RFQ Nº UNFPA/FJI/RFQ/23/019 - Validation and Finalization of Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategies for 4 Pacific Island Countries

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

RFQ Nº UNFPA/FJI/RFQ/23/019

Dear Sir/Madam,

UNFPA hereby solicits a quotation for the following service:

“Validation and Finalization of Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategies for 4 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) - (RMI, SAMOA, SOLOMON ISLANDS AND TONGA)”.

UNFPA requires the provision of a suitably qualified and experienced service provider to undertake validation process of the ‘’Cervical Cancer Elimination Policy and Strategy document for the 4 Pacific Islands countries’’ with the Ministries of Health and other key stakeholders in the 4 Pacific countries of Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and support finalization and endorsement of the Cervical Cancer Elimination Policy and Strategy in each country.

1. About UNFPA

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is an international development agency that works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.  

UNFPA is the lead UN agency that expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives. To read more about UNFPA, please go to: UNFPA about us

II – Service Requirements/Terms of Reference (ToR)

Background information

The United Nations Population Fund Pacific Sub-Regional Office in Fiji in its new 7th multi-country programme (MCP7) is focused on strengthening integrated and comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (SRHR) agenda.  This is aligned to the UNFPA Corporate Strategy aimed at accelerating the three Transformative Results of zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths, and zero gender-based violence, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. Two of the critical outputs of the new MCP7 are  i) strengthened integration of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights and gender-based violence into relevant national accountability frameworks, Universal Health Coverage and Primary Health Care related policies and financing; and ii) Improved availability, accessibility, and quality of integrated SRH/RR and GBV information and services as part of Universal Health Coverage, especially for remote and vulnerable populations, including adolescents, youth and people with disabilities across the humanitarian-development continuum, which includes management of STIs and cervical cancer screening across the development – humanitarian continuum. 

The Pacific region has some of the world’s highest rates of NCDs and associated risk factors including cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), challenging the achievement of the SDGs and the Pacific countries’ Healthy Islands Vision. Because of poor access to high quality screening and treatment services the majority of cervical cancer deaths in the world (85%) occur in women living in low- and middle-income countries – and this trend applies also to the Pacific, with cervical cancer reported as one of the most common causes of cancer deaths among women in the Pacific.   For instance, the Micronesia region (The Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru and Palau) shows an extremely high incidence rate of cervical cancer, i.e., 18.7 cases per 100,000 females per year, compared with the global average of 10.8.  In November 2020, the World Health Organization launched a Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem. The Strategy proposes that elimination can be achieved by implementing the following triple intervention targets by 2030:

• 90% of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by age 15.
• 70% of women screened with a high-performance test (HPV test) by 35, and again by 45 years.
• 90% of women identified with cervical precancer or invasive cancer receive adequate treatment and care.

If this Strategy is implemented globally, a total of 74 million cervical cancer cases could be prevented and 62 million women’s lives could be saved over the next century. In response, Pacific Health Ministers at the 2022 Pacific Health Ministers Meeting (PHMM) highlighted the need to prioritize and focus on cervical cancer elimination through adequate resourcing of prevention programs including policy development, screening, and vaccination activities.  Against this background and recognizing the need for development of governance document to eliminate cervical cancer from the PICs, last year UNFPA Pacific office commissioned the development of Cervical Cancer Elimination Policy and Strategy for 4 PICs (RMI, Samoa, Tonga and Solomon Islands). A service provider was contracted by UNFPA Pacific office to develop these policy documents for the 4 countries. The policy documents identified 5 strategic actions for cervical cancer elimination in the PICs: Improve cervical cancer program organization, governance, and information systems.

• Create an enabling environment for cervical cancer elimination.
• Improve cervical cancer screening and precancer treatment through innovative strategies.
• Improve access to services for cancer diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care.
• Strengthen primary prevention through information, education, and HPV vaccination.

Objective(s)

The policy documents are in draft form and requires validation by stakeholders followed by finalization and endorsement by Ministries of Health in their respective countries. The selected Service Provider is required to undertake these validation process including workshops with the Ministries of Health and other key stakeholders in the 4 Pacific countries of Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and support finalization and endorsement of the Cervical Cancer Elimination Policy and Strategy in each country.

Outputs / Deliverable(s)

1. Lead validation of the draft policy and strategic plan for Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga to get stakeholders’ inputs.
2. Undertake travel to the 4 countries and conduct validation workshops with the relevant stakeholders.
3. Update the draft policy and strategic plan for RMI, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga based on feedback from the validation workshop and submit the finalized document to the Ministry of Health for endorsement.
4. The entire validation process should be completed and finalized by 31^st December 2023.
5. Provide an updated status on a fortnightly basis.
6. Deliver products of an optimal technical quality within the agreed timelines;
7. Have a proper and smooth project management (including communication with the Technical Officer, the Project Lead and any other stakeholder);
8. Maintain regular service orientation and responsiveness to UNFPA’s needs and expectations.
9. Formal reporting (the final governance document and presentation) is expected upon completion of the contract. Additional reporting activities may be requested by UNFPA Pacific or initiated by the project coordinator on a need basis.

Timing / Schedule

The validation process should commence from June 2023 and the final reporting should be completed by 31 December 2023.

Technical Evaluation Criteria

The Contractor should:

• Be a nonprofit institution operating in the field of noncommunicable disease/cancer control/SRHR, with preference to those who are located within the PICs or partnered with local PIC agencies.
• Have an understanding of the Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as a public Health Problem.
• Have proven experience in the field of cancer control/SRHR projects, especially in the Pacific Island region.
• Be working in or with PIC governments, managing multiple simultaneous projects and staff;
• Have Cancer control planning and policy development, especially cervical cancer;
• Have previous work relationship with UNFPA, other international organizations and/or major institutions in the field of public health.

• Have a project manager of an adequate level of qualification and experience (please attach resume to your proposal) shall be dedicated to the project.
• The designated project manager should be the same throughout implementation, and across all PICs.
• UNFPA Pacific pays utmost attention to the level of qualification and experience of the individuals involved, and to continuity in the services. The profiles (no individual names required) of the personnel proposed for these services should be included in the technical proposal.

Additional criteria (desirable)

• Have an accreditation or an on-going accreditation process by a certified accreditation body.
• Multiple counterparts/focal points in different PICs are highly recommended, ideally in each sub-region (Micronesia, Polynesia, Melanesia)
• Be based in the Pacific islands.
• Provide Specific examples of development of cervical cancer policies or plans in PICs in the proposal.

1.  Questions

Questions or requests for further clarifications should be submitted in writing to the contact person below:

The deadline for submission of questions is Monday 29^th May 2023, 10.00am, Fiji Time. Questions will be answered in writing and shared with all parties as soon as possible after this deadline.

2. Eligible Bidders

This Request for Quotation is open to all eligible bidders; to be considered an eligible bidder for this solicitation process you must comply with the following:

• A bidder must be a legally constituted company that can provide the requested services and have legal capacity to enter into a contract with UNFPA to deliver in the country, or through an authorized representative.
• A bidder must not have a conflict of interest regarding the solicitation process or with the TORs / Technical Specifications. Bidders found to have a conflict of interest shall be disqualified.
• At the time of Bid submission, the bidder, including any JV/Consortium members, is not under procurement prohibitions derived from the Compendium of United Nations Security Council Sanctions Lists and has not been suspended, debarred, sanctioned or otherwise identified as ineligible by any UN Organization or the World Bank Group.
• Bidders must adhere to the UN Supplier Code of Conduct, which may be found by clicking on UN Supplier Code of Conduct.

3. Content of quotations

Quotations should be submitted in a single email whenever possible, depending on file size. Quotations must contain:

1. Technical proposal, in response to the requirements outlined in the service requirements/Evaluation Criteria.
2. Signed Declaration Form, to be submitted strictly in accordance with the document.
3. Price quotation, to be submitted strictly in accordance with the price quotation form inclusive of travel costs.

Both parts of the quotation must be signed by the bidding company’s relevant authority and submitted in PDF format.

4. Instructions for submission

Proposals should be prepared based on the guidelines set forth in Section III above, along with a properly filled out and signed price quotation form and are to be sent by email to the contact person indicated below no later than: Wednesday 31^st May 2023, 5.00pm, Fiji Time.

Please note the following guidelines for electronic submissions:

• The following reference must be included in the email subject line: RFQ Nº UNFPA/FJI/RFQ/23/019 – Validation and Finalization of Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategies for 4 Pacific Island Countries. Proposals, including both technical and financial proposals, that do not contain the correct email subject line may be overlooked by the procurement officer and therefore not considered.
• The total email size may not exceed 20 MB (including email body, encoded attachments and headers). Where the technical details are in large electronic files, it is recommended that these be sent separately before the deadline.
• Any quotation submitted will be regarded as an offer by the bidder and does not constitute or imply the acceptance of any quotation by UNFPA. UNFPA is under no obligation to award a contract to any bidder as a result of this RFQ.

5. Overview of Evaluation Process

Quotations will be evaluated based on the technical proposal and the total cost of the services (price quote).

The evaluation will be carried out in a two-step process by an ad-hoc evaluation panel. Technical proposals will be evaluated for technical compliance prior to the comparison of price quotes.

6. Award Criteria

In case of a satisfactory result from the evaluation process, UNFPA intends to award a Professional Service Contract on a fixed-cost basis with duration of six (6) months to the Bidder(s) that obtain the lowest-priced technically acceptable offer.

7. Right to Vary Requirements at Time of Award

UNFPA reserves the right at the time of award of contract to increase or decrease, by up to 20%, the volume of services specified in this RFQ without any change in unit prices or other terms and conditions.

8. Payment Terms

UNFPA payment terms are net 30 days upon receipt of invoice and delivery/acceptance of the milestone deliverables linked to payment as specified in the contract.

9. Fraud and Corruption

UNFPA is committed to preventing, identifying, and addressing all acts of fraud against UNFPA, as well as against third parties involved in UNFPA activities. UNFPA’s Policy regarding fraud and corruption is available here:  Fraud Policy. Submission of a proposal implies that the Bidder is aware of this policy.

Suppliers, their subsidiaries, agents, intermediaries and principals must cooperate with the UNFPA Office of Audit and Investigations Services as well as with any other oversight entity authorized by the Executive Director and with the UNFPA Ethics Advisor as and when required.  Such cooperation shall include, but not be limited to, the following: access to all employees, representatives agents and assignees of the vendor; as well as production of all documents requested, including financial records.  Failure to fully cooperate with investigations will be considered sufficient grounds to allow UNFPA to repudiate and terminate the Agreement, and to debar and remove the supplier from UNFPA's list of registered suppliers.

A confidential Anti-Fraud Hotline is available to any Bidder to report suspicious fraudulent activities at UNFPA Investigation Hotline.

10. Zero Tolerance

UNFPA has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on gifts and hospitality. Suppliers are therefore requested not to send gifts or offer hospitality to UNFPA personnel. Further details on this policy are available here: Zero Tolerance Policy.

11. RFQ Protest

Bidder(s) perceiving that they have been unjustly or unfairly treated in connection with a solicitation, evaluation, or award of a contract may submit a complaint to the UNFPA Head of the Business Unit Mr. Iori Kato, UNFPA PSRO Director and Representative at kato@unfpa.org.  Should the supplier be unsatisfied with the reply provided by the UNFPA Head of the Business Unit, the supplier may contact the Chief, Supply Chain Management Unit at procurement@unfpa.org.

12. Disclaimer

Should any of the links in this RFQ document be unavailable or inaccessible for any reason, bidders can contact the Procurement Officer in charge of the procurement to request for them to share a PDF version of such document(s).

PRICE QUOTATION FORM

• Quoted rates must be exclusive of all taxes, since UNFPA is exempt from taxes.

Example Price Schedule below: [Delete after properly completing the Price Schedule, also develop excel version]

I hereby certify that the company mentioned above, which I am duly authorized to sign for, has reviewed RFQ UNFPA/FJI/RFQ/23/019 including all annexes, amendments to the RFQ document (if applicable) and the responses provided by UNFPA on clarification questions from the prospective service providers.  Further, the company accepts the General Conditions of Contract for UNFPA and we will abide by this quotation until it expires.

DECLARATION FROM

The undersigned, being a duly authorized representative of the Company represents and declares that:

The UNFPA reserves the right to disqualify the Company, suspend or terminate any contract or other arrangement between the UNFPA and the Company, with immediate effect and without liability, in the event of any misrepresentation made by the Company in this Declaration.

It is the responsibility of the Company to immediately inform the UNFPA of any changes in the situations declared above.

This Declaration is in addition to, and does not replace or cancel, or operate as a waiver of, any terms of contractual arrangements between the UNFPA and the Company.

ANNEX I:

General Conditions of Contracts:

De Minimis Contracts

This Request for Quotation is subject to UNFPA’s General Conditions of Contract: De Minimis Contracts, which are available in: English, Spanish and French

Please note that a PDF version of the General Conditions of Contracts must be provided.