Bangladesh Red Crescent Society

National Headquarters
684-686, Red Crescent Sarak, Bara Moghbazar, Dhaka-1217

Terms of Reference (ToR) for hiring a consultant

for
Developing BDRCS Health Policy, Strategy and Implementation Guideline
Documents

Ref. no.: Pro. (Log) 252/2022 Date:29/10/2022

1. Background
About the BDRCS, the National Society
The Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) was constituted on 31 March 1973 by the President’s Order
No.26 of 1973 with retrospective effect from the 16th of December 1971. The Society was recognized by the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on 20 September 1973 and admitted to the International
Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) on the 02 November 1973. The name and
emblem (from Red Cross to Red Crescent) of the national society were changed from Bangladesh Red Cross
Society to Bangladesh Red Crescent Society on 4th April 1988 vide Act 25 of 1988.
Health is a mandate of BDRCS in its auxiliary role to the government. Since its humble beginnings during the
liberation war, the BDRCS have been providing health services of different magnitude in varying context.
However, in recent times, while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in collaboration with IFRC, PNSs and
other INGOs, it was realized that BDRCS doesn’t possess any formal and published Health Policy and Strategy
(HPS). In diversified situations and in responses, wherever health is concerned, having a proper policy document
and strategic guidance would have been beneficial for the health department to be able to contribute more
efficiently to national society’s broader Strategic Plan 1 and to the Bangladesh National Health Policy 2. The
absence of a health policy and strategy is preventing the health department to prioritize, plan and organize its
work following a concrete action plan that considers the health needs, both in emergency situations and during
normal times while striving to improve the quality of care and services in a target-oriented manner.

BDRCS in health
BDRCS has a long legacy of being a reliable health partner of the government especially in its auxiliary role,
delivering a wide range of preventive and curative health services, awareness raising and social mobilization on
different health issues in both urban and rural areas and even in the camp settings. Under the concept of
disaster response and health, couple of departments including health, training, youth and volunteer, etc. were
established in the past focusing specifically for smooth administration of resources and services. From the very
beginning of its existence, BDRCS, with its limited resources, has been able to secure the acceptance of all the
communities it served in dire times, raising volunteers among them, organizing and training them and respond
to the humanitarian emergencies in a very efficient manner. In all its responses, alliances and collaborations
were leveraged with a wide range of partners, while volunteers became the main strength of BDRCS, whose
1
BDRCS Strategic Plan-2021-25
2
Bangladesh National Health Policy, 2011
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 performance during the recent Covid-19 pandemic has been widely appreciated and applauded both nationally
and globally.

Geographies covered
BDRCS, as mendated by its consitituion needs to support the government as an auxiliary in all disaster response
covering the whole country. So, the consultant or the firm should try to contexualize all policies, strategies and
implementation modalities keeping both the urban and the rural context and scenarios, for both routine and
emergency response works along with the interaction with the public authorities at diferent administrative
levels of the country.

2. Purpose
BDRCS’s senior management under the leadership of its governing body has decided to harmonize all
operations and project activities to be guided by a unified health policy and strategy and guidelines. The
organizational health policy would be developed with a longer time frame while the health strategy will be
developed in line with the BDRCS Strategic plan 2021-25 3 of the national society. However, with the changing
context, BDRCS also needs to align its work in the health domain with that of IFRC’s Health and Care
Framework4 and the national health policy 5 to improve the quality of care through community driven approach
and facilitate opportunities for social inclusion. Key to this approach is to ensure that people can access quality
health care and mitigate vulnerabilities to health resilience both in emergency and normal time. All these
changing humanitarian challenges warrants the NS to be more agile, innovative, and efficient.The Health Policy,
Strategy and Implementation guideline will ensure all the health programming in the NS to be more effective
and accessible to the most vulnerable populations. And this will also link the work of the BDRCS in health and
care to the global agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

