Bibliothèques Sans Frontières
CONSULTANCY TO DESIGN A MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT (MHPSS) & SOCIAL COHESION TOOLKIT FOR SINJAR, IRAQ
Project Strengthening Community-Based Psychosocial Support Services in Qayyarah Sub-District as a Contribution to Local Return and Reintegration Processes
Project financed by INTERSOS and GIZ
Publication date : 05.12.2024
Bibliothèques Sans Frontières / Libraries Without Borders
​​Table des matières
​A. INTRODUCTION
1.The Project
Project Description
Between December 2024 and May 2025, BSF is implementing a new project in Sinjar with the support of INTERSOS:
Objectives:
The project will focus on strengthening Community-Based Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support Services and social cohesion initiatives.
While the overall goal of the project is to contribute to local reintegration processes by strengthening community-based MPHSS services and mainstreaming SGBV, the project will in Sinjar target communities and groups increasingly affected by climate change and contribute to environmental peacebuilding.
BSF’s intervention:
BSF will deploy a mobile multi-media library approach to facilitate awareness and dialogue, by deploying one Ideas Box in INTERSOS community center in Sinjar.
A mobile unit will be equipped with specifically tailored content – books, digital content available on the Ideas Cube server, movies, etc. on selected topics – relevant to the project and of interest to the communities – e.g., history and cultural heritage, social cohesion, mental health, youth development, and climate change. BSF will implement trainings for local facilitators (PSS staff and COVs) who will then be able to engage various target groups to use the multi-media library to conduct psychosocial support activities.
The multi-media library will serve as a platform for raising awareness on key topics relevant to the project and facilitate dialogue in the community providing an opportunity for the different groups to come together – enjoying books and movies in a shared space and thus fostering social cohesion between the different communities. The mobile unit additionally includes tools such as laptops, tablets, and cinema, with which users can learn to produce content of their own. The mobile library will be hosted in the community center in Sinjar and will serve as a major draw for community members – especially children and youth – to attend and use the facility, thus also strengthening linkages with other PSS services provided. Moreover, the approach offers potential to include persons with disabilities who may be less able to participate in some of the more physically oriented unstructured PSS activities (sports, games, etc.) commonly proposed by communities.
Development of a MHPSS & Social Cohesion toolkit:
For this project, BSF is seeking to develop a toolkit on MHPSS and Social Cohesion to provide the Ideas Box facilitators with dedicated pedagogical content that will help them design and implement activities on both topics. The toolkit will contain adapted content and related activity sheets, as well as facilitation techniques and guidelines, to support them throughout the project.
B.INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDERERS
1.Purpose of the tender
The purpose of the Call for Tenders is to select one consultant to produce a toolkit on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) & Social Cohesion, adapted to the needs set out below.
By submitting a tender, the bidder accepts without any restriction the entirety of the specific and general conditions of this Call for Tenders as the sole basis for this procurement procedure. Submission of a bid that does not contain all the information and documents requested by the deadline indicated may result in the rejection of the bid in question.
2. Tender schedule
- Issuance of the Call for Tenders : 5th of December 2024
- Clarification deadline by BSF : 15th of December 2024
- Proposal submission deadline :5th of January 2025
- Evaluation of proposals :7th of January 2025
- Offer to candidate :9th of January 2025
- Signature of contract :14th of January 2025
3.Available budget
The maximum budget for the whole evaluation (baseline, endline and impact evaluation) is 10.000 euros, including all taxes and field missions.
4.Timeline
The tentative timeline is from 14th of January 2025 (contractualization) to 31st of March 2025 (validation of the toolkit and mission report).
All the tasks listed in section C.2 will need to be completed within that timeframe.
5. Questions and clarifications
If BSF, on its own initiative or in response to a request from an applicant, adds or clarifies information to the Call for Tenders documents, this information will be sent in writing and shared with all other potential bidders at the same time.
Bidders may address their questions in writing to the following address, ideally by e-mail, or by post, up to fifteen (15) working days before the deadline for submission, indicating the Call for Tenders reference.
