REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES) For Simple Assignments SERVICES FOR RESEARCH ON IRREGULAR MIGRATION AND SMUGGLING ROUTES TO CANADA

Transcription

1 FPU.SR REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES) For Simple Assignments SERVICES FOR RESEARCH ON IRREGULAR MIGRATION AND SMUGGLING ROUTES TO CANADA Prepared by: IOM GHANA Hse No. 10, Plot No. 48 Osu-Badu Road/Broadway Airport West P.O. Box 5222 Accra, Ghana

2 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS RFP No.: RFP Mission: IOM GHANA Project Name: Global Assistance to Irregular Migrants GAIM WBS: RT.1193.GH (Assessment activities, incl. research) Title of Services: Research on Irregular Migration and Smuggling Routes to Canada 2

3 Request for Proposals The International Organization for Migration (hereinafter called IOM) intends to hire Service Provider for the Research on Irregular Migration and Smuggling Routes to Canada for which this Request for Proposals (RFP) is issued. IOM now invites Service Providers / Consulting Firms to provide Technical and Financial Proposal for the following Services: Research on Irregular Migration and Smuggling Routes to Canada. More details on the services are provided in the attached Terms of Reference (TOR). The Service Provider / Consulting Firm will be selected under a Quality-Cost Based Selection procedures described in this RFP. The RFP includes the following documents: Section I. Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms Section II. Technical Proposal Standard Forms Section III. Terms of Reference Section IV. Standard Form of Contract The Proposals must be delivered by hand or through mail to IOM with office address at House No. 10, Plot No. 48, Osu-Badu Road/Broadway, Airport West, P.O. Box 5222, Accra, Ghana or ed to nvidal@iom.int before 25th May 2016, 24hs GMT. No late proposal shall be accepted. The RFP documents will be available on the IOM website at and IOM shall notify the successful bidder in writing within five (5) working days of the bids unfolding. IOM reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and to annul the selection process and reject all Proposals at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to affected Service Providers/ Consulting Firms Sylvia LOPEZ-EKRA IOM Ghana Chief of Mission IOM is encouraging companies to use recycled materials or materials coming from sustainable resources or produced using a technology that has lower ecological footprints. 3

4 Table of Contents Section I - Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms... 5 Section II Technical Proposal Standard Forms Section III. Terms of Reference

5 Section I - Instructions to Service Providers/ Consulting Firms 1. Introduction 1.1 Only eligible Service Providers / Consulting Firms may submit a Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal for the services required. The proposal shall be the basis for contract negotiations and ultimately for a signed contract with the selected Service Provider / Consultant Firm. 1.2 The Service Providers / Consulting Firms costs of preparing the proposal and of negotiating the contract, including visit/s to the IOM, are not reimbursable as a direct cost of the assignment. 1.3 Service Providers / Consulting Firms shall not be hired for any assignment that would be in conflict with their prior or current obligations to other procuring entities, or that may place them in a position of not being able to carry out the assignment in the best interest of the IOM. 1.4 IOM is not bound to accept any proposal and reserves the right to annul the selection process at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the Service Providers / Consulting Firms. 1.5 IOM shall provide at no cost to the Service Provider / Consulting Firm the necessary inputs and facilities, and make available relevant project data and report (see Section IV. Terms of Reference). 2. Corrupt, Fraudulent, and Coercive Practices 2.1 IOM Policy requires that all IOM Staff, bidders, manufacturers, suppliers or distributors, observe the highest standard of ethics during the procurement and execution of all contracts. IOM shall reject any proposal put forward by bidders, or where applicable, terminate their contract, if it is determined that they have engaged in corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices. In pursuance of this policy, IOM defines for purposes of this paragraph the terms set forth below as follows: Corrupt practice means the offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or indirectly, of any thing of value to influence the action of the Procuring / Contracting Entity in the procurement process or in contract execution; Fraudulent practice is any act or omission, including a misrepresentation, that knowingly or recklessly misleads or attempts to mislead the Procuring / Contracting Entity in the procurement process or the execution of a contract to obtain a financial gain or other benefit to avoid an obligation; Collusive practice is an undisclosed arrangement between two or more bidders designed to artificially alter the results of the tender procedure to obtain a financial gain or other benefit; 5