3. Scope of Work
Through this request for proposals, BDRCS expresses its interest to develop a comprehensive health policy for a
longer time frame (10 years) and a separate health strategy for shorter time frame (5 years) aligned to the
recently developed strategic plan of 2021-25. This policy and strategy will reaffirm the commitment of the
National Society to carry out a broad scope of health activities for the most vulnerable population. These
include but are not limited to, health promotion, health education and capacity building, social support,
primary, secondary and tertiary health care, disease prevention for communicable and non-communicable
diseases, and provision of clean water and sanitation facilities. It also reaffirms health as a central component in
disaster management, through health system strengthening approach. The policy should also build upon the
experience of working with vulnerable communities and recognizes the increasing need to strengthen the
capacity of communities to promote health, prevent disease outbreaks and public health emergencies and to
respond to the challenges of both communicable and non-communicable disease.

4. Objectives and expectations

The policy and strategy will guide the organization in prioritizing the funding/budget according to the health
needs of the country6, 7. It also governs the utilization of the health-care budget, so that people are covered with
universal access to quality health-care services 8,9. We also expect this effort will further enhance coordination
and collaboration among the various departments and enable BDRCS to achieve its health commitments.
The expected outcomes from this process are;

3
BDRCS Strategic plan 2021-25
4
IFRC’s Health and Care Framework 2030
5
IFRC Health Policy 2005
6
Daniels N. Resource allocation and priority setting. In: Barrett DH, Ortmann LW, Dawson A, Saenz C, Reis A, Bolan G, editors. Public health ethics: cases
spanning the globe. Cham, Switzerland: Springer; 2016.
7
Rajan D, Barroy H, Stenberg K. Strategizing national health in the 21st century: a handbook. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press, World Health Organization;
2016.
8
Tran LD, Zimmerman FJ, Fielding JE. Public health and the economy could be served by reallocating medical expenditures to social programs. SSM Popul
Health. 2017;3: 185–91.
9
Kutzin J. Health financing for universal coverage and health system performance: concepts and implications for policy. Bull World Health Organ. 2013;91: 602–
11.
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  BDRCS Health Policy 2023 - 2033
 BDRCS Health Strategy 2023 - 2028
 BDRCS Health Strategy Implementation Guideline

a. Key expectation from health policy

 Organizational Health Policy is an essential guidance needed for long-term development, identifying the
priority needs of the organization based on the country’s health problem 10.
 Health Policy should set a general plan of action used to guide desired outcomes and is a fundamental
guideline to help make decisions. Policies and procedures are essential in providing standardization and
clarity in daily operational activities when dealing with issues and activities that are critical to health and
safety, legal liabilities and regulatory requirements.
 The organizational health policy also helps in strengthening the health-care system of the organization 11,
specifically developing the capacity of the health department.
 It will support in effective collaboration and cooperation among the public health sector and other health-
related sectors of the country 12.
 It helps in raising external aid effectiveness, as aid plays a significant role 13 in Bangladesh.
 The purpose of health policy and procedures is also to communicate to employees the desired outcomes of
the organization. They help employees understand their roles and responsibilities within the organization,
specifically, policy should set the foundation for the delivery of safe and cost-effective quality care.
 The importance of healthcare policy and procedures is not disputed, and though the importance may not be
as apparent as it should be, it is to ensure not breaching any regulations, while improving the productivity
and efficiency of an organization with a major focus on health care and services.

b. Key expectation from health strategy

 The BDRCS Health strategy, apart from premising itself on the relevant national policies on health and
nutrition and the IFRC Health and Care Framework, and aligning with United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG), ICRC Health care framework, should also build on the learning from the previous
BDRCS strategies and strives to best accommodate emerging health challenges due all natural disasters like
cyclones and floods, climate change effects, migration, as well as the changing socio and cultural aspects
like food behaviour, physical inactivity, mental and psycho-social wellbeing, etc.
 The health strategy should also be aligned and strengthen the auxiliary role of BDRCS with the Red Cross
and Red Crescent movement principles as well as other BDRCS’s policies, strategies and guidelines. relating
to disaster contingency planning, resilience, and youth engagement.
 The health strategy should consolidate all the relevant interventions of BDRCS and further clarifies the
health priorities for the next five years.
 The health strategy should also create grounds or mechanisms for a holistic organizational approach
through which all health interventions, irrespective of which department is leading the implementation, can
be synched for optimization during responses.
 The strategy should create sufficient space for local initiatives and innovations, considering that while
strengthening national or sub-national structures, local health systems will play a major role in improving
the well-being of local people,
 The health strategy should also be inclusive to existing BDRCS’s policies of CEA, PGI, PSEA, PMER, data
privacy and protection

