Category: Tenders and Announcements

The Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) in the scope of the EECA Regional Platform project supported by the Global Fund is aimed to organize a Regional Working Forum to discuss and learn from the results of the implementation of the Global Fund’s Community Engagement (CE) Technical Assistance (TA) Program in EECA region in 2021 – 2022. The Forum is going to take place in Istanbul (Turkey) on 28-29 of November 2022. The working languages of the Regional Forum will be English and Russian.

Objectives of the meeting

The objectives of the Forum are:

• To learn from the experiences of the Global Fund‘s CE TA providers and recipients of such TA in EECA.
• To understand the challenges and barriers that CSOs and communities faced while requesting\receiving\providing the CE TA and to discuss how this TA mechanism could be improved in the future.
• To get a better understanding of the other Global Fund-related TA opportunities that are available in the EECA region for civil society and communities.
• To contribute to better coordination and harmonization among donors and technical partners in supporting or providing the Global Fund related technical support in the region

Note: Some of the objectives may be revised and adjusted during the process of planning the meeting agenda.

Tasks and the deadlines for the consultants under this ToR:

EHRA is looking for a regional level expert to conceptualize the content of the event and help EHRA with its organization and facilitation.

The expert under this ToR is expected:

• By 25 of September to review the available draft concept of the Regional Forum, propose and agree with EHRA amendments to it if needed, develop and agree with EHRA the final version of the concept of the event;
• By 30 of September to develop the draft agenda of the Regional Forum and get the feedback on it from EHRA and other key partners involved into organization of the event if any;
• By 10 of October to provide EHRA with the final version of the Regional Forum agenda ready for the dissemination among the Regional Forum participants;
• Help EHRA to identify the participants of the Regional Forum. The final list of participants should be developed by the 10 of October;
• To help EHRA to identify relevant experts to be invited to participate in the Regional Forum. The list of experts should be developed by 10 of October;
• Based on the agreed agenda of the event to develop and agree with EHRA the process of its facilitation by 01 of November;
• By 15 of November – to conduct a survey among CE TA providers and recipients to understand their experiences as well as the priority needs and options for improving the CE TA mechanism and demand for it in EECA.

The survey should include interviews with the selected representatives of TA recipients and providers as well as relevant colleagues from the Global Fund’s Secretariat (no less than 12 interviews altogether). The results of the survey should serve as the base for the discussions at the Regional Forum and should be provided in a separate report.

• To coordinate the process of development of relevant presentations for the purposes of the event by invited participants and experts: to develop the check list of the presentations; to brief each expert on the expected content, possible structure and timing of the presentation; to collect presentations from experts and participants in advance to the event; to provide a feedback on their content and structure if needed. To participate in planned conference calls with the invited experts;
• To coordinate the process of the development of the handout materials to be disseminated among the participants of the Regional Forum in advance to the event or distributed during the meeting: to develop the check list of the required handout materials; to collect them in advance to the Regional Forum from the experts or from other relevant sources and make sure that those needed to be printed for the seminar are printed in time;
• To develop the methodology of the evaluation of the results of the Regional Forum right after the event. Based on this methodology to develop the questionnaire for the participants to fill in right after the event;
• To participate in a preparatory meeting with EHRA representative and experts the day before the Regional Forum to have the final discussion on its agenda, facilitation processes, roles of key participants and expected results;
• To facilitate the two-day long Regional Forum on 28-29 of November 2022 in Istanbul (Turkey);
• To be in contact with the people responsible for the organization of the event’s logistics and timely provide them with all required information regarding the requirements for the Regional Forum auditorium, stationery, etc.;
• By 15 of December to develop and submit to EHRA the report on the process and results of the Regional Forum. The report should be in English and should not exceed 15 pages. Among other issues the report should include a short overview of the Regional Forum organization process, key discussions which took place during the event, key agreements reached, conclusions as well as recommendations both for Global Fund and participants on the next steps to be done as a follow up to the Regional Forum. In particular the report should include:
  • Recommendations for the GF Secretariat on how to optimize the particular CRG TA mechanism to be more demanded\effective in the EECA region
  • Draft position on what kind of Global Fund related TA civil society may need and how the mechanism of such TA provision should work in most effective and efficient way

EHRA will identify the person from among its staff to supervise the work of the expert under this ToR. Supervisor will be a contact person for the expert on all matters regarding the organization and facilitation of the event and will be the one to conclude on the quality of the work done and report provided.

Payment

The final cost of the contract will be calculated based on the number of working days indicated by the consultant in their application required to complete each stage of the assessment process described in this RFP, as well as the daily rate (in Euros) confirmed and agreed with EHRA. The daily rate must include all taxes to be paid by consultant themselves.

EHRA reserves the right to review and agree on the proposed daily rate based on the submitted documents.

