TERMS OF REFERENCE
DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR HANDWASHING FACILITIES IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES AND PUBLIC PLACES.
Introduction
Water For People is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with people and partners to develop innovative and long-lasting solutions to the water, sanitation, and hygiene problems globally. The organization strives to continually improve, experiment with promising new ideas, and leverage resources to multiply its impact.
Water For People has secured funds from USAID to finance the WASH Response to Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) Outbreak Project. The MVD project will operate in nine districts: Gasabo, Kicukiro, Nyarugenge, Kayonza, Nyagatare, Gatsibo, Nyanza, Kamonyi, and Ngororero.
The overall goal of this project is to contribute to national efforts to prevent the transmission of MVD through enhanced WASH services in health care facilities and public places. This will be achieved through specific objectives as follows:
- Improve WASH services in health care facilities and public places through the construction of new and/or the repair of existing WASH facilities (note that the project will construct, rehabilitate, or extend existing systems to provide water for drinking and handwashing facilities in 40 healthcare facilities, will construct 30 new handwashing facilities and rehabilitate 35 existing non-and partial functional handwashing facilities)
- Support the development of a sustainable management framework for handwashing facilities in health care facilities and public places.
- Develop monitoring checklists to be used by local authorities and facility owners, and capacity building for the sustainability of handwashing facilities.
- Promote handwashing practices in health care facilities and public places through social and behavior change (SBC) strategies.
Background and Context
Handwashing is a critical public health intervention, particularly in healthcare facilities and public spaces, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Proper management of handwashing facilities is essential to ensure their sustainable functionality, accessibility, and effectiveness.
In the Rwandan context, the management of handwashing facilities in public places and health care facilities is the entity owner’s responsibility. This has presented challenges, including limited resources for operation, maintenance, and upgrades, and sustainability issues that require continuous monitoring and the owners’ engagement. It is in this context that Water for People through the Isoko y’Ubuzima project, is seeking to engage an experienced individual consultant to conduct a comprehensive management framework, develop customized guidelines for handwashing facilities in healthcare facilities and public places, develop monitoring checklists to be used by local authorities and facility owners, and train facility owners on these tools for the sustainability of the handwashing facilities.
The approved management framework will be disseminated at the national level to foster understanding, encourage implementation, and ensure they achieve their intended outcomes. Participants will be the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Health, the Rwanda Biomedical Center, and WASAC.
Objectives of the consultancy:
- The overall objective of the consultancy is to develop a sustainable management framework for WASH facilities in healthcare facilities and public places.
The specific objectives of this consultancy are to:
- Develop a practical and sustainable management framework for handwashing facilities in healthcare facilities and public places aligned with hygiene behavior change goals and infection prevention and control (IPC) standards.
- Develop detailed guidelines for the operation, maintenance, and monitoring of handwashing facilities,
- Develop evidence-based, practical, and adaptable monitoring checklists
- Train facility owners on approved tools for the sustainability of the handwashing facilities.
- Facilitate the dissemination of the approved management framework and guidelines at the national level to foster understanding and encourage implementation.
Scope of Work:
The consultant will:
Conduct a comprehensive desk review:
- Review existing national and international guidelines, standards, policies, and best practices related to handwashing facility management.
- Analyze relevant research and reports on handwashing infrastructure and behavior.
- Review existing national and international management frameworks for handwashing facilities
Conduct a situational analysis:
- Conduct field assessments or leverage existing data to evaluate the status of handwashing facilities and public places. (Gasabo, Kicukiro, Nyarugenge, Kayonza, Nyagatare, Gatsibo, Nyanza, Kamonyi, and Ngororero Districts).
- Identify challenges and gaps in the existing management systems related to functionality, maintenance, accessibility, budgeting, funding, and user behavior.
- Organize workshops and meetings to gather input from stakeholders, including healthcare workers, facility managers, public places managers, and users.
- Incorporate feedback into the framework and guidelines.
Develop a management framework:
- Define roles and responsibilities for the management of handwashing facilities.
- Establish procedures for procurement, installation, and maintenance.
- Develop monitoring and evaluation checklists
- Include financial sustainability planning (Propose financial models for sustainability (e.g., government budget allocation, PPP models, community contributions).
Develop detailed guidelines:
- Outline procedures for the regular cleaning and maintenance of handwashing facilities.
- Include best practices for waste management related to handwashing facilities.
Develop a monitoring and evaluation plan:
- Establish indicators and reporting mechanisms for functionality, usage, and hygiene compliance.
- Develop tools for data collection and analysis.
- Outline procedures for regular reporting and feedback.
