ToR for Design, development and printing of IEC materials for Renewable Energy

Terms of Reference 

for 

Design, development and printing of IEC materials for Renewable Energy

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation is a not-for-profit international development organisation. Founded in the Netherlands nearly 50 years ago, we have built a long-term, local presence in 38 of the poorest countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Our global team of local and international advisors work with local partners to equip communities, businesses and organisations with the tools, knowledge and connections they need to increase their incomes and gain access to basic services – empowering them to break the cycle of poverty and guide their own development.

SNV Nepal is Requesting for Proposal (RFP) for Design, development and printing of IEC materials for Renewable Energy.

1.Background

The Renewable Energy for Rural Areas (RERA) is a joint technical support programme for the Nepalese small-scale renewable energy sector of the Government of Nepal (GoN) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The programme is jointly implemented by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) and Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This project has been commissioned in October 2016 and will run for 3 years ending in September 2019.

The over-arching vision for RERA is ‘to ensure efficient and effective service delivery of small-scale renewable energy through improved outreach and enhanced local cooperation in a federalised Nepal’. This vision will be delivered through improving and developing a framework for participatory and demand-led promotion of small-scale renewable energy in central, provincial and local government authorities, ensuring the effective cooperation with civil society and the private sector in the context of federalisation and constitutional reform. Amongst other measures, RERA aims to do this by supporting AEPC in its transition for extensive service delivery.

The program has already established two Programme Implementation Units (PIU): one in Biratnagar (Province-1) and another in Dhangadhi (Sudoor Paschim Province). The programme will support local, provincial and federal level -governments, work together with civil society, private sectors and selected stakeholders to improve service delivery of small-scale renewable energy technologies.

The programme is divided into four components: 

1. Supporting central government institutions to help them prepare for decentralised energy service delivery
2. Supporting AEPC in establishing an outreach structure so that they are enabled to implement support programmes in collaboration with local and central government structures
3. Promoting local energy service delivery through effective institutional engagement with local governments, civil society, the private and banking sector 
4. Involving disadvantaged groups (DAGs) and women to ensure their engagement in the energy service delivery as decision maker, implementers and beneficiaries

Purpose and rationale of the assignment

Nepal's Constitution of 2015 has declared a federal system as the cornerstone of Nepal's political governance system. According to article 55 of the new constitution, there will be 3 tiers of governments i.e. i) Federal, ii) Provincial, and iii) Local Level. Furthermore, the Constitution states that federal, provincial and local levels can enact laws, regulations, prepare annual plan, budgets, take decisions, prepare and implement policies and plans within its areas of authority. The formulation of the roles and responsibilities in the federal structure is in process. 

In this backdrop, the RERA programme is supporting the government of Nepal (GoN) to define roles and responsibilities of the three levels of government with regard to Renewable Energy (RE) to support transformation into the federal structure. There will be a paradigm shift in how small-scale RE will be promoted, developed and incorporated through 3 tiers of governments. Constitutionally the local governments are expected to be directly involved in planning and implementation of RE promotion. The transition from the present setup to the new federal setup is expected to take a few years. GIZ/RERA will support AEPC in developing tools and standard processes for provincial/local level to access the RE baseline, energy planning, business potentiality assessment and undertake RE resources mapping by formulating policy, structure and regulations. 

In the federalized contextelected representatives oflocal governments (urban and rural municipalities), private sectors and civil society are key players to scale-up small-scale renewable energy technologies (RETs), to deliver quality services and promote commercial application and viable business based on RETs.

Providing energy access in rural Nepal has always been difficult. Extension of the national electricity grid is expensive considering the low population density and mountainous topography Renewable Energy Technologies (RETs) that mainly work off-grid are the best solution in providing access to modern and reliable energy in remote areas of Nepal. RETs can serve multiple benefits and also power commercial applications.However, their sustainability is a major challenge. By providing energy for enterprises and productive applications, RETs generate revenue and improve the livelihood of people living in rural areas. Potential impacts of PUE include increased local economic activity, added value to products and services, job creation and enhanced gender equality, and an overall positive economic and social development.

One of the lacking parts of RE promotion in rural areas is proper awareness and education on the   importance and benefits of renewable energy. The awareness and educating rural communities is of high importance for wide scale dissemination of RE technology. In this regard, IEC materials related to various types of RETs needs to be designed, developed and disseminate that are in simple language, easy to understand with clear message and illustrated by pictures in local context. These materials will be developed in poster, leaflets, PPT and multiplication of already developed RE promotion video showing the benefits of RET, access to finance, RE policy, planning and budgeting particularly focusing women and disadvantage groups of the rural societies.  

2.Objective and Scope of service/works

The objective of the assignment is to design, develop and print IEC materials on RET that are easily understood and culturally relevant to rural communities specially focusing on women and disadvantage groups. The IEC materials will focus on the use and benefits of various type of RETs that includes: micro hydro, solar power, biogas, cook stoves and improved water mills.The materials should also address the policy and planning dimension in regards to GESI and should give examples how GESI aspect in regard to RE can be included in policy, planning, budgeting as well as financing through local financing institutions.  