EHRA will cover travel and accommodation expenses required to ensure the expert’s participation in the event if needed. The contract with the selected expert will be signed for the period from 20th of September till 20 of December 2022. In case of change of the dates of the event due to the unexpected circumstances the duration of the contract will be prolonged for the relevant period.

Evaluation criteria / requirements for candidates:

 Submitted applications will be evaluated by the evaluation panel of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association. A two-stage procedure will be utilized in evaluating the proposals:

• evaluation of the previous experience (portfolio) via technical criteria – 80% in total evaluation (please find the criteria in the table below)
• comparison of the costs (best value for money) – 20% in total evaluation. The EHRA will evaluate the proposal regarding the best value for money (price in euros and other factors are taken into account).

Cost evaluation is only undertaken for technical submissions that score a minimum 80 points out of a maximum of 100 as a requirement to pass the technical evaluation. A proposal which fails to achieve the minimum technical threshold will not be considered further.

Mandatory requirement for the candidates: excellent knowledge of written and spoken English and Russian.

This announcement shall not be construed as a contract or a commitment of any kind. This request for proposals in no way obligates EHRA to award a contract, nor does it commit EHRA to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposals.

Based on the evaluation results, the evaluation panel may decide to support several consultants. In this case, the evaluation panel will contact the selected consultants for negotiations.

How to apply

To be eligible as a EHRA consultant, any organization or individual must comply with the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association Code of Ethics which you can find at the following link: https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/ehra-code-of-ethics/ Also, the applicant should support the position of the EHRA on the issue of Russian aggression against Ukraine https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/eurasian-harm-reduction-association-condemns-the-russian-war-against-ukraine/

Applicants must submit the following documents:

• CV,
• Letter of Interest.

The CV and application must reflect the candidate’s competencies required to complete this task. The Letter of Interest should also include the estimated number of working days required to complete each stage of the assessment process and the daily rate in EUR.

Please submit your proposal to the info@harmreductioneurasia.org

In the subject line of your e-mail please indicate the RFP number and your name.  Otherwise, the application will not be considered.

Background

Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) is a non-for-profit public membership-based organization uniting harm reduction activists and organisations from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) with its mission to actively unite and support communities and civil societies to ensure the rights and freedoms, health.

Being a partner of the Alliance for Public Health, the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH 100% Life and other regional networks in the implementation of the Global Fund funded regional HIV project “Sustainability of services for key populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”, EHRA activities, among others, aim to improve the quality of harm reduction services by national authorities and service providers in EECA countries.

Shifting away to national funding of harm reduction services in EECA countries over the next few years will result in the quality of harm reduction services being governed by national standards or guidelines. In this situation, there are certain risks that could lead to the loss of significance of harm reduction services by national authorities and service providers, hence the loss of their holistic and integrated impact on the health and social well-being of people who use drugs, as well as problems in ensuring the quality of harm reduction services.

To minimize these risks, EHRA throughout 2022-2024 is planning to initiate a series of national meetings aiming to build consensus among all key national stakeholders on the current approaches to harm reduction as an element of HIV prevention and the prospects for modernizing approaches based on the current comprehensive aims and objectives of harm reduction. It is expected that such meetings will contribute to the modernization of principles, values and approaches in the work of harm reduction programmes and will help to achieve the following objectives:

• ensure coordination of national efforts to improve the quality of harm reduction between representatives of the community of people who use drugs, service providers and the customers of harm reduction services (relevant government agencies, international donors);
• expand the dialogue around the comprehensiveness of harm reduction programmes, avoiding its isolation only in the HIV response, and, consequently, engage stakeholders responsible for implementation of various social assistance programmes at the national and municipal level;
• ensure the inclusiveness of such a dialogue on complexity of harm reduction programmes, providing equal opportunities on the influence the national plans on quality increasing of the indicated programmes for all three parties, namely the community of people who use drugs, service providers and service users (relevant government agencies, municipalities, international donors working in the country).
• ensure transparency and accountability in the process of making progress in the implementation of national strategies of the quality improving of harm reduction programmes.

Objectives and key tasks of the national consultants.

EHRA is looking for national consultant in Armenia for advocacy support  of tripartite national working meeting to coordinate the efforts of stakeholders involved in the design, planning and implementation of harm reduction in modernizing national/regional systems that define principles and objectives for harm reduction programs to significantly improve their quality to match the existing best international practices .

