Request for Proposals (RfP)

Title: Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation (TREPA)Project Interim Evaluation

IUCN Rwanda Country Office

RfP Reference: IUCN-2025-04-P03168-01

Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read the information and instructions carefully because non-compliance with the instructions may result in disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.

1. REQUIREMENTS

1.1. A detailed description of the services and/or goods to be provided can be found in Attachment 1.

2. CONTACT DETAILS

2.1. 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: tenders.rwanda@iucn.org

3. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE

3.1. 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 publish this on our website and contact you directly if you have indicated your interest in this procurement (see Section 3.2).

DATE-ACTIVITY

09 April 2025-Publication of the Request for Proposals

13 April 2025-Deadline for confirmation of intention to bid

16 April 2025-Deadline for submission of questions

21 April 2025-Planned publication of responses to questions

1 May 2025-Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“Submission Deadline”)

NA-Interviews / site visits / presentations

9 May 2025-Clarification of proposals

12 May 2025-Planned date for contract award

15 May 2025-Expected contract start date

3.2. Please email the IUCN contact to express your interest in submitting a Proposal by the deadline stated above. This will help IUCN to keep you updated regarding the procurement.

4. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL

4.1. Your Proposal must consist of the following four separate documents:

• Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
• Pre-Qualification Information (see Section 4.3 below)
• 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 [IUCN-2025-04-P03168-01– bidder name]. The bidder 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. Pre-Qualification Criteria

IUCN will use the following Pre-Qualification Criteria to determine whether you have the capacity to provide the required goods and/or services to IUCN. Please provide the necessary information in a single, separate document.

Pre-Qualification Criteria

1. 3 relevant references of clients similar to IUCN / similar work

2. Confirm that you have all the necessary legal registrations to perform the work

4.4. Technical Proposal

The 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 importance:

No-Criteria-Information to provide-Relative Weight

1. Clarity and completeness of the Proposal-10

Technical proposal

2.Approach and Methodology

2.1. Critical analysis of the project objectives and the TOR-10

Included in technical proposal

2.2- 30

(a) Description of the conceptual and methodological approach

experimental designs, sample size and power calculations (25 pt.)

Included in technical proposal

(b) Explanation of the relevance and effectiveness of the methodological approach (5pt.)

Included in technical proposal

2.3. Operationalization of the approach and Methodology:- 20

1. Working programme / working schedule for delivery of outputs. Service provider providing the most advantageous and realistic delivery schedule (10 pt.)
2. Staffing schedule and task assignment descriptions (5pt.)
3. Work organization, back-up services, quality control, logistics (5pt.)

Included in technical proposal

3. Consultants Competencies

3.1. Education: master’s degree or higher in Socio Economics, Environmental studies, Natural Resource management or its equivalent.-5

Copy of degree

3.2. Proven work experience at least 10 years in mid-term evaluations, end term reviews, demonstrated experience in making realistic recommendations to improve project implementation, experience of synthesising lessons, experience disseminating findings of project reviews/evaluations, M&E, Impact assessments, socio-economic and biophysical assessments-15

At least 4 certificates of service completion provided by the client institution or service certificate by the employer

3.3 Proven experience in evaluating similar projects: Prior experience in conducting evaluations and reviews in GEF/GCF or other climate change donor funded projects-10

Certificates of good completion provided by the client institution or service certificate by the employer

4.5. Financial Proposal

4.5.1. 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 costs

Submitted 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. It is your responsibility to determine whether such taxes apply to your organisation and to include them in your Financial Proposal.

4.5.3. Applicable Goods and Services Taxes

Proposal rates and prices shall be exclusive of Value Added Tax.

4.5.4. Currency of proposed rates and prices

All rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in Rwanda Franc (RWF).

4.5.5. Breakdown of rates and prices

For information only, the price needs to be broken down in the following Table. Kindly, add all related price information like daily rates, transport, logistics fees that will be used while conducting this study. The price quates should in Rwandan Francs.

Description-Quantity-Unit Price-Total Price

1

2

TOTAL

4.6. Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be considered 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 Changes

You 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. Completeness

IUCN will firstly check your Proposal for completeness. Incomplete Proposals will not be considered further.

5.2. Pre-Qualification Criteria

Only Proposals that meet all of the pre-qualification criteria will be evaluated.

