1 | P a g e

Request for Proposal (RFP)

For Study on the Approach and Impact of Financial Access Interventions of Sindh Union Council and Community Economic

Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) Programme on Poor Households

March 18, 2020

Reference # RSPN/RFP/2020/002 The Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) invites proposals for Study on the Approach and Impact of Financial Access

Interventions of Sindh Union Council and Community Economic Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) Programme on Poor

Households, as per the Terms and Conditions detailed in this RFP and the Terms of References (ToRs) attached as Annex-I (which

is the part of RFP).

Terms and Conditions:

1. Submission of Proposals:

a. The applicant must strictly adhere to all the requirements of this RFP. No changes, substitutions or other alterations to the rules and provisions stipulated in this RFP may be made or assumed unless it is instructed or approved in writing by RSPN in the form of Supplementary Information to the RFP.

b. Any Proposal submitted will be regarded as an offer by the applicant and does not constitute or imply the acceptance of any Proposal. RSPN is under no obligation to award a contract to any applicant as a result of this RFP.

c. Submission of Proposal: Eligible applicants shall submit their Technical and Financial proposals on the prescribed format in separate sealed envelopes, to be delivered through registered mail to: Mr. Asad Ejaz Khan Admin & Procurement Officer-SUCCESS Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) 3rd Floor, IRM Complex, Plot # 7, Sunrise Avenue (off Park Road) Near COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan. Tel: (92-51) 8491270-99 Not later than 1630hrs (PST) on April 20, 2020. The envelope(s) shall be clearly marked as “Proposal for Study on the Approach and Impact of Financial Access Interventions of Sindh Union Council and Community Economic Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) Programme on Poor Households”.

The full application/proposal should include:

a. Technical Proposal: The proposal will be evaluated according to the evaluation criteria as laid out in the evaluation grid Annex – I (A). The contractor will submit the Technical Proposal using the proposal form given at Annex – I (B).

b. Financial Proposal: The contractor will submit the Financial Proposal using the Budget template given at Annex – I (C). The Financial Proposal shall list all major cost components associated with the services. All major outputs and activities described in the Technical Proposal must be priced separately. Any output and activities described in the Technical Proposal but not priced in the Financial Proposal, shall be assumed to be included in the prices of other activities or items, as well as in the final total price. The Financial Proposal shall be inclusive of all taxes, travel/lodging and all associated costs.

c. Copy of National Tax Number (NTN) certificate. d. A soft copy (In USB form) of Technical Proposal shall be provided along with the hard copies in the sealed

envelope(s). Incomplete or late applications/proposals will not be entertained.

2 | P a g e

e. The name and mailing address of the applicant shall be clearly marked on left hand side of the envelope.

f. The applicant must respond to all questions and provide complete information as advised in this RFP. Any lapse to provide essential information may result in disqualification of the applicant.

g. Language of Proposal: The Proposal and all documents/correspondence relating to the Proposal shall be submitted in English language.

h. Currencies: All prices shall be quoted in PKR (Pak Rupees).

2. Eligibility Criteria:

a. Participation is open to all entities (participating either individually or in a group/consortium of contractors) which are registered, effectively established in Pakistan and meeting all the requirements detailed in this RFP are eligible to apply. The core personnel of the firm/entity shall have the expertise and technical experience of the previous assignments of similar nature and / or related services.

b. The firm/entity should have valid National Tax Number (NTN).

3. Clarifications: For any clarifications or inquiries related to this RFP, the applicant shall contact Mr. Fazal Ali Saadi, Programme Manager, SUCCESS - RSPN through email at fazal@rspn.org.pk . Such queries must be received prior to 1500hrs on April 15, 2020. Any material questions that are received will be responded to in writing.

4. Joint Venture, Consortium or Association: If the applicant is a group of legal entities that will form or have formed a joint venture, consortium or association at the time of submission of the Proposal, they shall confirm in their Proposal that: (i) they have designated one party to act as a legal entity, duly vested with authority to legally bind the members of the joint ventures jointly and severally, and this shall be duly evidence by an Agreement among the legal entities, which shall be submitted along with the Proposal; and (ii) if they are awarded the contract, the contract shall be entered into, by and between RSPN and the designated lead entity, who shall be acting for and on behalf of all the member entities comprising the joint venture.

5. Validity Period: Proposal shall remain valid for a period of 60 days from the deadline for submission of Proposal. A Proposal valid for a shorter period shall be immediately rejected by RSPN and rendered non-responsive. In exceptional circumstances, prior to the expiration of the proposal validity period, RSPN may request the applicant to extend the period of validity of their Proposal. The request and the responses shall be made in writing, and shall be considered integral to the Proposal.

6. Withdrawal, Substitution, and Modification of Proposals: i) The applicants are expected to have sole responsibility for taking steps to carefully examine in detail the full consistency

of their Proposals to the requirements of the RFP, keeping in mind that material deficiencies in providing information requested by RSPN, or lack of clarity in the description of services to be provided, may result in the rejection of the Proposal. The applicant shall assume the responsibility regarding erroneous interpretations or conclusions made by the applicant in the course of understanding the RFP out of the set of information furnished by RSPN.

ii) An applicant may withdraw, substitute or modify its Proposal after it has been submitted by cancelling or editing their bid in the system.

7. Confidentiality: Information relating to the examination and evaluation of Proposals, and the recommendation of contract award, shall not be disclosed to the applicant(s) or any other persons not officially concerned with such process, even after publication of the contract award.

8. Award of Contract: RSPN reserves the right to accept or reject any Proposal, to render any or all of the Proposals as non-responsive, and to reject all Proposals at any time prior to award of contract, without incurring any liability, or obligation to inform the affected applicant of the grounds for RSPN’s action.

9. Contract signature: The successful applicant shall sign and date the Contract and return it to RSPN within seven (07) days from the date of receipt of the Contract. Failure of the successful applicant to comply with the requirement of RFP shall constitute sufficient grounds for the annulment of the award, and RSPN may award the Contract to another applicant, or call for new Proposals.

mailto:fazal@rspn.org.pk

3 | P a g e

Contents of Annex – I (Terms of Reference – TORs) 1. Background .............................................................................................................................................................. 4

2. Description of the Assignment ................................................................................................................................ 4

3. Objectives of the study ............................................................................................................................................ 6

4. Hypotheses and Indicators ...................................................................................................................................... 6

5. Indicative Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 8

6. SCOPE OF THIS CONTRACT ...................................................................................................................................... 9

6.1 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SERVICE PROVIDER .................................................................... 9

6.1.1 Inception phase ................................................................................................................................ 9

6.1.2 Data Collection Phase .................................................................................................................... 10

6.1.3 Data Analysis and Reporting ......................................................................................................... 10

6.1.4 Monitoring and Quality Assurance................................................................................................ 10

6.2 Responsibility of RSPN .................................................................................................................... 10

6.3 Responsible persons at RSPN ........................................................................................................... 10

7. Reporting requirements ........................................................................................................................................ 10

7.1 Inception Report ................................................................................................................................ 10

7.2 Clean Data Set ................................................................................................................................... 11

7.3 Draft Study Report ............................................................................................................................ 11

7.4 Final Study Report ............................................................................................................................ 11

7.5 Research paper and dissemination .................................................................................................... 11

8. DELIVERABLES WITH TENTATIVE TIMELINES ........................................................................................................ 11

9. REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................................................................................................... 12

10. Annexures ........................................................................................................................................................... 14

Annex I (A) - Evaluation grid ...................................................................................................................... 14

Annex I (B) - Proposal Form ....................................................................................................................... 15

Annex I (C) - Project Budget Template ....................................................................................................... 16

Annex I (D) - Work plan Template.............................................................................................................. 17

Annex I (E) - Format for Curriculum Vitae (CV) ........................................................................................ 18

Annex I (F) - The RSPs network in Pakistan ............................................................................................... 19

Annex I (G) - SUCCESS Implementing Partners and their Role ................................................................ 20

4 | P a g e

Annex-I Terms of Reference (ToRs)

1. Background

The Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) serves as a strategic platform for ten-member Rural Support Programmes (RSPs),

bringing together over 35 years of knowledge in Community-Driven Development (CDD). Rural Support Programmes Network

(RSPN) is the largest development network of Pakistan1. Its outreach through the member RSPs is now over eight million rural

households, in 149 out of 156 districts of Pakistan including Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) 2.

The Sindh Union Council and Economic Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) Programme is based on the Rural Support Programmes’ (RSPs) social mobilisation approach to Community Driven Development (CDD). Social Mobilisation centres around the belief that poor people have an innate potential to help themselves; they can better manage their limited resources if they organise and are provided technical and financial support. The RSPs under the SUCCESS Programme provide social guidance, technical and financial assistance to the rural poor in Sindh.

SUCCESS is a six-year (2015-2021) programme funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by RSPN, National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO) and Thardeep Rural Development Programme (TRDP) in eight districts of the Sindh province, namely Qambar Shahdadkot, Larkana, Dadu, Jamshoro, Matiari, Sujawal, Tando Allahyar and Tando Muhammad Khan3.

The SUCCESS is an integrated poverty reduction programme that includes Social Mobilisation (formation of community institutions), Community Investment Fund (CIF), Income Generating Grants (IGG), Micro Health Insurance (MHI), Technical and Vocational Skills Training (TVST), and Community Physical Infrastructure (CPI) 4.

2. Description of the Assignment

Type of the study: Thematic Sectoral Study

Coverage: Eight districts of SUCCESS programme in Sindh

Geographic scope: Qambar Shahdadkot, Larkana, Dadu, Jamshoro, Matiari, Sujawal, Tando Allahyar and Tando Muhammad Khan

Period to be studied: 2016 – 2020

The purpose of this assignment is to engage a service provider (research institute, university, consulting firm) to develop a

methodology and conduct a research study on the following components of the SUCCESS programme that provide financial access

to the poor households. These programme components are an incentive for poor rural households to get organised into

Community Organisations, start income generating activities that they have identified in their Micro Investment Plans (MIPs) and

strengthen their management capacity to run the community institutions they have formed on sustainable basis.

Community Investment Fund (CIF): CIF is a capital grant from SUCCESS programme to the community institutions, predominantly

to LSOs and in some cases to VOs. CIF is an integral part of the social mobilisation process of SUCCESS. The primary objective of

CIF is to incentivise 100% of the poor households (0-23 category of the poverty scorecard) to organise and provide financial capital

to poor households to start income generating activities and improve their livelihood. The objective of income generating

activities through CIF is achieved by engaging all poor households in the preparation and implementation of household-level Micro

Investment Plans (MIPs). Without the intervention of CIF, it is much harder for the community institutions to engage target

households in the development process. Hence, CIF works as an entry point to engage the poor households who are later involved

in a number of households and community level activities, developing the feeling of being the beneficiaries as well as the owners

of the COs/VOs/LSOs.

The LSOs manage the CIF as a revolving fund while offering micro loans to women with average amount of Rs. 16,000 (€ 94) to a

maximum amount of Rs. 30,000 (€ 176) per loan. CIF targets poor households identified through the Poverty Score Card (PSC) to

ensure that only the poor households with a PSC score of 0-23 access capital, and start income generating activities. Under

SUCCESS, all the community institutions comprise of women, hence, loans are extended and administered by women in the

community. The Rural Support Programme (RSP) provides technical support and training to help community institutions manage

the CIF as a long term revolving fund.

