Release Date: 24/04/2024.
Instructions to Offerors
- Offer Deadline: Offers must be received no later than 5:00 PM on May 6th, 2024, by applying through Ipas procurement portal mentioning office contact details (office address, landline number and email address, and office/company website if any).
- Scope of Work: Section 9 contains the scope of work.
- Negotiations: Best- proposals are requested. It is anticipated that awards will be made solely on the basis of these original proposals; however, Ipas reserves the right to conduct negotiations and/or request clarifications prior to awarding a contract.
- Evaluation and Award: The award will be made to a responsible offers whose offer follows the RFP instructions, meets the technical specifications and requirements, and is judged to be the most advantageous in terms of lowest cost.
- Terms and Conditions: Issuance of this RFP does not in any way obligate Ipas-Pakistan to award a contract order, nor does it commit Ipas – Pakistan to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Any resultant award or lease will be governed by these terms and conditions.
- Partner Eligibility Criteria:
Pakistan-based individual consultants and/or groups of consultants/research firms/organizations are eligible to apply. Organizations/groups of consultants will need to submit their registration proof (NTN number, registration certificate) and last 2 years audit reports.
7. Technical Specifications: The technical application should demonstrate the applicant’s capabilities and expertise with respect to achieving the goals of this proposal. Therefore, it should be specific, complete and presented concisely. The suggested outline for the technical application is:
a) Cover Page A single page with the following details:
i – RFP number
ii – The name of the firm law/regulation under which it is registered with Government of Pakistan, date of such registration and corporate website link, if any.
iii – Contact person for the prime applicant, including individual’s name (both typed and his/her signature), title or position with the organization/institution, postal/ office address, landline and mobile telephone, fax numbers and e-mail address.
iv – Detail of primary bank account with account number, bank name and branch number will also be required to establish banking experience.
b) Institutional Capacity & Technical Approach The technical approach must demonstrate an in depth understanding of expertise in in the required field of with the proof of successful past experiences, particularly in Pakistan. Applicants must demonstrate technical and managerial expertise that would directly benefit implementation and include the following:
i. Proposal stating understanding about the SOW, sharing relevant details including past relevant experience (summarized information is required)
ii. CVs of the proposed key personnel who will be engaged for the assignment.
c) Financial Proposal: Financial proposal must be submitted as per Statement of Work mentioned in Section 9.
8. Evaluation Criteria for Scope of Work: The various functional elements of the technical criteria are assigned weighted scores, so that the applicant will know which areas require emphasis in the preparation of applications. The relative importance of each criterion is indicated by the number of points assigned.
Overall evaluation shall be carried out based on weighted average methodology wherein technical evaluation will carry 70% and financial evaluation will carry 30% weightage.
9. Mandatory Requirements:
| Mandatory Eligibility Criteria Checklist | Yes/No | |
| 1 | Proof of Certificate of Incorporation or Registration or equivalent with relevant authorities | |
| 2 | Proof of NTN Certificate | |
| 3 | Original affidavit (not older than one month) on Stamp Paper(s) of worth Rs.100 or more that the applicant is not insolvent, bankrupt, and is not blacklisted or debarred by PPRA, Government, Semi-Government, Private, Autonomous body or any other international organization | |
| 4 | Original affidavit (not older than one month) on Stamp Paper(s) of worth Rs.100 or more that the applicant is an active taxpayer and has submitted its tax return for the preceding fiscal year. The taxpayer list serial number (downloadable from FBR’s website) is also to be mentioned. | |
| 5 | Copy of latest bank maintenance certificate |
| Technical Evaluation Criteria | Weight | |
| a | Alignment of the submitted technical evaluation approach with the mentioned scope of work | 10 |
| b | Experience in project evaluation implementation related to SRHR in Pakistan | 10 |
| c | Experience in conducting evaluations of projects related to Family Planning in Pakistan | 10 |
| d | Geographical outreach familiarity and field experience in all provinces of Pakistan | 10 |
| e | Profile of the team/consultants to be engaged in the evaluation with their proposed role and responsibilities | 10 |
| f | Experience in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and related data collection tools | 10 |
| g | Knowledge of conducting evaluation/research assessments/ study of telemedicine initiatives with beneficiaries (end users) located in various areas | 10 |
| Financial Evaluation Criteria | ||
| a. | Total cost of the project and summary of total cost broken down in sections (itemized budget) | 20 |
| b. |
The quoted budget is within the allocated budget ceiling (the budget ceiling will not be disclosed however the applicants are encouraged to quote a reasonable budget justifying the project scope and implementation) |
10 |
| Total | 100 |
9. STATEMENT OF WORK
Introduction/Background: Ipas is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) which works to assist the Government of Pakistan in achieving the country’s commitment towards the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (good health and wellbeing). It seeks to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity associated with complications due to unsafe practices. Improving reproductive healthcare is vital to preserve women’s reproductive capacity (fertility). We collaborate with provincial governments (in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and the ICT region to provide technical assistance and support for strengthening the public and private healthcare system. We improve the provision of maternal healthcare services based on nationally approved guidelines and recommended technologies such as uterine evacuation and healthy spacing methods. We help to upgrade government-run hospitals and medical facilities by providing need-based equipment, supplies, and training to health care practitioners.