5.3. Technical Evaluation

5.3.1. Scoring Method

Your 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.

5.3.2. Minimum Quality Thresholds

Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.

5.3.3. Technical Score

Your score for each technical evaluation criteria 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.

5.4. Financial Evaluation and Financial Scores

The financial evaluation will be based upon the full total price you submit. Your Financial Proposal will receive a score calculated by dividing the lowest Financial Proposal that has passed the minimum quality thresholds (see Section 5.3.2) by the total price of your Financial Proposal.

Thus, for example, if your Financial Proposal is for a total of CHF 100 and the lowest Financial Proposal is CHF 80, you will receive a financial score of 80/100 = 80%

5.5. Total Score

Your 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 procedure

6.1. IUCN is using the Open Procedure for this procurement. This means that the contracting opportunity is published on IUCN’s website and open to all interested parties to take part, subject to the conditions in Section 7 below.

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 three or more evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated 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 procurement

7.1. 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 non-compliant, 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 sub-contractors, 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 protection

8.1. 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 then 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 procedure

If you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact procurement@iucn.org. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confidential and are not considered in breach of the above restrictions on communication (Section 2.1).

10. Contract

The contract will be based on IUCN’s template in Attachment 3, the terms of which are not negotiable. They may, however, be amended by IUCN to reflect particular requirements from the donor funding this particular procurement.

11. About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Headquartered in Switzerland, IUCN Secretariat comprises around 1,000 staff with offices in more than 50 countries.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

www.iucn.org

https://twitter.com/IUCN/

12. ATTACHMENTS

Attachment 1 Specification of Requirements / Terms of Reference

Attachment 2 Declaration of Undertaking (select 2a for companies or 2b for self-employed as applicable to you)

Attachment 3 Contract Template

Terms of Reference for IUCN Consultancy

Title: Terms of Reference (ToR) for Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation (TREPA) Project Interim Evaluation

Objective of the consultancy

This consultancy has the following objective(s):

The mid-term evaluation will explore TREPA’s work and achievements with the aim of assessing progress made between 1st January 2022 and 30th May 2025, and providing guidance on how to maximize the potential for achieving the intended results and improve learning in its remaining timeframe (2025-2027).

Through the assessment of the performance, achievements and lessons learnt to date, the review will contribute to both learning and accountability. The specific objectives of the mid-term evaluation are:

• To assess the relevance of TREPA project to achieve a paradigm shift in land management practices in Rwanda’s Eastern Province from landscapes that are degraded, fragile and unable to sustain livelihoods in the face of climate change to restored ecosystems and landscapes. It will also assess the relevance in terms of project approaches/methodologies and adaptiveness to the needs of stakeholders targeted by the intervention.
• To assess the effectiveness of the TREPA project at achieving its objectives and provide clear insights about what has and has not worked so far and why, assess the extent to which the project is achieving its mid-term targets.
• To assess the efficiency in terms of value for money of the delivery of the TREPA outputs.
• To assess the sustainability of results & approaches including the scaling mechanisms and potential impacts; and provide some indication about how the project is progressing towards delivering on its objectives and assess if sustainability measures are being put in place for a future smooth exit. To identify lessons and provide set of actionable recommendations on how the project and the project coordination/management could be adjusted for further improvement and to strengthen delivery of results.
• To assess the progress made on compliance of the environmental and social safeguards (ESS), fiduciary standards, and gender and youth action plan.

Background

Project Reference: P03168

Donor reference: FP167

About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

www.iucn.org

https://twitter.com/IUCN/

About the Project

The current ESARO programming is composed of a suite of mutually interrelated programs and projects designed to address some of the most profound challenges affecting people and nature in the region. Among the projects implemented by IUCN’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office is the TREPA Project – Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation. It is a six-year project, based in IUCN Rwanda Country Office, and funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

The TREPA Project intends to restore 60,000 hectares of drought-degraded landscapes into climate resilient ecosystems through re-forestation, agroforestry, restoration of pasturelands, and soil erosion control measures in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. In addition, irrigation infrastructure projects in the targeted landscapes of the eastern province will be climate-proofed by the TREPA Project.

The TREPA Project will finally support the national and local institutions to effectively plan, manage and monitor climate adaptation outcomes from improved land use at national and decentralized levels.

