TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICE TO CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYTICAL STUDY ON PROGRESS AND GAPS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SAFEGUARDING COMPLIANCE PRACTICES FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AS WELL AS ASSESS THE COHERENCE AND ALIGNMENT OF DIFFERENT SAFEGUARDING FRAMEWORKS IN RWANDA

1. Background

Transparency International Rwanda (TI-RW) is a non-profit organization committed to fighting corruption and promoting good governance through enhancing integrity in Rwandan society.

In line with this mission, and in partnership with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and other civil society organizations, to implement the FCDO-funded project dubbed "Indi Ntambwe mu Kwiyubakira Igihugu" (translating as “An Extra Mile in State Building”), abbreviated as INKI.

The INKI project aims, among other things, to ensure that duty bearers in service delivery uphold a strong culture of safeguarding in the design and implementation of locally led public and other national large-scale infrastructure projects. This project addresses issues related to promoting a culture of environmental and social justice safeguarding of development projects.

As conceived under the project’s outcome 3, there is a commitment to ensure that all development projects and initiatives, whether implemented by government or non-government actors, strictly comply with environmental and social safeguarding measures adopted by different government entities. These safeguards are essential to mitigate adverse impacts on the environment and communities and ensure sustainable development for a resilient nation. Yet, it generally remains unclear whether and how different development projects in Rwanda and across the INKI intervention districts strictly comply with or not with the environmental and social safeguards prescribed by different government entities. While it has been observed that there are too many different environmental and social safeguards developed by different government entities and applied to a wide range of development projects across different functional sectors, it is yet to be established how well coherent and aligned those safeguards are.

It is against the above background that TI-Rw is seeking to hire a consultancy firm or a group of experts (working in a consortium) to conduct a comprehensive analytical study on progress and gaps in the environmental and social safeguarding compliance practices for infrastructural development as well as assess the coherence and alignment of different safeguarding frameworks in Rwanda.

2. Objective of the Study

The primary objective of this study is to conduct a thorough analysis of the current state of environmental and social safeguarding compliance practices across the selected infrastructure projects in the INKI project intervention districts. Specifically, the study aims to:

• Analyse the existing safeguarding policies, guidelines, and frameworks adopted by different government entities and assess their coherence and alignment with internationally benchmarked standards on environmental and social safeguarding.
• Conduct a comprehensive review of at least 4 infrastructure projects initiated by government or non-government entities (2 for each entity) to assess their compliance with the safeguarding measures.
• Identify gap and compliance cases in the current safeguarding compliance practices, determine the underpinning root causes and their potential impact on projects gains sustainability and local communities.
• Provide actionable recommendations for addressing identified gaps and enhancing safeguarding compliance practices and coherence of the national policy, legal and regulatory safeguarding framework.

3. Scope of Work

The gap analysis will focus on 4 infrastructure projects such as road construction, mining site or a quarry, agriculture and other infrastructure development site located in one of the four districts covered by INKI project. The proposed districts for the study are: Musanze, Bugesera, Karongi and Gasabo and the selection will take into consideration the government and non-government projects. The planned assignment will cover only three months counted from the day of contract signature.

4. Methodology

The study will employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including:

• Literature Review: Analyse relevant documents, including safeguarding policies, project reports, and compliance audits.
• Policy analysis and Political Economy analysis
• Observation: Conduct site visits to selected projects to observe safeguarding practices in action.
• Interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Engage with key stakeholders, including project beneficiaries, local communities, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the district covered by the project (Musanze, Bugesera and Gasabo), to gather insights on the effectiveness of safeguarding practices
• Questionnaire: Distribute questionnaires to project staff, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders to collect quantitative data in the district covered by the project.

5. Deliverables

The consultant/consortium is expected to deliver the following:

• Inception Report: Outlining the study approach, methodology, and work plan.
• Interim Report: Presenting preliminary findings and initial gap analysis.
• Draft Analytical Report: A comprehensive draft report covering all aspects of the study, including findings, gap analysis, and recommendations.
• Final Analytical short and comprehensive Report: A revised report incorporating feedback from stakeholders and the organization of not more than 30 pages.
• Presentation: A final presentation to key stakeholders, summarizing the study's findings and recommendations.
• Synthesis of study findings: Up to four pages infographics, synthesizing the study findings. 

6. Timeline

The study is expected to be completed within a period of 3 months, according to the following schedule:

• Inception Report: Within 1 weeks of contract signing.
• Fieldwork and Data Collection: Within the first 3 weeks.
• Interim Report: Within 4 weeks.
• Draft Report Submission and validation: Within 2 weeks after interim report.
• Final Report Submission: Within 2 weeks after draft report submission and validation.

7. Qualifications and Experience

The consulting firm should have the following qualifications and experience:

• Proven experience in conducting analytical studies on environmental and social safeguards.
• Expertise in safeguarding policies, frameworks, and compliance practices.
• Strong understanding of national and international safeguarding standards.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement and consultation.
• Excellent analytical and report-writing skills.
• In the team there must be an expert who has at least a master’s degree in environmental or social studies.

8. Budget and Payment Schedule

The budget for the study will depend on the justifiable financial proposal commensurable to the planned budget for this activity. Payments will be made in installments based on the delivery of key milestones:

• 40% upon submission of inception report,
• 30% upon submission and acceptance of the draft report,
• 30% upon acceptance of the final report.

9. Evaluation criteria and scoring

TI-Rw established the following key evaluation criteria and scoring:

• Proven experience in conducting analytical studies on environmental & social safeguards (10 marks)
• Technical proposal:
  • Methodology and work plan (40 marks)
  • Composition of the team (30 marks)
• Financial proposal (20 marks)

TI-Rw highlights that a consultant/group of experts (working in a consortium) who scores at least 75% on both technical and proven experience will qualify for the financial proposal evaluation.

10. Submission of Proposals

Interested consultants or firms/consortiums are invited to submit the technical and financial proposals in separate files by 4th October 2024 either physically at TI-RW’s office located in Remera, near Grand Legacy Hotel, or through TI-RW’s email address info@tirwanda.org. Selected candidate will be invited at TI-RW Office for contract negotiation.

For further clarifications, do not hesitate to contact on +250788539791 during working hours.