Department for International Development (DFID) Call for Expressions of Interest : Western Orissa Rural Livelihoods Project, India The British Government Department for International Development, in partnership with the Government of India's Ministry of Rural Development and the Government of Orissa (GoO) is supporting the Western Orissa Rural Livelihoods Project (WORLP). Consultancy companies and organisations, separately or jointly, are invited to submit Expressions of Interest (EoI) to DFID for a major consultancy contract to provide technical assistance and management support in the execution of this project. Eligibility & Assessment Criteria : The lead organisation must have a substantial corporate structure and professional base either in India or the United Kingdom. Adequate and appropriate participation of Indian organisations and consultants, and of women, will be a key criterion, as will be previous successful collaboration between the proposed bid partners. The experience of the consultants or lead organisation in managing large, complex process projects, preferably in rural livelihoods, and in managing interdisciplinary teams, will be another key criterion. The EoI and Capability Statement will also be assessed against evidence of experience in providing quality consultancy services on poverty-focussd programmes in developing countries, in the following areas : organisational change management within government; rural planning and governance issues; decentralisation working with NGOs and CBOs; promoting participatory needs assessments and planning processes with primary and secondary stakeholders setting up project monitoring and impact assessment systems. natural resource management, farming systems, CPRs, income generation, micro-finance, drinking water & sanitation, rural energy, migrant support. Requirements : The EoI should be sent along with a Capability Statement including profiles of the lead and collaborating organizations, covering relevant sectoral and geographical experience. Individual CVs are not required at this stage, but specification of the quality and availability of proposed key personnel should be included. Bidders should provide clear information on the nature of the inter-organisational management arrangements proposed in the EoI. Any EoI with inadequate information, those which do not meet the above criteria, or those received after the closing date will not be shortlisted. Expression of Interest should be as concise and focused as possible to give evidence of the above requirements and should in no case be longer than 10 pages, including the Capability Statement and organisation profiles. They should be e-mailed to : worlp7800@dfid.gov.uk Marked for the attention of : Ricky Scott, Contracts Branch DFID To arrive no later than 12.00 noon on Monday 31 July 2000. Documents should be Microsoft Word / Excel version 7 compliant. Further Information : Interested bidders must refer to our WEBSITE: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/public/working/ja31july00.html for the detailed consultancy TORs, the WORLP project document and budget. The DFID White Paper on International Development, the latest (1999) India Country Strategy Paper and information about DFID's sustainable livelihoods learning platform will also be available through this website. Canvassing DFID or GoO for information beyond that made available could lead to disqualification. For further details, please refer to The Times of India, dated June 29, 2000.