1 List of the member RSPs with basic information is available at Annex - I (F) 2 More information about RSPN is available at www.rspn.org 3 The role of each partner in SUCCESS is available at Annex – I (G) 4 More information about the SUCCESS programme is available at www.success.org.pk

file:///C:/Users/Hp/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/V3D61QD7/www.rspn.orghttp://www.success.org.pk/

5 | P a g e

The secondary objective of CIF is to contribute in the financial sustainability of COs/VOs/LSOs. To achieve this objective, the RSP

requires the LSO/VO who manage the CIF to take various steps before disbursing loans from their pool of CIF; these steps include:

formation of a Credit Committee within the LSO/VO, development of a Credit Policy explaining all terms and conditions by the

LSO/VO, appointment of a book keeper by the LSO/VO, preparation of Micro Investment Plans (MIPs) by COs/Member

households, training of office bearers in fund management, opening of a bank account and issuance of special instructions to the

bank for safeguarding the CIF and method for processing loans from CO to VO to LSO etc. This CIF management process

strengthens the institutional capacity of the LSO/VO which helps them continue their operations beyond the project life. In this

process a large number of CO members learns financial management and become specialists in various sub components of CIF

management. The LSOs/VOs managing the CIF generally start recovering a Service Charge from the CIF borrowers after

completion of the project. This service charge helps recover the LSO/VO operating cost and loan losses if any and provides a

continuous mechanism of capacity building of community managers.

As of January 2020, a total of 312 LSOs and 174 VOs have established their CIF worth Rs. 1.5 billion and provided loans to 76,948 women to start income generating activities in the SUCCESS target districts. Approximately 82 percent of the CIF beneficiaries invested in livestock, 10 percent in agriculture and 8 percent in enterprise in the informal sector. However, there is considerable variation in investment choices across districts (see Table 1). The preference for livestock is greater in the four districts (Matiari, Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan and Tando Allahyar). Enterprise is more favoured in district Dadu and Jamshoro and Agriculture input is more favoured in Qambar Shadad Kot and Dadu. These are the main categories of investment options, the beneficiaries however, have identified dozens of sub-catagories within these three broad categories.

The LSOs have hired community bookkeepers to keep the loan records; RSPs had provided the LSOs leaders and community bookkeepers’ training on how to manage the CIF. The LSOs have developed policies and procedures (amount of loans, repayment terms, processing fee, service charge if any, methods for processing of loans and repayments etc.) of managing the CIF with the technical support of RSPs. The main principles around which the policies and procedures are developed are: CIF is to be ‘used and not consumed’ and serve maximum number of poor households.

Income Generating Grants (IGGs): The IGGs provide assistance to the poorest women community members who do not have the

capacity to borrow from the CIF and repay the capital they need. These are given to some of the poorest only if the CO says they

should get a grant instead of loan from the CIF in view of their financial circumstances and inability to repay a loan. This is a one-

time cash grant to start an income generating or livelihood improvement activity, after which the beneficiary is in a position to

join those who benefit from loans through the CIF. The poverty scorecard is used to identify the eligible households to ensure that

only the poorest households with a poverty score of (0-12) at the baseline access the IGG. The average grant value under IGGs is

Rs. PKR 15,000 (EUR 88) and maximum Rs. 25,000 (€147).

As of January 2020, a total of 2,143 VOs and 73 LSOs have received IGG worth Rs. 694 million and provided grants to 27,567 women to start income generating activities. 90 percent of the CIF beneficiaries invested in livestock, 7 percent in micro enterprises and 3 percent in agriculture. However, there is considerable variation in investment choices across districts (see Table 1). The preference for livestock is greater in the four districts (Matiari, Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan and Tando Allahyar). Enterprise is more favoured in district Dadu and Jamshoro and Agriculture input is more favoured in Qambar Shadad Kot and Dadu.

Community Savings: One of the key element of the RSPs social mobilisation approach is to instil the discipline of savings among

the organised households. Each Community Organisation (CO) needs to have a savings programme. Each member will do saving

with CO according to their financial capacity. The members can deposit and withdraw their savings anytime. The RSPs social

mobilisation team advises the CO members to agree upon a regular savings programme and brief the community members about

the importance and benefits of saving and practical ways of doing savings. The RSP staff also guide the COs about internal lending

of saving to its members if they like. The poorest members could be given relaxation in the initial stage, and be motivated to join

the savings programme later after they become able to make savings. Ideally, the CO should have a bank account operated jointly

by two signatories for depositing their collective savings. However, opening of bank accounts now requires registration or

notification by the government authorities, therefore account opening would be very difficult if not impossible for majority of the

COs. In case where separate CO account opening is not possible, the CO may deposit its saving in VOs account once formed and

keep record of its deposits (deposit slip) in COs registers, counter signed by the VO office bearers. The COs may also start rotatory

savings. Saving is the voluntary activity of the CO, and the CO itself is responsible for its safekeeping and usage.

As of January 2020, all the COs (around 29000) have a saving programme and the reported accumulative savings are worth Rs. 43 million.

6 | P a g e

3. Objectives of the study

The overarching objective of this study is to assess the CIF, IGG and saving components in achieving its objectives and contributing to the overall impact of the programme with the purpose of documenting learnings for wider dissemination and accountability of the stakeholders implementing the programme.

4. Hypotheses and Indicators

The study is structured around testing 13 hypotheses that are grouped in five families of outcomes. For each hypothesis, a list of specific indicators to be analysed and their construct is presented as following. The service provider can suggest improvement to the hypothesis and indicators of measurement.

Family 1: Poverty graduation

H1: CIF and IGG ensures inclusion of women from the poor and poorest households in the development process.

