National Short-term Consultant to conduct Audit for Bahari Mali Project.

Request for Proposals (RfP)

National Short-term Consultant to conduct Audit for Bahari Mali Project.

IUCN Tanzania – Bahari Mali Project

RfP Reference: IUCN-2023-11-P04384-02

Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read the information and instructions carefully because non-compliance with the instructions may result in disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.

1. REQUIREMENTS

   1. A detailed description of the services and/or goods to be provided can be found in Attachment 1.

2. CONTACT DETAILS

   1. During the course of this procurement, i.e., from the publication of this RfP to the award of a contract, you may not discuss this procurement with any IUCN employee or representative other than the following contact. You must address all correspondence and questions to the contact, including your proposal.

IUCN Contact: jolly.chemutai@iucn.org

1. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE

   1. This timetable is indicative and may be changed by IUCN at any time. If IUCN decides that changes to any of the deadlines are necessary, we will publish this on our website and contact you directly if you have indicated your interest in this procurement (see Section 3.2).

DATE – ACTIVITY

22 November 2024 – Publication of the Request for Proposals

13 December 2024 – Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“Submission Deadline”)

20 December 2024 – Planned date for contract award

28 December 2024 – Expected contract start date

Please email the IUCN contact to express your interest in submitting a proposal by the deadline stated above. This will help IUCN to keep you updated regarding the procurement.

COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL

Your Proposal must consist of the following four separate documents:

• Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)

• Pre-Qualification Information (see Section 4.3 below)

• Technical Proposal (see Section 4.4 below)

• Financial Proposal (see Section 4.5 below)

Proposals must be prepared in English.

Your Proposal must be submitted by email to the IUCN Contact (see Section 2). The subject heading of the email shall be [RfP Reference – bidder name]. The bidder’s name is the name of the company/organisation on whose behalf you are submitting the proposal, or your own surname if you are bidding as a self-employed consultant. Your proposal must be submitted in PDF format. You may submit multiple emails suitably annotated, e.g., Email 1 of 3, if attached files are too large to suit a single email transmission. You may not submit your Proposal by uploading it to a file-sharing tool.

IMPORTANT: Submitted documents must be password-protected so that they cannot be opened and read before the submission deadline. Please use the same password for all submitted documents. After the deadline has passed and within 12 hours, please send the password to the IUCN Contact. This will ensure a secure bid submission and opening process. Please DO NOT email the password before the deadline for Proposal submission.

Pre-Qualification Criteria

IUCN will use the following Pre-Qualification Criteria to determine whether you have the capacity to provide the required goods and/or services to IUCN. Please provide the necessary information in a single, separate document.

Pre-Qualification Criteria

1. 3 reference letters from NGOs addressed to IUCN
2. Confirm and submit all the necessary legal registrations to perform the work including:
3. Certificate of incorporation
4. Tax clearance certificate
5. TIN Certificate
6. NBAA Certification

Technical Proposal

The technical proposal must address each of the criteria stated below explicitly and separately, quoting the relevant criteria reference number (left-hand column).

Proposals in any other format will significantly increase the time it takes to evaluate, and such Proposals may therefore be rejected at IUCN’s discretion.

Where CVs are requested, these must be of the individuals who will carry out the work specified. The individuals you put forward may only be substituted with IUCN’s approval.

IUCN will evaluate technical proposals with regards to each of the following criteria and their relative importance:

Description – Information to provide – Relative weight

1. Quality of technical approach – 30

Combine 1 & 2: Explain how you will implement and meet the deliverables and objectives specified in the ToR.

2. Conceptual and methodological approach – 30

Description of the conceptual and methodological approach to be used in the process.

4. Relevant competencies and experience – 40

Attach portfolios, reports, websites, and CVs/relevant qualification(s)

TOTAL 100%

Financial Proposal

The financial proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods/services stated in the RfP in their entirety.

Prices include all costs.

Submitted rates and prices are deemed to include all costs, insurances, taxes, fees, expenses, liabilities, obligations, risk, and other things necessary for the performance of the Terms of Reference or Specification of Requirements. IUCN will not accept charges beyond those clearly stated in the Financial Proposal.

IUCN withhold 5% of the professional fee charged as withholding tax payment.

Applicable Goods and Services Taxes

Proposal rates and prices shall be inclusive of Value Added Tax.

Currency of proposed rates and prices

All rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in USD.

Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be considered in the evaluation.

Your proposal must remain valid and capable of acceptance by IUCN for a period of 90 calendar days following the submission deadline.

Withdrawals and Changes

You may freely withdraw or change your proposal at any time prior to the submission deadline by written notice to the IUCN Contact. However, in order to reduce the risk of fraud, no changes or withdrawals will be accepted after the submission deadline.

EVALUATION of PROPOSALS

Completeness

IUCN will firstly check your proposal for completeness. Incomplete proposals will not be considered further.

Pre-Qualification Criteria

Only proposals that meet all the pre-qualification criteria will be evaluated.

Technical Evaluation

• Scoring Method

Your proposal will be assigned a score from 0 to 10 for each of the technical evaluation criteria, such that ‘0’ is low and ‘10’ is high.

• Minimum Quality Thresholds

Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.

• Technical Score

Your score for each technical evaluation criterion will be multiplied with the respective relative weight (see Section 4.4) and these weighted scores added together to give your proposal’s overall technical score.

Financial Evaluation and Financial Scores

The financial evaluation will be based upon the full total price you submit. Your financial proposal will receive a score calculated by dividing the lowest financial proposal that has passed the minimum quality thresholds (see Section 5.3.2) by the total price of your financial proposal.

Thus, for example, if your financial proposal is for a total of CHF 100 and the lowest financial proposal is CHF 80, you will receive a financial score of 80/100 = 80%

Total Score

Your proposal’s total score will be calculated as the weighted sum of your technical score and your financial score.

The relative weights will be:

Technical: 70%

Financial: 30%

Thus, for example, if your technical score is 83% and your financial score is 77%, you will receive a total score of 83 * 70% + 77 * 30% = 58.1% + 23.1% = 81.2%.

Subject to the requirements in Sections 4 and 7, IUCN will award the contract to the bidder whose proposal achieves the highest total score.

Explanation of procurement procedure

IUCN is using the Open Procedure for this procurement. This means that the contracting opportunity is published on IUCN’s website and open to all interested parties to take part, subject to the conditions in Section 7 below.

You are welcome to ask questions or seek clarification regarding this procurement. Please email the IUCN Contact (see Section 2), taking note of the deadline for submission of questions in Section 3.1.

All proposals must be received by the submission deadline in Section 3.2 above. Late proposals will not be considered. All proposals received by the submission deadline will be evaluated by a team of three or more evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in this RfP. No other criteria will be used to evaluate proposals. The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose proposal received the highest Total Score. IUCN does, however, reserve the right to cancel the procurement and not award a contract at all.

IUCN will contact the bidder with the highest-scoring proposal to finalise the contract. We will contact unsuccessful bidders after the contract has been awarded and provide detailed feedback. The timetable in Section 3.1 gives an estimate of when we expect to have completed the contract award, but this date may change depending on how long the evaluation of proposals takes.

Conditions for participation in this procurement

To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant proposal.

Any incomplete or incorrectly completed proposal submission may be deemed non-compliant, and as a result you may be unable to proceed further in the procurement process.

IUCN will query any obvious clerical errors in your proposal and may, at IUCN’s sole discretion, allow you to correct these, but only if doing so could not be perceived as giving you an unfair advantage.

In order to participate in this procurement, you must meet the following conditions:

• Free of conflicts of interest
• Registered on the relevant professional or trade register of the country in which you are established (or resident, if self-employed)
• In full compliance with your obligations relating to payment of social security contributions and of all applicable taxes
• Not been convicted of failing to comply with environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection.
• Not bankrupt or being wound up
• Never been guilty of an offence concerning your professional conduct.
• Not involved in fraud, corruption, a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism, or any other illegal activity.

You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2).

If you are participating in this procurement as a member of a joint venture, or are using sub-contractors, submit a separate Declaration of Undertaking for each member of the joint venture and sub-contractor, and be clear in your proposal which parts of the goods/services are provided by each partner or sub-contractor.

Each bidder shall submit only one proposal, either individually or as a partner in a joint venture. In case of joint venture, one company shall not be allowed to participate in two different joint ventures in the same procurement nor shall a company be allowed to submit a proposal both on its behalf and as part of a joint venture for the same procurement. A bidder who submits or participates in more than one proposal (other than as a subcontractor or in cases of alternatives that have been permitted or requested) shall cause all the proposals with the bidder’s participation to be disqualified.

