CONSULTANCY SERVICE FOR THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF IGAD WEBSITE

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (REOI)-FIRMS

BACKGROUND

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional economic community (REC) in the Eastern Africa region comprised of eight member states namely; Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. IGAD is one of the eight sub-regional economic communities recognized by the African Union as the building blocks of Africa’s continental integration. 

The organization was established in 1986 as Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) to address the severe and rampant droughts that ravaged the Horn of Africa region. In 1996, the organization was revitalized and renamed the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Its mandate was expanded to incorporate a broad development agenda incorporating three priority areas:

• food security & environment protection;
• economic cooperation and social development; and
• peace and security.

Over the years, IGAD has grown as an institution and it’s widely recognized as a key player in the geo-political and economic dynamics of the region. The IGAD Secretariat is based in Djibouti and it has several specialized institutions and program offices located in the Member States.

The IGAD has received financing under JFA and intends to apply part of the financing for the Consultancy service of Design and development of IGAD Website. 

SCOPE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

IGAD has an existing website at www.igad.int that was designed and developed some time back. Over the years, the content has increased tremendously thus necessitating a revamping of the website to incorporate a modern design and a new information architecture that is aligned to emerging technologies and responsive to the needs and aspirations of a growing user community. The IGAD website is accessed by various stakeholders, including the Secretariat itself, Member States, Development Partners, Business Communities, Academia, Civil Societies and the public at large.

The purpose of the assignment is to re-engineer and completely revamp the website to ensure it provides appropriate, organized and timely information to its various stakeholders. The new design should be based on modern web technologies that are user-friendly, easy to navigate, secure and accessible on a variety of devices and browsers.

 

KEY DELIVERABLES

The service provider is expected to provide the services listed below.

Website Design and Development

• Develop a website design that includes the menu structure, navigation scheme, graphics elements and overall information architecture.
• Benchmark with websites of similar organizations (eac.int, www.comesa.int, www.au.int, www.afdb.org, www.cgiar.org, www.ilri.org, etc.) and other top-ranked websites.
• Create a website architecture that accommodates IGAD’s specialized institutions websites (icpac.net, www.cewarn.org, among others) in order to promote a single corporate identity and unified online-presence.
• Develop the website using widely available and accessible open source technologies and content management systems.
• Apply the IGAD Corporate Identity and Branding guidelines to the website.
• Ensure the website is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Content Management

• Migrate selected content from the current website and any other available information.
• Embed social media feeds (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) on the website.
• Create a calendar of events, showing upcoming and recent events.
• Create a digital meetings platform where participants can register and access meeting documents, agenda, reports, etc.
• Develop a search page/tool to search information on the website.
• Apply Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to ensure the website is top-ranked among search engines.
• Create a permissions and segregation structure to ensure users post only to authorized sections of the website.
• Ensure the website is accessible and properly rendered on mobile devices.
• Test and ensure website accessibility on major browsers.
• Create links to relevant websites as may be provided.

Training and Documentation

• Provide training on website administration (IT, Webmaster).
• Provide training to end users (HR, Procurement, Communications).
• Provide admin manuals and end user guides.

Hosting and Maintenance

• Identify a fast and secure hosting platform.
• Provide website maintenance and updates for one year.
• Provide continuous monitoring of the website and ensure it is always accessible.
• Generate monthly visitor statistics and usage reports.
• Create mirror site for a backup and disaster recovery purposes. 

DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The assignment is expected to take two months (60 calendar days).

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The consultancy firms are expected to have the following minimum qualifications:

• At least three years’ experience designing and developing corporate websites for large organizations.
• Thorough understanding of current web technologies and design paradigms.
• Expert knowledge of content management systems.
• Ability to develop websites using modern programming tools and languages e.g. HTML, PHP, MySQL, Apache, etc.
• Proficiency in Graphics Design Software and Applications and the ability to create original artwork.
• Experience in secure programming practices and knowledge of SSL. 

The Selection shall be in accordance with IGAD Procurement Procedures. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) now invites interested and eligible consultant firms to submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) for the above assignment. Detailed Terms of Reference will be shared with shortlisted consultants.

The EOI must include the following information:

1. Profile and background of the consultancy firm or consortium
2. Certificate of Incorporation

• Contact details (Physical address, Phone number, email address)

1. Demonstration of capabilities and experience in successful provision of similar services in the region in the last three years.
2. At Least 3 contactable references. URLs of three corporate websites developed by the company as well as contact persons of the referenced websites.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested firms may obtain further information at the address below during office hours from Sunday to Thursday 7:30am to 2:30pm local time, or by email from procurement@igad.int  with copies to mahamed.abdillahi@igad.int

The consultancy firms should submit their Expression of Interest (EOI) to: procurement@igad.int not later than 15^th  October, 2020 at 23:59 Hrs. EAT (GMT+3).

Please note that at this stage no PROPOSALS whether TECHNICAL or FINANCIAL are requested.

 

Procurement Unit

Administration and Finance

IGAD Secretariat

Avenue Georges Clemenceau

E-mail: procurement@igad.int

P.O. Box 2653,

Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti