Solicitation Number: 2018-EVAL-UKRAINE

NOTICE TO INDUSTRY

  1. PURPOSE

To provide information to industry regarding an upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Ukraine International AssistanceEvaluation.

  1. DESCRIPTION OF REQUIREMENT

Canada considers Ukraine to be an important country in terms of Canada’s foreign policy and international assistance priorities and has been among the strongest international supporters of Ukraine’s democratic and economic reform efforts.

The International Assistance Evaluation Division (PRA) of Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is undertaking an evaluation of GAC’s development,humanitarian assistance, and peace and stabilization programming in Ukraine to fulfill the accountability requirements set out in the Financial Administration Act, and the Treasury Board Policy on Results, and to provide information to improve the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of the program. The main focus of the evaluation is expected to be development, and peace and stabilization programming.

PRA is undertaking this evaluation for accountability and learning purposes to:

  • Examine the results achieved by GAC’s international assistance in Ukraine between 2009and 2017 based on relevance, effectiveness, sustainability, cross-cutting themes, efficiency and coherence;
  • Assess and disseminate findings, lessons and conclusions; and
  • Formulate recommendations for improvement to strengthen the effectiveness of Canada’s international assistance and broader foreign policy priorities, particularly in the context of Canada’s new international assistance priorities, following the International Assistance Review.

The intended users are senior management, the program at headquarters, and the Head of Mission in Ukraine.

The proposed evaluation questions are the following:

Relevance

1)To what extent were international assistance programming strategies and priorities in Ukraine aligned with Ukraine’s development needs and priorities?

Effectiveness

2)To what extent did Ukraine international assistance programming achieve its immediate outcomes?

3)To what extent did Ukraine international assistance programming contribute to intended intermediate and ultimate outcomes?

4)To what extent hasdevelopment, and peace and stabilization programming in Ukraine assisted in the achievement of other results in the context of the amalgamated department (i.e. diplomacy, foreign policy, trade and security)?

Sustainability

5)What is the likelihood that the results and benefits will continue? Is there evidence that benefits have been sustained in areas where GAC funding has ended?

GAC’s Cross-Cutting Themes

6)To what extent have GAC partners integrated gender equality, environmental sustainability and good governance considerations in their programming? Have expected results been achieved?

Efficiency

7)Are there opportunities to improve efficiency?

  1. Did the Program disburse funds in a timely manner?
  2. Did the Program disburse funds (dollar value) as planned?
  3. What factors, internal and external, affected Program efficiency?
  4. Was the programming timely and was the best fit modality used (multi-bi; multi etc.)?

Coherence

8)What was the degree of internal coherence and coordination among Departmental actors involved in Ukraine? How could internal coherence and coordination be improved?

  1. EVALUATION TEAM REQUIREMENTS

The following information is only provided as guidance for potential bidders. Details of specific evaluation requirements shall be made available in the respective Request for Proposal (RFP). Any information made available in the Request for Proposal document shall take precedence over this Notice to Industry.

Bidders will be invited to propose an evaluation team. The members of the evaluation team should possess a mix of evaluative skills and thematic knowledge appropriate to the needs of this evaluation. The Bidder should propose Sector Specialistswho have evaluated international assistance programming in the following areas: governance, sustainable economic growth, and peace and stabilization operations. The team must also have some expertise in the areas ofhumanitarian assistance, agriculture development, and gender equality. The Evaluation Team Leader may double as one of the Sector Specialists. A Sector Specialist may cover up to two specialist areas.It is the responsibility of theBidder to determine the composition of the team (i.e. sector specialists, other supporting staff). The evaluation team will be responsible to conduct the following activities:

  • Complete field assignments, where required;
  • Conduct interviews with relevant personnel;
  • Produce analytical reports in their areas of speciality;
  • Produce recommendations for appropriate action, based on analytical findings;
  • Support the Evaluation Team Leader; and
  • Provide specialized advice on key issues of the evaluation.

The Evaluation Team Leader and the Sector Specialists are expected to have:

  • Experience in performing international assistance program evaluations from conceptualizing the overall approach to work assignments and to planning, managing and conducting complex evaluations;
  • Knowledge of evaluation design and methodology;
  • Experience in conducting evaluations in Eastern Europe or Fragile States,
  • Experience as team members on multi-disciplinary teams;
  • Experience and knowledge of the principles of governance, sustainable economic growth, agriculture development, peace and stabilization operations, gender equality;and the international humanitarian system and best practices; and
  • Relevant higher academic degrees.
  1. GENERAL

It is expected that the price of the contract will be between $300,000 and $400,000 CAD.

This notice is for industry information and planning purposes only. All detailed requirements, certifications and instructions will be specified in the resulting Request for Proposal (RFP).
It should be noted that the descriptions of the Requirement and Evaluation Team Requirements are subject to change between now and the official publication of the RFP, if necessary.

This notice must in no way be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government of Canada to publish an RFP. This notice does not in any way authorize prospective Bidders to undertake work, the cost of which could be claimed from Canada.

For guidance, the RFP is anticipated to be released in the Fall of 2017, and it will be made available electronically upon its release to Several factors may influence this date, or even lead to the cancellation of such a publication.

Canada is not seeking any information from potential Bidders at this time. Any requests made to Canada by potential Bidders seeking clarification, or additional information regarding the requirement prior to the publication of the formal RFP shall go unanswered.

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