By taking part in this procurement, you accept the conditions set out in this RfP, including the following:

• It is unacceptable to give or offer any gift or consideration to an employee or other representative of IUCN as a reward or inducement in relation to the awarding of a contract. Such action will give IUCN the right to exclude you from this and any future procurements, and to terminate any contract that may have been signed with you.
• Any attempt to obtain information from an employee or other representative of IUCN concerning another bidder will result in disqualification.
• Any price fixing or collusion with other bidders in relation to this procurement shall give IUCN the right to exclude you and any other involved bidder(s) from this and any future procurements and may constitute a criminal offence.

Confidentiality and data protection

IUCN follows the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The information you submit to IUCN as part of this procurement will be treated as confidential and shared only as required to evaluate your proposal in line with the procedure explained in this RfP, and for the maintenance of a clear audit trail. For audit purposes, IUCN is required to retain your proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when requested.

In the Declaration of Undertaking (Attachment 2) you need to give IUCN express permission to use the information you submit in this way, including personal data that forms part of your proposal. Where you include personal data of your employees (e.g. CVs) in your proposal, you need to have written permission from those individuals to share this information with IUCN, and for IUCN to use this information as indicated in 8.1. Without these permissions, IUCN will not be able to consider your proposal.

Complaints procedure

If you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact procurement@iucn.org. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confidential and are not considered in breach of the above restrictions on communication (Section 2.1).

Contract

The contract will be based on IUCN’s template in Attachment 3, the terms of which are not negotiable. They may, however, be amended by IUCN to reflect requirements from the donor funding this procurement.

About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private, and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Headquartered in Switzerland, IUCN Secretariat comprises around 1,000 staff with offices in more than 50 countries.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous people’s organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

www.iucn.org

https://twitter.com/IUCN/

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 Specification of Requirements / Terms of Reference

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Title: Bahari Mali Project specific Audit

Objective of the Consultancy

This consultancy has the following objective(s):

Conducting Project Specific Audit for Bahari Mali Project

Background

Project Reference: P04384

Donor reference:

About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

www.iucn.org

https://twitter.com/IUCN/

About the Project

The IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) operates in twenty-four countries in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The ESARO Programme focuses on biodiversity conservation through a diverse portfolio of projects and programmatic initiatives ranging from activities at the level of individual protected areas to shaping regional policy on biodiversity conservation. Program and project implementation are done in collaboration with IUCN members, commissions, and other strategic partners.

IUCN has received funding from the Irish Embassy in Dar es Salaam-Tanzania to implement a 3 year project called, “Bahari Mali”. This builds on more than four decades of operations in Tanzania working with many partners and stakeholders to implement a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects ranging from management of protected areas, forest ecosystems, coastal and marine resources, aquatic ecosystems, and climate change resilience. A program approach is adopted in the implementation of this initiative and builds on the IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa’s Blue Resilience Framework, composed of 3 key pillars: Blue Planet, Blue People, and Blue Partnerships.

Project Goal

The goal of the project is to unlock and support the development of a blue economy machinery while contributing to long-term effective, equitable and inclusive conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Tanga-Pemba seascape.

Project Expected Outcomes

The project has four expected outcomes:

1. To improve livelihoods and socio-economic status of coastal communities particularly youth and women in the Tanga-Pemba Seascape.
2. To improve adaptive governance through relevant collaborative frameworks strengthened at the Tanga – Pemba seascape level.
3. To improve knowledge and awareness among key stakeholders in Tanga-Pemba Seascape and the Western Indian Ocean regional through co-design and co-delivery of projects.
4. To enhance advocacy in blue economy and conservation of coastal & marine resources and ecosystem services in the Tanga-Pemba seascape.

Project Expected Outputs

To achieve the expected project outcomes, this initiative operates under four main components, namely (i) Governance, (ii) Knowledge, (iii) Action, and (iv) Advocacy.

1. Governance component: An enhanced locally relevant multi-stakeholder governance framework is developed and promoted to support equity and effectiveness in the decision-making, management, and benefit sharing in the Tanga-Pemba Seascape
2. Knowledge component: Relevant knowledge and awareness products are developed and disseminated among local communities, civil society, the private sector, and governments in the Tanga-Pemba Seascape and at the Western Indian Ocean regional level.
3. Action component: Sustainable and resilient blue livelihoods are promoted, catalyzed and supported in the Tanga-Pemba Seascape to efficiently conserve its blue natural capital and unlock its socio-economic development potential.
4. Advocacy component: National and/or sub-national blue economy development strategies are strengthened through evidence-based advocacy efforts.