6 Coercive practice is impairing or harming, or threatening to impair or harm, directly or indirectly, any participant in the tender process to influence improperly its activities in a procurement process, or affect the execution of a contract. 3. Conflict of Interest 3.1 All bidders found to have conflicting interests shall be disqualified to participate in the procurement at hand. A bidder may be considered to have conflicting interest under any of the circumstances set forth below: A Bidder has controlling shareholders in common with another Bidder; A Bidder receives or has received any direct or indirect subsidy from another Bidder; A Bidder has the same representative as that of another Bidder for purposes of this bid; A Bidder has a relationship, directly or through third parties, that puts them in a position to have access to information about or influence on the Bid of another or influence the decisions of the Mission/procuring Entity regarding this bidding process; A Bidder submits more than one bid in this bidding process; A Bidder who participated as a consultant in the preparation of the design or technical specifications of the Goods and related services that are subject of the bid. 4. Clarifications and Amendments to RFP Documents 4.1 At any time before the submission of the proposals, IOM may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification amend the RFP. Any amendment made will be made available in writing to all bidders Service Providers / Consulting Firms may request for clarification(s) on any part of the RFP. The request must be sent in writing or by standard electronic means and submitted to IOM at the address indicated in page 3 of the invitation at least five (5) calendar days before the set deadline for the submission and receipt of Proposals. IOM will respond in writing or by standard electronic means to the said request. 5. Preparation of the Proposal 5.1 A Service Provider / Consulting Firm Proposal shall have two (2) components: a) the Technical Proposal, and b) the Financial Proposal. 6

7 5.2 The Proposal, and all related correspondence exchanged by the Service Providers / Consulting Firms and IOM, shall be in English. All reports prepared by the contracted Service Provider / Consulting Firm shall be in English. 5.3 The Service Providers / Consulting Firms are expected to examine in detail the documents constituting this Request for Proposal (RFP). Material deficiencies in providing the information requested may result in rejection of a proposal. 5.4 In the Financial Proposal and all reports, Service Providers shall express the price of their services in CAD (Canadian dollars). 5.5 Terms of payment, and payment method should be specified clearly. 6. Technical Proposal 6.1 The Technical Proposal shall provide the following information using the Service Provider / Consulting Firm s preferred proposal template. a) A brief description of the Service Providers / Consulting Firms organization and an outline of recent experience on assignments of a similar nature (TPF-2) b) A brief description of the approach, methodology and work plan for performing the assignment (TPF-3). The work plan should be consistent with the work schedule (TPF-5) c) The list of proposed Professional Staff team by area of expertise, the position and tasks that would be assigned to each staff team members (TPF-4), including CVs. d) A time schedule (bar chart) showing the time proposed to undertake the activities indicated in the work plan (TPF-5). e) Reference letters from other clients (if any) and work samples (included as attachments). 6.2 The Technical Proposal shall not include any financial information. 7. Financial Proposal 7.1 The Financial proposal shall clearly indicate the breakdown of the costs per area of intervention; 7.2 The Financial Proposal shall include all costs associated with the assignment, including (a) remuneration for staff; (b) expenses such as transportation, equipment, and licenses; (c) all applicable taxes (especially the sales tax), etc. Activities and items in the Technical Proposal but not priced shall be assumed to be included in the prices of other activities or items. 7

