Procurement Notices

Project Title

DICT-UNDP Free Wi-Fi for All Project

Background

On August 2, 2017, Republic Act No. 10929, known as the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act, was passed. This act also mandates the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as the lead implementing agency that will oversee its effective and efficient implementation. To follow suit, the Public Internet Access Programme was created. Known as The Free Wi-Fi for All – Free Public Internet Access Program (FWFA Programme), which aims to provide free access to internet service in public places throughout the country such as national and local government offices, public basic education institutions, state universities and colleges, public hospitals and health units, public parks, plazas, libraries, public transport terminals, among others.

To support the roll-out, the DICT and UNDP forged a partnership in 2018 to bring in viable options for building network infrastructure in unserved and underserved communities known as the DICT-UNDP FWFA Project. 

The DICT-UNDP FWFA Project requires the services of an Individual Consultant, who shall provide overall technical expertise for the design and development of a Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Plan which will focus on the implementation of FWFA for Higher Education Institution (HEIs) and the planned scope for health and vaccination centers.

The Individual Consultant will support the project to meaningfully engage critical stakeholders in a transparent, systematic, and non-discriminatory manner for more effective project implementation and produce advocacy and communications products that will strengthen the messaging, visibility and results reporting of the DICT-UNDP FWFA Project for 2022.

Institutional Arrangements

1. The Individual Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the Institutions and Partnerships Programme Team Leader, and the DICT-UNDP FWFA Project Management Office (FWFA PMO) with whom all outputs shall be submitted and through whom all communications shall be coursed or copied. The DICT-UNDP FWFA PMO, through the Project Coordinator, will undertake monitoring/tracking of the IC’s compliance to the scope of work and delivery of expected outputs based on existing guidelines and indicated schedules.
2. FWFA PMO shall provide all Project information, templates and UNDP branding policies that will serve as guide in drafting the deliverables.
3. UNDP Philippines owns the intellectual property and other proprietary rights over all materials produced in relation to this consultancy.
4. The Consultant is expected to have his/her own equipment to be able to deliver the abovementioned tasks. When reporting to the Country Office, the PMO will provide the necessary workspace.
5. The Consultant shall consider at least 3 days lead time for UNDP to review outputs, give comments, certify approval/acceptance of outputs, etc. 

Duration of Work

The Individual Consultant will be engaged an estimated 45 person-days over three (3) months from March 2022 and the maximum end date is June 2022 unless revised in a mutually agreed-upon timetable. Changes in the duration of the contract will be implemented through issuance of a contract amendment and subject to UNDP Financial Rules and Regulations.

Duty Station

Duty station is in Mandaluyong City and the consultant is required to report to the Country Office at least once a week. Subject to approval from the Project Management, the engagement may require fieldwork/travel for the consultant to complete the deliverables/outputs. All relevant field travel costs will be covered by the Project following UNDP policy.

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of a local government alert level system in the Philippines, all work and travel of the Individual consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government. Fieldwork, training, meetings, and coordination shall be done in compliance with community quarantine policies.

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payment

1. The Contractor should send the financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall be “all inclusive” (professional daily fees X number of days, communications, software and online tool/platform subscriptions etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor should be factored into the final amount submitted in the proposal. Travel, as deemed relevant by UNDP and compliant with government guidelines on community quarantine, will be arranged and paid for by UNDP and should not be included in the financial proposal.

2.            Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the Contractor must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration

3.            The contract price will be fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the output and timeline will be agreed upon between the Contractor and UNDP.

4.            Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the delivery by target due dates. Outputs will be certified by the Programme Team Leader prior to release of payments.

The IC will receive the total amount indicated in the proposal in tranches and upon satisfactory completion of the agreed outputs and deliverables based on the following table:

Scope of Work and Outputs

The Individual Consultant shall perform the following:

• Design and implement a Project-wide stakeholder engagement and communications plan catering to various audiences including but not limited to the general public, LGU executives, lawmakers/policymakers, civil society organizations, and members of the media through a participatory process. The plan must at least identify key constituents, the resources needed, strategies, and the key messaging and advocacy activities.  
  1. Coordinate with project partners and key stakeholders in the formulation of the stakeholder engagement and communications plan.
  2. Ensure that the stakeholder engagement and communications plan, including the advocacy activities, is aligned with the project document and overall implementation strategy.
  3. Ensure that the process and output of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan is compliant with UNDP’s Guidance Note on Social and Environmental Standards.
  4. Ensure that the process and output of the Communications Plan substantially contributes to UNDP Philippines communications guidelines and UNDP branding.
• Support the FWFA HEI launch or one identified activity to test and refine the stakeholder engagement and communications plan
  1. Creation, review, and enhancement of FWFA HEI launch or one identified activity’s communications campaign, content, and materials (incl. templates, media materials, messaging for different partners and audiences, briefing materials, and opportunities for support).
  2. Participate in the one of the above project events for the development of the communications templates for the one pager brochure/activity brief, two media cards, one press release and production of at least two feature and/or advocacy stories.
  3. Liase with the media for external outreach and produce materials for the press in relation to the developments of the project.
• Produce project templates for events, visibility and reporting to stakeholders          

Expected Output and Deliverables

All outputs should include the raw /editable files. Raw/editable files shall be submitted to the PMO at end of the contract period or its termination. All outputs and intellectual properties will be owned by UNDP. Future use of such outputs by the IC should have consent from UNDP.

The Combined Scoring Method shall serve as basis for evaluating offers. The technical qualifications will be weighted 70 points and combined with the financial proposal which will be weighted 30 points.

The CV and Portfolio will be reviewed using the criteria in the table below. Only offerors who will obtain a minimum of 70% or 49 out of 70 obtainable points will be shortlisted and considered for evaluation of financial proposal.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested applicants must submit the following documents/information at UNDP Jobs - 104484- Stakeholder Engagement and Communications Consulta to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload of a maximum of one document.

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate
3. At least two (2) relevant Portfolio/Sample works (of which one must be a written output), at most four (4) to get the maximum points
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the Individual Consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during contract duration. 

Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.

Interested applicants to note that personal Medical/health insurance (to be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense) is mandatory for the issuance of contracts. Upon award of the contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration.

The following templates / Annexes and IC General Terms & Conditions can be downloaded from http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU:

• General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contract
• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability
• P-11 form

In view of the volume of applications, UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.