The TREPA Project is implemented by IUCN (accredited entity) together with the Rwanda Forestry Authority and Enabel as executing entities in partnership with ICRAF, World Vision, and CORDAID.

The Ministry of Environment is responsible for chairing the Project Steering Committee and ensures coherence with national strategies and policies.

Description of the assignment.

Project impact

1. The project will benefit directly 556,252 people (4.4% of the national population and 18.2% of the population in the target area), of which over 50% are women benefiting from the adoption of diversified, climate resilient livelihood options. Around 1,364,185 people are expected to benefit indirectly (10.8% of the national population). The beneficiaries of the project will be smallholder farmers and woodlot growers living in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.
2. 1,308,063 Tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) reduced or avoided as a result of sustainable management of forests and conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks
3. 126,483 food secure households in areas/periods at risk of climate change impacts
4. 150,000 people made aware of climate threats and related appropriate responses
5. Strengthened institutional and regulatory systems that improve incentives for low-emission planning and development and their effective implementation

Outcomes and outputs

For the implementation of the TREPA Project, three components/outcomes will be considered namely:

• Component 1: Restored landscapes that support climate resilient agro-ecological systems and livelihoods in Eastern Province. Below are expected outputs for this component:

1.1. Diversified agroforestry packages are scaled up

1.2. Woodlots and tree plantations are rehabilitated and sustainably managed for productive and ecological services

1.3. Scale-up climate resilient silvopastoral packages to restore degraded rangelands

1.4. Protective restoration measures are scaled up to climate-proof fragile, ecologically sensitive and erosion prone lands

1.5 Clean and efficient cooking energy technologies promoted through support to private sector and communities to transition/reduce Biomass fuel consumption

• Component 2: Market and value chain development for climate resilient agricultural and tree products linked to financial products and services for sustainable management of agro-ecological systems. Expected outputs from this component are the following:

2.1. Strengthened farmers’ groups to adopt climate resilient land use practices with access to market and finances.

2.2. Enhanced climate resilience of agricultural value chains and commodities.

2.3. Enhanced financial inclusion and investments in climate resilient value chains

• Component 3: Strengthened enabling environment to effectively plan, manage and monitor climate adaptation outcomes from improved land use at national and decentralized levels. Looking at strengthening of national and local institutional capacity and cross-sectoral coordination to mainstream climate resilience in land management and planning, the 3rd component is expected to achieve the following outputs:

3.1. Strengthened gender-responsive climate resilience for coordination cross-sectoral planning & community landscape restoration plans developed

3.2. Enhanced and coordinated knowledge and information systems for decision and negotiation support.

3.3. Seed and seedling supply systems enhanced to provide diverse climate adapted species and varieties.

3.4. Evidence from best practices generated and disseminated

Rationale of this mid-term evaluation

This mid-term evaluation fulfils the IUCN Evaluation Policy[1] to conduct an independent midterm evaluation for the purpose of learning and reflection on project management and results. It also addresses Green Climate Fund (GCF) requirement for the Accredited Entity (AE) to conduct and submit an independent project interim/mid-term evaluation as per the Evaluation policy for the GCF[2].

It is expected that the findings and recommendations of this mid-term evaluation will help to identify any needed course corrections in the project’s approach and activities to achieve the expected results and bring valuable external reflections to help strengthen the project and complement the MEL system of the project through an adaptive management modality.

Audience, key stakeholders, and use

This evaluation is being commissioned by IUCN as the Accredited Entity (AE) to the GCF for the TREPA project. The primary audiences for the review are the Green Climate Fund (GCF), TREPA Project Executing Entities and Service Providers, other project stakeholders and the Project Management Unit at IUCN Rwanda Country office coordinating the project. The review report will be submitted to GCF. More specifically, the intended users and uses of the review are:

• TREPA project partners that include the Executing Entities and Service Providers for the purposes of assessing their mid-term performances.
• IUCN as an Accredited Entity (AE) of project, specifically the Project Management Unit for the purpose of managing the project, and for adjustments to improve delivery of outcomes.
• TREPA Project Steering Committee (PSC) for the purpose of providing strategic direction of the project.
• IUCN Rwanda Country Office (RCO) Monitoring and Learning team, for the purpose of improving the monitoring and learning approach.
• IUCN Forest and Land Use programme for the purpose of gathering lessons to inform future project design and implementation of other projects.
• GCF Secretariat to demonstrate accountability for the funding received from the GCF and provide recommendations for future GCF programming as well document key lessons for replication in other projects/countries.

