Quality Assurance for the Health Law Tool
BACKGROUND
The Western Pacific Regional Action Agenda on Strengthening Legal Frameworks for Health in the Sustainable Development Goals was endorsed by Member States at the 69th session of the Regional committee for the Western Pacific (RC69) in October 2020. The action agenda recognizes the critical role of law in advancing health and provides guidance to WHO and countries on prioritizing action areas, improving processes, and enhancing the capacities of institutions and stakeholders.
WHO provides direct support to countries in the development, implementation, and evaluation of legal frameworks across a broad range of programmatic areas, including health governance, health rights, health service delivery, public health risks, and social determinants of health. Legal reform involves complex processes that include problem identification, stakeholder engagement, legal drafting, enforcement, and monitoring. In addition to reforming legal instruments, strengthening the capacities of institutions and stakeholders responsible for implementing the laws, including policy makers, parliamentarians, regulators, service providers, and communities, is essential.
WHO has developed an interactive e-based information platform intended to support understanding of the law-making process and the role law can and does play in responding to health-related challenges. The Health Law Tool will allow users to easily access information and learn how to navigate issues to advance health through law. It will guide users through the law-making process, and how it relates to health, and health law topics; illustrate the underlying core components of legal interventions; and how these combine to create policy-based responses within a health topic.
The Health Law Tool was launched internally to WHO in February 2021. The Health Law Tool requires a robust quality assurance mechanism to ensure that all content published is accurate and current, and adheres to WHO standards. The Quality Assurance Process developed by WHO involves the following steps:
The Quality Assurance Process
Step 1: Content developer responsible for accurate and current information as part of their contract.
Step 2: WHO provides review for accuracy and relevancy to broader WHO priorities (i.e. is the work relevant with respect to what countries need) and processes (e.g. publications processes).
Step 3: An external entity reviews the material prior to editing/publishing, to provide quality check on accuracy and relevancy.
Step 4: Publishing quality check (to adhere to WHO editing and publishing standards and requirements).
WHO requires a contractor to support Step 3 of the process by undertaking rigorous review of content for technical quality, accuracy and relevancy, and providing recommendations and suggested changes to the WHO technical unit. The contractor will review content across five selected topic areas:
- Health and Human Rights
- Health Workforce
- Implementing the International Health Regulations in national legislation
- Regulation of NCD risk factors
- Health Financing
The review will cover different ‘modules’ of the platform, including health topics, policy responses, and drafting components, each of which contains guidance on the effective use of laws for health incorporating legislative examples from within the Western Pacific Region. Content to be reviewed by the contractor is approximately:
- • 14 Health Topics at 4000-9000 words each
- • 60 Policy Responses at 1000-3000 words each
- • 90 Drafting Components at 500-2000 words each
These are indicative figures only – the exact number of modules and word counts to be reviewed may differ. Examples of modules are available on request.
PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY
The general purpose of this agreement for performance of work is to seek a contractor to support WHO in undertaking quality assurance of content developed for the Health Law Tool in selected topic areas. This will contribute to WHO’s efforts to promote the effective use of laws for health in the Western Pacific Region.
DESCRIPTION/METHODS OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT
The contractor will review content for factual accuracy, technical quality, relevance, and currency and provide suggested edits and recommendations for improvement prior to publishing. Specifically, the contractor will deliver the following outputs:
Output 1: Quality assurance review of Health and Human Rights modules
- • Deliverable 1.1: Submit suggested edits and recommendations to WHO, including any follow-up requested by the Technical Unit.
Output 2: Review and quality assurance of Health Workforce Regulation module
- • Deliverable 2.1: Submit suggested edits and recommendations to WHO, including any follow-up requested by the Technical Unit.
Output 3: Review and quality assurance of International Health Regulations module
- • Deliverable 3.1: Submit suggested edits and recommendations to WHO, including any follow-up requested by the Technical Unit.
Output 4: Review and quality assurance of NCDs Regulation module
- • Deliverable 4.1: Submit suggested edits and recommendations to WHO, including any follow-up requested by the Technical Unit.
Output 5: Review and quality assurance of Health Financing module
- • Deliverable 5.1: Submit suggested edits and recommendations to WHO, including any follow-up requested by the Technical Unit.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- • The Proposer or its key personnel must have 10 years’ experience in legal content development and/or technical writing projects.
- • The Proposer or its key personnel must have worked on at least three comparable projects, please include contact details of former clients as reference.
- • Experience in developing participatory learning materials for health sector, preferably in the context of law.
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
Cover Letter
A letter signed by an officer of the firm, company or corporation, binding the firm/company/corporation to all comments made in the proposal. Include a primary contact person for the proposal.
Qualifications and Experience
Provide a description of the history, experience, and qualifications of your firm/company/corporation and any proposed subcontractors* to perform the Scope of Work.
Documents
- • Resumes and biographies of all principals assigned to the project.
- • List of capabilities corresponding to the scope of work.
- • List of similar/relevant projects your firm/company/corporation has undertaken including results achieved.
- • References from similar projects your firm/company/corporation has undertaken.
Approach to Scope of Work
Provide a detailed description of your approach the deliverables.
Service Timeframes
Provide a detailed description of the services to be performed based on the scope of work and the average timeframes required to complete each. This should include:
The estimated number of staff hours to complete scope of work; all personnel anticipated to be involved in each task.
Project Cost
Provide detailed costs for the services to be performed based on the scope of work*
*If any element of the scope will be subcontracted, please provide the same information for the subcontracting firm.
PROPOSAL EVALUATION
The proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- 25pts - Qualifications and range of experience of Proposer or its key personnel
- 25pts - Knowledge of project requirements as demonstrated under “Methods to carry out the activity”
- 25pts - Written presentation, including readability and conveyance of technical aspects
- 25pts – Project Costs
The total score for the Technical Proposal equals the aggregate sum of scores obtained for each one of the criteria, where appropriate. The maximum score, which can be obtained, is 100 points, where 80 points is the minimum score required to continue with the selection process.
The successful vendor will be required to sign a contract with WHO in which they accept responsibility for the performance of services as stated in their proposal. After review of the submissions, WHO may request to meet (virtually) with potential service providers prior to selecting a vendor.
PROVISION
WHO assumes no responsibility and no liability for costs incurred relevant to the preparation and submission of the Request for Proposal by prospective vendors, or any other costs prior to issuance of a contract.
WHO also retains the right to reject any and all of the proposals submitted, and to make any award deemed to be in the best interest of WHO.
"All rights in the work, including ownership of the original work and copyright thereof, shall be vested in WHO, which reserves the right (a) to revise the work, (b) to use the work in a different way from that originally envisaged, or (c) not to publish or use the work."
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Duration of contract: 6 months starting 01 June 2021
APPLICATIONS
Qualified and interested contractors should submit their proposal and Expression of Interest to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at wproungm@who.int by 20 May 2021.
Please use Tender Notice No. 126175 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.