Analysis of CIF and IGG beneficiaries’ data with inclusion perspective.

Assessment of CIF and IGG beneficiaries and non-CO members’ perspectives for participation in COs.

Instances of CIF and IGG beneficiaries beginning to access financial services from other sources as matter of spill over and after gaining experience of handling finance; forward looking potentials and constraints for linking up with regular micro credit providers.

H2: Access to and utilisation of capital (CIF and IGG) improves the poverty score of beneficiary households

Change in sample CIF and IGG beneficiary households PSC scores

Assess the contribution of CIF and IGG in PSC scores of beneficiaries

H3: Access to and utilisation of capital (CIF and IGG) increases household income and productive asset base

Estimate of CIF and IGG beneficiary households’ total monthly income

An estimate of the monthly income derived from CIF/IGG investment

Use of income earned from CIF/IGG

Type, number and valuation of assets (e.g. livestock, small enterprises) as result of CIF/IGG investment

H4: Women CIF and IGG beneficiaries investing more in income generating activities and livelihood assets

Utilisation rate of CIF/IGG beneficiaries by type of investment (e.g. livestock, small enterprises); rational for investment in any particular type of income generation activity.

Family 2: Women empowerment

The indicators under hypothesis (H5, H6 and H7) needs be assessed to measure the change in before and after scenario. The before situation can be asked on recall basis.

H5: Access to CIF/IGG improves women’s intra-household decision making.

Female individual level outcome measured through the followings indicators:

Who makes household decisions about the following, the male, the female or both?

Female’s visit to family, friends and relatives

Getting medical advice or treatment for herself

Getting medical advice or treatment for children

Dealing with children’s school/teachers

Enrolling children into schools

Making household purchases

Using contraceptives, and what kind

Marriage/Rishta of children

Taking CIF/IGG and any other loan

Use of CIF/IGG investments

Use of CIF/IGG income or profit

Payment of CIF loans

Voted in the last election

H6: Access to CIF/IGG improves women’s economic participation

Participation in labour force through self-employment (may include time use assessment)

H7: Access to CIF/IGG improves women’s mobility.

7 | P a g e

Visits to family and friends

Visits to local and other markets

Visits to other villages to participate in community institutions

Visits to public services facilities

Visits to banks

Family 3: Cost effectiveness, Cost Benefit Analysis

H8: CIF/IGG provide cost effective financial access to the poorest and poor households

Cost of access to CIF and IGG per beneficiary

Comparison of costs of access to other typical micro-credit programmes

H9: CIF/IGG has a low cost benefit ratio

Calculate cost benefit ratio for the main types of CIF and IGG investments made by beneficiaries

Family 4: Institutional Sustainability

H10: CIF contributes to the financial sustainability of community institutions (LSOs)

Conduct a financial sustainability and sensitivity analysis using the following indicators:

CIF revolving rate

Default rate

CIF growth rate

Cost recovery rate (assess the operating costs of CIF management at community and RSP level)

Qualitative assessment of LSOs’ CIF management capacity (who decides on who gets loans, who manages books, who does the CIF recovery)

Frequency of LSO elections

Frequency of disputes in LSO and dispute resolution on financial issues

Mechanism for avoiding instance/s of funds’ leakage/pilferage

Linkage/relationship between financial sustainability and institutional maturity of LSOs

Assessment of communities’ perspectives on sustainability of CIF, and Savings post SUCCESS.

Family 5: Social cohesion and discipline of saving

H11: CIF and saving programme increases trust.

Household level outcome measured on the following indicators:

How much do you trust people from your village?

How much do you trust people from your community institutions?

How much do you trust people from your village in matters of lending and borrowings?

How much do you trust people from your community institutions in matters of lending and borrowings?

How much do you trust on the leaders of community institutions

How much do you trust on your elected representatives?

How much do you trust on government officials?

How much do you trust on RSP officials?

Women’s solidarity and mutual support leading to lower domestic violence and improving control over destiny

H12: The poor are willing and able to save if provided with saving mechanism

CO members understanding about the importance of savings

CO members know what amount they have saved with the CO so far

Qualitative assessment of poor households’ willingness to save and challenges they face in mobilising savings

Measure poor households’ ability to save – poverty band analysis of savings (proportion of savers, frequency of savings and amount of savings).

Analyse household’s especially women members of CO’s sources of savings. Have other SUCCESS inputs led to women earning their own incomes to save – what % of women are today using their own income/part of it, to save. Do the households (other members) do any other form of saving?

Contextual analysis of where savings are kept and why?

Status of saving records

H13: Pool of individual savings at CO provides necessary capital to invest in livelihood, for emergencies and consumption smoothening

8 | P a g e

Use of CO savings collectively as CO or individually. Types of utilisation; proportion of savings in each type of utilisation. If not utilised reason of not utilisation and future plans for utilisation.

5. Indicative Methodology

The service provider (research institute, university, consulting firm) is expected to provide a full technical proposal describing their understanding of the assignment based on these terms of reference, detailed methodology of the proposed research study and comprehensive strategy for its implementation and a detailed financial proposal. Based on these documents the service provider will be selected. Based on the hypothesis outline in section 2, the service provider is expected to use mix research methods (qualitative and quantitative) and select sample beneficiaries within sample villages or union councils taken from each of the 8 programme districts. RSPN/RSPs have done Poverty Scorecard (PSC) survey of all households in the 8 programme district to identify the poor households at the start of the programme (the results of PSC can be accessed at http://mis.rspn.org/SUCCESS/PSC/Index), follow up Poverty Scorecard survey of sample households can be included as a part of the study to track changes in their poverty score overtime. Quantitative survey needs to be added to measure economic benefits (e.g. increase in income, increase in household assets) of the CIF and IGG beneficiaries and to do cost effectiveness and cost benefit analysis of the interventions. Community and beneficiaries’ perspectives may be gathered by conducting focus group discussions, based on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) or Participatory Action Research (PAR) tools, with separate groups of women and men. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with community leaders (presidents/managers of Community Institutions and Community Resource Persons), beneficiaries, government authorities at provincial, district and local levels, programme management and implementation team members. A desk review of the relevant documents/reports of the SUCCESS programme and literature related to the topic will be an integral part of the research methodology. The service provider is expected to clearly justify why a specific method and tool is being proposed and how it will be used in conjunction with the objective and hypothesis outlined in section 2.

