Institutional consultancy on the effectiveness of the simplified protocol and quality of treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition in humanitarian settings of Nigeria

UNICEF has now issued a Request for Proposals] in order to select a supplier for the provision of Study on SAM Simplified Protocol Effectiveness in Nigeria. UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child. Together with its partners, UNICEF works to translate that commitment into practical action, with particular attention to the most vulnerable and excluded children. UNICEF and partners support life-saving treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition in northern Nigeria. Following temporary adaptations to the treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition, UNICEF intends to commission an independent institutional study to assess the effectiveness of the simplified protocol and the quality of treatment provided to children aged 6–59 months in humanitarian settings. The assignment covers Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States in the Northeast and Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara States in the Northwest. It will include retrospective review of OTP admission and treatment data from May 2024 to April 2026, review of programme documentation, facility visits, quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and reporting. 1. Proposal Submission Schedule 1.1 Acknowledgement of receipt The UNICEF e-submission system contains an opt-in/opt-out function through which Proposers may indicate whether they intend to submit an offer. Proposers should use this function. No acknowledgement by email or letter is required. 1.2 Questions from Proposers Requests for clarification must be submitted through the In-Tend clarification function by 12:00 noon Nigeria time on 30 September 2026. Questions should be clear and concise. Responses of general relevance will be shared with all participating Proposers through the platform. Proposers should promptly notify UNICEF through the platform of any ambiguity, error, omission, discrepancy or inconsistency identified in the RFPS documents. 1.3 Amendments UNICEF may amend the RFPS documents at any time before the Submission Deadline. Amendments will be issued through the e-submission platform. UNICEF may extend the Submission Deadline to allow reasonable time for Proposers to take an amendment into account. 1.4 Submission Deadline The deadline for submission of proposals is 7 October 2026 at 12:30 p.m., Nigeria time (UTC+1). The e-submission system will close at the deadline and late submissions will not be accepted. 1.5 Proposal Opening There will be no public opening of proposals. Technical submissions will be opened and evaluated first. Financial submissions will remain inaccessible until the technical evaluation is finalized and will be opened only for Proposers that achieve the minimum technical threshold. 2. Language The Proposal and all related correspondence and documents shall be in English. Supporting documents in another language must be accompanied by an English translation. The English translation will prevail for evaluation purposes, and the Proposer remains responsible for its accuracy. 3. Validity, Modification, Clarification and Withdrawal 3.1 Proposals must remain valid for not less than one hundred and twenty (120) days after the Submission Deadline. A Proposal valid for a shorter period will not be further considered. UNICEF may request an extension of the validity period. 3.2 A Proposer may modify its submission through the e-submission system before the Submission Deadline. The latest successfully submitted return will supersede the earlier submission. 3.3 A Proposal may be withdrawn through the e-submission system before the Submission Deadline. 3.4 During evaluation, UNICEF may request written clarification or invite a presentation. Clarification must not materially alter the original Proposal or change the price, except for correction of arithmetic errors identified by UNICEF. 3.5 UNICEF reserves the right to contact references and verify qualifications, past performance and information submitted by Proposers. 4. Eligibility and Proposer Information A Proposer must be a legally registered institution or company and must comply with the representations and ethical standards in this RFPS. Joint ventures, consortia or associations must identify a lead entity authorized to bind all members and must submit the relevant agreement. Each member is subject to UNICEF eligibility and qualification review. Government-owned organizations may be subject to further review to establish legal and operational independence and absence of unfair advantage. Organizations whose sole proprietor is a former or retired UNICEF or United Nations staff member must disclose that employment at submission. 5. Preparation and Submission of Offer • Examine all RFPS requirements, contractual provisions and submission instructions. • Ensure that the submission includes every mandatory document and responds to each scored technical criterion. • Upload the signed Bid Form separately from the proposal envelopes. • Upload the Technical Proposal in the Technical envelope and ensure that it contains no prices or financial information. • Upload the Financial Proposal in the Financial envelope and link the price to the four deliverables and payment percentages. • Clearly identify any assumptions, subcontractors, consortium members and proposed key experts. • Include all costs necessary for complete performance, including ethical approval, field personnel, travel, accommodation, transport, security, insurance, data collection, software, analysis, reporting and presentations. • Accept UNICEF General Terms and Conditions for Services or clearly state any requested exception in the Proposal. Participation in this solicitation is at the Proposer’s own risk and cost. UNICEF is not responsible for costs incurred in preparing or submitting a Proposal, attending meetings, making presentations or participating in clarifications. 6. Confidentiality RFPS materials shall be used only for preparing a Proposal and shall not be disclosed except to persons assisting the Proposer who are bound by appropriate confidentiality obligations. Information in a Proposal that the Proposer considers confidential should be clearly marked accordingly. 7. Multiple and Related Proposals A Proposer shall not submit more than one Proposal. A lead entity or member of a joint venture may not submit a separate Proposal or participate in another joint venture for the same solicitation. UNICEF may reject Proposals from related organizations where their relationship creates access to confidential information, influence, common control, cross-subcontracting or participation of the same expert in multiple Proposals. This tender will be run through the UNICEF e-submissions system. By clicking on the blue ‘Express Interest’ button in the UNGM tender notice, the full UNICEF e-submission system instructions to bidders document (including instructions on how to access the tender documents and submit an Offer) will be automatically emailed to the ‘contact persons’ included in your UNGM registration. Alternatively, the full UNICEF e-submission system instructions to bidders document is publicly available on the UNICEF supply internet pages here: https://www.unicef.org/supply/index_procurement_policies.html . In the tender management site, if you navigate to the documents tab and opt in to confirm your intention to submit a Bid – you will then see the mandatory placeholders for documents that must be attached prior to submitting your Offer (you will also see if there are any mandatory questionnaires to complete). As such, you are recommended to `opt in` well before the submission deadline so you are clear exactly what documents are required to be uploaded prior to completing your submission. Please note that in order to access the tender documentation through UNICEF’s e-submissions system, vendors must: (i) be registered with UNICEF in UNGM as a company/NGO; (ii) have successfully completed all mandatory information currently required by UNGM when registering. Please ensure that any files submitted as part of your Bid are not corrupt or damaged in any way. Please exercise particular caution when using compressed files. Any corrupt or damaged files may lead to your Bid being invalidated. All vendors are strongly recommended to regularly log in to the UNICEF e-submissions system to check for any deadline extensions, new clarifications, new correspondence or updated tender documents relating to this tender.