Capacity building plan
- Prepare training modules/tools for local authorities.
- Provide training sessions to the above-mentioned beneficiaries.
Dissemination of the management framework
- Facilitate the dissemination of the approved management framework at the national level through a workshop.
Deliverables indicators and targets
The consultant will deliver:
Inception report:
This report should include a literature review of the works to be assessed, a review of existing data, a methodology to be used, and a work plan. The inception report must be submitted 1 week after signing the contract and be validated by the client and stakeholders before moving to the next stage.
Interim report
The interim report must contain a draft management framework, draft guidelines that include the results of the public consultation and disclosure process, monitoring tools, and training modules for beneficiaries, and it must be submitted 3 weeks after the inception report is validated.
A final report
The final report must contain approved management framework and guidelines documents, approved monitoring tools, training and dissemination reports 2 weeks after approval of the draft report.
Note: All reports must be submitted in an electronic file. The report must include a cover page, the main document, and all annexes.
Reporting and supervision
The consultant will be reporting to the project Manager
Bid document
Technical proposal
Consultant’s profile.
The consultant must have academic qualification either in civil engineering, water and environmental engineering, public health, sanitary engineering and management, environmental engineering and management, or environmental health sciences with a bachelor’s degree (submission of academic certificate and equivalence for those studied abroad) with at least 8 years of work experience or a master’s degree or higher with 5 years of work experience in policy development, WASH interventions in institutions, behavior change, development of WASH guidelines, strategic planning, management framework development with at least 2 proven good completion of similar works.
The consultant will submit academic certificate(s), a curriculum Vitae detailing his/her academic qualifications, work experience related to the assignment with proven certificate(s), understanding of the terms of reference, proposed methodology, and proposed work plan for the assignment. Note that this assignment is planned to be completed in 45 days counted from the contract signing date.
Financial proposal
The consultant will submit a separate detailed financial bid detailing costs in man-days. All costs must be all taxes inclusive and must be in Rwandan Francs.
Note that Water For People will cover all costs related to allowances to participants in meetings/workshops.
Evaluation Criteria:
Stage I: Technical evaluation
- Profile of the consultant (Academic qualification, work-related experience): 50%
- Understanding of the assignment and relevance of the proposed methodology: 40%
- Presentation of the work plan of all the activities: 10%
Stage II: Financial evaluation
Following the technical evaluation, only bidders who score 80% or higher will advance to the financial evaluation stage. The bidder must attain a minimum score of 80% for each of the technical evaluation marks scoring sections: Profile of the consultant; Understanding of the assignment and relevance of the proposed methodology; and Presentation of the work plan of all the activities.
At this stage, financial proposals will be assessed, and the bidder with the lowest price will be selected. Financial proposals must be password-protected, and passwords will only be requested from bidders who qualify for the financial evaluation.
Note: Any arithmetic error in the financial proposal will result in an automatic disqualification.
The selected bidder will be contractually required to comply with Water For People’s Vendor Code of Conduct Water For People Vendor Code of Conduct 2022.pdf and will be required to deliver a Conflict-of-Interest Certificate prior to execution of the contract. The Conflict-of-Interest Certificate requires the disclosure of any potential or actual conflicts of interest with Water For People employees or their relatives including past, current or proposed business transactions, employment or offers of employment, or certain gifts or entertainment. Water For People will evaluate any disclosures of conflicts of interest; if Water For People determines it cannot waive or mitigate the conflict of interest it will result in the disqualification of the selected proposer.
COPYRIGHTS
Copyright of all material on assignment will be retained by Water For People in Rwanda.
RIGHTS RESERVED
Water For People reserves the right to cancel the entire procurement process without incurring any liability whatsoever.
Water For People reserves the right to amend any segment of the RFP prior to the announcement of selected candidates.
Water For People also reserves the right to remove one or more of the services from consideration for this contract should the evaluation show that it is in WFP’s best interest to do so.
Water For People also may, at its discretion, issue a separate contract for any service or groups of services included in this RFP. Water For People may negotiate a compensation package and additional provisions to the contract awarded under this RFP.
Water For People reserves the right to debrief the applicants after the completion of the process due to the expected high volume of applications to avoid the compromise of the process.
How to apply
If you feel qualified and interested in the assignment, please send your documents (including the technical and financial proposals as two separate documents) to: rwprocurement@waterforpeople.org no later than 27th July 2025 at 11:59 pm with the following subject: “Consultancy Services for the development of management framework and guidelines for handwashing facilities in health care facilities and public places”. Hard copies and late submissions shall be rejected.
Done at Kigali, on July 9, 2025
Eugene Dusingizumuremyi
Country Director