Consultancy to Support Capacity Assessment and
Capacity Development Plan of Inclusion 2b’ Sub-Recipients
Terms of Reference
Inclusion 2b project
Vietnam Program
1. Context
1.1. Humanity & Inclusion
Humanity and Inclusion (HI) – previously known as Handicap International- is an independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. HI is working in more than 50 countries over the World.
HI has been working in Vietnam for 30 years, mostly in the fields of health and prevention (mother and child health and road safety), rehabilitation (rehabilitation care for people with spinal cord injury and brain lesions), education (access to inclusive education for children with disabilities) and livelihoods (access to decent work for people with disabilities).
1.2. Inclusion 2b
Early 2023, HI started to implement the Inclusion 2b project. The project is funded by USAID, with an estimated budget of $12.5M. It will end in December 2026.
The Inclusion 2b project aims at improving quality of life of persons with disabilities, in particular those affected by Agent Orange. In order to achieve its final goal, the project has 3 expected results:
- Expanding rehabilitation services
- Expanding social services
- Strengthen disability laws and policies
Project activities are being implemented by a group of sub-recipients (as of today, there are 4 sub-recipients/sub-awardees), HI’s role being mostly about managing the grant and ensuring quality of the project’s implementation.
In that sense, the project includes a 4th results: improving capacities of the sub-recipients in managing USAID funds (USAID-compliance) and supporting the development of services for persons with disabilities (technical capacities).
1.3. Sub-Recipients Capacity Assessment and Capacity Development Plan
In order to reach the project’s 4th objective, HI is expected to run an assessment of the sub-recipients’ capacities, to develop a “capacity development plan” and to implement the plan.
In that framework, HI is currently receiving applications from consultants with specific expertise and experience in assessing capacities of USAID grant sub-recipients and in developing “capacity development plan”.
The project’s 4 sub-recipients are both national and international non-governmental NGOs, namely: Action for Community Development Institute (ACDC – national NGO), Catholic Relief Service (CRS – US-based INGO), the Internal Center (IC – US-based INGO) and the Medical Committee Netherlands Vietnam (MCNV – Non-US INGO).
All of them have past experience with managing USAID funding (as prime and/or sub-recipient). A capacity assessment for ACDC has been done in November 2021. No such assessment was previously done in Vietnam for the 3 other organizations. However, prior to signing sub-awards with the sub-recipients, HI has run a Due Diligence check for all 4 sub-recipients.
The consultant is therefore expected to assess the capacities of all sub-recipients (for ACDC, only a update the existing report will be necessary) and, for each of them, develop of a “capacity development plan”.
The present consultancy only focuses the sub’s capacities to comply with USAID’s rules, regulations and requirements (USAID-compliance) with regard to:
- Legal structure
- Ethics and safeguarding
- Financial management and internal control system
- Logistic and procurement systems
- Human resources systems
- Project performance management (excluding technical evaluation)
- Organizational sustainability
2. Description of the Expected Services
2.1. Objectives
The consultancy’s overall objective is to assess the capacities of the Inclusion 2b’ sub-recipients and to develop capacity development plans for each of them.
2.2. Service Requested
In order to reach the consultancy’s objective, the consultant is expected to:
- Review and update (and complete, where needed), together with the sub-recipient, existing capacity reports (including recommendations) already produced for ACDC
- Assess the capacities of the 3 other organization, with regard to USAID compliance
- Produce a detailed capacity development plan for each sub-recipient
- Coordinate with HI and the Inclusion 2b project team to identify responsibilities and opportunities for implementing the capacity development plan
3. Duration and Place of the Consultancy Mission
- Starting and end dates: The consultancy is expected to take place in October and November 2023, with the deliverables to be provided in December 2023 at the latest. Please provide an estimated date for the final submission in your application.
- Schedule and duration: The consultancy duration is to be estimated by the consultant in his/her application (see below).
- Location: The consultancy will take place in Hanoi.
- Coordination: The consultant will coordinate with HI’s team (project team/Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party and Finance, HR and Logistics managers) and will work directly with the sub-recipients.
- Working language: The deliverables should be produced in English. Ideally, the working language should be English; however, most of interaction will take place with Vietnamese speakers.