This national consultant is expected to carry out the following tasks according to the following timeframe:

1. Conduct a mapping of the key challenges and barriers in modernizing harm reduction principles, values and approaches in harm reduction programmes functioning at the national level. Formulate a framework for action to modernize harm reduction approaches based on the mapping.
2. Initiating a dialogue with the key national representatives of stakeholders involved in the establishment, planning and implementation of harm reduction programs regarding the existing approaches to the implementation of harm reduction programs as an element of HIV prevention and the prospects for modernizing the approaches, taking into consideration the existing complexity of goals and objectives of harm reduction programmes. It is expected that, as a result of such communication, the selected consultants will discuss and finalize a framework for action to modernize harm reduction programming approaches.
3. Coordinate on preparing  and expert participating in tripartite national working meeting to build consensus on a comprehensive understanding of the quality of harm reduction programmes in relation to the needs of the community of people who use drugs.
4. Ensure coordination of further steps at the national level to ensure the quality of harm reduction programmes, in particular by initiating:
   1. preparation of a national plan/strategy to improve the quality of harm reduction services considering the best international practices that comprehensively meet the needs of people who use drugs.
   2. establishing a working group to modernize the principles, values and approaches of harm reduction programmes.

The tripartite national working meeting are expected to include the following stakeholders:

• Representatives from state and municipal health and social services, and other state institutions responsible for funding, planning and overseeing harm reduction programs at national and local levels;
• Individual and organizational representatives of the community of people who use drugs at national and municipal levels;
• Key representatives of organizations providing harm reduction services in the country at   national and municipal level;
• Representatives of regional and international organizations that are interested in improving the quality of harm reduction programs (EHRA, international donors funding harm reduction, HIV prevention and other health services, WHO).

Within the framework of this ToR, the selected consultant will use in their communication with the national partners (1) EHRA position on quality of harm reduction services

https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/RU-EHRA-position-on-the-quality-15.01-DM_ed.pdf and (2) the tool “Components, Arguments, Criteria” (CAC) developed by EHRA (https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CAC-and-SF-tool_RU.pdf). EHRA will support the selected consultant in understanding this position.  Upon request, EHRA will provide expert support in understanding of the indicated concept and the principles, values and approaches in modernizing the work of harm reduction programmes.

The consultant should be available for regular calls with designated EHRA staff/experts to discuss the  progress/challenges related with the fulfilment of the task.

Expected results:

The following products (in Russian) are to be provided as a result of the work carried out by the consultant in accordance with these ToR:

– Results of the mapping of key challenges and barriers in the modernization of harm reduction principles, values and approaches in the work of harm reduction programs at the national level.

– Framework description of actions on modernizing harm reduction programmes, based on the mapping arranged.

– Program and protocol for the tripartite national consensus dialogue on a comprehensive understanding of the quality of harm reduction programmes, taking into consideration the needs of the community of people who use drugs.

Proposed timeline:

September-October 2022 – to conduct a mapping of key challenges and barriers in modernizing of harm reduction principles, values, and approaches at the national level. Formulate a framework for action to modernize harm reduction approaches based on the mapping.

October 2022 – to initiate the dialogue with key national stakeholders involved in the creation, planning and implementation of harm reduction programmes about established approaches to the implementation of harm reduction programmes as an element of HIV prevention and the prospects for modernising approaches, taking into account the current complexity of harm reduction programme goals and objectives.

November 2022 – expert participation and facilitation of tripartite national dialogues to build consensus on a comprehensive understanding of the quality of harm reduction programmes in relation to the needs of the community of people who use drugs.

December 2022 – to ensure coordination of further steps at national level to provide  the quality of harm reduction programmes

Cost of services and payment procedure

 The cost of services will be calculated on the basis of the fixed number of consultant working days (25) and his/her confirmed daily rate. However, the total contract value of each consultant under this ToR shall not exceed 1,500 euro (including all taxes and related costs).

 Evaluation criteria / requirements for candidates:

 Submitted applications will be evaluated by the evaluation panel of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association.

A two-stage procedure will be utilized in evaluating the proposals:

• evaluation of the previous experience (portfolio) via technical criteria – 80% in total evaluation.
• comparison of the costs (best value for money) – 20% in total evaluation. The EHRA will evaluate the proposal regarding the best value for money (price in euros and other factors are taken into account).

Cost evaluation is only undertaken for technical submissions that score a minimum 80 points out of a maximum of 100 as a requirement to pass the technical evaluation. A proposal which fails to achieve the minimum technical threshold will not be considered further.

This announcement shall not be construed as a contract or a commitment of any kind. This request for proposals in no way obligates EHRA to award a contract, nor does it commit EHRA to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposals.

How to apply

To be eligible as a EHRA consultant, any organization or individual must comply with the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association Code of Ethics which you can find at the following link: https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/ehra-code-of-ethics/

Applicants must submit the following documents:

– CV,

– Letter of Interest. The CV and application should clearly reflect the competency of the candidate necessary to complete this task, as well as include the proposed number of working days for each stage, cost and timing of their implementation.

Please submit your proposal to the info@harmreductioneurasia.org .

In the subject line of your e-mail please indicate the RFP number and your name.  Otherwise, the application will not be considered.

