Consultancy Services for Capacity Building Program for a Labor Risk Assessment in EBRD financed projects

Item Description:

Since resuming its lending operation in 2018 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank) has built up a significant portfolio of projects in Uzbekistan. The Bank’s current portfolio in the country stands at around 700 mln (Euro) and it is expected to grow further in coming years. At the same time, considerable exposure of the EBRD in the country requires careful management of risks associated with the forced/child labour (FL/CL), which are especially prominent in agribusiness, construction, and textile industry.

Over the last 2 – 3 years the Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) made remarkable progress in its effort to end FL/CL in the country The government specifically eradicated the systemic use of child labour: school and students are no longer mobilized for cotton picking – a major achievement that was recognized by the international community. Furthermore the GoU increased the cotton-picking fees by 85% across the country and introduced a differentiated payment for people involved in the first/last cotton harvests. These measures, coupled with other efforts implemented by the government, helped reduce the forced labour by 48% during 2018 cotton harvest. According to the ILO Third Party Monitoring (TPM) Report on FL/CL during 2018 cotton harvesting in Uzbekistan, 93% of workforce involved in cotton picking were voluntary.

At the same time, FL risks still persist in cotton production and other sectors in the country. TPM Report indicates that 6.8% of people who were involved in cotton harvesting in 2018 participated involuntary (170 000 people). Additionally, grievances on the alleged cases of FL are still numerous. During the last year harvesting period over 2 000 grievances of the reported FL were investigated, with more than 200 public officials sanctioned, fined and dismissed due to the violations related to the forced labour. The forced labour is therefore still taking place in the country.

In this light the overarching objective of this technical cooperation (TC) project is to support the expansion of the country portfolio in Uzbekistan and Central Asia by managing FL/CL risks in EBRD-financed projects. To this end, the TC project aims to build the capacity of local clients, project implementation partners, and other key stakeholders to support the EBRD in performing a labour risk assessment and monitoring projects with a high profile of FL/CL risks across Bank’s operations in the country.

Assignment Description:

The Bank now intends to engage a qualified consultant (the “Consultant”) to (a) strengthen capacity of local clients, project implementation partners, and other key stakeholders to conduct a labour risk assessment for EBRD’s current and potential clients through on-the-job training (OJT) activities; (b) develop a toolkit for clients on planning and carrying out a labour risk assessment in agribusiness and construction sectors; (c) prepare ready-to-use training modules on how to prepare for and conduct a labour risk assessment of an extended supply chains, construction camps, accommodation facilities etc; and (d) deliver a series of training and workshops aimed at knowledge sharing and experience exchange amongst clients within Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries.

This project will be implemented through a phased approach, and the development of Phase 2 will be subject to successful implementation of Phase 1.　

Phase 1 –Uzbekistan

Task 1: Conduct a background research and desk review of good practices.

Task 2: Develop “PR 2 Toolkit” on planning and conducting a labour risk assessment for clients in agribusiness and construction sectors.

Task 3: Prepare “Capacity Building Programme” including ready-to-use training modules on how to prepare for and conduct a labour risk assessment of an extended supply chains, construction camps, and accommodation facilities; and deliver training in Uzbekistan.　

Phase 2 – Roll out to Central Asia

Task 4: Scaling up the knowledge sharing and roll out the training to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan.

The detailed scope of work and services (the “Services”) of the Assignment are further described in the full Terms of Reference (the “ToRs”) which can be accessed from the following link:　

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/tor-80175.pdf

Consultant Selection Procedure: Single stage open competitive selection. Interested firms or groups of firms are invited to submit a Technical and Financial Proposal.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in November 2019 and has an estimated overall duration of 36 months (1 Phase – 24 months; 2 Phase – 12 months). Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the business needs, the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope.　

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 470,000 (exclusive of VAT). 　

Funding Source: It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by EBRD Shareholders Special Fund and contracting are subject to the availability of funding.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions based on the consultant’s country of origin.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with previous project experience related to:

• labour related consulting services in the Bank’s countries of operation, including Uzbekistan or other Central Asian countries;
• managing labour due diligence and risk assessments in the EBRD’s countries of operations;
• developing a flagship or high profile knowledge products on labour issues and labour risk assessment.

