United Nations Population Fund 4th Floor United Nations Service Building, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200 E-mail: thailand.office@unfpa.org Website: http://thailand.unfpa.org

 

Date:  June 17, 2022

 

 

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

RFQ Nº UNFPA/THA/RFQ/22/001

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

UNFPA hereby solicits a quotation for the following service:

 

“Technical Assistance and Training on Modeled Population Estimates

for the Hybrid Census in Thailand”

 

UNFPA requires the provision of technical support and training on Modeled Population Estimates for the Hybrid Census in Thailand as specified in the Term of Reference (ToR).

 

 

1. About UNFPA

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is an international development agency that works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child birth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.  

 

UNFPA is the lead UN agency that expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives. To read more about UNFPA, please go to: UNFPA about us

 

2. Service requirements / Term of Reference (ToR)

Background:

Guided by the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) partners with governments, civil society and other agencies to accomplish its mission, which aims to promote the rights of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity and supports countries in using data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

 

UNFPA Thailand's 12th Country Programme Document (CP12) for 2022-2026 aims to prepare Thailand for a rights-based, inclusive aged society. It is designed to support the Decade of Action and the global vision by aligning with the 13th National Economic and Social Development Plan (2022-2026) and fully harmonising with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (2022-2026). The CP12 is intended to accelerate progress toward achieving the 2030 Agenda, with strong ties to the voluntary commitments made at the ICPD25, including an emphasis on integrated and multidisciplinary policy and planning responses.

 

The CP12 is founded on inclusion, human rights, and equity principles and takes vulnerable groups' needs into account to ensure that no one is left behind. UNFPA Thailand aims to facilitate its national counterparts in adopting innovative approaches to reach the most vulnerable, including collaboratively developing innovative solutions to address bottlenecks and facilitating the transition to scale-up of proven innovations.

 

Rationale:

Thailand National Statistical Office (TNSO) carries out a population and housing census every ten years. Population and housing census enumeration compiles basic information on the population and housing characteristics such as gender, age, religion, nationality, education, marital status, work status, and housing at national and sub-region levels. The twelfth population census and the sixth housing census were planned for 2020 but were delayed until 2025 or 2026 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The postponement of the 2020 census poses unique challenges to data quality and census enumerators' workloads. Moreover, the COVID-19 community spread has revealed the limitations of traditional door-to-door census methods. To address the difficulties, alternative census methods have been considered. In this regard, TNSO expressed interest in learning more about the hybrid census method and how it could be implemented in Thai contexts to prepare for the new census. The modeling approach for hybrid censuses will generate age- and sex-structured subnational population estimates in Thailand's difficult-to-reach areas, along with associated uncertainty metrics.

 

Purpose:

UNFPA Thailand is seeking the support of an institution or a team of international experts to provide collaboration and co-development as well as technical assistance and training on modelled population estimates for the hybrid census in Thailand. As a supplement to the preparations for the upcoming census, the project should provide vital data and technical capacity regarding the hybrid census method for Thailand.

 

Objectives:

To provide technical assistance and training on estimated population models for Thailand's hybrid census. The main objective is to increase understanding of the hybrid census’s modelled population estimates in collaboration with the independent contractor and provide Thailand with technical advice regarding preparations for the hybrid census by ensuring a high-quality census data and adhering to international standards and principles.

 

Scope of the work/Process:

1. Desk review/research of relevant datasets from across different ministries (as identified and provided by TNSO) or documents related to the modelled population estimates for the hybrid census.
2. Consultation with TNSO to better understand and address technical requirements for the new census, and potential challenges, if any.
3. Provide a 5-day in-person workshop as a two-way exchange of information and ideas to come up with a plan to meet the TNSOs needs, identify key staff, data to be involved in next collaborative steps about modelled population estimates hybrid census.
4. Present the Outline Plan to discuss initial findings with TNSO and UNFPA
5. Analyse and summarise responses/information provided by participants based on the workshop
6. Serve as a resource person for the preparation of the pilot hybrid census for resolving complex technical issues that may arise
7. Finalise the report based on the findings and comments received