8 7.3. Service Providers / Consulting Firms shall express the price of their services in CAD Canadian dollars. 8. Submission and Receipt of Proposals 8.1 Service Providers / Consulting Firms may only submit one proposal. If a Service Provider / Consulting Firm submits or participates in more than one proposal such proposal shall be disqualified. 8.2 The original Proposal (both Technical and Financial Proposals) shall be prepared in indelible ink. It shall contain no overwriting, except as necessary to correct errors made by the Service Providers / Consulting Firms themselves. Any such corrections or overwriting must be initialed by the person(s) who signed the Proposal. 8.3 Proposals must be received by IOM at the place, date and time indicated in the invitation to submit proposal or any new place and date established by the IOM. Any Proposal submitted by the Service Provider/ Consulting Firm after the deadline for receipt of Proposals prescribed by IOM shall be declared late, and shall not be accepted by the IOM and returned to the consultant unopened. 9. Evaluation of Proposals 9.1 After the Proposals have been submitted and during the evaluation period, Service Providers / Consulting Firms that have submitted their Proposals are prohibited from making any kind of communication with IOM. Any effort by the Service Providers / Consulting Firms to influence IOM in the examination, evaluation, ranking of Proposal, and recommendation for the award of contract may result in the rejection of the Service Providers / Consulting Firms Proposal. 9.2 The Proposal that pass the first administrative check will be evaluated on the relevance and design of the proposed action. The Proposal will receive an overall score out of 50 using the breakdown in the evaluation grid below. The evaluation criteria are divided into headings and sub-heading. Each sub-heading will be given a score between 1 and 5 as follows: 1 = very poor; 2 = poor; 3 = adequate; 4 = good; 5 = very good. 1. Relevance of the Proposal Sub-score To what extent is the proposal relevant to the objectives and priorities of the request for Proposals? (Does it address all the needs highlighted in the ToR) 1.2 To what extent are the suggested methodology and work plan adequate for performing the tasks outlined in the ToR? 1.3 To what extent is the experience and the past performances of the Service Provider / Consulting Firm relevant to the current assignment? 1.4 How qualified is the staff dedicated to the Project (as per organizational chart)? 5 2. Relevance of the financial and chronological plan Sub-score 20 5x2 5 5x2 8

9 2.1 To what extent are the Chronological Plan and the Delivery schedule consistent with the scope of the Proposal? 2.2 To what extent is the justification of the financial resources consistent with the chronological plan and the human resources dedicated to the Project? 5x2 5x2 TOTAL SCORE Negotiations 10.1 The aim of the negotiation is to reach agreement on all points and sign a contract. The expected date and address for contract negotiation is expected to take place no more than 1 week after notification of the successful bidder with Ms. Nuria FERNANDEZ-VIDAL at House No. 10, Plot No. 48, Osu-Badu Road/Broadway, Airport West, P.O. Box 5222, Accra, Ghana; by at nvidal@iom.int; or by phone at (0) Negotiation will include: a) discussion and clarification of the Terms of Reference (TOR) and Scope of Services; b) Discussion and finalization of the methodology and work program proposed by the Service Provider / Consulting Firm; c) Discussion on the services, facilities and data, if any, to be provided by IOM; d) Discussion on the financial proposal submitted by the Service Provider / Consulting Firm and payment terms; and f) Provisions of the contract All agreement in the negotiation will then be incorporated in the description of services and form part of the Contract. 11. Award of Contract 11.1 The contract shall be awarded, through a notice of award, following negotiations and subsequent post-qualification to the Service Provider / Consulting Firm with the Highest Rated Responsive Proposal. Providers which do not receive notification before 1 st June 2016 can consider their bids unsuccessful The Service Provider/ Consulting Firm is expected to commence the assignment on 15 June Confidentiality 12.1 Information relating to the evaluation of proposals and recommendations concerning awards shall not be disclosed to the Service Providers / Consulting Firms who submitted Proposals or to other persons not officially concerned with the process. 9

10 Section II Technical Proposal Standard Forms TPF-1: Technical Proposal Submission Form [Location, DD May 2016] To: Sylvia LOPEZ-EKRA IOM Ghana Chief of Mission House No. 10, Plot No. 48 Osu-Badu Road/Broadway Airport West, P.O. Box 5222 Accra, Ghana Ladies/Gentlemen: We, the undersigned, offer to provide the Services for [insert Title of consulting services] in accordance with your Request for Proposal (RFP) dated [insert Date] and our Proposal. We are hereby submitting our Proposal, which includes this Technical Proposal, and a Financial Proposal sealed under a separate envelope. If negotiations are held after the period of validity of the Proposal, we undertake to negotiate on the basis of the proposed staff. Our Proposal is binding upon us and subject to the modifications resulting from Contract negotiations. We acknowledge and accept IOM s right to inspect and audit all records relating to our Proposal irrespective of whether we enter into a contract with IOM as a result of this proposal or not. We understand you are not bound to accept any Proposal you receive. We remain, Yours sincerely, Authorized Signature: Name and Title of Signatory: Name of Firm: Address: 10

