1 ABOUT THE SWEDISH COMMITTE FOR AFGHANISTAN
The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) has been working in Afghanistan since 1982, presently managing development Programmes concerning Health, Education, Rural Livelihoods and Community Governance, with a total annual budget of roughly USD 40 million.
The total number of staff is around 5,500. During the last 10 years, SCA has undertaken a change process moving from a primarily humanitarian service delivery approach towards more of a developmental role, putting increasing emphasis on capacity development, rights-based programming, and outcome orientation.
The mission of SCA is to empower individuals, communities and local organizations, primarily in rural areas and with particular focus on women, girls, boys and vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, so that they may participate fully in society and influence their own development.
2 BACKGROUND FOR THIS REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS
In 2015, a donor mapping assignment, funded by SCA, was carried out to set the groundwork for SCA’s Funding Strategy. This mapping presented a set of recommendations to guide SCA in taking efficient and cost-effective measures to diversify its funding base in the medium to the longer term.
Since then, several measures were taken to guide and ensure a structured approach to resource mobilisation, including:
- Funding Strategy developed
- Funding Steering Group (FSG) established
- One full-time Resource Mobilisation Specialist employed at Kabul Management Office (KMO)
- Resource Mobilisation Plan developed and revised on an annual basis
- Proposal Development Guidelines, as well as Grants Management Guidelines, drafted and approved
Nonetheless, approximately 60% (2019) of SCA’s total budget continues to come from one major institutional donor, Sida, indicating that more needs to be done to meet the targets set out in SCA’s funding strategy to achieve a diversified donor base.
For this reason, SCA needs external support to uncover and identify the prerequisites required to diversify SCA’s donor base, and to ultimately reduce dependency on a single funding source.
As SCA in 2022 will enter a new Strategic Period (2022-2025), the findings and recommendations will feed into the new Strategic Plan as well as the new Funding Strategy; thus, providing an updated and enhanced understanding of the donor context in Afghanistan and beyond. The preparatory work to develop the next Strategic Plan (SP) starts in 2020. Part of the process is an analysis of the external context (including Mapping of Donor Environment) which is expected to take place in Q3 2020, by which time the final report of this assignment needs to be ready.
Procuring organization is the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA, Swedish organization number 802010-4850).
This procurement will be done by a price comparison process with an announcement on SCA’s website (https://swedishcommittee.org/about/bidannouncements) on 2020-05-26.
Additional announcements have also been made on LinkedIn, ReliefWeb
(https://reliefweb.int/) and SCA’s Facebook page and with a handful of direct request to select suppliers.
2.1 Scope of work
The aim of this assignment is two-fold:
- Internal assessment (desk-study): To evaluate the extent to which the recommendations set out in the 2015 Donor Mapping Report were systematically followed-up, implemented and acted upon by SCA senior management and staff involved in resource mobilisation. Using existing evaluations, guidelines and policies (including the Mid-Term Review, Strategic
Plan, Funding Strategy, Proposal Development and Grants Management Guidelines) as a point of departure to map out potential weaknesses and challenges of current Resource Mobilisation practices, strategies, systems, processes, coordination within SCA in securing new institutional funding.
- External assessment: To identify potential funding, specifically from institutional donors, opportunities in line with SCA’s Funding Strategy in the following geographic regions: Northern America, Europe, Afghanistan, Middle East and elsewhere that may be of relevance to SCA. This would involve an analysis of sets of requirements, prerequisites and demands that must be fulfilled in order to secure funding from major institutional donors. Correspondingly, to determine, through a consultative approach, the necessary steps and measures taken by other NGOs operating in Afghanistan (with similar programmatic focus and priorities as SCA) to secure funding from major institutional donors. As part of this assessment, an existing donor could be approached (e.g. EU) to evaluate SCA’s strengths and weaknesses, its ability to meet donor requirements and the likelihood of continued support.
2.2 Deliverables
2.2.1 Inception Report
The inception report should cover the consultant’s understanding of the Terms of Reference, the methodology to be used for this assignment and a work plan/schedule with clear timelines outlining activities/meetings, deliverables, reference documents to be used, etc. In addition, the inception report should include a list of donors, INGOs, NGOs and embassies that will be approached, with an outline of how and why they were selected as part of the mapping exercise.
2.2.2 Analysis Report
The consultant will submit a draft report for discussion before the assignment comes to a conclusion. The draft report should include the following:
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
- An evaluation of progress to date comparing recommendations set out in donor mapping report of 2015 with the current situation in SCA (progress to date).
- An analysis of SCA’s existing practices, policies, systems and working processes vis-a-vis major institutional donor requirements (e.g. in terms of
results-based management, monitoring & evaluation systems, restricted/unrestricted funding, rights-based approach, etc).
EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT
- A mapping of donor interests, priorities, funding windows, typical funding amounts, focal points, samples of successful project applications, and points to clear actions that should be taken to mobilise funds and develop/maintain relationships with the donors identified.