A management response and action plan to address recommendations from interim evaluation will be prepared by IUCN as the AE and shared with the GCF Secretariat.

Evaluation questions

Below are proposed evaluation criteria and questions of interest for the mid-term evaluation, in line with both the New IUCN evaluation Policy and the Evaluation Policy for the GCF. However, potential consultants (candidates) are welcome to provide suggestions on how to streamline and focus the evaluation further.

Relevance:

1. To what extent does the work of the TREPA project address its objectives and the priority issues?
2. To what extent have Executing Entities (EEs) and Service Providers (SPs) been fit-for purpose?
3. How relevant is the TREPA project and, in particular, its outputs and impact achieved so far to the Eastern Province of Rwanda?
4. Is the project theory of change (TOC) and intervention logic coherent and realistic?
5. Does the TOC and intervention logic hold, or does it need to be adjusted?

Coherence:

1. Who are the partners of the project and how strategic are they in terms of capacities and commitment?
2. Is there coherence and complementarity by the project with other actors for other local climate change interventions?
3. To what extent has the project complimented other on-going local-level initiatives (by stakeholders, donors, governments) on climate change adaptation or mitigation efforts?
4. How has the project contributed to achieving a stronger and more coherent integration of the shift to low-emission sustainable development pathways and/or increased climate-resilient sustainable development (GCF RMF/PMF paradigm shift objectives)? Please provide concrete examples and make specific suggestions on how to enhance these roles going forward.

Effectiveness:

1. To what extent is the project achieving its targets and objectives?
2. How effective is the TREPA project’s modus operandi? Are the EEs adequately supported from IUCN to deliver on their outputs? How have the problems encountered been resolved?
3. How effective are the strategies in place in reaching out and influencing the TREPA project’s target audiences? What factors have contributed to accelerate or hinder the uptake of the project’s recommendations by its target audience(s)?
4. Is the project achieving its set targets and expected objectives? What and how much progress has been made towards achieving the overall impacts such as adaptation beneficiaries and improved ecosystem services?
5. To what extent is the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) strategy and tools set up helping to (a) answer key guiding questions, (b) detect any needed programme implementation adjustments for better progress towards results, (c) collect the right kind of data in view of conducting an impact evaluation by the end of the project? What adjustments to the MEL system are recommended to help understand impact of the TREPA project? (d) Are project targets realistic and correct or some need adjustments? (d) Do indicators in the project log frame measure the full suite of results that TREPA is achieving?

Efficiency:

1. To what extent are the project’s outputs in balance with the level of effort, time and resources spent?
2. Have spending and project delivery progressed according to the planned schedule?
3. Is the relationship between resources and results appropriate and justifiable?
4. Are there less costly ways of achieving the same outputs?

Learning:

1. What can we learn from the way the TREPA project is designed and implemented?
2. What has and what hasn’t worked well so far and what needs to be improved or done differently?
3. Are there lessons or best practices that can be up-scaled or replicated in similar environments?

Sustainability:

1. Are the project interventions and benefits likely to continue after the end of GCF funding?
2. What sustainability measures are in place?
3. What real difference has TREPA interventions made to the project’s target groups (m/f)? How has it changed their lives?
4. What exit strategy does the project have?

Impact Orientation:

1. Is the project oriented towards a positive impact on people and nature?
2. Indications of project positive impact on nature?
3. Indications of positive impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods?

One Programme Approach:

1. Is the project leveraging the Union to achieve its objectives?
2. To what extent is TREPA project implemented in accordance with IUCN’s One Programme Approach?
3. To what extent has it engaged with other constituents of the Union to achieve, disseminate, strengthen, scale up or embed its outputs or outcomes?

Gender, indigenous peoples, and youth:

1. To what extent has the TREPA project’s objectives and design promoted and advanced gender equality, gender responsiveness, and/or the needs and priorities of youth?
2. To what extent has the project monitored its progress with appropriately disaggregated monitoring data and with the participation of women and/or youth?
3. To what extent is the project compliant to environmental and social safeguards (ESS)?

Science/policy/action interface:

1. How has the knowledge produced or disseminated by TREPA relevant?
2. Has it been effective in influencing policy or actions?

Country ownership of projects and programmes:

1. How is the project contributing to other projects/programmes within the country? are there further commitments, e.g. more co-financing towards the project?
2. To what extent is the project aligned with national development plans, national plans of action on climate change, or sub-national policy as well as projects and priorities of national partners?

Innovativeness in result areas:

To what extent may the project interventions lead to paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways?

Replication and scalability:

Can the project activities be scaled up in other locations within the country or replicated in other countries?

Unexpected results, both positive and negative

Has the project foreseen any unexpected results, both positive and negative?

Methods and sources

Methods, sources, and analysis

This evaluation will be carried out in conformity with both GCF and IUCN Evaluation Policies. IUCN policy sets out IUCN’s institutional commitment to evaluation, and the criteria and standards for the evaluation and evaluation of its projects and programmes. IUCN’s evaluation standards and criteria are based on the widely accepted Evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, and are also in line with GCF evaluation criteria.

The evaluator(s) is expected to develop an evaluation framework based on the suggested key evaluation criteria above but may suggest additional questions or modifications. The inception report will be prepared as the first deliverable of the evaluation and will include an evaluation matrix for presenting how the key issues will be addressed, the data sources and the data collection methods that will be used for the evaluation and a set of criteria to rate the strength of the evidence collected.

The evaluation will seek the views of the stakeholders who have been engaged in the process to date to conclude whether the project is on track and expected to realize its set objectives.

The evaluator(s) is expected to use mixed methods, including:

• Review of relevant documentation from the TREPA project
• Interviews of key stakeholders across all landscapes (list to be provided at inception);
• Other methods may be proposed as needed and as project resources allow, e.g. KIIs and focus group discussions, survey questionnaire.
• Conclusion and recommendations should be underpinned by a strong set of evidence.

Stakeholders to be consulted.

Key stakeholders to be consulted are TREPA project partners and the coordination unit (Project Management Unit), Executing Entities, Service Providers, and the target groups/project beneficiaries. The consultant is expected to design and facilitate a final reflection workshop to disseminate, triangulate and reflect on the evaluation findings among all the main stakeholders.

Sampling requirements [as needed]

Description of the assignment.

The evaluation will run from 15th May 2025 to 13thJuly2025.

Deliverables and activities.

Deliverables/Activity-Descriptions-Indicative Completion date

Recruitment of consultant**-Contract start date-15th May, 2025**

Inception report**-An inception report including refined key evaluation questions, completed evaluation matrix, methodology, sample size calculation and sampling strategy, data collection tools, detailed fieldwork plan, analysis plan, quality control plan, and timeframes for management inputs and decisions.-29th May 2025**

Preliminary findings presentation**-**Presentation of Preliminary findings; Raw dataset as collected (both quantitative and qualitative data with electronic formats), original records and transcripts (if recording), codebook. -5th June 2025

Draft report**-Submission of draft evaluation report-24th June 2025**

IUCN Comments on the draft report**-Feedback on the submitted draft report-1st July 2025**

Final report**-A final evaluation report, plus annexes (Appendices must include Evaluation terms of reference; Data collection instruments; Evaluation schedule/timetable (including field visits); List of people met/interviewed; Documents consulted). The final report, should not exceed 50 pages, excluding annexes.-13th July 2025**

2-page summary report (actionable recommendations)-A two-pager summary of key findings, lessons, recommendations, and messages from the MTR report, that can be disseminated to the wider public for general information on the project’s results and performance to date.-13th July 2025

Roles and responsibilities

This evaluation is being commissioned by IUCN-Rwanda as an accredited entity to the GCF. The evaluation will be managed by the Project Management Unit (PMU) that oversees the TREPA project coordination.

Payment Schedule

The Timetable below summarises the chronological order of deliverables and indicates milestones at which IUCN will pay the Consultant.

Deliverable-Milestone payment

Inception report-20%

Validated preliminary findings-20%

Draft report-30%

Validated Final report-30%

Skills and Experience

The applicants should have the skills and experience to carry out the consultancy. Evidence will be drawn from previous tasks and roles carried out.

Supervision and coordination

The consultant will report to and work under the supervision of TREPA project Chief of Party.