SUCCESS programme is in its fifth year of implementation5. Summary of the progress of CIF, IGG and Savings are given in Table 1.

TABLE 1: STATUS OF CIF, IGG AND SAVINGS AS OF JAN 2020

Interventions NRSP SRSO TRDP Total

Matiari Sujawal Tando Allahyar

Tando Muhmmad

Khan

Kambar Shadad

Kot

Larkana Dadu Jamshoro

Community Investment Fund (CIF)

Number of LSOs managing CIF

30 37 26 28 52 46 65 28 312

Number of VOs managing CIF

98 76

174

Total amount of CIF with LSOs/VOs (PKR)

120.0 148.0 104.0 112.0 402.4 247.7 242.9 124.9 1,501.9

Total amount of CIF with LSOs

120.0 148.0 104.0 112.0 317.4 213.5 176.2 90.6 1,281.6

Total amount of CIF with VOs

85.0 34.2

119.3

Total amount of CIF disbursed to poor households by (VOs/LSOs) (PKR)

131 153 177 87 369 205 238 134 1,494

Number of households benefiting from CIF for productive asset building and income generation

6,099 6,954 7,493 4,592 20,578 13,099 12,055 6,078 76,948

Number of repeated Loan 1,475 2,483 2,827 882 4,277 938

12,882

Total number of loans 7,574 9,437 10,320 5,474 24,855 14,037 12,055 6,078 89,830

Use of CIF (% of Benficairies):

Livestock 95.87 96.70 98.92 88.80 73.12 92.70 64.44 71.70 82.41

5 Latest progress is available at http://mis.rspn.org/SUCCESS/SM/Index

http://mis.rspn.org/SUCCESS/PSC/Indexhttp://mis.rspn.org/SUCCESS/SM/Index

9 | P a g e

Agriculture Inputs

0.01

0.02 22.21 3.55 14.60 8.54 9.73

Micro Enterprises 4.13 3.29 1.08 11.18 4.67 3.75 20.96 19.76 7.86

Income Generating Grants (IGG):

Number of LSOs managing IGG sub-grants

- - -

30 43 - - 73

Number of VOs managing IGG sub-grants

238 319 236 212 173 74 615 276 2,143

Total amount of IGG sub-grants with LSOs/VOs/COs (PKR)

39.7 114.7 40.2 39.0 126.0 96.2 177.3 60.7 693.8

Total amount of IGG sub-grants disbursed to poor households (PSC 0-23) - (PKR)

32.0 78.0 36.1 24.0 42.0 51.3 123.4 41.4 428.1

Number of households benefiting from income generation grants (IGGs) for productive asset building and income generation

2,279 6,020 2,666 1,777 3,157 4,281 6,321 2,066 28,567

Use of IGG (% of Beneficiaries):

Livestock 99.78 99.15 99.89 98.46 76.47 95.47 81.65 79.51 90.29

Agriculture Inputs 0.04 0.11 0.04 0.07 15.62 1.14 3.64 1.41 2.83

Micro Enterprises 0.18 0.75 0.07 1.47 7.91 3.39 14.71 19.08 6.88

Savings

Number of COs having Saving Programme

2,842 3,652 2,618 2,834 4,587 3,310 5,841 3,139 28,823

Cumulative amount of Savings (PKR) reported by COs

2.0 3.4 2.6 0.4 19.4 15.1 - - 42.9

6. SCOPE OF THIS CONTRACT

The selected service provider will be responsible to implement the research study including; development of research methodology, data collection tools, preparation for field work, data collection, analysis and preparation of the study report according to the following phases and deliverables:

6.1 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SERVICE PROVIDER

The selected service provider will be responsible for the following outcomes and deliverables:

6.1.1 Inception phase 1. Inception meeting of the service provider’s management and research team with RSPN Research team and management 2. Refinement of the study methodology submitted at the time of proposal 3. Development of the study data collection tools 4. Translation of data collection tools in local languages (if necessary) 5. Develop and test the survey ODK (software) and arrange tablet computers for data collection (if need be) 6. In-time recruit a qualified (at least graduates) data collection team (women enumerators and supervisors), having

experience of conducting similar surveys. Prepare proper contracts for staff and share CVs with RSPN. 7. Prepare and print field data collection team’s training material/manuals 8. Organise at least six days of training for enumerators and supervisors, including resource person, space, rooms, transport,

and catering. Conduct re-trainings of field staff in case shortfalls are indicated by internal M&E/Operations staff of RSPN. 9. Run pre-testing of the survey tools (questionnaire and software application) and training of enumerators 10. Organise logistics for fieldwork including transport, accommodation etc. 11. Develop Data Collection Plan according to the list of sample households. Documentation that ensures that households

can be identified for follow-up monitoring

10 | P a g e

12. Prepare and submit a 20-page inception report based on the outputs and outcomes of the inception phase within one month of signing of the contract. The inception report should include a strategy to ensure staff retention and availability throughout the currency of the project.