11 TPF 2: Service Providers / Consulting Firms Organization [Provide here brief (two pages) description of the background and organization of your firm/entity.] 11

12 TPF 3: Description of the Approach, Methodology and Work Plan for Performing the Assignment 12

13 TPF 4: Team Composition and Task Assignments 1. Technical/Managerial Staff Name Position Task 2. Support Staff Name Position Task 13

14 TPF-5: Activity (Work) Schedule A. Field Investigation and Other Activities No Activity/Work Description Duration 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th B. Completion and Submission of Reports Reports Date 1. Inception Report 2. Interim Progress Report (a) First Status Report (b) Second Status Report 3. Draft Report 4. Final Report 14

15 Section III. Terms of Reference a) Background Irregular migration, which encompasses smuggling of migrants and trafficking in persons, is a phenomenon difficult to measure by definition. According to rough approximations however, onethird to one-half of entries into developing countries is irregular 1. However, the largest number of irregular migrants is hosted by less developed countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that about half of all irregular migrants are smuggled and that smuggling as a business, generates billions of US$ per year. The lack of safe and regular migration opportunities drives migration underground. Although smuggling of migrants is a crime against a State, human rights of smuggled migrants are often violated, and so migrants face all sorts of abuses during their journeys, which take place in dangerous and risky ways. Often, organized criminal networks do not hesitate to take advantage of innocent migrants, arranging hazardous journeys, and abandoning candidates along the routes. Smuggling of migrants is not as widely researched as trafficking in persons. This research aims to build upon previous studies commissioned by IOM Ghana 2, and increase the knowledge base about current smuggling routes towards Canada. The research will also map existing hubs of migrants that have become stranded in their attempt to reach Canada, with the aim of protecting the victims of human smuggling and reintegrate them. The arrival of the ships Motor Vessel (MV) Ocean Lady and MV Sun Sea in October 2009 and August 2010 with 76 and 492 Sri Lankans Tamils on board respectively focused Canada s attention on the smuggling phenomenon. While the main smuggling routes for migrants attempting to reach Canada identified between 2011 and 2015 have been those from Sri Lanka into West Africa, the diminished caseload of irregular Sri Lankan migrants in the West Africa region may be an indication that smugglers have changed routes or tactics. Considering the global scale of the smuggling phenomenon, other geographical areas may be involved. Although there is not a lot of information on smuggling to Canada, there is evidence of smuggling operations of irregular migrants whose final intended destination was Canada affecting other regions. For instance, migrants of Southern Asia origin (Afghanistan) stranded in Central Asia aiming to reach Canada in an effort to join relatives 3. IOM also has an insight on migrants of South East Asia origin stranded for an average of four to seven 1 Baseline research on smuggling of migrants in, from and thorough Central Asia ; IOM Technical Cooperation Centre for Europe and Central Asia; Vienna, Austria - September Stranded Sri Lankan Migrants in West Africa ; IOM Ghana - May 2013; Irregular Sri Lankan Migrnts in West Africa: frustrated dreams, major hardship and hopes for a better future: An Analysis of Migration Patterns and Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Services ; IOM Ghana - June 2013; Returning from West Africa: Reintegration of irregular Sri Lankan migrants; an analysis of Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration services ; IOM Ghana - November 2013; Irregular versus Safe Migration: Results of a Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviour Survey among Returnees and Nonreturnees in Sri Lanka ; IOM Ghana - November 2014; Irregular Migration and smuggling of migrants in Benin, Togo and Guinea-Conakry ; IOM Ghana - March 2015; Évaluation des phénomènes de migration clandestine, traite et trafic de migrants en Guinée Conakry ; IOM Ghana - March Baseline research on smuggling of migrants in, from and thorough Central Asia ; IOM Technical Cooperation Centre for Europe and Central Asia; Vienna, Austria - September