4. Workplan
- Based on the schedule to be proposed, the consultant should establish a work plan for the completion of the service
- The work plan should give a clear description of how the consultant intends to approach the activities necessary to the service’s completion
- The plan should indicate the rate of progress and/or level of completion of the service, including criteria and indicators for checking that it is proceeding as planned.
5. Reports and Deliverables
The following deliverables are to be produced and provided by the end of the consultancy:
- Updated assessment report for ACDC (including recommendations)
- Capacity assessment reports (3) for the other sub-recipients. The report should include, at least:
- The survey results (the observations that were made during the assessment) for each of the 7 domains to be assessed (legal structure, ethics and safeguarding, financial management and internal control system, logistic and procurement systems, human resources systems, project performance management (excluding technical evaluation) and organizational sustainability)
- A list of specific recommendations for improvement.
- The tools that were used to assess the sub-recipients’ capacities should be annexed to the report.
- For each of the sub-recipients, a capacity development plan based on the results of the assessment. The plan should:
- Allow addressing the main recommendations drawn from the assessment (training topics, procedures and tools to be developed…).
- Identify responsibilities and opportunities for its implementation.
- Be specific (what needs to be done, by whom, how and with what objective).
- Include result indicators allowing to monitor the progress of the sub-recipients.
The capacity development plan is not a summary of the recommendations but a practical tool to guide the project team in developing and monitoring the sub-recipients’ capacities.
All documents should be produced in English.
Final payment will only be done upon validation of all deliverables by the project team.
6. Profile and Experience
- Minimum of a University Degree in a relevant discipline
- The consultant is expected to have proven experience with:
- Auditing and assessing international organizations’ capacities with regard to managing USAID funds.
- Non-profit management
- Organizational development
- Evaluation, assessment and strategic planning
- Fluent in Vietnamese and English
7. Financial Proposal and Payment Modalities
The consultant should submit HI a financial proposal that includes consultancy fees and other costs to produce the identified deliverable services (transportation, accommodation, personnel, translation, computer, printing questionnaires, specific tools/software, office materials…) and any applicable tax in the country (VAT or withholding tax).
The proposed payment modality is as follows: the payment will be made after receiving of all deliverables.
If the consultant requests a different payment instalments, please mention it in the proposal.
Please note that no travel allowance (per diem) will be paid on top of the consultancy fees. The consultant is responsible for their own security during the mission and no insurance fee will be covered during the consultancy period.
Please note that the final payment is conditional on the validation of the final evaluation report and not solely on its submission. Validation means ensuring that the report meets the quality standards as per the information provided above, and it is not based on the appreciation of the project evaluated.
8. Application
Proposals from interested consultant(s) must include the following documents, in English:
- An Expression of Interest/cover letter, including how the skills and competencies described in the Terms of Reference are met.
- A Curriculum Vitae detailing the consultant’s experience and qualifications to undertake the assignment.
- A technical proposal outlining the proposed methodology and a tentative workplan.
- A financial proposal in USD that includes the daily consultancy fee and associated costs (e.g. international flight ticket, airport transfers, accommodation and external translator fee during the field visit, etc.).
- An example of an evaluation report previously produced by the consultant.
Proposals must be submitted no later than 6/11/2023 and should be sent electronically to [email protected] [1] with the subject line “Consultancy on Capacity Assessment and Development – Inclusion 2b – Candidate’s full name”.
9. Evaluation Procedure
Evaluation of proposals will be made by a Selection Committee in two phases:
- Administrative selection: The committee will first check for completeness of the application and verify that all compulsory items listed above are included. Incomplete applications will not be considered for technical selection.
- Technical selection: The best application will be selected based on the quality of the technical proposal, the competitiveness of the financial proposal, the skills and previous experiences of the consultant, and the demonstrated expertise of the applicant to successfully undertake the assignment.
Only candidates who pass the administrative selection will be considered for the technical assessment. Shortlisted applicants may be invited for an online interview.
HI reserves the right to contact the applicants for additional information or clarification before the final selection by the selection committee. After interview only selected candidate will be contacted.