Somalia: LRPS-ALI-2015-9121497 - Translation and Interpretation Services

1.0 PROCEDURES AND RULES

UNICEF is the agency of the United Nations mandated to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child UNICEF strives to establish children’s rights as international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF’s role is to mobilise political will and material resources to help countries ensure a “first call for children". UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children.

UNICEF carries out its work through its headquarters in New York, 8 regional offices and 125 country offices world-wide. UNICEF also has a research centre in Florence, a supply operation based in Copenhagen and offices in Tokyo and Brussels. UNICEF’s 37 committees raise funds and spread awareness about the organisations mission and work.

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE RFP

The purpose of this RFP is to invite proposals from qualified institutions to provide translation and interpretation services for UNICEF Somalia Programmes.

1.3 FORECAST SCHEDULE

The schedule of the contractual process is as follows:

Closing date and time for submission of full proposal: 20/11/2015 at 10.00 a.m. Nairobi Time

b) Award Notice: To be determined

c) Signature of contract: To be determined

1.4 RFP CHANGE POLICY

All requests for formal clarification or queries on this RFP must be submitted in writing to via e-mail somsupply@unicef.org. Please make sure that the e-mail mentions the RFP reference number.

Only written inquiries will be entertained. Please be informed that if the question is of common interest, the answer will be shared with all potential RFP bidders.

Erasures or other corrections in the proposal must be explained and the signature of the applicant shown alongside. All changes to a proposal must be received prior to the closing time and date. It must be clearly indicated that it is a modification and supersedes the earlier proposal, or state the changes from the original proposal. Proposals may be withdrawn on written request received from bidders prior to the opening time and date. Bidders are expected to examine all instructions pertaining to the work. Failure to do so will be at bidder’s own risk and disadvantage.

1.5 RFP RESPONSE FORMAT

Bidders are requested to confirm their intention to submit their proposal, by sending an e-mail to somsupply@unicef.org

Full proposals should be submitted in ENGLISH and must be received not later than 20/11/2015 by 10.00 am Nairobi Time at UNICEF SOMALIA SUPPORT CENTRE OFFICE, UN GIGIRI COMPLEX, BLOCK Q, GROUND FLOOR. Proposals received prior to the stated closing time and date will be kept unopened in the Bid Box and proposals received after the stipulated date and time will be invalidated.

Bidders must submit three (03) sealed original copies of the proposal duly signed and dated, in the following manner (clearly marked):- Proposals received in any other manner will be invalidated.

· Outer envelope: Name of company

RFP number

UNICEF Somalia Support Centre

Address

· Inner envelope – technical proposal: Name of company, RFP number - technical proposal

· Inner envelope - price proposal: Name of company, RFP number - price proposal

UNICEF will accept no responsibility for the premature opening of a proposal not properly addressed or identified.

Due to the nature of this RFP, there will be no public opening of proposals and responsible officers will open technical proposals when the specified time has arrived.

1.6 BIDDER RESPONSE

1.6.1 Formal submission requirements

The formal submission requirements as outlined in this Request for Proposal must be followed, e.g. regarding form and timing of submission, marking of the envelopes, no price information in the technical proposal, etc.

1.6.2 Mandatory criteria

All mandatory (i.e. must/have to/shall/should/will) criteria mentioned throughout this Request for Proposal have to be addressed and met in your proposal.

All references to descriptive materials should be included in the appropriate response paragraph, though the material/documents themselves may be provided as annexes to the proposal/response.

It is important that you read all of the provisions of the request for proposal, to ensure that you understand UNICEF’s requirements and can submit a proposal in compliance with them. The bidder must also provide sufficient information in the proposal to address each area of the Proposal Evaluation to allow the evaluation team to make a fair assessment of the candidates and their proposal. Note that failure to provide compliant proposals may result in invalidation of your proposal.

1.7 CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Information, which the bidder considers proprietary, should be clearly marked "proprietary", if any, next to the relevant part of the text, and UNICEF will treat such information accordingly.

1.8 RIGHTS OF UNICEF

UNICEF reserves the right to accept any proposal, in whole or in part; or, to reject any or all proposals. UNICEF reserves the right to invalidate any Proposal received from a Bidder who has previously failed to perform properly or complete contracts on time, or a Proposal received from a Bidder who, in the opinion of UNICEF, is not in a position to perform the contract. UNICEF shall not be held responsible for any cost incurred by the Bidder in preparing the response to this Request for Proposal. The Bidder agrees to be bound by the decision of UNICEF as to whether her/his proposal meets the requirements stated in this Request for Proposal. Specifically, UNICEF reserves the right to:

• contact any or all references supplied by the bidder(s);
• request additional supporting or supplementary data (from the bidder(s));
• arrange interviews with the bidder(s);
• reject any or all proposals submitted;
• accept any proposals in whole or in part;
• negotiate with the service provider(s) who has/have attained the best rating/ranking, i.e. the one(s) providing the overall best value proposal(s);
• contact any number of candidates as required to achieve the overall evaluation objectives.

VALIDITY

Proposal must be valid for a minimum of ninety (90) days from the date of opening of this RFP and must be signed by all candidates included in the submission. For proposals from institutions, the proposal must also be signed by an authorised representative of the institution. Bidders are requested to indicate the validity period of their proposal in the Proposal Form. UNICEF may also request for an extension of the validity of the proposal.

1.8.1 Technical Proposal

The technical proposal should address all aspects and criteria outlined in this Request for Proposal, especially in its statement of work, terms of reference and paragraph 1.10 of this Request for Proposal. However, all these requirements represent a wish list from UNICEF. The bidders are free to suggest/ propose any other solution. UNICEF welcomes new ideas and innovative approaches. (NOTE: No price information should be contained in the technical proposal).