16 years in other South East Asia countries (namely Sri Lankan stranded in Malaysia) on their attempt to reach Canada. By mid-april 2016, more than 500 migrants from Africa and Asia (including children and pregnant women) were stranded in the border between Panama and Costa Rica. The largest number of migrants was from (in this order) Nepal, Somalia, Ghana, and Bangladesh; other nationalities included Pakistani, Eritrean, Cameroonian, Senegalese, Sri Lankan, Nigerian, Malian, and Afghani. They had flown to South American countries and then crossed into neighboring countries to reach North America (which potentially could also include Canada). Vulnerability factors in the countries of origin of these irregular migrants are complex and range from political instability, ethnic and land properties conflicts, poor socio-economic conditions to climate change leading to displacement and migration. Smuggled, abused, exploited or trafficked, migrants need to rely on referral mechanisms able to provide them much needed assistance. However due to lack of knowledge or resources, referral mechanisms are most often not in place. b) Objectives The main goal of the research will be to map out of the characteristics of the current and developing smuggling networks that have Canada as a final destination, to assess the dynamics of the various smuggling operations and to provide a description of its patterns and modus operandi. The research will also include an assessment of the vulnerabilities of migrants, and the institutional responses in place, and will make recommendation for future interventions, potentially framing them under a mixed migration approach. The outcome of the research will facilitate a coherent and globally coordinated migration management response to the increasingly complex migration flows along these migratory routes. IOM will use its main findings to strengthen the provision of services for vulnerable migrants, as well as to enhance the capacities of concerned actors to promote the establishment of an efficient referral and assistance system for vulnerable migrants, with a specific focus on victims of smuggling. The knowledge involved by the research will also provide valuable information to governmental and intergovernmental actors in addresing smuggling and migrant exploitation. Last but not least, it will also allow IOM to adjust projects that are currently being implemented, hence showing the capacity and flexibility to adapt to changes surrounding human smuggling and migration patterns. c) Scope of the Services Under the overall guidance of the IOM Ghana Chief of Mission, in coordination with the IBM Regional Thematic Specialists based in IOM Regional Offices, the Research Department in Geneva and under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, the Researcher will be responsible for the following: Produce an analytical report on the characteristics of the current and developing smuggling networks that have Canada as a final destination, and map existing hubs of migrants that have become stranded in their attempt to reach Canada, providing field-research-based-evidence and taking into account the following elements: Literature review on transnational irregular migration routes to Canada (global); Field-based research with a focus on the South East Asia region (in countries to be determined by the prior literature review); 16

17 Assessment of the routes, destinations, and the cross-border methods used; including a breakdown of older and more recent routes, as well as major and less common routes and the dynamics that have caused these changes; Identification of actual hubs or pockets of stranded migrants along the routes; Analysis of the dynamics and economics of smuggling (cost of the journey) within these routes; Identification of the conditions of the journey, including the methods of coercion used in the exploitation of smuggled migrants, and report of potential cases of human rights violations; Identification of the push and pull factors of irregular migration; and the reasons why migrants select particular routes over others; Analysis of the profile of the smuggled migrants comprising the flows (including special consideration to victims of trafficking, women and children) and their needs; Analysis of the migrant s perception of the reception processes and the legal frameworks in place both in transit and destination countries, and the influence of systems in place on migrants strategies; Assessment of the assistance and services currently provided to stranded migrants by governmental, intergovernmental agencies and by non-governmental organizations in transit countries, and the identification of gaps where assistance is required. Conclusions and recommendations on the areas in which further research and action is needed; and the type of assistance interventions required for stranded migrants in selected countries, and how will they be best applied within the respective national contexts from a mixed migration perspective. d) Overall time-frame and duration Start date = 15 June 2016 Duration = 30 working days spread over 2 months e) Outputs/deliverables The following outputs are expected from the consultant: Proposal for a methodology of research (for pre-approval); Survey questionnaires, interview guidelines, other research tools to be developed etc. (for pre-approval); Draft report taking into account all elements of paragraph B and according to below structure: Executive summary; Background/context of the study; Literature review; Outline of methodology applied; Stakeholders/organizations involved; Findings of the analysis; 17

18 Programmatic/interventions recommended for IOM and relevant stakeholders to pursue both in the short and long terms; Recommendations for improving the success of the initiated programs. Final report (required for comment before the final version is approved) and containing data, summary, analysis and recommendation, and list of reference including annotated bibliography and annexes. 18