INVITATION – EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

1. PURPOSE

To provide information to industry regarding an upcoming Request for Proposal for the Democratic Republic of Congo International Assistance Evaluation.

2. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

The relationship between Canada and the Democratic Republic of Congo has centered on the provision of long-term support to ensure lasting peace, especially in the eastern region of the country. Canada also supports the Democratic Republic of Congo in its economic and social development efforts.

The International Assistance Evaluation Division of Global Affairs Canada is undertaking an evaluation of GAC’s development, humanitarian assistance, and peace and stabilization programming in the Democratic Republic of Congo to fulfill the accountability requirements set out in the Financial Administration Act, and the Treasury Board Policy on Results, and to provide information to improve the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of programming. The main focus of the evaluation is expected to be development and humanitarian assistance programming.

The International Assistance Evaluation Division is undertaking this evaluation for accountability and learning purposes to:

• Examine the results achieved by Global Affairs Canada’s international assistance in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2009 and 2017 based on relevance, effectiveness, sustainability, cross-cutting themes, efficiency, coherence and connectedness;
• Assess and disseminate findings, conclusions, and lessons; and
• Formulate recommendations for improvement to strengthen the effectiveness of Canada’s international assistance and broader foreign policy priorities, particularly in the context of Canada’s new international assistance priorities, following the International Assistance Review.

  The intended users are senior management, the program at headquarters, and the Head of Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  The proposed evaluation questions are the following:

  Relevance

1. To what extent did international assistance programming address country needs and align with country priorities?

   Effectiveness

2. To what extent has international assistance programming achieved its expected outcomes in the following sectors:
   1. Children and Youth
   2. Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
   3. Safety, Security and Protection
   4. Governance and Advancing Democracy
3. Are there distinctive elements in delivering international assistance programming in a fragile state such as the Democratic Republic of Congo that particularly contributed to the achievement of results?
4. To what extent did partnering with Canadian civil society organizations contribute to the achievement of outcomes?

   Sustainability

5. To what extent did international assistance programming benefits continue after Canada’s fundingceased?
    

Global Affairs Canada’s Cross-Cutting Themes

1. To what extent has international assistance programming achieved cross-cutting results (Gender Equality, Environmental Sustainability and Governance)?

   Coherence

2. What is the internal coherence and coordination among Departmental actors involved in humanitarian assistance? How could internal coherence and coordination be improved?

   Connectedness

3. From a practical perspective, how can Global Affairs Canada ensure stronger connectedness between humanitarian assistance and long-term aid in protracted contexts like the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially protracted refugee situations?
    

   Efficiency

4. Are there opportunities to improve the efficiency of international assistance programming?

3. EVALUATION TEAM REQUIREMENTS

The following information is only provided as guidance for potential bidders. Details of specific evaluation requirements shall be made available in the respective Request for Proposal. Any information made available in the Request for Proposal document shall take precedence over this Notice to Industry.

Bidders will be invited to propose an evaluation team. The members of the evaluation team should possess a mix of evaluative skills and thematic knowledge appropriate to the needs of this evaluation. The Bidder should propose Sector Specialists who have evaluated international assistance programming in the following areas: Fragile States, maternal, newborn and child health, governance, and peace and stabilization operations. The team must also have some expertise in the areas of humanitarian assistance, and gender equality. The Evaluation Team Leader may double as one of the Sector Specialists. A Sector Specialist may cover up to two specialist areas. It is the responsibility of the Bidder to determine the composition of the team (i.e. sector specialists, other supporting staff). The evaluation team will be responsible for, but not limited to conducting the following activities:

• Complete field assignments, where required;

• Conduct interviews with relevant personnel;
• Produce analytical reports in their areas of speciality;
• Produce recommendations for appropriate action, based on analytical findings;
• Support the Evaluation Team Leader; and
• Provide specialized advice on key issues of the evaluation.

The Evaluation Team Leader and the Sector Specialists are expected to have:

• Experience in performing international assistance program evaluations from conceptualizing the overall approach, to work assignments, and to planning, managing and conducting complex evaluations;
• Knowledge of evaluation design and methodology;
• Experience in conducting evaluations in Sub-Saharan Africa or Fragile States,

• Experience as team members on multi-disciplinary teams;

• Experience and knowledge in the areas of maternal, newborn and child health, peace and stabilization operations, gender equality, humanitarian assistance systems, and best practices in these areas;
• At least two team members with a demonstrable high proficiency in oral and written French; and,
• Relevant higher academic degrees.

4. GENERAL

It is expected that the price of the contract will be between CAD 300,000 and CAD 400,000.

This notice is for industry information and planning purposes only. All detailed requirements, certifications and instructions will be specified in the resulting Request for Proposal. 
It should be noted that the descriptions of the Requirement and Evaluation Team Requirements are subject to change between now and the official publication of the Request for Proposal, if necessary.

This notice must in no way be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government of Canada to publish a Request for Proposal. This notice does not in any way authorize prospective Bidders to undertake work, the cost of which could be claimed from Canada.

For guidance, the Request for Proposal is anticipated to be released in the Fall of 2017, and it will be made available electronically upon its release to www.buyandsell.ca. Several factors may influence this date, or even lead to the cancellation of such a publication.

Canada is not seeking any information from potential Bidders at this time. Any requests made to Canada by potential Bidders seeking clarification, or additional information regarding the requirement prior to the publication of the formal Request for Proposal shall go unanswered.