1.8.2 Price Proposal

The price proposal should be in line with the TOR, indicating overall/total cost of assignment and itemized budget.

1.9.0 PROPOSAL EVALUTION

After the RFP opening, each proposal will be assessed first on is technical merits and subsequently on its price. The proposal with the best overall value, composed of technical merit and price, will be recommended for approval. UNICEF will set up an evaluation panel composed of technical UNICEF staff and their conclusions will be forwarded to the internal UNICEF contracts Review Committee.

The evaluation panel will first evaluate each response for compliance with requirement of the RFP. Responses deemed not to meet all of the mandatory requirements will be considered non-compliant and rejected at this stage without further consideration. Failure to comply with any of the terms and conditions contained in this RFP, including provision of all required information may result in a response or proposal being disqualified from further consideration.

1.10 TECHNICAL PROPOSAL (70 points)

The technical proposals will be evaluated against specified criteria below. The total amount of points allocated to the technical proposal is 70 points and only technical proposals which receive a minimum of 45 points will be considered further.

Please submit a tailor-made presentation, highlighting:

10.1. EVALUATION CRITERIA

A): TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

Description/Points

1. Your or your company’s strengths, including comparative advantages over your peers 20 points
2. Your experience working with development and humanitarian partners - 10 points
3. Your understanding of Somali context, and network of contacts within Somalia and Somali diaspora, if any - 10 points
4. Professionalism – ability to deliver on time, handle pressure and hardship, ensure quality despite tight deadline, attention to detail, etc. - 20 points
5. Sample of recent work - 10 points

Total Technical Score for technical proposal - 70 Points (Only proposals which receive a minimum of 45 points considered further)

B) FINANCIAL PRICE PROPOSAL - 30 POINTS

Please give your price proposal by filling out the attached Rate Sheet.

Note: You don’t have to give a price for each item. UNICEF Somalia will evaluate your eligibility based on what you/your company can provide. You can add items to the Rate Sheet if it is not already included.

Please indicate clearly what unit your price is based on - is it daily, hourly, monthly or, per X number of words, per assignment?

The total amount of points allocated for the price component is 30. The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened and compared among those invited firms/institutions which obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical component. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Score for price proposal X = Max. score for price proposal x Price of lowest priced proposal/Price of proposal X

2.0 TERMS OF REFERENCE

TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION

Background

UNICEF Somalia office produces various advocacy and communication materials to raise awareness on the situation of children and women in Somalia and UNICEF’s interventions. The programme sections also develop technical documents, tools and communication material that require adaptation into Somali language. Audiences include the international community and international media, but more importantly, the Somali programme managers and practitioners, implementing partners, the media and communities. To meet such needs, having highly qualified professional English-Somali translation/interpretation services is vital.

SCOPE OF WORK

The contracted Translation Company is required to provide accurate translation from English into Somali and vice-versa of:

· Written documents, such as annual reports, situation analysis, newsletters, press releases, human interest stories, briefing books, etc., produced by UNICEF and partners;

· Visual materials, such as video, audio, photo essays, etc;

· Conference, interview, workshop and meetings.

Conditions

The final output should not require editing from UNICEF’s side and should be ready for immediate dissemination/release upon approval by UNICEF.

All translations, except onsite conferencing services, should be submitted as soft copy, WORD document to UNICEF.

And must be presented in an easy-to-read format, i.e., using time code to indicate start/end that matches the original video/audio.

For highly technical content, the service provider could seek support from UNICEF technical experts to ensure accuracy of translation. If the provider opts to seek support from sources outside of UNICEF, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct reference check.

End product (e.g. final report, article, documents, etc.)

· Written and visual material translated into English-Somalia and vice versa accurately, clearly and well represented/formatted.

· Onsite interpretation services for meetings/workshops, interviews, etc.

Qualifications

· Demonstrated skills and more than eight years of professional experience in translation and interpretation.

· Ability to bring out sensitive and subtle language nuances.

· Be able to provide equipment, such as headsets, microphones, etc., and set up interpretation booths, if needed.

· Ability to take up assignments on very short notice and deliver under tight deadline.

· Knowledge of Somali context, including the latest trends in development and humanitarian aid for Somalia and beyond.

· Familiarity with UNICEF’s work and children’s issues.

· Knowledge of Somali context, including latest trends in development and humanitarian aid for Somalia and beyond.

· Must be able to travel to/inside Somalia, as well as Kenya and other locations.

CONTRACT DURATION

Contract will be established on a long term arrangement for a period of 24 months.

SUPPLY OF SERVICES

Before the start of any activity UNICEF and the selected contractor will agree on the tasks to be undertaken. Job orders will be issued by the UNICEF Communication Section on need basis.

PAYMENT TERMS:

UNICEF does not make advance payments. Payments will be made upon satisfactory completion of tasks/deliverables and within 30 days of submission of invoices and supporting documents.

How to apply:

Sealed Hard copy proposals should be hand-delivered or sent by Courier to reach UNICEF at the below address on 20/11/2015 by 10.00 a.m. Nairobi Time. Bids received later than this date will be disqualified:

Supply & Logistics Section

UNICEF Somalia Support Centre

UN Gigiri Complex, Block Q, Ground Floor

P.O. Box 44145-00100

Nairobi

NOTE:

1. Prospective bidders are required to request for a full set of this RFP.

2. Bidders are requested to provide details i.e. Name/ID No. of person delivering the bids a day before the deadline to facilitate entry into the complex to:somsupply@unicef.org

3. A printed set of the completed technical and cost proposals should be submitted in three separate sealed envelopes. (Individual envelopes for technical and price proposals) clearly marked with RFP No., Name of Company, Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal