project entitled Strengthening Emergency Relief and Disaster Response Capacity of the Afghan Red Crescent Society and to provide technical advice to DFATD and project implementing partners that will help to ensure the effective implementation and achievement of expected project results.

The expected ultimate outcome of this project is improved support by the ARCS to Afghan women, men and children affected by man-made and natural disasters. The expected intermediate results for this project are as follows:
 Improved ability of the ARCS to manage disaster responses through improved systems and enhanced knowledge and skills.
 Improved capacity of the ARCS Health Care Department to deliver and manage disaster response services for health, including mobile, on-site disaster response services for women, men and children.
 Improved ARCS organizational capacity, specifically in the area of Project Management, Evaluation and Reporting, to support effective disaster management services.

The purpose of this notice is to invite formal costed proposals from eligible Consultants. On the basis of the formal proposals, one Consultant will be invited to negotiate a contract for the provision of services. DFATD reserves the right to refuse any or all proposals received. The amount allocated to this contract will not exceed two hundred and forty thousand Canadian dollars (Can$ 240,000) excluding applicable taxes. The anticipated contract duration is three (3) years.

WORKING LANGUAGE OF THE PROJECT

Since the recipient country requests communications with DFATD in English, the working language for this project is English.

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The Project Monitor must perform, inter alia, the following:

i. Becoming familiar with key documents related to the project, including but not limited to approval documentation; risk register; results-based management documents (Logic Model, Performance Measurement Framework); contribution agreement with the Canadian Executing Agency (CEA), the Canadian Red Cross Society (CRCS); project implementation plan; baseline studies; annual work plans, project gantt chart, financial and narrative reports; Afghanistan bilateral program strategy and sector strategy for Linking Relief and Recovery to Development (LRRD) ; policies, plans and strategies of Afghanistan related to the project; and LRRD/capacity building programming of other donor partners.
ii. Collecting relevant data from project beneficiaries and stakeholders in order to triangulate / validate results and other findings included in project reports.
iii. Assessing and analysing documents produced by the CEA and other project stakeholders/partners against activities on ground to determine the project’s performance (e.g. annual work plans, financial and narrative reports).
iv. Using the Performance Measurement Framework to monitor the performance of the project and propose adjustments to DFATD, if required.
v. Providing technical advice related to institutional strengthening, capacity building and other technical areas.
vi. Identifying problems and constraints hampering the effective implementation, management and internal monitoring of the project and providing recommendations for improvement.
vii. Identifying lessons learned that can be used during the course of project implementation and in other DFATD humanitarian assistance and LRRD programming.
viii. Advising and supporting DFATD in the preparation and updating of relevant project documents and in preparation for Project Steering Committee meetings.
ix. Monitoring the coordination of the project with other relevant actors in the country, and identifying opportunities for harmonization as well as areas of potential duplication.
x. Assessing the environment or context within which the project works, including other LRRD/capacity building projects and keeping DFATD abreast of actual and potential opportunities for improvement.
xi. Attending ad hoc meetings in the field and Canada as requested by DFATD and/or CRCS (e.g. Stakeholder Committee meetings, technical support meetings, meetings of sub-committees or technical working groups).
xii. Monitoring the integration of crosscutting themes in the project, and providing recommendations to ensure the effective integration of these themes in the delivery of the project.
xiii. As requested by DFATD, providing ad hoc technical advisory services related to the project or DFATD’s LRRD programming in Afghanistan more broadly (e.g. thematic analysis on issues of interest to the Afghanistan bilateral program, recommendations for new complementary LRRD programming opportunities).

CONSULTANT PROFILE

To meet the requirement of the assignment, DFATD is seeking to retain the services of a Consultant with a set of demonstrated and verifiable capabilities. DFATD is seeking a Consultant with experience in the area of organizational capacity development and experience monitoring international development and humanitarian assistance projects/programs, including strong skills in results-based management. Working experience in Afghanistan or another fragile/conflict-affected state and in the area of humanitarian assistance/emergency response and integrating gender equality considerations into programming and monitoring would be an asset. The Consultant will travel to Afghanistan to conduct monitoring missions.

The Consultant will have to meet the following mandatory evaluation Criteria:
M1.1 The proposed individual must have completed a minimum of two (2) monitoring assignments for international development or humanitarian assistance projects since June 2004.
M1.2 The proposed individual must have a minimum of 80 days of working experience in the area of organizational capacity development since June 2009. Of those 80 days, a minimum of 20 days must be comprised of field experience in a developing country.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS

Proposals should be presented following the instructions provided in the Request for Proposal document to be obtained through the GETS on the Internet (https://buyandsell.gc.ca/). Please note, DFATD does not send out RFPs directly to interested Consultants.

In order to be considered, proposals must be completed and received no later than 14:00 hrs, Eastern Daylight Saving Time (EDT), on October 30, 2014, at the following address:
By mail:
DFATD Bid Receiving Unit
c/ o Mailroom, 1st Floor
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Québec
Canada
K1A 0G4

or by hand:
DFATD Bid Receiving Unit
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
15 Maisonneuve Blvd
Gatineau, Québec
Canada

PROPOSALS SUBMITTED VIA FACSIMILE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

INQUIRIES

Questions relating to this notice must be directed IN WRITING to:
Hao-Khun Seav, Contracting Policy Officer
Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau, Québec
K1A 0G4
E-mail: haokhun.seav@international.gc.ca