 

Deliverables:

1. A 5-day in-person workshop to gain more context-specific understanding and form a sustainable partnership, as well as to build the capacity of TNSO staff to learn about modelled population estimates for hybrid census and develop a bespoke method for population estimates to meet their operational needs using existing data.
2. Follow-up support provides expert guidance for resolving complex technical issues that may arise.
3. Training materials and technical notes introducing methods and providing hands-on experience to begin developing necessary skills and generating buy-in for the modelled population estimate approach

 

Indicative time frames:

Engagement of contractors	August 2022
Outline development	August/September 2022
In-person workshop	September 2022
Follow-up support	September – November 2022
Draft findings produced	15 November 2022
Final report	30 November 2022

 

Skills and experience required:

It is anticipated that the Technical Assistance and Training on Modeled Population Estimates for the Hybrid Census in Thailand will be undertaken by an international consultant team with Modeled Population Estimates experience.

 

Qualifications:

The consultant team must offer the following demonstrated experience, knowledge and competencies, and any regional/global consultants selected will ideally have the same qualifications and will be required to have in-depth knowledge of the UN and Modeled Population Estimates for census:

 

• Significant knowledge and experience of Modeled Population Estimates
• Good knowledge of the UN system, national programmes, census, and awareness of the role of UN civil society partners at regional and national levels
• Excellent consultation and involvement skills
• Considerable experience working on Modeled Population Estimates in developing countries
• Facilitation skills and skills in involvement of diverse and inter-disciplinary stakeholders
• Strong quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis skills
• Postgraduate qualifications in Economics, Statistics, Demography, Computer Sciences, Public Health, Social Sciences, International Development, development studies or a related field; A Ph. D will be an added advantage;
• At least ten years of progressively professional experience related to modelled population estimates, census, statistics, economics, public health, social sciences, international development, development studies
• Experience in census and other surveys are desired but not required;
• Excellent analytical, writing and communication skills;
• Excellent written and spoken English language skills.
• Experience in relevant programming skills: monitoring and evaluation, research, data collection and analysis or other related skills.
• Experience working in or with UNFPA is desired but not required;
• Comfort level in working with shared electronic folders (Google Drive), in participating in videocons and telecons, and in working with standard office software (Word or Google Docs, PowerPoint or Google Slides).

 

Budget:

The overall budget including travel costs is USD 50,000.-

 

3. Questions

Questions or requests for further clarifications should be submitted in writing to the contact person below:

 

Name of contact person at UNFPA:	Doungdao Songphanich
Email address of contact person:	songphanich@unfpa.org

 

The deadline for submission of questions is 24 June 2022 at 4:00 PM Bangkok Time. Questions will be answered in writing and shared with parties as soon as possible after this deadline.

 

4. Eligible Bidders

This Request for Quotation is open to all eligible bidders; to be considered an eligible bidder for this solicitation process you must comply with the following:

 

• A bidder must be a legally-constituted company/ university/ institution that can provide the requested services and have legal capacity to enter into a contract with UNFPA to deliver technical support and training on Modeled Population Estimates for the Hybrid Census in Thailand, or through an authorized representative.
• A bidder must not have a conflict of interest regarding the solicitation process or with the TORs / Technical Specifications. Bidders found to have a conflict of interest shall be disqualified.
• At the time of Bid submission, the bidder, including any JV/Consortium members, is not under procurement prohibitions derived from the Compendium of United Nations Security Council Sanctions Lists and has not been suspended, debarred, sanctioned or otherwise identified as ineligible by any UN Organization or the World Bank Group.
• Bidders must adhere to the UN Supplier Code of Conduct, which may be found by clicking on UN Supplier Code of Conduct.

 

5. Content of quotations

Quotations should be submitted via a TWO-envelope system. Interested Bidders are requested to submit their Technical Bid separately from their Financial Bid containing the price information. Each envelope shall consist of a single email whenever possible, depending on file size.

