Request for Expression of Interest Number: SADC/SHD&SP/15/001]
Request for Expression of Interest Title: Development of Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Reference Number SADC/SHD&SP/15/001
Request for Services Title: Development of Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy
1. Southern African Development Community (SADC) is inviting Individual Consultants to submit their CV and Financial Proposal for the ddevelopment of Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy.The Terms of Reference defining the minimum technical requirements for these services are attached as Annex 1 to this Request for Expression of Interest.
2. Individual Consultants shall not be eligible for award of this assignment where :
a) they are being bankrupt or wound up, are having their affairs administered by the courts, have entered into arrangements with creditors, have suspended business activities, are being subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or are being in any similar situations arising from a similar procedures provided for in the national legislation or regulations of the SADC member states;
b) they have been convicted of offences concerning their professional conduct by a judgment which haves the force of res judicata; (i.e. against which no appeal is possible);
c) they have been declared guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which SADC Secretariat can justify;
d) they have not fulfilled obligations related to the payments of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which they are established or with those countries where the contract is to be performed;
e) they have been the subject of a judgment which has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organisation or any other illegal activity detrimental to the SADC Secretariat' financial interests; or
f) they are being currently subject to an administrative penalty.
3 Your Expression of Interest must be presented as per Standard Expression of Interest Forms attached as Annex 2 to this REOI in English language and be accompanied by copies of all the indicated supporting documents. If the supporting documents are not in English, these shall be accompanied by a certified translation into English.
4 Your proposal should be addressed and submitted to:
The Head Procurement Unit
SADC Secretariat
Private Bag 0095
Gaborone
Botswana
Email;
5 The deadline for submission of your proposal, to the addressed indicated in Paragraph 4 is: 31st July 2015 at 14:00hrs local time
6 Proposal submitted by E-mail “are” acceptable.
7 Your CV will be evaluated against the following criteria.
Subcriteria / Maximum points allocatedi) Qualification and General qualifications / 30
ii) Adequacy for the project / 60
iii) Experience in region / 10
Total / 100
8 You proposal should be submitted as per the following instructions, and in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Standard Contract attached as Annex 3 to this REOI:
i) PRICES: The financial proposal shall be inclusive of all expenses deemed necessary by the Individual Consultant for the performance of the contract.
ii) EVALUATION AND AWARD OF THE CONTRACT: Expressions of Interest determined to be formal and technical compliant to the requirement will be evaluated by comparison of their prices. An Expression of Interest is considered compliant to the requirements if: fulfils the formal requirements (see Paragraphs 2,3,4,5,6 and 7 above), has received minimum 80 points at the technical evaluation, and the financial proposal does not exceed the maximum available budget for the contract. The award will be made to the applicant who obtained the highest technical score and submitted administrative and technical compliant Expression of Interest.
iii) VALIDITY OF THE EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: Your Expression of Interest should be valid for a period of 90 days from the date for deadline for submission indicated in Paragraph 5 above.
9 The assignment is expected to commence within four (4) weeks from the signature of the contract.
10 Additional request for information and clarifications can be request, no later than 5 working days prior to deadline indicated in the paragraph 5 above, from:
Procuring entity: SADC Secretariat
Contact person: Mr Gift Mike Gwaza
Telephone: +267 3951863
Fax +267 3181070
E-mail:
ANNEXES:
ANNEX 1: Terms of Reference
ANNEX 2: Expression of Interest Forms
ANNEX 3: Standard Contract for Individual Consultants
Sincerely,
Snowden Mmadi
Head – Procurement Unit
Page 4 of 40
Request for Expression of Interest Number: SADC/SHD&SP/15/001]
Request for Expression of Interest Title: Development of Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy
ANNEX 1: Terms of Reference
Southern African Development Community [SADC]
Regional HIV and AIDS Programme
Terms of Reference for:
Development of Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy
Directorate of Social and Human Development and Special Programmes
July, 2015
Page 4 of 40
Request for Expression of Interest Number: SADC/SHD&SP/15/001]
Request for Expression of Interest Title: Development of Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy
1. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1.1. Beneficiary
Southern African Development Community (SADC Region)
1.2. Contracting Authority
SADC SECRETARIAT
1.3. Regional Background
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is a Regional Economic Block of fifteen Member States. These are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The SADC Vision is one of a common future, a future in a regional community that will ensure economic well-being, improvement of the standards of living and quality of life, freedom and social justice and peace and security for the peoples of Southern Africa. Consistent with the Vision, the Mission of SADC is: To promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient productive systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security, so that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy. One of the key objectives is specifically to “Achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standards and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa, and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration”.
The SADC region acknowledged the negative impact of HIV and AIDS on social and economic development of the region and deliberately agreed to respond to the challenges posed by the epidemic. To this end, the region agreed to address HIV and AIDS and OVCY through a number of regional, continental and global commitments that include the following:
Regional Level
· SADC Protocol on Health (1999);
· Maseru Declaration on HIV and AIDS (2003); and
· Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) (2004),
· The Revised RISDP 2015-2020 , and
· The Draft Declaration on Youth Development and Empowerment (2015)
Continental Level
· Abuja Declaration on HIV and AIDS, TB and other communicable diseases (2001 and 2006);
· Universal Access to HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support (2006);
· The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1990); and
· The African Youth Charter (2006)
Global Level
· Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2000);
· UNGASS (2001 and 2006);
· High Level Meeting (HLM) (2011); and
· The UN Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child ((1989)
It is important to note that the Maseru Declaration on HIV and AIDS was a re-affirmation of the global HIV and AIDS commitments. The declarations at regional, continental and global levels clearly demonstrate the commitment of SADC Member States (MS) in responding to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the region.