Description of the Assignment

The basis of the audit derives from the responsibilities of the grant recipient (IUCN) for the proper use of the funds provided under the Financing Agreement signed between the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland, represented by the Embassy of Ireland, Dar es Salaam, and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Natural Resources (IUCN)

The objective of the audit is to express an opinion on the Final Financial Report for the project and assess whether the funds were utilized for the purposes described in the project documents and work plans.

The audit will cover the following scope:

• To ensure that funds have been used in accordance with the grant agreement, with due attention to economy, and efficiency, and only for the purpose for which financing was provided in the grant agreement.
• To ensure that proper books of account have been maintained.
• To ensure that goods and services have been procured in accordance with the grant agreement and accordance with the organization’s procurement procedures.
• To ensure that all supporting documentation, records, and accounts have been maintained with respect to all project activities.
• The expenditure report gives a true and fair view of the financial condition and performance of the project.

A firm (s) will have the following functions and responsibilities.

1. Assessing whether proper accounting records are maintained, and financial accounts prepared in accordance with internationally recognized standards concerning the grant.
2. Review of the grant agreement for Income and Expenditure details.
3. Performing detailed tests on expenses by reviewing supporting documentation for

• Appropriateness, about the following aspects of expenses:
• Adequacy of documentation,
• Proper expense allocation in the general ledger,
• Proper payment approval,
• Compliance with the budget.

1. Ascertain that the project reports give a true and fair view of the financial condition of the project.

Duration of the Assignment

From 28 Dec 2024 to 9 Dec 2024

Deliverables and Activities

The consultant will provide the following deliverables and carry out the following activities:

Deliverable/Activity

Description – Deadline

1. Deliverable 1 – 02 December 2024

Submission of Inception report/Audit workplan

2. Deliverable 2 – 13 December 2024

Submission of Final Approved report

2.a Activity 2A – Submission of Draft report

2.a Activity 2B – Submission of Final report

Payment Schedule

The Timetable below summarises the chronological order of deliverables and indicates milestones at which IUCN will pay the Consultant.

Deliverable – Milestone payment

Submission of inception report/Audit workplan – 40%

Submission of Final report – 60%

Skills and Experience

The consultant must have the following skills, education and experience as a minimum:

The Auditor must have undertaken similar works in Tanzania for the last four years and should have the following qualifications:

• The audit firm should be recognized and authorised to conduct such business in Tanzania and the engagement partner should be a registered member of NBAA with a valid practicing certificate and in good standing. Proof of good standing with the institute is required for both the partner and the firm.
• Must be registered and recognized by the Tanzania Revenue Authority.
• The audit firm must nominate an engagement partner who will have overall responsibility in the firm for quality and timely reporting, and formal communication on the assignment between the audit firm and IUCN.
• The audit firm should provide evidence of similar work done in the past 2 years with recent letters of recommendation.
• External Auditors must also show abilities in ICTs and different accounting and systems.
• Provide Audit Methodology
• Share the proposed work plan.

The key audit team will comprise, at least:

• An audit manager with at least 10 years of experience in auditing and with a sound knowledge of donor-financed projects. In addition, s/he should be an active member of the NBAA.
• A team leader with at least a master’s degree in auditing/accounting or equivalent with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in auditing; and
• An assistant auditor with adequate experience and professional qualifications.

Curriculum Vitae (CVs) must be provided to the client by the Partner of the firm of auditors who shall be responsible for signing the opinion, together with the CVs of managers, supervisors, and key personnel proposed as part of the audit team. The CVs shall include details of audits carried out by the concerned staff, including ongoing assignments indicating capability and capacity to undertake the audit.

Supervision and coordination

The consultant will report to and work under the supervision of Finance Country Focal from IUCN Country Office.

How to apply

Step 1: Acquire Tender Documents
Obtain the relevant tender documents.

Step 2: Review Requirements
Thoroughly read the tender specifications, terms, and conditions.

Step 3: Prepare Proposal
Prepare your proposal as guided, ensuring all the required information is included.

Step 4: Submission
Submit your completed proposal to jolly.chemutai@iucn.org

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline:13, December,2024

Contact Information

For questions, please contact:
jolly.chemutai@iucn.org