Name of the contact: Julie PINOCHET
Tel: +962 7 9121 3344
Mail: [email protected]
Any bidder seeking to arrange a private meeting with BSF during the Call for Tenders will risk being excluded from the tender procedure.
6. Eligibility
Participation in the tender procedure is equally open to the entities that respect the following eligibility criteria:
- The applicant must be an individual (with a bank account) or a registered company
- The applicant must be legally and physically able to conduct onsite activities in Sinjar, Iraq
- The applicant must have an experience of conducting similar assignments in Iraq, and preferably in Sinjar
Eligibility is also subject to the signature of the integrity declaration in Annex 1 of the tender.
However, in order to respect the rules of the donors who finance BSF’s programs, the participants in the Call for Tenders must clearly stipulate in their offer the nationality of their company.
7.Tender procedure
Tenders should be sent to Julie Pinochet, Regional Program Coordinator, by email at the following address: [email protected]
Tenders must be received by 5th of January 2025 at 6PM (Iraqi time).
Bidders may modify or withdraw their bids by written notification prior to the deadline for submission of bids. Proposals arriving after the deadline will not be accepted and will either be returned to the sender or discarded.
BSF reserves the right to negotiate, accept or reject any proposal at its sole discretion and to continue the competitive dialogue for any response it considers advantageous. BSF is not obliged to accept the lowest price or any proposal.
BSF reserves the right to establish a shortlist of contractors, based on the criteria of the call. Further discussions and a competitive dialogue may then be conducted with the pre-selected contractors.
8.Instructions for submitting a tender
The bidder must provide in its Tender sufficient information to demonstrate its compliance with the requirements set out in each part of this Call for Tenders.
The Tender shall include, as a minimum:
-
A Technical Proposal which shall indicate:
- The work methodology proposed for the creation of the MHPSS and Social Cohesion toolkit for Sinjar, Iraq
- A description of the structuration of the toolkit and the topics and contents it will encompass
- A proposed timetable for implementation, specifying in particular the mission periods and the production of expected deliverables
- A description of the mission(s) carried out by the consultant(s) with characteristics in common with the present Call for Tenders, with the reference of the persons who can be contacted regarding this/these evaluation(s)
- If relevant, a presentation of the planned evaluation teams (with their CVs, references and experience, maximum 2 pages)
- A presentation of the points of vigilance to be taken into consideration
-
A Financial Proposal which shall indicate:
- The total costs of the evaluation in EUR, including VAT
- An estimate of the workload in men/day
- An estimate of all other costs, including travel
- No costs for the preparation and submission of the Tender will be refunded
- Payment terms (schedule)
-
The profile of the evaluator(s), which should indicate:
- Its experience in the MHPSS and social cohesion sectors
- Its experience in Iraq, and more specifically in Sinjar if possible
Tenders as well as all correspondence and documents related to the Call of Tenders exchanged between the bidder and BSF must be written in English. Supporting documents and other documents provided by the bidder may be written in another language, provided that they are accompanied by an accurate translation into English.
Any bidder who fails to provide all of the above documents in the requested formats may be disqualified.
Contractors undertake to submit a bid that will remain valid for a minimum period of thirty (30) days from the deadline for submission. However, the prices and conditions defined in the contract signed with the selected contractor shall be valid for 2 months after the signature of the contract.
9.Evaluation of tenders and selection criteria
The purpose of opening and evaluating the tenders is to check that they are complete and valid.
No excuses will be accepted for late submissions. Tenders that arrive too late will be rejected without being evaluated.
Subsequent evaluation of bids will be carried out in Amman, Jordan by an evaluation committee composed of representatives from Bibliothèques Sans Frontières.
The tenders will be evaluated according to the criteria listed below:
- Ability to meet the requirements of the tender
- Compliance with the terms and conditions of BSF
- Technical offer: understanding of the terms of reference, methodology, experience of the consultant(s)
- Financial offer: daily rates, number of days proposed, ancillary costs, overall offer corresponding to the available budget
CRITERIA AND PERCENTAGE
Technical offer :65%
- Understanding of the ToRs :10%
- Presentation of the work methodology used and description of the toolkit :35%
- References and experience of the consultants : 20%
- Experience of missions on MHPSS and social cohesion :50%
- Experience of missions in the project territory and with the populations concerned :50%
- CV of the person(s) in charge and Organizational Capacity :10%
- Provisional timetable for intervention / estimated workload in days/manpower :10%
FINANCIAL OFFER :35%
TOTAL :100%
All information relating to the project and included in the documents of this Call for Tenders or provided separately must be treated as strictly confidential by the bidder. The applicants agree not to disclose or publish any information relating to this Call for Tenders.
