Request for Proposals

for

Reproductive, Maternal, and Neonatal Health Innovation Fund (RIF) Grants

October 2015

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Disclaimer: The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted. Issuance of this Request for Proposal does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the FMOH, nor does it commit the FMOH to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of this application.

Issuance Date: October10, 2015

Closing Date and Time: November13,2015 2:00PM Ethiopian Time

Bid opening Date and Time: November 13,2015, 2:30PM Ethiopian Time

Subject: Request for Proposals (RFP) No.:ICB/MoH/PCT/FP/02-2008

Reproductive, Maternal, and Neonatal Health Innovation Fund(RIF) second roundGrants

Dear Applicant:

The Federal Ministry of Health is pleased to invite your organization to submit a proposal for a grant under the DFID-funded Reproductive, Maternal, and Neonatal Health Innovation Fund (RIF). Proposals must offer innovative solutions to decrease barriers to Reproductive, Maternal and Neonatal Health (RMNH) service uptake in Afar, Somali, Oromia and SNNP (pastoralist woredas). This RFP is an opportunity to your organization/institution or association to develop and submit a full project and/or operational research proposal, with a detailed budget and work plan. Proposals must present an elaborated project design to address key barriers to RMNH service uptake among pastoralist communities and must adhere to the guidelines set forth in this RFP.

DUE DATE and SUBMISSION: Applications shall be received no later than the due date and time mentioned on the first page of the RFP cover letter.Following instructions set forth in section VII of this RFP, applications should be submitted in person to:

The Finance and Procurement directorate, Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia, located around Goma Kuteba, Sengatera area

Applicants should retain a copy of their application and accompanying enclosures for future reference.

NEXT STEPS: Successful proposals will be selected by a Review Committee, with an estimated implementation start date of January1, 2016. Finalists will be required to undergo a due diligence pre-award assessment and technical capacity assessment before the award is given.

Issuance of this RFP does not constitute an award commitment on the part of the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, nor does it commit to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of an application. Applications are submitted at the risk of the applicant; should circumstances prevent award of a grant, all preparation and submission costs are at the applicant's expense.

Sincerely,

Zerihun Dinku (Procurement Case Team Coordinator)

Table of Contents

IReproductive, Neonatal, and Maternal Health Innovation Fund (RIF)

IIReproductive, Neonatal, and Maternal Health Innovation Fund Grants

RIF Grants Scope of Work

Guidance on the focus of the Proposals…………………………………………………………………………..4

Grant Tracks

Award Type and Payment Overview

Partnerships

Monitoring and Evaluation

Reporting

IIIAward Value and Process

IVEvaluation of Bids………………………………………………………………………………………......

V Indicators...... 8

VIApplication Evaluation Criteria

VIIHow to Apply

VIIIAnnexes......

Annex A: Proposal Template......

Annex B: OR Proposal Template………………….…………………………………………………………………17

Annex C: Workplan Template...... 19

Annex D: M&E Plan...... 20

Annex E: Past Performance References...... 22

Annex F: Cost Application...... 23

Annex G: List of Pastoralist Woredas in Oromiya and SNNPR..9

Annex H: RIF Logical Framework...... 30

IReproductive, Neonatal, and Maternal Health Innovation Fund (RIF)

Despite increased access to health services and impressive gains in health outcomes in Ethiopia, the use of many reproductive, maternal, and neonatal health (RMNH) services remains low. There are striking disparities in service utilization between urban and rural populations, and among vulnerable groups such as adolescents and pastoralist communities. Only 38% of women in rural areas use modern family planning (FP) methods (versus 56% in urban areas). 42% of women receive no antenatal care (ANC), only 14.5% of women (9.4% in rural areas) deliver safely with the support of a skilled birth attendant (SBA), and 83% of women receive no postnatal care (PNC). While the total fertility rate (TFR) has reduced from 5.6 children per woman to 4.1, developing regional states lag behind (for example, 7.3 in Somali and 5.7 in Afar). Adolescents face particular challenges in accessing user-friendly services and experience high risks of childbearing when too young. The result is continuing high maternal and neonatal mortality.

In recent years, development efforts have focused on increasing access to services through expanding coverage of government health infrastructure and trained staff, and through the community-level Health Extension Worker (HEW) program. However, available services are often of low quality and may not be seen by women as culturally appropriate or necessary. Attention must be given to addressing the range of geographic, financial, and socio-cultural barriers that limit service utilization. There remain wide variations in access to and use of services between regions, between urban and rural areas, and among vulnerable groups such as adolescents and pastoralist communities.

In response to these challenges, FMoH with the financial support of£20M from DFID has established the Reproductive, Maternal, and Neonatal Health Innovation Fund (RIF) to complement ongoing efforts to increase access to services for poor and underserved communities of Afar and Somali, regions and pastoralist woredas of Oromia and SNNPR.

