Recruitment of a Firm to Undertake the Mid-Term Evaluation of the Rwanda FDA's Four-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2024)

The MANAGEMENT SCIENCES FOR HEALTH (MSH) in Rwanda from African region had released this tender for Request for proposals are invited for Recruitment of a Firm to Undertake the Mid-Term Evaluation of the Rwanda FDA's Four-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2024) Location: Kigali Deadline: Friday, 24/03/2023 17:00 RFP Title: Recruitment of a firm to undertake the mid-term evaluation of the Rwanda FDA's Four-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2024) RFP Issued By: Medicines, Technologies and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program A project implemented by Management Sciences for Health, Inc. and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Issuance Date: 24 February 2023 Registration for Information: To ensure you receive modifications to the RFP, send an email to qsiakamkamany@mtapsprogram.org and kscarmeas@mtapsprogram.org and requesting that your organization be put on the distribution list Submission of Questions regarding the RFP: Questions regarding the RFP should be submitted in writing to qsiakamkamany@mtapsprogram.org and kscarmeas@mtapsprogram.org no later than 17 March 2023. MSH will send answers to questions to all registered parties. Closing/Submission Date and Time: 24 March 2023 Language of Proposals:The technical and cost proposals must be in English. Instructions for Submission of Proposals: In order to be considered, complete technical proposal and cost proposal must be submitted by email to qsiakamkamany@mtapsprogram.org and kscarmeas@mtapsprogram.org by the closing date and time. See Section 5 of the RFP for detailed delivery instructions. Estimated Period of Performance: The maximum period of performance is 3 months. Award: A Fixed-Price Contract is anticipated. Issuance of this request for proposals does not constitute an award commitment on the part of MSH nor does it commit MSH to pay for costs incurred in the submission of a proposal. 2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES Project name: USAID Medicines, Technologies, and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) Program Country: Rwanda Title / Area: Recruitment of a firm to undertake the mid-term evaluation of the Rwanda FDA's Four-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2024) Project Year 5 Activities: Activity 1.1.1: Strengthen the medical products regulatory framework of Rwanda FDA including that for medicines used in HIV/AIDS, MNCH, and FP/RH programs; Sub-Activity (d): Provide technical assistance to undertake the mid-term evaluation of the Rwanda FDA's Four-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2024) Technical manager: Antoine Gatera, Country Project Director (CPD) and Jean Mirimo, Senior Technical Advisor-Regulatory Systems Strengthening (STA-RSS) Background: The Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA), which is the country’s national medicines regulatory authority, was established in 2018. The Authority is striving to achieve maturity level (ML) 3 according to the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) for the regulation of medicines and vaccines, a level where a regulatory authority is considered functional and stable. Rwanda FDA, in collaboration with its stakeholders, is implementing the Authority’s Strategic Plan (2021-2024) based on the existing frameworks in health and other key sectors such as agriculture and commerce to implement the National Strategy for Transformation 2017-2024 (NST1). The purpose of the 2021-2024 Strategic Plan is to provide an overarching framework and clear direction to the Authority in achieving its mission of regulating human and animal pharmaceutical and other health products, processed foods, household chemical products, and tobacco and tobacco products to ensure their quality and safety to protect the population of Rwanda from defective, falsified, and substandard products. To ensure that the Rwanda FDA achieves its mission to complement the Rwandan health sector as set out in the country’s Health Sector Strategic Plan IV, the Health Policy (2015) and the National Food and Nutrition policy (2014), Rwanda FDA’s Strategic Plan 2021-2024 focuses on three strategic priority areas which include to: Strengthen the role of the Authority to ensure compliance to specified standards and requirements for regulatory processes and regulated products Collaborate effectively with the public and private sectors as well as national and international partners; and Enable an accountable high-performing, innovative, and sustainable Authority. The Strategic plan has a strategic framework comprising the 3 strategic priority areas – each with objectives, interventions, targets, and key performance indicators. In ensuring that the above mentioned three strategic priorities are met, each of them has a strategic result along with several cross-cutting strategic objectives that provide a clear articulation of milestones on how the strategic framework will be met optimally, effectively, and efficiently. There are interventions, targets, milestones, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for each of the 10 strategic objectives corresponding