Similarly, any document provided by the bidder will be treated as confidential. Nevertheless, no bidder, including those not retained by BSF, will be returned to the bidders.
In the interests of transparency and equal treatment, the evaluation committee may ask the service providers, in writing, to provide clarifications concerning their offer within 48 hours, without them being able to modify it. Any such request for clarification must not be aimed at correcting any initial errors or shortcomings affecting the performance of the contract or distorting the competition.
Any contractor attempting to influence the evaluation committee in the process of examination, clarification, evaluation and comparison of bids, to obtain information on the progress of the process or to influence BSF in its decision regarding the award of the contract will have its bid rejected immediately.
10. Notification of award and signature of the contract
The selected tenders will be informed in writing that his tender has been accepted (notification of award).
Unsuccessful tenders will be informed by email within 15 days of the date of award.
11.Security
BSF emphasizes that security meetings will be held prior to each trip by the evaluators, to assess whether or not it is possible to visit the Ideas Box deployment site.
Should this not possible, data collection can then be carried out remotely, while respecting the methodology, sampling and tools, adapted accordingly.
12. Cancellation of the tender procedure
In case of cancellation of the Call for Tenders, bidders will be informed by BSF.
A cancellation may occur when:
- The Call for Tenders has been unsuccessful, i.e when BSF has not received any valid or financially viable offer or any response at all;
- The economic or technical parameters of the project have been fundamentally changed
- Exceptional circumstances or force majeur make the normal execution of the project impossible;
- All technically compliant offers exceed the available budget;
BSF shall in no case be liable for damages of any kind (in particular damages for loss of profit in case of cancellation of a Call for Tenders), even if BSF has been warned of the possibility of damages.
The publication of a procurement notice does not commit BSF to implement the announced program or project.
C. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES
1.Objectives of the toolkit
The aim of the proposed mission is to produce a toolkit on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) & Social Cohesion, adapted to the needs set out below.
Direct target audience: INTERSOS facilitators in the community center in Sinjar who will be using the Ideas Box and its content for the implementation of activities on MHPSS and social cohesion
Indirect target audience: The beneficiaries of the MHPSS and social cohesion activities will be children (and families); teenagers; young adults and adults, including IDPs, IDP returnees, host communities and ethnic and religious minorities (Yezidi, Sunni and Shia Kurds, and Shia Arabs)
(More detailed information on these audiences will be provided at the start of the assignment)
Country: Iraq, Sinjar (with a possibility to use the toolkit in other parts of Iraq as well as in Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine)
The material produced should be as adapted as possible to the challenges of these areas and highlight certain cultural elements. Certain constraints will need to be considered: limited availability of equipment or the unavailability of an internet connection in certain locations, for example.
(More detailed information on these locations will be provided at the start of the mission)
Topics to be covered:
The following topics can be addressed in the toolkit:
- Psychosocial resilience and coping skills
- Stigma reduction and community building
- Cultural Identity and Belonging
- Nonviolent Communication and Conflict Resolution
- Art Therapy and Expressive Activities
- Self-Care and Wellbeing Practices
- Life Skills and Socioeconomic Empowerment
- Social and Emotional Learning
2.Expected tasks and services
The selected consultants will conduct the following tasks:
Desk Review:
- Analysis of the project documents
- Analysis of the operational context
Scoping Report with:
- A precise description of the methodology used for the needs assessment to be conducted prior to the design of the toolkit
- Needs assessment data collection tools
- A precise description of the structure and content of the toolkit
- A timetable for the logistical implementation of the mission
- Proposition of a workplan
Needs assessment:
- Data collection during a field mission to Sinjar, according to the methodology(ies) approved by BSF and its partners. The data collection should include children, women, men and people with special needs (PWSNs).