[1] Evaluation Policy

[2] Evaluation policy for the GCF

Declaration of Undertaking in relation to RfP Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation (TREPA)Project Interim Evaluation

I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am an authorised representative of the following organisation:

Registered Name of Organisation (the “Organisation”): _______________________

Registered Address (incl. country): _______________________________________

Year of Registration:__________________________________________________

I hereby authorise IUCN to store and use the information included in the attached Proposal for the purpose of evaluating Proposals and selecting the Proposal IUCN deems the most favourable. I acknowledge that IUCN is required to retain the Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when reasonably requested.

Where the Proposal includes Personal Data as defined by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), I confirm that the Organisation has been authorised by each Data Subject to share this Data with IUCN for the purposes stated above.

I further confirm that the following statements are correct:

1. The Organisation is duly registered in accordance with all applicable laws.
2. The Organisation is fully compliant with all its tax and social security obligations.
3. The Organisation and its staff and representatives are free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest with regards to IUCN and its Mission.
4. The Organisation agrees to declare to IUCN any real or perceived emerging conflicts of interests it or any of its staff and representatives may have concerning IUCN. The Organisation acknowledges that IUCN may terminate any contracts with the Organisation that would, in IUCN sole discretion, be negatively affected by such conflicts of interests.
5. None of the Organisation’s staff has ever been convicted of grave professional misconduct or any other offence concerning their professional conduct.
6. Neither the Organisation nor any of its staff and representatives have ever been convicted of fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation.
7. The Organisation acknowledges that engagement by itself or any of its staff in fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation will entitle IUCN to terminate any and all contracts with the Organisation with immediate effect.
8. The Organisation is a going concern and is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not suspended business activities, is not the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations.
9. The Organisation complies with all applicable environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection.
10. The Organisation is not included in the UN Security Council Sanctions List, EU Sanctions Map, US Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions List, or the World Bank listing of ineligible firms and individuals. The Organisation agrees that it will not provide direct or indirect support to firms and individuals included in these lists.
11. The Organisation has not been, is not, and will not be involved or implicated in any violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, or injustice or abuse of human rights related to other groups or individuals, including forced evictions, violation of fundamental rights of workers as defined by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, child labour, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment.

_____________________________________________________

< Name and position of authorised representative of the Proposer>

DECLARATION in relation to RFP Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation (TREPA)Project Interim Evaluation

I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am self-employed and able to provide the service independent of any organisation or other legal entity.

Full name (as in passport):

Home or Office (please delete as appropriate) Address (incl. country):

I hereby authorise IUCN to store and use the information included in the attached Proposal for the purpose of evaluating Proposals and selecting the Proposal IUCN deems the most favourable, including Personal Data as defined by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I acknowledge that IUCN is required to retain my Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when reasonably requested.

I further confirm that the following statements are correct:

1. I am legally registered as self-employed in accordance with all applicable laws.
2. I am fully compliant with all my tax and social security obligations.
3. I am free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest with regards to IUCN and its Mission.
4. I agree to declare to IUCN any real or perceived emerging conflicts of interests I may have concerning IUCN. I acknowledge that IUCN may terminate any contracts with me that would, in IUCN sole discretion, be negatively affected by such conflicts of interests.
5. I have never been convicted of grave professional misconduct or any other offence concerning my professional conduct.
6. I have never been convicted of fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation.
7. I acknowledge that engagement in fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation will entitle IUCN to terminate any and all contracts with me with immediate effect.
8. I am not included in the UN Security Council Sanctions List, EU Sanctions Map, US Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions List, or the World Bank listing of ineligible firms and individuals. I agree that I will not provide direct or indirect support to firms and individuals included in these lists.
9. I have not been, am not, and will not be involved or implicated in any violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, or injustice or abuse of human rights related to other groups or individuals, including forced evictions, violation of fundamental rights of workers as defined by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, child labour, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment.

______________________________________________________

How to Apply:

Step 1: Acquire Tender Documents
Obtain the relevant tender documents.

Step 2: Review Requirements
Thoroughly read the tender specifications, terms, and conditions.

Step 3: Prepare Proposal
Prepare your proposal as guided, ensuring all the required information is included.

Step 4: Submission
Submit your completed proposal by 1st May 2025 to the email address tenders.rwanda@iucn.org