TERMS OF REFERENCE€¦ · Sekhukhune (rural) for a period of sixteen months (01 December 2020 to...

NACOSA | Terms of Reference | Economic Empowerment Pilot Programme for Sex Workers | September 2020 of 14

TERMS OF REFERENCE Economic Empowerment Pilot Programme for Sex Workers RFP-NAC-SW-2020-09

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS | SEPTEMBER 2020

SUMMARY

Title Economic Empowerment Pilot Programme for Sex Workers

Tender reference RFP-NAC-SW-2020-09

Description

NACOSA seeks the services of an organisation / institution to implement a pilot

Economic Empowerment for Sex Workers Pilot Programme focusing on sex

workers in two districts, namely West Rand (peri-urban) and Greater

Sekhukhune (rural) for a period of sixteen months (01 December 2020 to 31

March 2022).

Questions by email

only to [email protected]

Submission by email

to [email protected]

Submission must

include

1. Signed cover letter

2. Proposal including programmatic information as per guideline in section 4.2

below

3. Draft 16 months Implementation Plan

4. Proposed 16 months Programme Budget

5. Company profile

6. B-BBEE certificate

7. SARS tax clearance certificate

8. Confirmation of banking details

9. Signed Code of Conduct for Suppliers of services

10. Signed Declaration of Interest

11. Completed and Signed Declaration of Interest

Deadline for

submission 13h00 on Friday, 9th October 2020

1|BACKGROUND

NACOSA is a network of over 1,800 civil society organisations working together to turn the tide on HIV, AIDS

and TB in South Africa. NACOSA promotes dialogue, builds capacity with accredited training, mentoring and

technical assistance and channels resources to support service delivery on the ground, particularly among

key populations and women and girls.

As a Principal Recipient of the Global Fund and in partnership with USAID and PEPFAR and the Departments

of Health and Social Development, NACOSA works at all levels – from international agencies and national

government, right though to sub-district services and small, community groups.

NACOSA acts as a bridge between people and health and social services.

mailto:[email protected]



The Sex Work programme

The Sex Work Programme, funded by the Global Fund, is implemented across 14 districts and 6 provinces in

South Africa and aims to improve the health and wellness of female, male and transgender sex workers. The

envisaged outcomes of the programme are:

1. Prevent new infections of HIV, STIs and TB amongst sex workers.

2. Improved 90 90 90 health outcomes for sex workers, clients and sexual partners through combination

prevention approaches.

3. Reduced human rights, social and structural barriers to HIV, STI and TB prevention, care and impact

among sex workers.

4. A strengthened health system for the implementation of the National Sex Work Plan (NSWP).

Figure 1 below is the graphic programme description of the sex work programme.

Figure 1| Graphic SW Programme Description

The sex work programme is peer-key population led and seeks to provide individual rights-based services on

a micro level. The programme has a package of core, layered and linked services with the core services

including peer education, screenings, access to condoms, social mobilisation and recruitment for services such

as HTS. The programme seeks to promote sex worker and community empowerment alongside community

and organisational level interventions which support the structural interventions. The structural interventions

include sensitising stakeholders, capacitating organisations and promoting networks and linkages between

sex workers and stakeholders/community. As part of trying to reduce sex worker’s vulnerability and risk, an

economic empowerment pilot was developed to implement economic empowerment activities with sex

workers.

The key elements in the EE pilot programme:


Mainstreaming economic empowerment into HIV prevention policies and programmes;

Education and awareness of stakeholders in terms of root causes of HIV and the linkages between

economic empowerment and reducing the vulnerability to HIV infection through delivery of socio-

economic support services;

Supporting beneficiaries in strengthening access to finance for economic activities, particularly through

credible microfinance institutions;

Involvement of local institutions that may support the programme; and

Training and capacity building of local implementation organisations based in communities.

Economic Empowerment Pilot with Sex Workers

The Economic Empowerment Programme for Sex Workers is a pilot intervention to supplement the service

package provided in the Sex Work Programme. The programme will be an optional structural layered service,

accessible to sex workers (SW) in selected districts. The intended long-term impact of the economic

empowerment pilot is to reduce HIV infection and transmission rates as fewer people are exposed to the risk

of infection and transmission through engaging in sex work as a means of primary income. Therefore, the

specific objective of the economic empowerment pilot programme is to empower sex workers to explore

alternative livelihood opportunities by means of enabling them to acquire new skills to identify and take

advantage of additional or alternative income generating opportunities or accessing further education to

generate additional or alternative income in the future. New skills include at least financial literacy skills,

work readiness skills and basic entrepreneurial skills.

The SW who has shown interest in the EE programme will apply to participate in the programme and will be

selected for the programme based on selection criteria. SW will participate in group mentorship and financial

capabilities with the inclusion of establishment of savings clubs. SW will be streamed into work readiness or

basic entrepreneurship training or will be assisted in applying for further education and training. Following

successful completion of work readiness skills or entrepreneurial skills training (or no training in the case of

pursuit of education opportunities), participants will be referred to suitable partner organisations for further

socio-economic support in pursuit of work opportunities, entrepreneurship or education.

A diagrammatic representation of the EE pilot programme activities is as follows:


2|SCOPE OF WORK

NACOSA seeks the services of an organisation(s) / institution(s) to implement an Economic Empowerment

pilot programme for sex workers in the districts of the West Rand (Gauteng) and Greater Sekhukhune

(Limpopo) for a period of sixteen months (01 December 2020 to 31 March 2022).

The EE pilot programme will be implemented alongside and in collaboration with the Sex Work programme

Sub-Recipient (SR) in each district. A strong partnership and working relationship between the service provider

and SR will be integral to the success of this pilot programme. A Sub-Recipient (SR) is an organisation / entity

engaged by a Principal Recipient (PR) to carry out programme activities that are part of a Global Fund grant.

The SR for the Sex Work Programme in West Rand and Greater Sekhukhune is Centre for Positive Care.

Target population

The following criteria will be used to target sex workers to participate in the EE pilot:

SW between the ages of 25 – 35 years old.

SW must have received at least one core service through the Sex Work Programme.

SW must have completed Grade 9 (a requirement for entrepreneurship training).

It is likely that interest will exceed available spaces and, in this instance, it is recommended that the entry

requirement be raised to completion of National Senior Certificate (Grade 12).

Recommendation for entry into the programme by a social worker or social auxiliary worker, and as such

there will be a reliance on the SR to refer the SW to the EE programme. A one-page assessment to guide

SRs in terms of referrals should be developed.

Sex workers should be invited to apply to be a part of the programme. An application form should be

developed by the service provider and sex workers that complete the application should indicate their

intent, e.g. earn additional income or pursue an alternative career, etc. It is recommended that the service

provider implementing the EE programme and the SR sit together to evaluate applications to the

programme.

Mentorship

continues throughout programme

Financial literacy

Savings clubs

Employment

Work readiness skills training

Referrals to service providers for support in pursuing work

opportunities

Enterpreneurship

skills training

Referrals to service providers for business support services

Referrals to service provider for support in pursuing education

opportunities


Activities

Once selected, the sex workers will participate in the following activities:

Structured group mentorship (mandatory for all participants for a period of 6 months):

Mentorship will be in the form of group mentorship and all participants in each cohort (maximum 20) will

form part of one mentorship group.

Group mentorship will need to be the primary medium of intervention and support in this pilot as it is

important for sustainability of the programme, as when the mentorship intervention ends, sex workers

may still engage with other sex workers that were part of their mentorship group for sustainability of

interventions.

The service provider is to convene at least one mentorship meeting per month and these meetings should

follow a specific programme and should include at least the following:

o General introduction to economic empowerment programme including anticipated outcomes and

time commitment required of participants.

o Determining aspirations of participants and specifically in terms of pursuing work opportunities,

entrepreneurship and education, for the dual purpose of providing either work readiness training

or entrepreneurship training and for referral to other partner organisations.

o Personal action plan (to be monitored by mentors at monthly meeting).

o Check in on progress in terms of savings.

Service providers will be responsible for appointing and directing mentors in terms of programme

outcomes and as such mentors will report progress to service providers.

Mentors and the service providers will need to partner with the SR in the district as well as the SR staff,

most noticeably the Social Auxiliary Workers from time to time, in terms of psychosocial support that may

be required for specific components of the programme.

Financial literacy

Financial literacy training should include modules related to setting financial goals, budgeting, saving and

borrowing and related risks.

An evidence based financial literacy training is to be used, along with ways to support the learners practice

the skills learnt in the training.

Financial literacy training will be reiterated through the savings clubs. The benefit of this programme is

that savings clubs may work through modules together and set both personal and group financial goals in

the first module (goal setting).

The criteria for entry into this activity is participation in the first mentorship session. The criteria for exit

from this activity is a certificate of completion.

Savings clubs

Participants will be required to join a savings club.

At least one savings club is to be established per district.

Savings clubs are to meet at least once per month for a minimum of six months with a SR peer educator

present.

If participants already belong to a savings club or another stokvel-type arrangement, they may be

permitted to be exempt from this activity on the basis that they provide the service provider with

confirmation of membership and minutes of meetings where the participants participated in club

meetings.


Theoretical knowledge gained during the financial literacy course will be reinforced through the savings

clubs. Thus, it is important for the sex worker to understand the basic principles of financial literacy before

embarking on savings.

The service provider would be required to assist in the establishment of savings clubs, including setting up

a ‘constitution’ (i.e. the purpose of the group, basic rules and members), selecting simple portfolios (e.g.

chairperson, treasurer), giving guidance on how to take notes / minutes of each meeting and keeping track

of finances. Templates may be provided to the service provider, if necessary.

Programme participants will have the option, to be discussed at mentorship sessions, to participate in either

work readiness or basic entrepreneurship training.

The service provider is to organise these training courses (in agreement with NACOSA regarding content)

and they are to be within 5 - 8 days in length (not necessarily consecutive).

Given the importance of developing a CV, including for entrepreneurial purposes, this activity will require

all participants to develop a CV.

Work readiness

Work readiness skills, the service provider should facilitate courses that include modules or sessions

related to creating a CV, searching for work opportunities, e-mail and online job applications, job interview

skills, employee rights and responsibilities and work etiquette and ethics. All participants that participate

in this training will be required to submit a CV as proof of participation. Following conclusion of the course,

participants will be referred to partner organisations who are able to facilitate job placement and / or

provide on-going support to participants in searching for work opportunities. Service providers should

include in their proposals proposed partner organisations that may fulfil this function.

Basic entrepreneurship training

Entrepreneurship skills, the service provider should facilitate certain modules included in the SAQA-

accredited New Venture Creation course, together with using the Business Model Canvas as a tool to

develop a business case. Specific content should include modules or sessions related to identifying

entrepreneurial ideas and opportunities, determining financial requirements of a new venture, managing

marketing and selling in a new venture, managing business operations, managing finances, including

preparing and processing documents for financial and banking processes, and health and safety in the

workplace. Following conclusion of the course, participants will be referred to partner organisations who

are able to facilitate support for entrepreneurs. Service providers should include in their proposals

proposed partner organisations that may fulfil this function.

Estimated Targets

Targeted number of sex workers to be reached over sixteen months starting December 2020 are distributed

proportionally across the two districts as indicated in Annexure 1. NACOSA also has developed a number of

non-core indicators that will be reported as part of this pilot programme. These indicators are indicated in

Annexure 2.


3|REQUIREMENTS

Successful service providers should have:

Technical & Staff

Understands the complexities of community work within the selected districts, provide evidence of

recent work within the selected districts.

