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Request for Proposals (RfP) Baseline Study Consultancy IUCN ESARO Ethiopia Office Nature-based Solutions for Water in Africa Project RfP Reference: IUCN-26-03- P04807-1Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read then information and instructions carefully because non compliance with the instructions may result in disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.1. REQUIREMENTS1.1. A detailed description of the services and/or goods to be provided can be found in Attachment 1.2. CONTACT DETAILS2.1. 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: [email protected]. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE3.1. 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 contact you. DATE - ACTIVITY05.03.26 Publication of the Request for Proposals09.03.26 Deadline for confirmation of intention to bid12.03.26 Deadline for submission of questions16.03.26 Planned publication of responses to questions19.03.26 Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“Submission Deadline”)24.03.26 Clarification of proposals27.03.26 Planned date for contract award30.03.26 Expected contract start date3.2. Please email the IUCN contact to confirm whether or not you are intending to submit a proposal by the deadline stated above.4. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL4.1. Your Proposal must consist of the following three documents: Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2) Technical Proposal (see Section 4.4 below) Financial Proposal (see Section 4.5 below)Proposals must be prepared in English.4.2. 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.4.3. Eligibility[Not applicable]4.4. Technical ProposalThe 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 actually 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 importanceS.N - Criteria Points 1 Approach and Methodology1.1 Conceptual understanding of the assignment: Demonstrated understanding of the objectives, scope, and expected outcomes of the baseline study; relevance to watershed restoration context (10)1.2 Methodological approach: Appropriateness, clarity, and feasibility of the proposed methodology, including sampling strategy, tools, and data analysis methods; explanation of why chosen methods are suitable (15)1.3 Workplan and deliverables: Realistic and well-structured plan, with clear key milestones, Gantt chart, timelines, and outputs within the given timeframe (10)1.4 Quality assurance and risk management: Mechanisms for quality control, data validation, ethical considerations, and risk mitigation (5) 2 Consultants’ Competence and Experience2.1 Team Leader: • Education: Postgraduate degree in Natural Resources/Environmental Management, Forestry, Watershed/Water Resources, Agriculture, or related field (5)• Relevant professional experience: at least 7 years in conducting baseline studies, watershed/landscape restoration assessments, or natural resource management evaluations (10)• Experience in leading multi-disciplinary teams, M&E of restoration programs, and working with government/donor-funded projects (10)2.2 Team Members: • Education: Degrees in disciplines relevant to their assigned roles (e.g., hydrology, soil science, ecology, socio-economics, GIS/remote sensing) (5)• Relevant professional experience: at least 3 years in watershed or environmental assessments, socio-economic surveys, or GIS/mapping (5)• Alignment of roles/responsibilities with expertise (5) 3 Firm/team previous similar experience and track record.3.1 Track record: Proven experience in conducting similar baseline studies or assessments, preferably in watershed restoration, natural resourceanagement, or related sectors in the country/region (10)3.2 Client references and past performance: Evidence of successful completion of at least 3 comparable assignments, with references (10) Total - 100%4.5. Financial Proposal4.5.1. The financial proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods/services stated in the RfP in their entirety.4.5.2. Prices include all costsSubmitted rates and prices are deemed to include all costs, insurances, taxes (except VAT, see below), 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. This includes applicable withholding taxes and similar costs. It is your responsibility to determine whether such taxes apply to your organisation and to include them in your financial offer.4.5.3. Applicable Goods and Services TaxesProposal rates and prices shall be exclusive of Value Added Tax.4.5.4. Currency of proposed rates and pricesAll rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in USD4.5.5. Breakdown of rates and pricesFor information only, the price needs to be broken down as follows: Description - Quantity Unit - Price Total Price1 Consultant daily fee2 Logistic feeTOTAL4.6. Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be taken into account in the evaluation.4.7. Your proposal must remain valid and capable of acceptance by IUCN for a period of 90 calendar days following the submission deadline.4.8. Withdrawals and ChangesYou 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.5. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS 5.1. CompletenessIUCN will firstly check your proposal for completeness. Incomplete proposals will not be considered further.5.2. Technical Evaluation 5.2.1. Scoring MethodYour 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.5.2.2. Minimum Quality ThresholdsProposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.5.2.3. Technical ScoreYour 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.5.3. Financial Evaluation and Financial ScoresThe financial evaluation will be based upon the full total price you submit. Your financial proposal will receive a score calculated by dividing the lowest financialvproposal that has passed the minimum quality thresholds (see Section 5.2.2) by the total price of your financial proposal.Thus, for example, if your financial proposal is for a total of USD 100 and the lowest financial proposal is USD 80, you will receive a financial score of 80/100 = 80%5.4. Total ScoreYour 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.6. EXPLANATION OF PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE6.1. IUCN is using the Invitation Procedure for this procurement. This means that only invited bidders may submit a proposal. IUCN typically invites from four to six bidders to submit a proposal.6.2. 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 3.1.6.3. All proposals must be received by the submission deadline in Section 3.1 above. Late proposals will not be considered. All proposals received by the submission deadline will be evaluated by a team of two or more evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in 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.6.4. 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.7. CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROCUREMENT7.1. To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.7.1.1. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant proposal.7.1.2. Any incomplete or incorrectly completed proposal submission may be deemed noncompliant, and as a result you may be unable to proceed further in the procurement process.7.1.3. 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.7.2. 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.7.3. You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)7.4. If you are participating in this procurement as a member of a joint venture, or are using subcontractors, 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.7.5. 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.7.6. 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.8. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION8.1. 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 the end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when requested.8.2. 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.9. COMPLAINTS PROCEDUREIf you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact [email protected]. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confid…