- A comparison of other INGOs and/or NGOs operating in Afghanistan, with similar programmatic focus and funding priorities as SCA, on how they secured and maintained funding from identified key institutional donors – of relevance to SCA.
- An assessment of at least one existing institutional donor’s experience and perception of how well SCA meets donor requirements, and the likelihood for continued support.
RECOMMENDATIONS
- A gap analysis assessing the prerequisites, changes and adjustments necessary to secure funding from each specific institutional donor, including a study or a comparison of SCA’s performance in present time (based on identified shortcomings within the organisation)
- Recommendations based on existing, and where possible future, donor landscape, and solutions/changes/adjustments employed by other
INGOs/NGOs with similar programmatic focus and priorities to SCA to secure institutional donor funding.
2.2.3 Debriefing Workshop
The consultant will present preliminary findings to a panel (to be determined by SCA) and receive feedback within a week.
2.2.4 Final Report with Executive Summary
An analysis including recommendations and conclusion – the report should outline key findings and recommend ways for improvement as described under 2.2.2.
2.3 Period of assignment
The final report, incorporating comments by SCA staff at both Stockholm
Management Office (SMO) and Kabul Management Office (KMO), should be finalised no later than 2020-08-31.
2.4 Evaluation method
Evaluations of quotations will be done in three stages:
- Evaluation of administrative requirements
- Evaluation of technical requirements
- Financial evaluation
The methods for evaluation of each stage are described in more detailed below under their respective headings.
3 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS
All requirements under this heading are mandatory. Only quotations that live up to all these requirements are eligible to proceed to the next stage of evaluation.
3.1 Submitting a quotation
Your quotations shall be sent to SCA by e-mail to peter.isotalo@sak.se. Quotations must be sent as attachments in PDF format no later than 2020-06-05 at 15.00 CEST. Write “SMO 2020-23, Donor Environment Mapping” in the subject line.
3.2 Proof of tax registration
SCA will only accept quotations from suppliers that are tax registered. In the quotation, this must be documented by including either a Swedish VAT registration number (momsregisteringsnummer), or equivalent proof of registration in other countries.
3.3 Conditions for payment
Payment will be made 30 days after receiving an invoice. SCA will only accept digital invoices. Invoices can be made as Swedish e-faktura, or as PDF files sent by e-mail. Invoices from the supplier shall include a clear description of the services to be reimbursed. Invoices shall also include the full name of the Supplier, invoicing address, name of SCA’s contact person and SCA’s contract number. The currency for invoices must be in Swedish kronor (SEK). For payment within Sweden, Postgiro or Bankgiro number must be provided. For payment outside of Sweden, account numbers and any other information necessary to execute payment must be provided.
3.4 Immaterial rights
SCA shall have full ownership of the results of the assignment, including the right to use the results in its own name. The supplier shall not use the results of the assignment without prior written approval by authorized signatory of SCA.
3.5 Confidentiality
Suppliers may not divulge to a third party any confidential information that has been shared with suppliers by SCA, or any information that has been obtained while completing assignments.
Suppliers must guarantee that confidential information obtained throughout the assignment will not be shared with third parties, either during the contract, or after its expiration.
3.6 Price quotation
The price for the total cost of the assignment must be clearly specified, as well as a break-down of individual costs. The quoted price must include all expenses that a supplier deems necessary to fulfill the assignment.
All prices must be quoted in SEK.
4 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
All requirements specified under this heading are mandatory. Only quotations that fulfill the minimum requirements are qualified for final evaluation. Interested parties are required to submit the following:
- description of the methodology to be applied
- tentative workplan
- qualifications and experience
The minimum requirements for these are described below.
4.1 Methodology
Provide a suggested approach for how the assignment could be carried out. This should include close engagement with key donors across the world and in Afghanistan where donors are based. In addition, a methodology for investigating recommendations from the 2015 Donor Mapping with regards to resource mobilisations, including proposal development and donor relationship management at SCA should be presented.
4.2 Workplan
A tentative workplan should include timelines indicating the duration of time required to produce the deliverables as outlined under 2.2.
4.2.1 Qualifications and experience
Please provide a brief summary and examples of previous experience where the consultant has carried out similar assignments, including the following:
4.2.2
At least 10 years of relevant international working experience in conflict and postconflict areas, including Afghanistan, undertaking donor mapping, resource mobilization/fundraising strategies and research (provide examples of prior successful work)
4.2.3
Extensive experience of working with and/or familiarity with major institutional donors, including but not limited to: DfID, CIDA, the EU, AusAID, UN agencies and embassies in Afghanistan (provide examples, country, date and include references)
4.2.4
At least 8 years of demonstrated knowledge of project cycle management, M&E systems, RBM and processes related to proposal development and grants management as per institutional donor requirements
4.2.5
Excellent proven written and spoken English, report writing and presentation skills
5 FINANCIAL EVALUATION
After evaluation of the technical requirement there is the final financial evaluation. Quotations that have fulfilled all the technical requirements are qualified for financial evaluation. The quotation with the lowest overall cost for the requested services will be offered a contract by SCA.