Consultancy Service to conduct research and document state of the women Peace and Security in the region and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the women, peace and security landscape in the IGAD region

SERVICE CONTRACT NOTICE

Invitation to Tender for Consultancy Service to conduct research and document state of the women Peace and Security in the region and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the women, peace and security landscape in the IGAD region

1. Reference

Contract No: IPPSHAR 6545-00-2017- 4.2.3.1.C-01-2020

2. Procedure

Competitive Negotiated Procedure

3. Programme title

IGAD Promoting Peace and Stability in the Horn of Africa Region

4. Financing

Budget line: 4.2.3.1 C

5. Contracting authority

Intergovernmental Authority on Development Peace and Security Division (IGAD PSD)

CONTRACT SPECIFICATION

6. Nature of contract

Global price.

7. Contract description

The overall objective of the research and documentation to research and document the state of the women Peace and Security in the region and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the women, peace and security landscape in the IGAD region is to understand the extent to which the pandemic has affected the women, peace and security agendas in the region is  to reinforce global and regional monitoring measures including the Continental Results Framework on WPS agendas; and to suggest alternative ways to deal with promoting the rights of women in the peace and security arena while overcoming the challenges the pandemic presents; and informing IGAD Member states of the findings of the research and their role in responding to the situation.

8. Number and titles of lots

Not applicable. 

9. Maximum budget

Up to EUR 64,000.

CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION

10. Eligibility

Participation is open to all natural persons who are nationals of and legal persons [participating either individually or in a grouping (consortium) of tenderers] which are effectively established in a  Member State of the European Union or in a eligible country or territory  as defined under the Regulation (EU) No 236/2014 establishing common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union’s instruments for external action (CIR) for the applicable instrument under which the contract is financed (see also heading 22 below). Participation is also open to international organizations. All supplies under this contract must originate in one or more of these countries. However, they may originate from any country.

11. Number of tenders

No more than one tender can be submitted by a natural or legal person whatever the form of participation (as an individual legal entity or as leader or member of a consortium submitting a tender).  In the event that a natural or legal person submits more than one tender, all tenders in which that person has participated will be excluded.

12. Grounds for exclusion

As part of the tender, tenderers must submit a signed declaration, included in the tender form, to the effect that they are not in any of the exclusion situations listed in Section 2.6.10.1. of the practical guide.

Tenderer included in the lists of EU restrictive measures (see Section 2.4. of the PRAG) at the moment of the award decision cannot be awarded the contract.

13. Sub-contracting

Subcontracting is not allowed.

PROVISIONAL TIMETABLE

14. Provisional commencement date of the contract

17^th June, 2021

15. Implementation period of the tasks

Approximately 8 weeks (60 days).

SELECTION AND AWARD CRITERIA

16. Selection criteria

The following selection criteria will be applied to the tenderers. In the case of tenders submitted by a consortium, these selection criteria will be applied to the consortium as a whole, if not specified otherwise. The selection criteria will not be applied to natural persons and single-member companies when they are sub-contractors.

• Economic and financial capacity of the tenderer: (based on item 3 of the tender form). In case of tenderer being a public body, equivalent information should be provided. The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years for which accounts have been closed in order to ascertain that the tenderer has sufficient financial stability to handle the proposed contract.

Tenderers which are legal entities must submit evidence of financial resources indicating an average annual turnover that exceeds the annualized maximum budget of the contract indicated above, i.e. the maximum budget stated in the contract notice divided by the initial duration in years; and a current ratio (current assets/current liabilities) in the last year for which accounts have been closed must be at least 1. In case of a consortium this criterion must be fulfilled by each member.

For natural persons the available financial resources of the tenderer must exceed the annualized maximum budget of the contract i.e. the maximum budget stated in the contract notice divided by the initial contract duration in years; and the financial situation of the tenderer should not be in deficit, taken into account debts, at the beginning and end of year.

