Consultant agency needed for Process Evaluation of Improving Policy and Evidence Based Services for People Who Use Drugs in Vietnam

Date of issue: 15/05/2012
Due date for questions 21/05/2012
Due date for Expressions of Interest: 01/06/2012
Questions and Expressions of Interest shall be emailed to: [email protected]

Background
Contradictions in drug policy and gaps in service delivery for drug users in Vietnam leave this population vulnerable to unnecessary harms and limit their rights and access to voluntary, evidence-based drug treatment services. People who use drugs have a disproportionally high risk of HIV infection, they face stigma and isolation from health and social services and if caught they are subject to long periods of detention in Training and Treatment centers (06 centers).

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) reports there are roughly 160,000 drug users nationwide who do not currently have access to effective evidence-based drug treatment or harm reduction services. While about 50,000 drug users are sent to drug treatment centers each year, it is estimated that about 70-95% relapse back to drug use within one year of being released.

In June 2010, the Atlantic Philanthropies awarded FHI 360/Vietnam a four-year project named “Improving policy and evidence-based services for drug users in Vietnam”. The project officially started its first year of activities on September 1, 2010. The project aims to facilitate policy change and engage drug users and paraprofessional social workers to provide community-based services for people who use drugs. Through the implementation of a three-pronged approach, which includes policy change and advocacy at the national and local levels; demonstration projects that leverage existing health and social support services; and partnerships to promote policy change, it is envisioned that this four year project will contribute towards the adoption and scale up of effective, humane programs for people who use drugs. The specific project objectives are:
1. Contribute to policy and legislation revision to support effective community based drug prevention, treatment, and care;
2. Mainstream evidence-based services for drug users into the existing health care and social protection system through linking with civil society and ensure full coordination within and between existing structures; and
3. Improve the quality of life of drug users and reduce the adverse impact of illicit drugs on individuals and the community.
The project target groups include drug users, paraprofessional social workers, and provincial and national agency staff.
This call has been developed to invite eligible institutions or groups of consultants who may be interested in collaborating with the FHI 360 project team to conduct the project process evaluation which aims at assessing whether the project is implemented as designed/planned and identifying factors that facilitate or hinder the implementation and achievement of project objectives.

Objectives
The overall objective of this process evaluation is to assess:
1. The degree to which project activities were implemented and targets achieved as planned;
2. The quality of the activities that were implemented;
3. How well activities were implemented; and
4. How external factors may have affected implementation

Scope of work
The selected institution or consultants are expected to closely collaborate with the FHI 360 project team in order to conduct a process evaluation of the project through a review of relevant project  documents; in-depth interviews of key stakeholders and focus group discussions. More specifically, the institution or consultants will:
1. Review project documents and related materials such as project progress reports, proposals, plans, etc.;
2. Develop the data collection forms (including document review, in-depth interview and group discussion) based on the process evaluation protocol developed by the FHI 360 project team;
3. Conduct the data collection;
4. Compile the process evaluation report;
5. Consult with FHI 360 project team in the whole process of data collection and report writing.

Timeline
The process is expected to start in the last week of June 2012 (25-30 June 2012) over a period of two consecutive months approximately. Of which:
- One week for document desk-review and the development of the data collection forms;
- Two weeks for the data collections;
- One week for data consolidation and analysis; and
- Four weeks for report compilation.

Application
Interested institutions/ groups of consultants are required to submit a brief document on:
- Understanding of HIV/AIDS response in Vietnam
- Their experience and capability suiting with this assignment
- Staff qualifications including their experience with similar activities (Staff’s CVs enclosed to the proposals will not be counted towards the page limit)
- Proposed roles and responsibilities of the people involved in this assignment
- A tentative working schedule to conduct the assignment
- Budget of the service, accompanied by a budget notes explaining how the budget is prepared
The above (excluding the financial proposal) should consist of no more than 5 single-spaced pages.

The expression of interest will be assessed by a committee based upon the following criteria (see item VIII – Selection Process for further details):
- Consultants’ experience, qualification and expertise appropriate for the scope of work of this assignment;
- Time-schedule suitable with the timeline of the process evaluation;
- Approaches to the assignment;
- Estimated costs.

Contact
Interested institutions or consultants are requested to submit their expressions of interest in compliance with the followings:
- One hard copy to be sent to
Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Technical Officer
Epidemiologic Research, Surveillance, and Evaluation
FHI 360 Office: 7th floor, 18 Ly Thuong Kiet Str., Hanoi
Tel: 84-4-3934-8560 | Fax: +84-4-3934-8650
- One e-mailed copy must be received at [email protected] (with the Subject:  Expression of interest for process evaluation)
- Deadline for submission: 17:00 01/06/2012

Expressions of Interest that are not received by the stated time will not be accepted. In fairness to all applicants, no extension will be granted under any circumstances.

Selection process Criteria and Scoring
Evaluation of the expressions of interest will be conducted by a review and selection committee which consists of representatives from AP and FHI 360. The expressions of interest will be scored using the below criteria. The scoring will be tabulated and the expressions of interest will be ranked based on the numerical scores received.

Selection Criteria and Weight:
- Technical Proposal 80 points
• Agency’s Experience and Capabilities 20
• Background: understanding on HIV response in Vietnam 10
• Approach and activities 20
• Monitoring 10
• Proposed Staff Qualifications and Management Approach 10
• Anticipated complications and how to address them 10
- Cost Proposal 20 points
- Total: 100 points

Following the review and selection committee making a final selection based on the technical content of proposal score and the feasibility of the cost proposal.

Award Process
It is anticipated that notification of the successful applicant will be made at DD/MM/2012. FHI 360/Vietnam reserves the right to make final decisions, and its decision is final.
After the final selection has been made, FHI 360/Vietnam will work with the selected institution or consultants to develop a sub-award under which the institution or consultants will implement the assignment. The selected institution or consultants are expected to commence work as soon as the sub-award has been signed.
The selected institution or consultants may be required to undergo a pre-award review prior to signing the sub agreement. The purposes of the pre-award review are 1) to determine if the institution or consultants can manage and account for the amount of 5 funds FHI 360 will award, 2) to determine if the institution or consultants can comply with terms and conditions of an agreement with FHI 360, and 3) to inform the institution or consultants on the FHI 360’s accounting record expectations and requirements.

Right to Reject Proposals and Negotiate Contract Terms
FHI 360 reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to negotiate the terms of the sub-award, including the sub-award amount, with the selected institution or consultants prior to entering into a sub-award. If sub-award negotiations cannot be agreed upon, FHI 360/Vietnam may negotiate a sub-award with the next highest scoring applicant. FHI 360/Vietnam creates no obligation, expressed or implied, by issuing this Call for Expressions of Interest or by receipt of any responses submitted. The mutual obligations and responsibilities of FHI 360/Vietnam and the successful institution or consultants will be recorded in a sub-award. FHI 360/Vietnam is under no obligation to sign a sub-award with any agency should negotiations regarding sub-award terms be unsuccessful.