The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include the following key experts (the ‘Key Experts’):

Key Expert 1. Project Director with a university degree with preferably a minimum of 10 years’ experience in labour related consulting services in the Bank’s countries of operation, including Uzbekistan or other Central Asian countries　

Key Expert 2. Project Manager: with a university degree with preferably at least 8 years’ experience in managing labour due diligence and audits in the EBRD’s countries of operations, with excellent verbal and written communication skills 　

Key Expert 3. Social development specialists with a university degree, with preferably at least 8 years of direct relevant experience in labour research, labour risk assessment of the extended supply chains, and monitoring of projects with forced/child labour risks in agriculture and construction sectors. Experience in Uzbekistan and/or other Central Asian countries would be an additional advantage. Fluency in Russian language (verbal and written communication skills) is strongly desirable

The key experts may be complemented by other team members and support services to cover all tasks specified in the Terms of Reference. As such the list of key experts is not an exhaustive list of all skills and competencies needed to fulfil this assignment. Consultants should note that one person could have more than one role (e.g., the Team Leader could also be a specialist) and one role could be filled by more than one person.
All experts should be fluent in English and have experience in the country or region.

Submission Requirements: The consultants are now invited to submit a completed Technical and Financial Proposal as per the standard templates and instructions available at:

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/single-stage-package.docx

Interested Consultants should make themselves familiar with these Standard Templates, Standard Instructions and Conditions of Contract in preparation of their proposals.

The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in English electronically via eSelection not later than the Closing Date as one single PDF file. The technical proposal should not exceed 25 pages excluding the Declaration Form and CVs (Form 1- TP 1 and Form 1 – TP 6).

The Financial Proposal (Form 2 – FP 1 and FP2) shall be submitted in English separately by email only to the following e-mail address: finprop@ebrd.com. Please indicate the Project number and title in the subject of your e-mail. Consultants are reminded of the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of the Financial Proposals.

A Technical Proposal that contains elements of a financial proposal shall be declared non-responsive.

A Financial proposal submitted together with the technical proposals via e Selection shall be declared non-responsive.

For the avoidance of doubt, technical proposals should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address. Financial proposals should be sent to this email address and NOT through eSelection or to Bank Contact Person.

Deadline to Submit Clarification Questions: Via e-mail to the Bank Contact Person by 30 September 2019.

Bank Contact Person:
Aleksandra Lewandowska
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
e-mail: lewandoa@ebrd.com

Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria

• Firm’s previous project experience in similar assignments (30%)
• Quality of the methodology proposed for the Assignment (40%)
• CVs of the Key Experts (30 %).
  

The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is 70.

Opening of Financial Proposals

After the technical evaluation is completed, only the submissions which score 70 or above of the total marks available for the technical criteria will be eligible to have their financial proposals opened.

Combined Technical and Financial Evaluation

The lowest evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) is given the maximum financial score (Sf) of 100. The formula for determining the financial scores (Sf) of all other Proposals is calculated as follows:

Sf = 100 x Fm/ F, in which “Sf” is the financial score, “Fm” is the lowest evaluated Financial Proposal, and “F” the price of the Proposal under consideration.

Proposals are then ranked according to their combined technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = 80; F = 20) T + F = 100 as follows: S = St x T% + Sf x F%.

Important Notes:
– The proposal validity period is 120 days from the deadline date for the receipt of submissions. During this period, the Consultant shall maintain its original Proposal without any change, including the availability of the Experts, the proposed rates and the total price.

– The selection will be made from the Proposals received in response to this notification only, on the basis of the submission requirements and selection criteria set out in this Procurement Notice. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected and invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.

Any updates of and clarifications on this procurement notice shall be announced as updates on this notice, without any other notification. In the event of changes consultants will need to download the updated versions. Consultants are required to periodically check the notice for updates. Failure to take the updates into account while preparing the Proposal may result in disqualification or penalties to the scores in the evaluation.

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