 

1. Technical proposal, in response to the requirements outlined in the service requirements / TORs.
2. Price quotation, to be submitted strictly in accordance with the price quotation form.

 

Both parts of the quotation must be signed by the bidding company’s relevant authority and submitted in PDF format.

6. Instructions for submission

Proposals should be prepared based on the guidelines set forth in Section V above, along with a properly filled out and signed price quotation form, and are to be sent by email to the address indicated below no later than: Monday, July 11^th 2022 at 4:00 PM Bangkok Time.^[1]

 

Name of contact person at UNFPA:	UNFPA Thailand Procurement
Official Email address of SCMU:	thailand-bidtender@unfpa.org

 

Please note the following guidelines for electronic submissions to UNFPA SCMU’s dedicated email address:

 

• The following reference must be included by the Bidder in the email subject line:
  
  • UNFPA/THA/RFQ/22/001 – [bidder name], Technical Bid
  • UNFPA/THA/RFQ/22/001 - [bidder name], Financial Bid
  • Submissions without this text in the email subject line may be rejected or overlooked and therefore not considered.
• It is the Bidder’s responsibility to assure compliance with the submission process. If the envelopes or emails are not marked / submitted per the instructions, UNFPA will neither assume responsibility for the bid’s misplacement or premature opening nor guarantee the confidentiality of the Bid process.  Incorrect submissions might result in your Bid being declared invalid.
• Please do NOT send the emails containing your offer to any other email address (not even as a copy (CC) or blind copy (BCC)); otherwise UNFPA will not be able to guarantee confidentiality and fair and transparent handling of your bid. UNFPA reserves the right to reject bids sent via the appropriate channel but copied or blind copied to other email addresses.
• The total email size may not exceed 20 MB (including email body, encoded attachments and headers). Where the technical details are in large electronic files, it is recommended that these be sent separately before the deadline.
• Any quotation submitted will be regarded as an offer by the bidder and does not
  constitute or imply the acceptance of any quotation by UNFPA. UNFPA is under no obligation to award a contract to any bidder as a result of this RFQ.

 

7. Overview of Evaluation Process

The evaluation will be carried out in a two-step process by an ad-hoc evaluation panel. Technical proposals will be evaluated and scored first, prior to the evaluation and scoring of price quotations

 

Technical Evaluation

 

Technical proposals will be evaluated based on their responsiveness to the service requirements /TORs listed in Section II and in accordance with the evaluation criteria below.

 

 

 

 

 

Criteria	[A] Maximum Points	[B] Points obtained by Bidder	[C] Weight (%)	[B] x [C] = [D] Total Points
Technical approach, methodology, and level of understanding of project objectives by defining the strategy and understanding of the hybrid census's modelled population estimates in the technical proposal	20		20
Background demonstrating the service provider's comprehension of the terms of reference, prior experience (portfolio of evidence), and UN experience.	15		15
Work plan/time frames provided in the proposal and their sufficiency to satisfy project objectives	15		15
The company or service provider's profile and relevance to the project, as well as specialized experience and knowledge relevant to the assignment, notably on the modelled population estimates for hybrid censuses that can yield age- and sex-structured sub-national population estimates.	25		25
Professional experience of those who will work on the project. Meet the qualifications outlined in the Terms of Reference (CVs, etc.)	25		25
Grand Total All Criteria	100		100%

 

The following scoring scale will be used to ensure objective evaluation:

 

Degree to which the Terms of Reference requirements are met based on evidence included in the Bid submitted	Points out of 100
Significantly exceeds the requirements	90 – 100
Exceeds the requirements	80 – 89
Meets the requirements	70 – 79
Partially meets the requirements	1 – 69
Does not meet the requirements or no information provided to assess compliance with the requirements	0

Financial Evaluation

Price quotes will be evaluated only for bidders whose technical proposals achieve a minimum score of 70 points in the technical evaluation.

