Recruitment of a Consultant (Firm) for the performance audit of environmental and social aspects of the FP2E Project.

Bid Reference: BJ-ADET-452936-CS-LCS
Procurement method: Least Cost Selection
World Bank project No. : P175768

Notice No. BJ-ADET-452936-CS-LCS dated __09____/____12___ /2025

Subject : Recruitment of a Consultant (Firm) for the performance audit of environmental and social aspects of the FP2E project

Country : Republic of Benin

Project Name : Vocational Training and Entrepreneurship for Employment Project in Benin (FP2E)

1. The Government of the Republic of Benin has received financial support under the IDA Grant Agreement No. D9450 of the International Development Association (IDA) for the implementation of the Vocational Training and Entrepreneurship for Employment Project (FP2E). The beneficiary will execute, through the Technical Education Development Agency (ADET), the first (1), second (2), and fourth (4) components part (a) of the Project according to the provisions of Article V of the General Conditions and the Annex of the Project Agreement and intends to use part of the amount of this financial support to make payments under the contract for the Recruitment of a Consultant (Firm) for the performance audit of environmental and social aspects of the FP2E project.


2. The mission of the Firm is to carry out the performance audit of environmental and social aspects of the FP2E project. To achieve this, the following tasks will be performed by the Firm:
   
   
   
   • analyze the policy, legal, regulatory, and institutional frameworks of the project;
   
   
   • evaluate the functioning and effectiveness of the bodies responsible for implementing the provisions of the project’s environmental and social management system;
   
   
   • identify and analyze the degree of compliance of activities conducted during stakeholder consultations in the sub-projects;
   
   
   • evaluate compliance and adequacy in the implementation of sub-projects with the provisions outlined in the Project's CGES;
   
   
   • identify non-compliance with the provisions of the framework documents of the Project and national regulations;
   
   
   • evaluate the accessibility, reliability, transparency, effectiveness, etc. of the Grievance Mechanism established for the activities of the sub-projects;
   
   
   • determine the actual negative impacts and associated risks generated by these non-compliances and propose corrective measures;
   
   
   • evaluate the capacity of the different stakeholders to implement activities following good environmental and social practices, identify their weaknesses, and propose corrective measures;
   
   
   • Evaluate the performance of grants provided by the project to business promoters/trained individuals at the ADSC level as well as to partners of ADET such as ANPE and FODEFCA ;
   
   
   • Evaluate the health and safety risk management system of communities and workers at all levels of the project activities including implementation partners and/or as part of agreements;
   
   
   • review the ongoing project activities and those remaining that could generate environmental and social risks and impacts;
   
   
   • Evaluate the level of consultation and involvement of key stakeholders such as public and private institutions, civil society organizations, communities, PAPs, women, vulnerable individuals, etc., in the implementation of the project and propose corrective measures if necessary ;
   
   
   • Evaluate the level of implementation of mitigation measures indicated in safeguard instruments such as the PEES, CGES, CPRP, PGMO, PMPP, PAR, EIES, PGES/PGES-C, MGP, Gender-Based Violence Action Plan, etc.;
   
   
   • Assess the level of information provided to Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) regarding consultations on project resettlement activities, including potential alternative designs to avoid impacts, and meaningful negotiations with PAPs concerning their compensation in accordance with the World Bank environmental and social standard 5 and the CPRP;
   
   
   • Identify non-compliances, disparities, shortcomings, and good practices in the implementation of mitigation measures and the environmental and social monitoring and oversight system;
   
   
   • Propose a corrective action plan in response to identified Non-Compliances and possibly unforeseen impacts and risks arising during implementation, with a timeline for implementation and cost estimates; 
   
   
   • Draw lessons and necessary provisions for the successful implementation of subsequent project activities;
   
   
   • Outline the areas for capitalizing on good practices to apply them in the implementation of future activities in accordance with national standards and the operational policies of the World Bank triggered by the Project.
   
   
   
   


3. The duration of the mission is sixty (60) days. The consultant's mission begins upon receipt of the service start order.


4. Firms can obtain more information from the ADET Secretariat every working day from 08:00 to 12:30 and from 14:00 to 17:30 at the address below. The Terms of Reference for the mission are attached in Annex 2. They can also be consulted on the ADET website: https://www.adet.bj.