FMoH has now completed the first round RFP. Applicants that demonstrated innovative ideas and value for money concepts were selected to implement their proposed interventions in the target regions and woredas. Taking in to account lessons from the first round granting process and the gap analysis done to identify major areas of possible intervention, the FMoH has now decided to issue this second round call for proposals.

II. Reproductive, Neonatal, and Maternal Health Innovation Fund Grants

RIF Grants Scope of Work

The RIF aims to increase the utilization of RMNH services, enhance the accountability of service providers and improve regional equity. In this round of grant-making, the ultimate aim is to seek proposals for innovative initiatives that will:

  • enhance the empowerment of women,girls and vulnerable groups especially out of school youth/adolescentsto seek RMNH services;
  • make RMNH services more appropriate and friendly for women, girls and adolescents;
  • increase service uptake among pastoralist woredas of Dolo zone,Ethiopia Somali regional Stateby implementing innovative and cost effective strategies to achieve the four major out puts of RIF
  • Output 1: Increased uptake of culturally acceptable and appropriate RMNH services for women/girls/ youth/ adolescents in programme regions
  • Output 2: Improved community attitudes to RMNH needs of women and youth
  • Output 3: Women and girls empowered and confident to make healthy RMNH choices and access services
  • Output 4: Enhanced accountability and responsiveness of service providers to communities and women
  • Increase evidence of what works in increasing uptake of RMNH services among pastoralist communities, allowing refining of models of service delivery.

The second round Grant will be issued for a period of up to two years and the areas of implementation are restricted to: Afar and Somali regions and pastoralist woredas of Oromia and SNNP regions.

Guidance on the focus of proposals

The proposals to be submitted by eligible organizations including Regional Health Bureaus (RHBs), Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), Government higher education institutions, Non-governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organization (CSO)will seek to do one or more of the following:

2.1Increase demand for RMNH services and modern contraceptive methods, especially by poor women in rural areas and sexually-active adolescents (for instance through behavior change communication to increase the cultural acceptability of family planning and desire for smaller families, or through support for the “home delivery-free kebele” strategy). This will include preventing unintended pregnancies and ensuring safe pregnancy and childbirth through the use of modern contraception, antenatal care (ANC), skilled birth assistance (SBA), and postnatal care (PNC) in Ethiopia Somali Regional State, Dolo Zone.

2.2Enhance the empowerment of women and girls to seek information and services related to RMNH services. These interventions should aim to empower women and girls in every aspect including, but not limited to, economic empowerment and social empowerment; approaches should include building their skills to negotiate and make decisions with regard to their RMNH (in all the four RIF target regions).

2.3Reducethe geographic and financial barriers that prevent women and girls utilizing RMNH services (for instance through outreach and comprehensive mobile clinics (in all the four RIF target regions).

2.4 Increase demand for newborn care and postnatal care (in all the four RIF target regions).

2.5Overcome barriers and bottlenecks related to provision of quality RMNH services to the community (for example, ensure 24/7 service delivery;support provision of youth-friendly RMNH services; strengthen infection prevention practices; mobile health care services etc.)(in all the four RIF target regions).

2.6Generate evidence of what works (for instance through operational research on cultural influences and barriers, effective interventions to increase use of services, testing of modalities of care to reach pastoralist communities). Priority is given in Afar and Oromia regions for OR looking for alternative service modalities while in Ethiopia Somali & SNNP Regional States the OR should focus both in identifying the barriers for RMNH services uptake and modality of services.

All proposed initiatives must be able to demonstrate their capacity for value for money(VfM), achieving the greatest possible outputs (considering both quality and quantity) for program funds. This shall be demonstrated by:

  • Reasonableness, and allowability of the budget with cost sharing,
  • Adherence to budgeted allocation of programmatic vs. administrative costs of the project;
  • Proposed activities implemented using inputs at the best price for the necessary quality;
  • Efficient and well-documented management structures and ability to achieve results per the proposed workplan
  • Increased synergy with and avoiding duplication of efforts in areas where first round RIF project and other similar projects being implemented

Grant Tracks

Grants will be awarded within one of two tracks. Proposals must clearly indicate the track for which the applicant is submitting a proposal.

  • Track 1: Two-year projects that seek to overcome financial, cultural, and social barriers to RMNH service uptake among pastoralist communities. It is expected that projects proposed under this track will contribute to at least one of the issues indicated under section 2, (2.1-2.5) above.
  • Track 2: Operational research projects. A maximum of one year operational research projects proposed under this track is expected to contribute to issues indicated under section 2, 2.6

Award Type and Payment Overview

Grants issued under the RIF will be administered by the FMoH as performance-based grants with a rolling advance. Payment will be made semi-annually based on actual costs incurred, following the submission of quarterly technical and financial reports. Technical reports must demonstrate achievement of milestones to be determined at the time of the award. Subrecipients will be required to maintain a separate bank account to manage grant funds.