In order to facilitate implementation of the regional, continental and global commitments, the SADC Secretariat facilitated the development of a SADC-wide overarching strategy document to guide development of different sectoral programmes including the HIV, OVC and youth development and empowerment, and health programmes in the region. This document is referred to as the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP, 2004). A Revised RISDP document was approved by the SADC Summit in April 2015 and will provide overarching guidance to the Integrated HIV, SRH, TB and Malaria Strategy. The social sector of the SADC Secretariat facilitated the development of regional strategies on HIV and AIDS, health, OVC and youth development and empowerment to operationalise implementation of commitments at all levels. A number of strategies and associated Business Plans have been developed to guide a systematic response to HIV: 2000 - 2004; 2003 - 2007; and the current Strategy and Business Plan, 2010 - 2015. During the implementation of the HIV Strategy 2003-2007/9, SADC recognised the need to strengthen mitigation efforts through providing special focus to address the growing challenges of orphaning and child and youth vulnerability largely due to HIV and AIDS. Consequently, the SADC Strategy and Business Plan 2009-2015: Comprehensive Care and Support for Orphans, and other Vulnerable Children and Youth (OVC&Y) was developed, with the vision that “The rights and basic needs of all children and youth in the SADC region are fully met, enabling them to grow up well and realise their full human potentials”. The overall goal is “To improve the capacity of Member States to adequately respond to the rights and developmental needs of orphans and other vulnerable children and youth”.
The overall goal of the SADC HIV and AIDS interventions is to reduce the number of people who become newly infected with HIV and decrease the number of HIV and AIDS affected individuals and families in the SADC Region so that HIV and AIDS is no longer a threat to public health and to the socio-economic development prospects of MS.
SADC Heads of State and Government identified and clearly articulated the priority areas that need urgent attention in order to effectively respond to HIV and AIDS in the region. These priorities are contained in the Maseru Declaration on HIV and AIDS (2003) and are:
1. Prevention and Social Mobilisation;
2. Improving Care, Access to Counseling and Testing Services, Treatment and Support;
3. Accelerating Development and Mitigating the Impact of HIV and AIDS;
4. Intensifying Resource Mobilisation; and
5. Strengthening Institutional, Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanisms
1.4. Current situation in the sector
Health challenges and HIV and AIDS have contributed negatively to the developmental aspirations of the SADC region. Due to the ever-increasing burden especially due to HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria, resources that would have been put aside to enhance development in other sectors have been diverted to address the health and HIV-related challenges. After the diagnosis of the first case of HIV in the SADC region in the mid-1980s, the cases of HIV started increasing gradually and by mid-1990s, the increase in the number of people living with HIV was exponential and HIV had reached epidemic proportions. As of 2010, the region had a share of slightly more than 39% of the global population of people living with HIV. Largely due to AIDS-related mortality, the SADC region is grappling with an increasing challenge of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) where AIDS related mortality is responsible for three quarters of orphaning in some of the hardest hit countries.
Nowhere is the impact of poverty, food shortages and the treble effect of HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in the region more evident than in the numbers and experiences of OVC & Y. According to the UNICEF State of the World’s Children Report of 2012, there were more than 19 million orphans (children who had lost one or both parents) in SADC and millions other non orphans who were vulnerable children and youth. Vulnerable children and youth are those who are deprived or at high risk of being deprived of their basic survival and developmental rights and needs as a result of their physical condition or social, cultural, economic, political circumstances and environment around them. They often require external support because their immediate care and support system can no longer cope. They include “social orphans” or children who may be neglected or abandoned by biological parents as a result of several factors among which are family conflict and violence. Vulnerable children often grow up to become vulnerable youth and adults who in turn have vulnerable children of their own – thus perpetuating a cycle of vulnerability and poverty in SADC.
A Mid-Term Review of the SADC HIV and AIDS Business Plan was conducted in 2013 to assess progress in the realisation of planned outputs and towards realisation of outcomes. Now that the Strategic Framework and Business Plan have come to an end in March 2015, the SADC Secretariat is commissioning a review to assess implementation progress, lessons learnt, implementation challenges, relevance and emerging issues and priorities. Furthermore, the findings from the review will inform the development of an integrated HIV, SRH, TB and Malaria Strategy and Business Plan, 2016-2020. A separate review of the implementation of the OVC&Y Strategy and Business Plan will be commissioned and feed into the integrated strategy
The new OVC priorities of the Integrated HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), TB and Malaria Strategy, 2016-2020 should also take into consideration, the priorities of the Strategy and Business Plan 2015:2020: Youth Empowerment and Participation for Sustainable Development which has been developed to empower the youth in an effort to server the cycle of child and youth poverty and vulnerability, and the SADC Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2015-2020.
1.5. Related programmes and other donor activities
It is important to note that since the Maseru declaration on HIV and AIDS (2003) came into force and the SADC Protocol on Health (2004) was ratified, the SADC Secretariat has been facilitating implementation of vertical programmes for HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria. This meant that each of these three diseases had its own Strategic Framework. The four Strategic Frameworks for HIV and AIDS, TB, Malaria and OVCY are coming to an end in 2015. This means that there is need to develop new strategies for these diseases and programmes. It has however, been realised that there are a number of issues that cut across the different programmes, thus, can be easily addressed jointly. Such issues include addressing cross-border populations; accessing medicines and other health commodities, laboratory services; issues pertaining to health systems strengthening; and investing for a demographic dividend and the need for mainstreamed responses that target the under-served and vulnerable children and youth who comprise the majority of the SADC populace.