- Period of Performance: 13th May – 30th June
- Place of performance: Ipas office, Islamabad and remote
- Travel: As and when required
- Statement of work:
During the COVID pandemic, Ipas Pakistan tested a hybrid telehealth and accompaniment intervention for women and girls living among marginalized populations. The intervention gave communities an alternative, providing access to Ipas-trained telehealth providers 24/7 who advised on general health, with an emphasis on sexual and reproductive health issues, post-abortion care, and contraception. The pilot intervention yielded significant learnings and demonstrated an acceptable choice for women at a time when they could not physically visit clinics due to a risk of exposure to COVID-19. Our hybrid model also increased privacy for women. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical access to health facilities in Pakistan was severely limited by the country’s rapidly growing number of cases, providing women and girls an alternative way to get reproductive health counseling and information was the need of the hour. Ipas implemented a telehealth initiative in June 2020 to meet that need and continued its implementation after COVID-19. The Ipas training under this initiative equipped 49 service providers to provide telehealth consultations to women and girls in need. The providers are trained to counsel and help women manage their reproductive health needs. They are trained to offer counseling and advice on family planning services and refer women to nearby health facilities.
To increase uptake by end-users in low-resource settings, Ipas trained more than 400 lady health workers (LHWs) from Sindh and Punjab to reach out to women and girls to make them aware that telehealth consultations are available and free of charge. These LHWs were trained on how to access the telehealth services and they, in turn, are helping women and girls access the services by smartphones. The total number of clients who benefit from telehealth consultations is 1747. The pilot intervention unveiled multiple challenges including poor or inconsistent internet access, women often lacking access to mobile phones, low e-literacy of LHWs involved, ensuring 24/7 availability of online doctors, and other operational challenges.
To assess this pilot intervention Ipas is looking for the services of evaluation experts. The aim is to identify elements that have proven effective, highlight areas for improvement, and propose modifications required in the existing model. The evaluation report will include the telehealth model’s relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability per DAC evaluation criteria. The emphasis of the evaluation should be to assess the efficiency, effectiveness, and learning from this pilot model and make specific recommendations regarding how the model can be improved in light of challenges faced and local context limitations.
The number of beneficiaries reached throughout the project implementation phase in Punjab (Jhelum, Chakwal, Pakpattan, Khanewal, Multan, and Lodhran), ICT, and Sindh (Hyderabad and Jamshoro).
- Telehealth Providers trained in teleconsultations = 49
- Number of LHWs trained on telehealth = 411
- Number of clients who received telehealth consultations = 1747
List of participants to be covered during evaluation.
- Ipas Staff involved in the implementation of the telehealth model.
- LHWs trained on telehealth
- Telehealth providers
- The clients and end users who received teleconsultations.
- Focal person of other organizations implementing telemedicine initiatives
Deliverables
| Deliverable/MILESTONE | Timelines |
| Desk review of telehealth intervention model documents and other related literature available preferably peer-reviewed with a focus on Pakistan (provide soft copies of the reviewed material other than materials provided by Ipas) | 13th May 2024 |
| Inception report submission along with the methodology for evaluation including (background, implementation methodology, data collection tools, sampling strategy/size, timelines, data management, and proposal evaluation report structure)
|
20th May 2024 |
| Securing IRB approval- development of the proposal and ensuring IRB approval as end-user Beneficiary interviews will be part of the evaluation | 20th May 2024- 3rd June 2024 (2 weeks) |
| Data collection – maintain and provide a log of all the respondents with their designations and districts.
FGDs, KIIs, IDIs, beneficiary interviews, and quantitative data (recording, transcripts, and data sheet on Excel, SPSS, or another database) Conduct key informant Interviews with at least 3 other organizations running successful telemedicine initiatives |
4h June 2024- 18th June 2024 (2 weeks) |
| Submission of hard copies of filled data collection tools and supporting documents tools/questionnaires/transcripts and consent forms, and other notes) | 19th June 2024 |
| Draft evaluation report submission including data analysis and key recommendations following DAC criteria for review and presentation to Ipas | 25th June 2024 |
| Final evaluation report submission after incorporating feedback on the draft evaluation report | 28th June 2024 |