• Professional capacity of the tenderer: (based on items 4 of the tender form). The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years from submission deadline. The objective of this criterion is to examine whether or not the tenderer (i.e., the consortium as a whole, in the case of a tenderer from a consortium):
• has sufficient ongoing staff resources and expertise to be able to handle the proposed contract;
• is not a so-called ‘body shop’, i.e. a tenderer with no real expertise in fields related to the contract but which simply identifies and proposes experts to fit the project description.

• Technical capacity of tenderer: (based on items 5 and 6 of the tender form). The reference period which will be taken into account will be the last three years from submission deadline.

The tenderers shall demonstrate that they have carried out: (i) security threats assessment/analysis (ii) criminal intelligence and risks assessment, and (iii) research in crime related areas in IGAD or similar region using or applying the UNODC handbooks of assessment and methodologies or similar instruments.

This means that the project the tenderer refers to could have been started or completed at any time during the indicated period but it does not necessarily have to be started and completed during that period, nor implemented during the entire period. Tenderers are allowed to refer either to projects completed within the reference period (although started earlier) or to projects not yet completed. In the first case the project will be considered in its whole if proper evidence of performance is provided (statement or certificate from the entity which awarded the contract, proof of final payment for services). In case of projects still on-going only the portion satisfactorily completed during the reference period although started earlier will be taken into consideration. This portion will have to be supported by documentary evidence (similarly to projects completed) also detailing its value. If a tenderer has implemented the project in a consortium, the percentage that the tenderer has successfully completed must be clear from the documentary evidence, together with a description of the nature of the services provided if the selection criteria relating to the pertinence of the experience have been used.

Previous experience which would have led to breach of contract and termination by a contracting authority shall not be used as reference. This is also applicable concerning the previous experience of experts required under a fee-based service contract.

An economic operator may, where appropriate and for a particular contract, rely on the capacities of other entities, regardless of the legal nature of the links which it has with them. It must in that case prove to the contracting authority that it will have at its disposal the resources necessary for performance of the contract, for example by producing a commitment on the part of those entities to place those resources at its disposal. Such entities, for instance the parent company of the economic operator, must respect the same rules of eligibility – notably that of nationality – and must comply with the selection criteria for which the economic operator relies on them. With regard to technical and professional criteria, an economic operator may only rely on the capacities of other entities where the latter will perform the works or services for which these capacities are required. With regard to economic and financial criteria, the entities upon whose capacity the tenderer relies, become jointly and severally liable for the performance of the contract.

17. Award criteria

Best price-quality ratio.

TENDERING

18. Deadline for receipt of tenders

The deadline for receipt of tenders is specified in point 8 of the instruction to tenderers on 13.05.2021 at 12 noon.   

19. Tender format and details to be provided

Tenders must be submitted using the standard tender form for simplified procedures, the format and instructions of which must be strictly observed. The tender form is available from the following internet address: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?group=B , under the zip file called Simplified Tender dossier.

The tender must be accompanied by a declaration of honour on exclusion and selection criteria using the template available from the following Internet address:

https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/prag/annexes.do?chapterTitleCode=A  

Any additional documentation (brochure, letter, etc.) sent with a tender will not be taken into consideration.

20. How tenders may be submitted

Tenders must be submitted in English exclusively to the contracting authority, using the means specified in point 8 of the instructions to tenderers. 

Tenders submitted by any other means will not be considered.

By submitting a tender, tenderers accept to receive notification of the outcome of the procedure by electronic means.

21. Alteration or withdrawal of tenders

Tenderers may alter or withdraw their tenders by written notification prior to the deadline for submission of tenders. No tender may be altered after this deadline.

Any such notification of alteration or withdrawal shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with point 8 of the instructions to tenderers. The outer envelope (and the relevant inner envelope if used) must be marked ‘Alteration’ or ‘Withdrawal’ as appropriate.

22. Operational language

All written communications for this tender procedure and contract must be in English. 

23. Legal basis

Regulation (EU) N°236/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2014 laying down common rules and procedures for the implementation of the Union’s instruments for financing external action.