- Delivery to BSF of the raw data collected with a note describing the data sets and the processing applied to them.
BSF emphasizes the importance of including diverse voices and perspectives in the needs assessment, and thus in the toolkit development, particularly from marginalized groups.
Production of the toolkit:
- Production of the toolkit based on the needs assessment and other information provided by BSF and its partner
- Translation of 3 videos on Mental Health in Armed Conflicts, created by BSF in English
- Downloading and indexation of each curated content on BSF internal catalog (a training will be offered on BSF internal tools).
The toolkit should be developed in a sustainable way so that it can continue to be used by the facilitators after the project ends and so that it can easily be adapted to other projects in Iraq or in the region.
Production of mission reports:
- Production of interim reports following each field mission
- Production of a final report containing a summary of the mission executed
3.Expected deliverables
A toolkit for INTERSOS Ideas Box facilitators, in Arabic, Kurdish and English, covering an average of 7 topics, and including:
- A selection of 10 to 12 digital content packages on the targeted topics – a content package includes 10 to 20 digital contents, aimed at a given pedagogical objective, for a given audience, in a given language
- A recommendation of 5 to 7 items of physical content related per topic
- 2 to 4 activity sheets per topic to enable the Ideas Box facilitators to propose dedicated activities on the targeted theme, based on both the digital and physical content available in the Ideas Box
- The course of the face-to-face training session to help facilitators get to grips with the kit and raise awareness of the targeted topics
- Additional resources and/or references that were used in the toolkit’s development
4.Work methodology
The consultant will be coordinated by the Regional Office of BSF for the Middle East, based in Amman, with the potential support of the Department of Education, Research and Impact (DEDUC) at HQ.
A scoping meeting will be held at the start of the mission with the Operations team in Amman and in Iraq.
At the beginning of the mission, BSF and the consultant will jointly establish times for validation of the recommended orientations and deliverables.
5.Risk Assessment and Management
This project involves several potential risks that need to be managed effectively to ensure successful implementation.
- Security Risks: Ongoing conflict or violence in Sinjar could disrupt activities. Mitigation strategies include regular security assessments, coordination with local authorities, and contingency plans for staff evacuation.
- Community Resistance: Cultural or social norms may lead to resistance from community members. Engaging community leaders early, conducting awareness campaigns, and adapting activities to be culturally sensitive can mitigate this risk.
- Logistical Challenges: Accessing remote areas and transporting materials may be difficult. Planning logistics in advance, using mobile units, and partnering with local organizations can help overcome these challenges.
- Political and Regulatory Risks: Changes in local policies could impact the project. Staying informed about political developments and ensuring compliance with local laws are crucial.
Cultural Sensitivity Guidelines
To ensure that the toolkit respects and incorporates local cultural contexts, the following guidelines should be adhered to throughout the project:
- Community Engagement: Engage local community leaders, elders, and influencers in the planning and implementation phases to gain their insights and support. Use participatory methods to involve community members in decision-making processes, ensuring their voices are heard and respected.
- Cultural Awareness: Respect and incorporate local practices and traditions into project activities, ensuring they align with community values.
- Language and Communication: Ensure all materials, including the toolkit, are translated into local languages and dialects. Use clear and simple language to enhance understanding. Employ culturally appropriate communication methods.
- Gender Sensitivity: Ensure that project activities are inclusive of all genders and address the specific needs of women, men, girls and Boys.
- Respect for Traditions and Beliefs: Respect and accommodate religious practices and holidays in the project schedule and activities. Acknowledge and celebrate local cultural events and festivals as part of the project to build trust and rapport with the community.
- Ethical Considerations: Ensure informed consent is obtained from all participants, explaining the purpose, benefits, and potential risks of the project. Maintain the confidentiality and privacy of all participants, respecting their dignity and rights.
How to apply
Tenders should be sent to Julie Pinochet, Regional Program Coordinator, by email at the following address: [email protected]
Tenders must be received by 5th of January 2025 at 6PM (Iraqi time).