Poor performance towards achievement of project indicators in the form of quarterly milestones will result in a performance improvement plan after quarter two. Failure to improve in accordance with the performance improvement plan may result in the termination of the grant after the first year of implementation or earlier. Quarterly milestones will be established at the time of award, and will be based on a minimum acceptable percent achievement of applicable project indicators. Additional performance requirements may be added in the second year of implementation.

Partnerships

Partnerships between different types of organizations are permitted and encouraged. For example, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) may submit proposals in partnership with RHBs to address community outreach and health service delivery issues collaboratively. For Track 2 proposals, partnerships which combine technical research skills with local contextual knowledge and experience are encouraged.

Partnership proposals must clearly define the roles and activities of each partner. The budget must clearly show the allocation of resources to each partner based on respective responsibilities.One lead partner must be named as the ‘prime recipient’in the proposal. The named prime recipient will take contractual responsibility for coordinating all reporting and transferring payments to sub-recipients within the partnership upon receipt of funds from the FMoH. All partners must demonstrate that they have legal status to operate in Ethiopia.

International organizations can apply for this bid. However, as this fund is considered as money generated in-country, International NGOs are not allowed to use any or part of this fund to cover any or part of their organizational indirect cost out of Ethiopia, i.e.NICRA.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The RIF Technical Assistance Team (Pathfinder International) will receive quarterly performance and financial reports from grant recipients and will be responsible for routine monitoring of project implementation and performance. It will consolidate the quarterly performance reports and present these to the RIF Technical Task Force for any action that is necessary. The M&E provider (Mott MacDonald and Breakthrough International Consultancy) will be responsible for the periodic verification of project reports. The M&E Provider will also conduct annual reviews, as well as mid-term and end-term evaluations of the RIF programme. These reviews and evaluations will include an assessment of the value for money and the impact of project interventions. The project proposals that will be submitted need to provide the necessary information for routine monitoring, as well as annual review and evaluation exercises (see Annex D).

Reporting

Quarterly financial and narrative reports (including project data) will be due15 days after the end of a quarter.

IIIAward Value and Process

The FMoH expects to award grants to qualified Ethiopian and international organizations.The amount of eachaward will vary depending on the proposed scope of work and geographical area covered.In this secondround of grants approximately £9 million will be made available. The total Birr value will be determined at the time of disbursement from DFID to the FMoH based on the current exchange rate. Applicants are encouraged to propose cost-effective budgets.

Based on the grant tracks described in Section II, applicants should develop project proposals for up to two years using the relevant templates attached as annexes to this RFP. Initial funding commitments will be made for one year with the opportunity for extension based on performance and subject to availability of funds.The subsequent year of funding will be contingent upon submission of a continuing application.

The FMoH expects to awardgrants with a start date of January 1, 2016. Applicants mustsubmit their applicationsbefore 2:00 PM onNovember 13,2015.

Applications will be assessed and selected by a Technical Review and Evaluation Panel (TRP). The TRP will be made up of FMoH representatives, DFID representatives, the M&E supplier and Pathfinder representatives. All reviews will be written andscored on a standardized scale.

A due diligence pre-award assessment willbe conducted for finalists before the award is made. Finalists that pass the due diligence pre-award assessment will also undergo a technical capacity assessment.

IVEvaluation of Bids

A two-stage procedure will be adopted for evaluating bids, with the Technical (Qualification Document) evaluation being completed prior to any financial (Bid offer) proposals being opened and compared. Only Technical proposals for firms scoring 70 and above points out of 100 will be considered responsive (pass) and their financial Proposals will be opened and compared. The other (the fail) Financial Proposals will be returned unopened.

  1. Preliminary evaluation/ Mandatory Eligibility criteria

Prior to detailed technical & financial evaluation of the bids, each bid has to be checked whether it complies with the following requirement of the bid documents:

  • Copy of renewed license/registration from Ethiopian Charity and Society Agency(ChSA);
  • Copy of the recent past three years annual audit reports;
  • Except RHBs and government higher institutions, other bidders present support letter from relevant regional government offices referring RIF project. Relevance refers to the type of project and government office mandated to oversee and coordinate. E.g., health related activities support letter should come from RHB while gender related from Women Youth Affair

NB: The above documents are mandatory to submit with the bid however, if they are not submitted at the time of bid opening but available in the company office issued and renewed before the bid opening date, bidders should submit before evaluation will be completed. Otherwise bidder will be considered non-responsive.

Failure to substantially meet the above mentioned requirements would result in rejection of the bidder at this stage. Bids who have substantially complied in the preliminary evaluation only will be considered for further Technical evaluation.

  1. Technical Evaluation

During Technical evaluation bidders submitted technical proposals shall be compared against the required technical criteria of bidding document to determine whether the offered technical quality is in accordance with the technical requirements or not. Tender with poor response to technical requirements shall be rejected at this stage and those tenders substantially or fully responsive to the technical criteria shall be considered for further financial evaluation.(Detail technical evaluation criteria and their weighting points that indicate their level of importance are determined described under sectionVIApplication Evaluation Criteria).

All interested applicants should demonstrate: