EXTENDED! REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: consultant to develop practical compendium of methods for community-led monitoring

Posted on by Igor Gordon
RFP Number EHRA-05-18
RFP Title Consultancy CLM practical compendium
RFP Closing Date and time: 24:00 EET on June 12, 2022
Proposal Submission Address: info@harmreductioneurasia.org

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”.

Community-led monitoring is becoming increasingly demanding among both key population community groups and donors as an approach and mechanism in identifying and addressing gaps in HIV response in the CECCA region.

However, community groups often abstain to get involved in CLM, thinking it costly, complicated, and has limited advocacy effect. Many community groups face challenges to choose correct monitoring methods, compatible with organization’s human, financial and technical resources.

In December 2021, EHRA in collaboration with UNAIDS and GF carried out a webinar (link: https://eecaplatform.org/en/webinar-on-clm/), where community and civil society activists were provided with information about:

  • international approaches to CLM by UNAIDS and the Global Fund,[1]
  • existing experience of conducting CLM and follow-up advocacy by different community groups in the CEECA region (gender audit by EWNA, community satisfaction by EHRA, „secret client“ by ECOM).[2]
  • addressed key principles and approaches when selecting CLM methods and role of CLM in community-driven advocacy, illustrated with practical examples.

Other CLM resources include:

  • CLM Resource Hub, powered by UNAIDS,
  • Community–Led Monitoring Tools developed by PEPFAR,
  • Technical Guidance: Principles and process in establishing CLM of HIV services, developed by UNAIDS,
  • A community toolkit developed by ITPC.

Aim of the consultancy:

With this RFP we are looking for a qualified external consultant who will help us to develop practical compendium of CLM methods. This document should easily explain community groups different CLM methods and how logically select appropriate one, to identify gaps or address stated advocacy asks. The guidance should also show in a simple way, a clear link between the chosen methods and required human, financial and technical resources needed to carry out the monitoring.

 

Objectives of the consultancy:

  1. Develop a practical compendium of CLM methods. Should be completed before 10th July 2022.
    • Develop preliminary outline of the compendium, in consultation with EHRA.
    • Draft compendium of CLM methods which contains structured catalogue of different CLM methods with clear and simple explanation of each method. The catalogue should also include section with complete list of possible issues that CLM could address; examples of required financial, technical, and human resources for each CLM method; clear explanation and criteria of what is the difference between CLM and other research and monitoring methods; illustrative examples of CLM use. Volume of the publication should not exceed  30 A4 pages, Times New Roman 12, excluding infographics and illustrations. The document can be drafted in ENGLISH or RUSSIAN languages.
    • The document should be written in a simple, clear language, understandable to people without special education and without use of specific sociological professional terminology. This tool should not duplicate all previous efforts made by the
    • Finalize the guidance, after two rounds of feedback from EHRA.
  1. Participate in development of a webinar and content for online tool for community-based organizations. The webinars will be focused on CLM methods described in the tool. All webinars will be conducted tentatively in August 2022.

 

Proposed timeline:

All activities should be completed before 31st August, 2022.

 

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):

Evaluation criteria:

 

 Points
Knowledge of research methodologies and experience in conducting research 40

 
Experience in working with key populations 20

 
Experience in developing tools, writing technical reports, guidance 20

 
Relevant education 20
 

Maximum possible number of points

  

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:

Applicants must submit the following documents:

  1. CV
  2. Cover letter
  3. Examples of relevant publications

The CV and Letter of Interest 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 objective, cost and timing of their implementation. Please, also add to your Letter of Interest short description of your approach in developing the guidance and very preliminary vision of the guidance content structure (150 words max).

Please submit your proposal to the info@harmreductioneurasia.org. In the subject line of your e-mail please indicate the RFP number (EHRA-05-18) and your name.  Otherwise, the application will not be considered.

General terms

Interested consultants should pay attention to the following conditions:

  • EHRA will sign an agreement with the winner 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 June 7,2022. Each candidate will be contacted individually.
  • Any questions regarding the participation should be sent to igor@harmreductioneurasia.org till June 3, 2022.

[1] a. HOW TO IMPLEMENT COMMUNITY-LED MONITORING. A Community Toolkit. URL: https://eecaplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/1205_itpc_clm_design_fullreport06_compressed.pdf

  1. Community-led Monitoring for HIV, TB and Malaria programs and to address the impacts of COVID-19. URL: https://eecaplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/clm_ehra-webinar.07122021.pdf
  2. UNAIDS Perspectives and Support for CLM, by Dominic Kemps. URl: https://eecaplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/clm-presentation-for-eurasian-harm-reduction-assoc-webinar-1221.pdf

[2] a. ЧЕК-ЛИСТ ПОДГОТОВКИ К ИССЛЕДОВАНИЮ. Сексуальное и репродуктивное здоровье и права

женщин, живущих с ВИЧ. URL: https://eecaplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/chek-list_ezhss.pdf

  1. “Mystery Client” methodology, ECOM. URL: https://eecaplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ecom_clm.pdf
  2. Community led survey of client satisfaction with opioid maintenance therapy services among participants in Kyiv and the Kyiv Oblast region, Ukraine, by Maria Plotko. URL: https://eecaplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ehra_omt_plotko.pdf