 

Price quotes will be evaluated based on their responsiveness to the price quote form. The maximum number of points for the price quote is 100, which will be allocated to the lowest total price provided in the quotation. All other price quotes will receive points in inverse proportion according to the following formula:

 

Financial score =	Lowest quote ($)	X 100 (Maximum score)
	Quote being scored ($)

Total score

The total score for each proposal will be the weighted sum of the technical score and the financial score.  The maximum total score is 100 points.

 

Total score = 70 Technical score + 30% Financial score

 

8. Award Criteria

In case of a satisfactory result from the evaluation process, UNFPA intends to award a Professional Service Contract on a fixed-cost basis to the Bidder that obtain the highest total score.

 

9. Right to Vary Requirements at Time of Award

UNFPA reserves the right at the time of award of contract to increase or decrease by up to 20% the volume of services specified in this RFQ without any change in unit prices or other terms and conditions.

 

10. Payment Terms

UNFPA payment terms are net 30 days upon receipt of invoice and delivery/acceptance of the milestone deliverables linked to payment as specified in the contract.

 

11. Fraud and Corruption

UNFPA is committed to preventing, identifying, and addressing all acts of fraud against UNFPA, as well as against third parties involved in UNFPA activities. UNFPA’s policy regarding fraud and corruption is available here: Fraud Policy. Submission of a proposal implies that the Bidder is aware of this policy.

 

Suppliers, their subsidiaries, agents, intermediaries and principals must cooperate with the UNFPA Office of Audit and Investigations Services as well as with any other oversight entity authorized by the Executive Director and with the UNFPA Ethics Advisor as and when required.  Such cooperation shall include, but not be limited to, the following: access to all employees, representatives agents and assignees of the vendor; as well as production of all documents requested, including financial records.  Failure to fully cooperate with investigations will be considered sufficient grounds to allow UNFPA to repudiate and terminate the Agreement, and to debar and remove the supplier from UNFPA's list of registered suppliers.

 

A confidential Anti-Fraud Hotline is available to any Bidder to report suspicious fraudulent activities at UNFPA Investigation Hotline.

 

12. Zero Tolerance

UNFPA has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on gifts and hospitality. Suppliers are therefore requested not to send gifts or offer hospitality to UNFPA personnel. Further details on this policy are available here: Zero Tolerance Policy.

 

13. RFQ Protest

Bidder(s) perceiving that they have been unjustly or unfairly treated in connection with a solicitation, evaluation, or award of a contract may submit a complaint to the UNFPA Head of the Business Unit Dr. Asa Torkelsson, UNFPA Representative Malaysia/ UNFPA Country Director Thailand at torkelsson@unfpa.org Should the supplier be unsatisfied with the reply provided by the UNFPA Head of the Business Unit, the supplier may contact the Chief, Supply Chain management Unit at procurement@unfpa.org.

 

14. Disclaimer

Should any of the links in this RFQ document be unavailable or inaccessible for any reason, bidders can contact the Procurement Officer in charge of the procurement to request for them to share a PDF version of such document(s).

 

 

PRICE QUOTATION FORM

 

Name of Bidder:
Date of the quotation:	Click here to enter a date.
Request for quotation Nº:	UNFPA/THA/RFQ/22/001
Currency of quotation:	USD
Delivery charges based on the following 2020 Incoterm:	Choose an item.
Validity of quotation: (The quotation must be valid for a period of at least 3 months after the submission deadline

 

• Quoted rates must be exclusive of all taxes, since UNFPA is exempt from taxes.

 

Example Price Schedule below: [Delete after properly completing the Price Schedule, also develop excel version]

 

Item	Description	Number & Description of Staff by Level	Hourly Rate	Hours to be Committed	Total
Professional Fees
Total Professional Fees					$$
Out-of-Pocket expenses: e.g. details of travel costs, air fares (from/to), per diem (days, persons), etc.
Total Out of Pocket Expenses					$$
Total Contract Price (Professional Fees + Out of Pocket Expenses)					$$