The specific objectives of the assignment are: 

• Design, develop and print attractive IEC materials with clear pictures/ illustrations / visualization and texts that are suitable for disseminating information on the use and benefits of RETs as well as access to finance and are easily understand by target groups.  
• Prepare three types of visual IEC materials: posters, leaflets and PPT and multiply a promotion video which is already prepared by AEPC incorporating the use and benefits of all types of RETs and financing, policy, planning and budgeting. The PPT will particularly targeted for administrative and government staff while organizing training to them. 
• Revise and finalize the IEC materials after consultations with AEPC/RERA team.
• Print both posters and leaflets as well as PPT and copies of video and deliver to  RERA 

These IEC materials are targeted to the following groups:

• Poorer rural community members with limited or no literacy skills,  
• Rural women and disadvantage groups with limited or no literacy skills
• Rural/ Municipality leaders with limited literacy skills   
• Leaders/Workers of civil societies 
• Local cooperative members
• RET service providers
• Financing institutions
• Trainees of training institutions.
• Government officials

3.Scope of work 

The scope of this assignment includes following tasks and should be completed incorporating the following steps:

• Review some RET related documents to understand the RETs, their use and benefits to the local community.
• Review the IEC materials already developed by various organisations such as AEPC/ RET service providers and other projects. RERA will provide some reference IEC materials to the consultants.
• Design some sample materials in consultation with the AEPC/ RERA and get inputs from RET experts. This may need several modifications while collecting feedbacks from the AEPC/RERA team.
• Finalise two types of posters, two types of leaflet, one PPT and multiplication of RE promotion video covering the use and benefits of all RETs, access to finance and policy, planning and budgeting. 
• Submit the final design to AEPC/RERA for final approval.
• Upon approval, print and deliver the materials to RERA. 

Specifications of the IEC materials

The IEC materials should be developed and printed with the following specifications:

A. Posters:

1. Two types of posters showing the use and benefits of renewable energy in rural context. These posters will also include the information on access to finance.  Both posters will focus women and disadvantage groups as main target group. The main use of these posters will be to display in public areas such as: municipality office, schools, health posts, market place etc.
2. The size of both posters will be 18”X 24” 
3. The paper quality for poster will be 150 GSM (Grams per Square Meter)
4. Number of posters (2000 each)

B. Leaflet:

1. Two types of leaflets will be prepared. The first leaflet will have clear and brief introduction of RERA and benefits and use of all types of RETs. Leaflet also will have some pictures focussing more to the women and disadvantage groups. These leaflets will be distributed to individuals who participate in awareness programme, trainings, etc. The second leaflet will cover mostly access to finance, RE policy, planning and budgeting. The second leaflet will be mainly targeting government officials.
2. The leaflet size will be A3 size with 4 folds.
3. The paper quality will be 100 gram art paper  
4. Number of leaflets – 20,000 (first type) and 3000 (second type)
5. The language will be in simple Nepali that can be easily understand by rural people

4. Requirement (Qualification/experience) of Consulting Firms

• Excellent in knowledge of the relevant design and desktop publishing skills and software such as Page Maker, Photo Shop, Corel Draw, Illustrator, In Design 
• Extensive publications layout and design experience 
• Experiences with projects using participatory approach is an asset 
• Knowledge of development issues and understanding of rural cultures is an asset 
• Graphic design, Illustration and visualization  skills 
• Creative and conceptualization skills 
• Ability to grasp ideas quickly, thinks creatively, take initiative and be innovative

To complete the assignment, the consulting firm must be registered (PAN number) according to prevailing law and regulation of Nepal. The consulting firm has at least 5 years of proven experience in IEC materials development design and production. The consulting firm shall have to present tax clearance certificate and firms renewable documents during application. In addition, it would be an added advantage if the consulting firm shall have knowledge in renewable energy. 

Selection Criteria 

The selection of the consulting firm will be made through collecting individual proposals from eligible consulting firms. The quality of proposals, relevant working experience, qualification/background and relevant documents of Firm and competitive budget will be considered for review and evaluation. The standard procurement rules of SNV Nepal will also be followed during selection. 

5.   Expected Results/Outputs

The expected outputs of the assignment will be high quality posters, leaflets, PPT and copy of promotion video on the use and benefits, policy, plan and budgeting of Renewable energy technologies that are easily understood and culturally relevant to rural communities specially focusing on women and disadvantage groups. 

6. Deliverables and Working schedule with input days

The duration of assignment shall be maximum of four (4)weeks from signing of the contract. The proposed timeline for the assignment is:

Deliverables

• Two high quality posters designed and printed (2000 copy each)
• Two high quality leaflet written in simple Nepali and printed (20,000 copy + 3000 copies)
• High quality PPT with illustration
• Multiplication of promotion video (100 DVD) already developed and available by AEPC

7. Budget and mode of payment 

The total budget for this assignment includes expert's fee, materials development cost, data/information collection, draft and final design, printing, copying and other logistics to complete the assignment. Tax shall be levied as per prevailing rules and regulation of Nepal Government and SNV/RERA will not covered any tax of Experts. 

Payment Schedule: 

• Signing of Contract – 40%
• Final Report Submission – 60%

Submission of RfP

Interested registered firms are requested to go through the TOR of the assignment before submitting proposal. 

Deadline of RFP submission: RfP needs to be submitted online at email id nepal@snv.org and mkumarichaudhary@snv.org labelled with subject line “IEC for RERA” by 24 February 2019, 10:00 AM.