Fully understands economic empowerment programming including specific aspects included in this

programme, provide examples of recent work commissioned, evidence base of successful

implementation.

Have existing relationships with referrals partners in the two selected districts, provide examples of

these relationships for each aspect of the programme (work readiness, entrepreneurship, etc.).

Ability to coordinate and collaborate with the SR in the two districts.

Knowledge about and ability to communicate and network with relevant district stakeholders and

structures such as government departments, local and district AIDS Councils, and economic

empowerment institutions; (i.e. National Youth Development Agency / YES programme / Expanded

Public Work Programme / Small Enterprise Development Agency / Department of Labour / business

networks), provide evidence of recent relationship, e.g. Letters of Support or reflection on recent

collaborations with partner organisations.

Adequate skilled and experienced staff to manage implementation of the programme areas, including

procurement, monitoring and evaluation, and finance.

Good administration and project management ability.

Finance

Legal status recognised to work in South Africa, enabling the organisation to perform the above-

mentioned tasks.

Demonstrated ability to deliver quality programmes at a reasonable cost, provide examples of recent

programme delivery with evidence of costs per beneficiary.

Appropriate internal control systems, including policies and procedures, to prevent and detect fraud

or misuse of resources.

Accounting system that can correctly record all transactions and balances by source of funds with clear

references to budgets and work plans.

Ability to monitor actual spending in comparison to budgets and work plans.

Ability to manage disbursement of funds in a timely, transparent and accountable manner.

Ability to produce timely and accurate financial reports.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system for routine monitoring of activities/interventions.

Mechanisms and tools to collect and analyse data, and report on programme performance.

Ability to produce timely and accurate programmatic reports.

Only submissions that meet the technical specifications in all aspects as stipulated in this terms of reference

will be considered.


Budget

NACOSA is a non-profit and Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) with a limited budget, funded by The Global

Fund. This means we need a high quality but cost-effective and competitive service.

The proposed budget for both districts is R2 million. The service provider is to provide a proposal of how

activities, including mentorship, savings clubs, training, referrals to partner organisations and programme

management will be undertaken within this stipulated budget. The budget template provided (Annexure B)

must be used to present the proposed budget. If the provided budget template is not used and / or is altered,

this may result in disqualification of the prospective service provider.

4|SUBMISSION OF BIDS

To submit the application write an e-mail to [email protected] with RFP-NAC-SW-2020-09 in the

subject line. If necessary, provide a link to Dropbox in your e-mail and test that it is working. Upon receipt of

the application, NACOSA will check the Dropbox link and confirm that all annex documents have been

received.

All proposals to be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] no later than 13h00 on Friday, 9th October

2020. Relevant timeframes are:

ACTION RESPONSIBLE DATE

Call for Proposals NACOSA 23 September 2020

Submission of Queries Applicants 30 September 2020

Written Response to Queries NACOSA 2 October 2020

Submission of Proposals Applicants 9 October 2020

On-site assessment of service provider(s) NACOSA 2 – 6 November 2020

Appointment and orientation of service provider NACOSA 13 November 2020

Implementation of Programme Successful Applicant/s 1 December 2020

For all applications please ensure:

Timely submission of all documents and reports if requested as part of the assessment of the entity’s

ability to implement the service.

That appropriate staff are available on site if and when an on-site capacity assessment visit is done.




4.1 The proposal submitted must include the following documents and annexes:

1. Signed cover letter on business stationery, including Contact Person, Email, Contact

numbers

2. Proposal including programmatic information as per guideline in section 4.2 below.

Service providers must use the proposal outline template provided (Annexure A). Failure

to use this template may result in service providers being disqualified from the

evaluation process.

Annex 1 Covering letter

Annex 2 • Proposed sixteen month Programme Budget. Bidders must develop their budgets on

the geographically proportioned amounts (based on targets) provided in Section 3 of this

document.

A budget template is provided and must be used to present the proposed budget. Failure

to use this template may result in service providers being disqualified from the

evaluation process.

Please note that the Programme Management costs cannot be more than 10% and is

meant to cover administrative/overhead costs. All other costs related to the

implementation of activities should be worked into the activity cost.

• Amounts must be ex VAT.

• Description of financial systems and processes complying to requirements in Section 3

of the TORs.

Annex 3 Company profile with content on experience in the scope of work

Annex 4 CVs of programme manager, core team, facilitators, mentors (as far as possible). A CV template is provided.

Annex 5 Letters of reference for previous work and / or letters to confirm work with partner organisations.

Annex 6 B-BBEE certificate: Valid Certificate or sworn affidavit for eligible entities as per Dept of

Trade and Industry specifications. A sworn affidavit template for Exempt Micro

Enterprises is provided.

Annex 7 SARS Tax Clearance Certificate

Annex 8 Signed Code of Conduct for Suppliers of services related to Global Fund financing (sign

each page)

Annex 9 Completed and Signed Declaration of Interest

4.2 The proposed solution (document 2 of the submission) must show evidence of alignment to the service

provider requirements in Section 3 and must provide the following detailed information:

Specific skills development courses and / or modules to be offered to selected SW. Please be as specific as

possible in terms of length, content, requirements and outcomes of courses.

Description of who will be providing / facilitating the skills training and mentorship inclusive of CVs (this

may be changed duration implementation with written permission from NACOSA)


Suggested selection criteria to be used for SW to be selected for employment, entrepreneurship or

education support.

Names of district partners and service providers that the service provider may collaborates with

Description of quality assurance methodologies that will be implemented to ensure quality and impactful

implementation

Description of monitoring and evaluation processes including internal M&E system to be used.

5|PROPOSAL SUPPORT

Questions about this call for proposals may be submitted by email by 30 September 2020. The questions will

be anonymised and published with answers on NACOSA’s website: http://www.nacosa.org.za/latest. Answers

to queries will be published by 2 October 2020.

Please direct your requests for information and questions/queries in writing (only) to [email protected].

All emailed questions must contain the subject line “RFP-NAC-SW-2020-09 Programme Query.” Please note

that questions and requests for information must be submitted by 30 September 2020 at 13h00. To ensure

fairness, no personal communication with NACOSA staff about the proposal will be entertained.

Evaluation Criteria for Proposals

The evaluation of submissions will be managed by a Selection Panel (SP) which will prepare a shortlist of

applicants that meet the threshold for appointment. NACOSA will use the shortlist drawn by the SP to

recommend applicants to be appointed as the service provider.

The evaluation process will be conducted according to the following stages:

Stage 1: Assessment of compliance with pre-qualification / eligibility criteria. Applications that do not

comply will not be evaluated further.

Stage 2: Assessment of technical competency focusing on the ability to fulfil the required scope of work.

Applicants need to achieve a score of at least 60 out of 80 points of the technical competency

requirements in order to progress further. Selection will be done by a panel.

Stage 3: On-site visit to service provider(s) to clarify details about the applicant.

For applicants that satisfy the pre-qualification criteria and the administrative requirements, the weighting of

the overall score is as follows:

CRITERIA WEIGHT SUB-CRITERIA POINTS

ELIGIBILITY N/A Proof of legal entity

Pass/Fail Tax Clearance Certificate

Correct BB-EEE Certificate

TECHNICAL 70%

Ability to implement the Scope of Work

Maximum 20 points:

Team will suitable skills and experience = 20

Team with some suitable skills and some experience = 15

Team with some suitable skills and some experience = 10

Team with suitable skills but no experience = 5

70

Experience of implementing similar programmes

Maximum 20 points:

5 or more similar projects = 20

http://www.nacosa.org.za/latest


4 similar projects = 15



Ability to provide services within the sub-district(s) and/or

surrounding areas

Maximum 10 points:

10 years or more experience in both districts = 10

5 years or more experience in both districts = 8

5 years or more experience in one district = 5

Less than 5 years’ experience in one or both districts = 2

Quality of networks and specifically prospective the breadth

and depth of partners institutions to which SW can be

referred

Maximum 20 points:

Working relationships with 10 or more partners = 20

Working relationships with 5 – 9 partners = 15

Working relationship with 2 – 4 partners = 10

Identified partners but no working relationship = 5

BUDGET 10% Realistic budget aligned to target and quality livelihood

offerings 10

B-BBEE LEVEL 20% B-BBEE levels scored on a scale 20

GRAND TOTAL 100

Additional information linked to awards are listed below:

Entities who are selected may undergo a further organisational and programmatic assessment by

NACOSA which might lead to disqualification from the programme.

NACOSA reserves the right to request the applicant to meet with us to clarify the proposal.

NACOSA is not bound to accept the proposal.

NACOSA may, entirely at its discretion, decide to:

- award contracts to different organisations for different sections of the scope of work;

- award contracts for particular sections of the scope of work, but invite new proposals for other

sections of the work;

- delay the award contracts for certain sections of the scope of work (taking into account, inter alia,

timing of funding availability)

- subject the award of contracts to specific conditions as NACOSA may determine at the stage of

awarding the contract.

-

NACOSA NETWORKING HIV & AIDS COMMUNITY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA NPC

3rd Floor, East Tower | Century Boulevard | Century City | Cape Town

t. 021 552 0804 | f. 021 552 7742 | e. [email protected]



Non-Profit Organisation: NPO 190-030 | Public Benefit Organisation: PBO 930056308

Non-Profit Company: 2015/448924/08 | VAT Number: 473 0273 234 | Section 18A Tax Exempt

Accredited by the Health & Welfare SETA | Level 1 B-BBEE Entity (135% recognition)

Nacosa.org.za


Annexure 1: Core indicators and related targets

Indicator Activity

content Target Means of Verification

Number of SW that have

received mentorship

Maximum of

6 sessions

80 sex workers

(40 per district) Register (minimum 3 sessions)

Number of SW that

participated in a savings

clubs or saving individually

No limit 64 sex workers

(32 per district)

Attendance register (for savings club) or

proof of bank account for SW saving

individually

(minimum 2 sessions)


completed financial literacy

training

15 sessions

80 sex workers

(40 per district)

Certificate of completion (minimum 12

sessions)


completed work readiness

training

5 days (6

hours per

day)

60 sex workers

(30 per district)

Certificate of completion or attendance

(minimum 4 days)


completed small business

training

5 days (6

hours per

day)

20 sex workers

(10 per district)

Certificate of completion or attendance

(minimum 4 days)


been referred to partner

organisation for further

support

1 referral per

participant

64 sex workers

(32 per district)

Confirmation of referral by service

provider and referral back to core

programme form


Annexure 2: Non-core indicators and related targets

Indicator Activity

content Target Means of Verification

Number of SW with a CV CV

developed

80 sex workers

(40 per district) CV

Number of SW that secured

alternate or additional

work opportunities

Application,

interview

and offer of

work

opportunity

34 sex workers

(17 per district)

Confirmation of offer of work

opportunity

Number of SW with a

business plan

Business

plan

developed

20 sex workers

(10 per district) Business plan


received funding for small

business development

Small

business

funding

received

16 sex workers

(8 per district) Signed form by service provider

Number of SW that

established small

businesses

Small

businesses

established

16 sec workers

(8 per district)

Proof of registration or marketing

material or proof of purchase of

equipment or proof of sales

Savings

Rand value of

confirmed

savings

R15,360 per sex

worker

(R7,680 per

district or 80%

of 32 sex

workers saving

R300)

Minutes of savings club meetings

(including Rand value saved) savings

club bank account balance or bank

account balance for individual saving

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