General terms

Interested consultants should pay attention to the following conditions:

EHRA will sign a contract with the 5 winners of the complete selection. The contract will define the detailed work plan and payment terms.

EHRA reserves the right (but does not commit itself to any obligation) to enter into negotiations with one or more applicants in order to obtain clarifications or additional information as well as to agree on the timing of the works. The successful candidate must confirm his/ her daily rate before signing the agreement. The results will be announced by September 26, 2022. Each candidate will be contacted individually.

Any questions regarding participation should be sent to yevheniia@harmreductioneurasia.org by September 05, 2022.

Background

Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) is a non-for-profit public membership-based organization uniting harm reduction activists and organisations from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) with its mission to actively unite and support communities and civil societies to ensure the rights and freedoms, health, and well-being of people who use psychoactive substances in the CEECA region. This call for proposals is organized within the project “Sustainability of Services for Key Populations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia”.

Criminalization of drugs drives systemic and widespread violations of virtually all human rights guaranteed by the national constitutions and international human rights treaties. Documenting these violations can serve the purpose of informing human rights treaty bodies about human rights violations falling under their mandates. Human rights treaty bodies are issuing drug policy recommendations concerning EECA countries and these recommendations are the results of human rights documenting and subsequent submissions of documented reports to human rights treaty bodies by civil society groups with the direct engagement of people who use drugs. This work shall continue in order to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations on the national level as well as to keep informing constructive dialogues between the human rights treaty bodies and EECA states about the implementation of human rights treaties with respect to people who use drugs.

Aim of the consultancy:

To analyse national trends on human rights violations of people who use drugs in Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, based on Matrix for analysing trends in human rights violations against people who use drugs (matrix will be provided by EHRA).

EHRA will select one consultant per country (in total 4 consultants) for this consultancy.

Objectives of the consultancy:

1. Analyse national trends on human rights violations of people who use drugs in Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. This objective includes the following tasks: (1) to collect cases of human rights violations of people who use drugs in the country, (2) have an interview with harm reduction service providers and key stakeholders, (3) conduct desk research.
2. With a support from EHRA international consultant, to prepare national report on national trends on human rights violations against people who use drugs (up to 10 pages).
3. Together with EHRA international consultant to develop a submission to the UN treaty body.

The total number of consultancy days should not exceed 10 days.

Proposed timeline:

All tasks are to be completed by 9 October 2022. A detailed plan will be agreed separately once the agreement with the selected consultants has been concluded.

Evaluation Criteria

Submitted applications will be evaluated by the evaluation panel of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association.

A two-stage procedure will be utilized in evaluating the proposals:

• evaluation of the previous experience (portfolio) via technical criteria – 80% in total evaluation;
• comparison of the costs (best value for money) – 20% in total evaluation.

Cost evaluation is only undertaken for technical submissions that score a minimum 80 points out of a maximum of 100 as a requirement to pass the technical evaluation. A proposal which fails to achieve the minimum technical threshold will not be considered further.

 To assess submitted applications, the following technical criteria will be used (80%) (maximum possible number of points is 100):

Cost proposal (20%): EHRA will allocate same importance to the provided portfolio and recorded experience as to the cost of the services. The cost proposal will be evaluated in terms of best value-for money to EHRA in EUR, price and other factors considered

Condition

This announcement shall not be construed as a contract or a commitment of any kind. This request for proposals in no way obligates EHRA to award a contract, nor does it commit EHRA to pay any cost incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposals.

How to apply

To be eligible as a EHRA consultant, any organization or individual must comply with:

• the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association Code of Ethics: https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/ehra-code-of-ethics/
• the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association’s position on the Russian military aggression in Ukraine: https://old.harmreductioneurasia.org/eurasian-harm-reduction-association-condemns-the-russian-war-against-ukraine/

Applicants must submit the following documents:

1. CV
2. Letter of interest with examples of developed national reports, submissions on human rights violations

The CV and letter of interest should clearly state the competencies and experience of the candidate required for the task, the daily rate in euros and the number of days required for each of the tasks.

Please submit your proposal to the info@harmreductioneurasia.org. In the subject line of your e-mail please indicate the RFP number (EHRA-08-29) and your name.  Otherwise, the application will not be considered.

General terms

Interested consultants should pay attention to the following conditions:

• Consultant must speak and write fluently and competently in Russian and/or English.
• EHRA will sign an agreement with the winners of the competitive selection. The contract will define a detailed work plan and payment terms.
• EHRA reserves the right (but does not commit itself to obligations) to enter into negotiations with one or more applicants in order to obtain clarifications or additional information, as well as to agree on the timing of work.
• The winner must confirm his/her daily rate before signing of the agreement.
• Results will be announced by September 6, 2022. Each candidate will be contacted individually.
• Any questions regarding this RFP should be sent to eliza@harmreductioneurasia.org till September 2, 2022.