The address referred to is:

Secretariat of the Technical Education Development Agency (ADET), located in Cotonou, TWECY MELO Building 28, Rue du Commerce 5.123 COTONOU

Tel: +229 01 53 22 22 22 ; 01 21 60 43 47 Email : secretariat_adet@adet.bj with a mandatory copy to :  spm.fp2e@adet.bj  

1. The FP2E Coordinator, representing the Contracting Authority, invites eligible Firms to express their interest in providing Services. Interested Firms must provide information demonstrating they possess the relevant qualifications and experience required to undertake the mission. The expression of interest file should include :

• a letter of expression of interest written in French (including all other documents in the file) specifying the mission whose template is in Annex 2 ;


• a presentation file of the Firm including at least: a certified copy of the commercial register and statutes if applicable, defining the legal form of the firm, the detail of the firm's areas of intervention, the technical and managerial organization of the firm;


• the firm's experience accompanied by good execution certificates + extracts from contracts, etc.)

1. Firms may associate with other firms in the form of a consortium to strengthen their qualifications. In the case of a Consortium, all partners of the Consortium will be jointly and severally responsible for the entirety of the contract, if applicable.


2. The criteria for evaluating expressions of interest are as follows :

• Must be a firm or consortium of firms specializing in environmental evaluations with a minimum overall experience of ten (10) years in the sector. In the case of a consortium, at least one member firm must meet this criterion. The absence or non-compliance with this criterion is automatically eliminatory ;


• Justify at least ten (10) missions of conducting environmental and social impact studies (EIES) (detailed or in-depth) of which at least five (05) missions pertain to the development of socio-community infrastructure (schools, health centers, colleges, high schools, etc.) ;


• Demonstrate the realization of environmental and social instruments (CGES, CPRP, EIES, PMPP, PGMO, etc.) for at least one (01) project financed by the World Bank to which the Environmental and Social Framework (CES) applies ;


• Justify at least five (05) missions of conducting EIES followed by a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) developed under projects financed by the World Bank or other international donors; 


• Have already conducted at least three (03) missions of environmental and social performance audits of development projects financed by the World Bank or other international donors in Benin or in the West African sub-region;


• Have good organizational and managerial capacity; 


• Have the required technical capabilities and necessary staff to fully carry out the mission entrusted to them.

1. The Firm will be selected using the “Least Cost Selection” method described in paragraphs 7.6 and 7.7 of Section VII of the Procurement Regulations for Borrowers seeking Financing for Investment Projects (FPI) of July 2016 revised in November 2017, August 2018, November 2020, September 2023, and then February 2025.


2. Attention of interested Firms is drawn to paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of Section III of the Procurement Regulations for Borrowers seeking Financing for Investment Projects (FPI) of July 2016 revised in November 2017, August 2018, November 2020, September 2023, and then February 2025, which describe the World Bank's policy on conflict of interests.


3. Expressions of interest written in French in three (03) physical copies (1 original and 3 copies), and one electronic version on USB key in a single file marked “Recruitment of a firm for the implementation of the Grievance Mechanism (GM) for the FP2E Project” must be sent to the address indicated above, by ___23___/__12____/___2025____


4. at ____11______ local time (Cotonou GMT+1) at the latest.


5. The criteria for evaluating expressions of interest are described in the table below:

Note:

The minimum required score for pre-selection is 70 points out of 100.

In case of a tie in the total points obtained, the firm with more experiences in conducting Environmental and Social Performance Audits will be favored.

Done in Cotonou, on 09/12/2025

The Coordinator of FP2E,

Wilfreed Isaac GBESSI

Annexes

      ANNEX I

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE MISSION (website of ADET: https://www.adet.bj.)                                                    

ANNEX II

MODEL OF LETTER OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

MODEL OF LETTER OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

[insert Candidate Name]            [insert Place and date]

Subject : Expression of interest for [indicate nature of service]

                                                     To

                                                         Mr. [indicate title of the representative                                                          of the Contracting Authority/structure                                                                    decentralized]

Sir [indicate Title of the representative of the Contracting Authority/decentralized structure],

After examining the expression of interest announcement file which we acknowledge receipt, we submit our candidacy for pre-selection for the [indicate nature of the service].

Our application file includes :

1) this letter of expression of interest ;

2) the presentation note of the firm accompanied by the organizational chart ;

3) the commercial register/statutes ;

4) proofs of the firm's experiences [certified copies of completion certificates supported by the cover pages and signatures of the corresponding contracts (simple copies)] ;

5) the list of professional staff to be assigned to the mission supported by simple copies of diplomas etc. ;

Please accept, Mr. [indicate the title of the representative of the contracting authority/decentralized structure], the assurance of our distinguished consideration.

(Signature and stamp of the responsible/authorized representative of the firm)