to the 3 strategic priority areas. Section 4.3 of the Strategic Plan indicates that continuous monitoring and evaluation activities and processes should be undertaken to assess implementation of the plan. This includes mid-term and end-of-term evaluations with an output of reports at the end of each review with recommendations to inform the actions of management. According to the Strategic Plan’s section 4.3.4, the mid-term evaluation [also called Mid-Term Review (MTR)] is due in early 2023 and was to be carried out by independent firm for a neutral assessment of the implementation of the Strategic Plan and any recommended adjustments to be made to reach expected outputs. The strategic objectives will be assessed against the progress made, with formulation of recommendations for strategies for improvement to address challenges / problems encountered during implementation. These recommendations will be discussed with stakeholders aiming for adoption by the Authority of the proposed strategies and alterations to the expected outputs as appropriate. The mid-term review will assess progress towards achievement of results and generate lessons learned to inform the cross-cutting policy dialogue, priority setting, resource allocation, and timely corrective actions Purpose: The overall aim of this consultancy is to undertake the mid-term evaluation / mid-term review (MTR) of the Rwanda FDA's Four-Year Strategic Plan (2021-2024); accurately identify the progress made so far against the set targets with formulation of recommendations for strategies for improvement to address challenges / problems encountered during implementation. Scope and focus of the MTR: The Rwanda FDA has recognized that much progress has been made within the sector, and in effect, a large proportion of the strategic plan’s target activities have been completed in the first and half year of its implementation. To accurately identify the progress made so far against the set targets, the Authority proposes to conduct a mid-term review (MTR) of its Strategic Plan 2021-2024. The overall objective of the MTR of the Rwanda FDA Strategic Plan 2021-2024 is to review progress made in the implementation of strategic objectives and other milestones toward the achievement of the strategic areas as planned and to provide recommendations which can be implemented in its last phase to assure that improvements are made. This will be guided primarily by the Plan’s strategic framework (including its KPIs, targets, and milestones) and using the standard evaluation criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability The MTR will specifically look at: Assessing progress towards the achievement of Rwanda FDA’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan objectives, targets, milestones, and KPIs. Assessing whether identified Rwanda FDA 2021-2024 Strategic Plan priorities are still aligned to national and global goals and respond to emerging needs. Identifying and documenting main challenges or bottlenecks and gaps in the implementation of the Rwanda FDA Strategic Plan 2021-2024 in terms of management arrangements and systems organization for managing the programs associated with the NST1 2017-2024 at national and decentralized levels. Identifying and documenting lessons learnt and best practices to enhance implementation of the existing and proposed new interventions and the overall implementation of Rwanda FDA Strategic Plan 2021-2024. Providing recommendations for improvement of objectives and interventions based on the findings from the MTR Updating the Rwanda FDA Strategic plan 2021/2024 based on findings from the MTR. Methodology: The Mid-term review will be conducted as an in-depth evaluation using a consultative and participatory approach, whereby the Rwanda FDA, other relevant Government of Rwanda (GoR) institutions, development partners, relevant businesses operators, and other stakeholders will be consulted throughout the Review. The review team will also discuss with the relevant Technical Working Group (TWG) or any steering committee established for this purpose on any methodological issues to properly conduct the MTR. The findings of the evaluation will be based on: Meetings with GoR institutions, among them the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the Ministry of Trade, Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB), Rwanda Standards Board (RSB), and other relevant institutions deemed necessary Meetings with various stakeholders including, among others, international development partners (multilateral, bilateral, United Nations (UN) bodies), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and national development ones (such as civil society organizations (CSOs), the private sector e.g., pharmacies, clinics, businesses operators in the field. Field visits to selected decentralized entities such as districts, hospitals and pharmacies, business op with tender notice no. HQ0012/2023 published on 15 Mar 2023. The tender expired on 24 Mar 2023. This tender is sourced from Official Website and is eligible for suppliers interested in Recruitment services. Interested bidders can obtain further information including complete bid documents or ways to participate by registering on Tender Impulse and referencing via Tender Impulse ID 2910853.