6.1.2 Data Collection Phase 13. Arrange NOCs from provincial governments, local administration and concerned security agencies if required by the

service provider. 14. Conduct data collection based on research methodology and data collection tools agreed in the inception phase. 15. Provide weekly update to the RSPN focal person on the progress of the data collection process

16. Prepare clean dataset with proper labelling/coding in MS Excel or SPSS for the quantitative data and transcripts of qualitative data and submit to RSPN upon completion of the data collection phase.

6.1.3 Data Analysis and Reporting

17. The selected service provider will prepare a pre-analysis plan with table of contents of the report prior to the data analysis and share with RSPN for approval.

18. Upon the approval of the analysis plan/conduct the analysis 19. Prepare a draft report and share with RSPN for comments 20. Incorporate RSPN’s comments, finalise the report and share for approval

6.1.4 Monitoring and Quality Assurance Develop and implement a strong quality assurance and control mechanism for implementation of the study starting from inception phase activities to close-out activities.

21. Hold meetings to share field progress with R S P N R e s e a r c h t e a m , on weekly basis and other meetings as directed by RSPN. Minutes of such meetings may be made part of the monitoring reports.

22. Maintain regular liaison with RSPN Research team to get real time feedback on all activities. 23. Ensure quality of the data completeness, consistency and accuracy 24. Ensure quality of data analysis 25. Ensure quality of reports

6.2 Responsibility of RSPN 1. RSPN will provide technical support in understanding the overall SUCCESS programme, its objectives and progress made

so far. 2. RSPN will review the study methodology, study tools, draft reports and provide feedback. 3. The monitoring and research team of RSPN will do spot checks during the data collection process. 4. RSPN will be responsible for approval of deliverables 5. RSPN will facilitate the service provider’s research team in the initial contact with study respondents through its partners

RSPs in the field

6.3 Responsible persons at RSPN The reports referred in the deliverables must be submitted to the Programme Manager SUCCESS RSPN identified in the contract.

The Programme Manager SUCCESS is responsible for approving the reports.

7. Reporting requirements

The service provider will submit the following reports in English in one original (hardcopy) and one soft copy:

7.1 Inception Report

Inception Report of maximum 20 pages to be produced one month after the signing of the contract, or before the start of data collection in the field, whichever is earlier. In the report the service provider shall give the detailed methodology of the study described e.g. planning of the assignment, specification of the survey application (software), availability of tablet computers, hiring and training of the data collection team, analysis and finding of the pre-test, and any difficulties encountered or expected in addition to the work programme and staff travel. The inception report should include a strategy to ensure staff retention and availability throughout the currency of the project. The service provider should not precede with his/her work unless the inception report is approved by RSPN.

11 | P a g e

7.2 Clean Data Set

The service provider will provide complete, properly labelled and clean data set in MS Excel or SPSS (for quantitative data) and transcripts (qualitative data) to the satisfaction of the RSPN team.

7.3 Draft Study Report

The draft report should include a 2-3 page executive summary followed by the full report following the principal sequence of Finding, Conclusion and Recommendation with respect to the final study hypothesis agreed at the time of the conclusion of inception phase. The service provider is expected to use innovative tools to present data and analysis that can appeal to an ordinary but intelligent reader.

7.4 Final Study Report

Final report with the same specifications as the draft final report, incorporating any feedback and comments received from RSPN on the draft reports.

7.5 Research paper and dissemination Produce at least one ‘research brief’ for SUCCESS programme implementers, highlighting issues in programme implementation,

supported by practical recommendations for improvements in the programme; and at least one “policy brief’ highlighting the key

findings and policy recommendations for policy makers.

Prepare at least one research paper that could be submitted to a peer reviewed impact factor international/national journal

Prepare a short presentation on the study findings to be disseminated to key stakeholders of SUCCESS. The dissemination events

will be arranged by RSPN the service provider’s research team are expected to present in these events.

8. DELIVERABLES WITH TENTATIVE TIMELINES

The intended start date of the study is May 02, 2020 (Monday) and the period of implementation of the contract will comprise of 4 months. The deliverables with timelines are given below:

S. No Deliverable Projected Timeline a Payment Schedule

1 Signing of contract 2-May-20 Nil

2 Submission of Inception Report 10-June-20

3 Approval of Inception Report 30-June-20 30%

4 Field Data Collection 20-Aug-20

5 Submission of Draft Report 10-Sep-20

6 Approval of Draft Study Reports 30-Sep -20 40%

7 Submission of Final Study Report with clean data set and research brief and policy brief.

5-Oct-20

8 Approval of Final Study Report with clean data set and research brief and policy brief

12-Oct-20 20%

9 Submission of draft Research Paper 20-Oct-20

10 Approval of Research Paper 31-Oct-20 10% a Note: The Timelines given here are tentative and subject to changes unless the contract is signed with the selected service provider

12 | P a g e

9. REQUIREMENTS

1. Key experts

The following key experts are defined for the overall assignment and they must submit CVs. This team of key experts will be

working for the overall research study assignment/contract from start to closing. At least one of the Key Experts must be woman.

Key expert 1: Principal Investigator (1)

Qualifications and skills:

Minimum of Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, development studies, or equivalent’ from a recognised university is required. A

recognised foreign Master’s degree or PhD degree in any of these fields will be preferred.

General professional experience:

Preferably 10 years of experience but a minimum of 5 years of experience in research relevant to the assignment in developing

countries is required.

Strong understanding of rural economy and economic context in Pakistan and Sindh

Demonstrated experience of conducting research, assessment of financial access to rural poor projects

Published author (or at least contributed to publications as a lead author in local and/or international journals with impact factor)

will be preferred.

Specific professional experience:

- Minimum of 5 years’ experience in conducting research and/or assessment and evaluations of community demand-driven development programmes/projects in Pakistan or South Asia region.

- Knowledge of community mobilisation and livelihoods components within the context of Pakistan. - Excellent and demonstrated skills in writing and presenting analytical reports in English. - Excellent communication and presentation skill - Able to meet deadlines and work under pressure. - Team Management Experience

Key expert 2: Co-Investigator (1)

Qualifications and skills:

Minimum of Master’s Degree in Social Sciences, Research and evaluation or equivalent from a recognised University is required.

A recognised foreign degree or higher degree or additional relevant certifications will be preferred.

General professional experience:

A minimum of 5 years of designing and conducting research and/or evaluation/impact assessment of development programmes

is required. Higher Experience will get higher scores.

Published author (or at least contributed to publications in local and/or international journals with impact factor) will be preferred.

Specific professional experience:

- Minimum of 5 years’ experience in planning, designing and implementing research studies or evaluation of micro finance programmes.

- Excellent planning and team management skills preferred. - Excellent communication and presentation skill preferred. - Able to meet deadlines and work under pressure required.

All experts must be independent and free from conflicts of interest in the responsibilities they take on.

Other experts, support staff & backstopping

CVs for experts other than the key experts should not be submitted in the tender but the tenderer will have to demonstrate in

their offer that they have access to experts with the required profiles. A list of these experts with summary of their qualification,

experience, purpose of engagement and LoE needs to be added in the offer. The service provider shall select and hire other experts

as required. The selection procedures used by the service provider shall be transparent, and shall be based on pre-defined criteria,

including professional qualifications, gender balanced, language skills and work experience.

The costs for backstopping and support staff, as needed, are considered to be included in the tenderer's financial offer.

Office accommodation

13 | P a g e

Office accommodation for each expert working on the contract is to be provided by the service provider.

Facilities to be provided by the Contractor

The contractor shall ensure that proposed team is adequately supported and equipped. In particular, they must ensure that there is sufficient administrative, secretarial and interpreting provision to enable experts to concentrate on their primary responsibilities. This may include, laptop computers, stationery, office space, travel and accommodation, communication and internet connectivity. It must also transfer funds as necessary to support their work under the contract and to ensure that its employees are paid regularly and in a timely fashion.

Special Requirements

Under this assignment, the data collection exercise will be undertaken through Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) technique by the survey field teams i.e. tablet computers with customised software. Therefore, the potential contractors having demonstrated experience of conducting any Computer Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) and/or MIS based quantitative/qualitative assignment such as field surveys, research, enrolment, etc. would be preferred during tendering process.

14 | P a g e

10. Annexures

Annex I (A) - Evaluation grid

Notes: - This form is to be used by the members of the evaluation committee for reporting on their evaluation of the tenders received.

- This grid contains the type of elements that should be evaluated under each of the award criteria according the tendering specifications.

- Tender is assessed according to the following 3 technical award criteria (max. 80 points) - The tenderer must obtain at least 50% of the maximum score for each award criterion and at least 70% of the overall score to qualify for the financial evaluation.

Evaluation Criteria Maximum Score

i. Relevant Past Experience Service provider’s past experience in managing and conducting relevant studies, assessment and evaluations. Supporting documentation to be provided: (List of relevant studies, assessment and evaluations with brief description of study; client name; geographical region; time period and cost of assignment)

15

ii. Proposed Study Methodology Detailed methodology with study framework, study approach, sampling strategy and description data collection tools to assess each of the study hypothesis identified in the ToR

20

iii. Backstopping Support to the project team The arrangements for the provision of support facilities (back-stopping) that the service provider will provide to the team of key experts and field survey team during implementation of the contract.

05

iv. Implementation Strategy Explaining the arrangement of team, logistics to perform their tasks in order to ensure quality and timely delivery of the objectives and requirements set out under the tendering specifications.

10

v. Quality of Proposed project team for undertaking the assignment 30

Key expert 1: Principal Investigator - Team Leader - Education/Qualification (60%), Work experience (40%)

10

Key expert 2: CO Investigator (subject specialist) - Education/Qualification (60%), Work experience (40%)

10

Availability and quality of other team members (Add list of team members indicating their education, qualification and experience of conducting survey relevant to the assignment) 10

vi. Financial Proposal (Total Marks for Financial Proposal) 20

vii. Total Score (i+ii+iii+iv+v+vi) 100

15 | P a g e

Annex I (B) - Proposal Form This document should be submitted on page size A4, in MS Word, font-Calibri Point 11 (single line spacing). Applicants should submit

one complete set including the Proposal form and the supporting documents both in hard and soft copy.

Project title:

Name of applicant :

Category of entity: (Please relevant option) National International

Type of entity: (Please relevant option) A: Public Private

B: NGO Academic Consulting

B:

Legal status:

Organisation’s registration number (Attach a Copy of the registration):

Date of registration:

Names of other associates (If any):

NTN number:

Project duration:

SECTION A TECHNICAL COMPONENT ( NOT MORE THAN 15 PAGES EXCLUDING BUDGET and Work Plan)

1 Executive Summary (Not more than 1 page)

2 Study Framework and methodology (Not more than 10 pages)

3. Proposed Implementation Strategy (Not more than 10 pages)

4. Project staffing and management (Not more than 1 page)

5 Back stopping support from the Survey Team (0.5 pages)

6 Applicants relevant experience and capacity statement (Not more than 2 pages)

7 Ethical considerations (0.5 page)

8 Work Plan: Proposed work plan Annex - I (D)

SECTION B ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE

Offices:

Contact Person: Cell phone: Telephone no: E-mail: Web address:

Address:

SECTION C

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

C.Vs of key experts and personal proposed for the project on the format Annex – I (E)

Copy of lead organisation’s registration

Copy of National Tax Number (NTN) certificate

Organogram for the proposed project management

Copy of partnership agreements/ Letter of understanding (where applicable).

Name of the Head of the organisation: ........................................................................

Designation: ..................................................................................................................

Signed (by head of organisation): .................................................................................

Date: ...........................................................

16 | P a g e

Annex I (C) - Project Budget Template

NAME OF ENTITY: Please give legal registered name of the organisation

PROJECT TITLE: Please give the project title here

BUDGET FROM: Please give start and end date of the project (DATE/MONTH/YEAR - DATE/MONTH/YEAR)

BUDGET AMOUNT: Total Budget in PAK Rupees only

No. Description Unit Unit Cost

(Rs) No. of Units

Frequency Total cost

(Rs) Justifications/Budget Notes

1

Personnel Cost (including Key Experts, Supervisors, Enumerators and other proposed human resource working on the assignment)

1.1 0

1.2 0

Sub-total Personnel Cost

0

2 Office Operational Costs (rental, travel, translation, etc.)

2.1 0

2.2 0

2.3 0

Sub-total Operational Cost

0

3 Training of data collection Team and Pre-testing Costs

3.1 0

3.2 0

Sub-total (training Cost) 0

4 Overhead/Management Cost (XX% of the total costs 1+2+3)

0

5 Total Costs 0

17 | P a g e

Annex I (D) - Work plan Template

S. N

o

Act

ivit

y

Re

spo

nsi

bili

ty

Expected

Date of

Completion

Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4

W1

w2

W3

w4

W1

w2

W3

w4

W1

w2

W3

w4

W1

w2

W3

w4

INCEPTION PHASE

..

..

Study IMPLEMENTATION/DATA COLLECTION PHASE

..

..

DATA ANALYSIS/ REPORT WRITING

..

..

Monitoring and quality control activities

..

..

Closeout

..

..

18 | P a g e

Annex I (E) - Format for Curriculum Vitae (CV) CVs should be no more than two pages and should be in the format below using Calibri font 10pt.

Title and Name:

Position:

Name of organisation:

Contact details:

Proposed role in this assignment:

Education and Qualifications Please provide your last three highest level of qualification or training course

Year Institution/course attended Qualification obtained

Work Experience Please provide details of the positions relevant to your proposed role that you have held for last 5-10 years starting

with your present post and list others in reverse order.

Period Position held and organisation Main responsibilities and achievements

Languages: For each language indicate proficiency: good, fair, or poor in speaking, reading, and writing

Language Speaking Reading Writing

English

Urdu

Sindhi

Publications: Please provide details of any publications from last three years where you have been a main author.

Date Authors Title Journal/publisher

Reference: Please provide name and contact detail of one professional reference

19 | P a g e

Annex I (F) - The RSPs network in Pakistan

1982 AKRSP Aga Khan Rural Support Programme: Works across Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. Winner of Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1991), Magsaysay Award (1992), Duke of Edinburgh World Conservation Medal (1994) and Ashden Award 2005. Japanese award for most innovative development project 2006.

1989 SRSP Sarhad Rural Support Programme: Works across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and FATA. Winner of the Ashden Award 2015.

1992 NRSP National Rural Support Programme: The largest RSP. Works across Pakistan and AJK in 57 districts. NRSP has two subsidiaries: the NRSP Microfinance Bank and Institute of Rural Management (IRM). Also supported the establishment of GBTI and PRSP.

1993 IRM Institute for Rural Management is the largest civil society provider of training in the country. Declared a Centre of Excellence by UNECOSOC for Asia and the Pacific in 2001.

1995 GBTI Ghazi Barotha Taraqiati Idara: Works in selected Union Councils of Swabi, Haripur and Attock districts of KP and Punjab.

1997 TRDP Thardeep Rural Development Programme: Works in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Dadu and Jamshoro districts of Sindh.

1998 PRSP Punjab Rural Support Programme: Works in central and southern districts of the Punjab province.

2001 BRSP Balochistan Rural Support Programme: Works in central and northern districts of the Balochistan province.

2002 SGA Sindh Graduates Association: Based in Karachi and also works in selected areas of rural Sindh.

2003 SRSO Sindh Rural Support Organisation: Works in central and northern districts of the Sindh province.

20 | P a g e

Annex I (G) - SUCCESS Implementing Partners and their Role

Implementing Partners Role in SUCCESS

Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN)

RSPN is promoting standardisation and implementing cross-cutting elements such as: quality control, harmonisation of procedures, coordination, generating evidence through research, communication and advocacy of the SUCCESS programme.

- National Rural Support Programme (NRSP)

- Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO)

- Thardeep Rural Development Programme (TRDP)

The three SUCCESS partner RSPs (NRSP, SRSO and TRDP) are implementing the social mobilisation and community institution development, income generating activities and community infrastructure projects. The RSPs are implementing all these activities in close collaboration with women community members (direct beneficiaries) at the grass-roots level and community institutions (COs/VOs/LSO). The RSPs will also closely work with local government authorities to create a linkage between the communities and local government functionaries to improve service delivery. NRSP is implementing the programme in Sujawal, Matiari, Tando Muhmmad Khan and Tando Allahyar SRSO is implementing the programme in Larkana and Qamber Shadhadkot TRDP is implementing the programme in Dadu and Jamshoro

Ernst & Young (EY) EY is implementing the Technical Assistance (TA) component of SUCCESS to aid the Government of Sindh in development of a Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) and Community Driven Local Development (CDLD) policy for the province of Sindh.

Government of Sindh (GoS) GoS is major enabler and stakeholder for the SUCCESS programme. GoS will lead the development and implementation of poverty reduction strategy and CDLD policy across Sindh. The GoS has funded the UCBPRP in four districts and curtly has expended the programme to another six districts.