Language: The target audience for these documents includes both national and international community, hence
all the documents need to be developed in two versions, both in English and Bengali. Professional grade
translation must be ensured during the development of the translated version.

10
McMichael C, Waters E, Volmink J. Evidence-based public health: what does it offer developing countries? J Public Health (Oxf) 2005; 27:215–21.
11
World Health Organization. National health policies, strategies, plans. https://www.who.int/nationalpolicies/nationalpolicies/en/.
12
Institute of Medicine (US). Committee on Assuring the Health of the Public in the 21st Century. The future of the public’s health in the 21st century. Washington,
DC: National Academies Press; 2002.
13
Bendavid E, Bhattacharya J. The relationship of health aid to population health improvements. JAMA Intern Med. 2014; 174:881–7.
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 5. Methodology
Once selected, the consultant or firm will be scheduled for a detailed orientation meeting with the health team
and other relevant members of the working group. Clarifications should be provided around the objectives and
expectations as necessary. The consultant should also explain and clarify, how the proposed methodology will
help to achieve the expectations.
Once activities are commenced, regular (weekly/fortnightly) sharing should also occur among the team focal for
appropriate feedback and optimal correction necessary for successful completion of the assignment. However,
the following activities could serve as complementary in designing the methodology.

Timeframe: The duration of contract shall be for a maximum of 60 days after signing.

Phase Activities Completion

 Introduction of health team and other key members of the BDRCS
Health Policy & Strategy Working Group with the consultant or firm
 Introduction to the RCRC movement in Bangladesh
Introduction
 Detailing out the key expectations and clarifications if necessary, 1 day
& Orientation
from BDRCS team
 Clarification of the proposed methodology through QA session by
the consultant
 Desk review of existing relevant policy and strategy documents to
understand the objectives of the project and expectations by
BDRCS
Desk review
 Develop & submit a detailed work plan based on findings from the
& inception 1 week
desk review and in line with the expectations
report
 Feedback loop completed by the working group to agree on
inception report findings and methodology shared
 Finalize activities according to work plan
 Field visits, data mining, KIIs, FGDs, workshops, feedback sessions,
Workplan 1 month
etc

Drafts  Submit draft policy, strategy and implementation guideline 15 days

 Review and incorporate final feedbacks
Finals 15 days
 Submit final documents

6. Consultant qualification requirements

Education
 Essential: Advanced academic degree (Master’s or PhD) in health science related field with concentration in
health policy or public health law or health administration or health economics, that’s relevant to the nature
of work
 Experience with implementation capacities and constraints of government organization in developing
countries
 Desirable: Knowledge of the RCRC movement, organizational structure, functions and modalities of project
implementation of the RCRC movement, legal and ethical issues that need to be considered when working
with the RCRC Movement, including the importance of gaining participants’ informed consent.
 Expertise in strategy, results-based planning, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of public health
programs and health issues especially affecting the marginalized community
Experience

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  Essential: Demonstrated understanding of the national health program and health system, with adequate
knowledge of the applicable national and international laws, rules, regulations, policies, procedures,
standards and guidelines governing the humanitarian organizations
 At least 5 years of experience in health policy analysis documents, designing complex public health
policy/regulatory reforms, developing policy and strategic action plans and guidelines,
 Should have published work as reference on health system research or public health policy and strategy
analysis and development.
Desirable: Hands-on experience of working with international agencies, e.g., UN or INGOs in the health system
research and policy context of Bangladesh
 Familiarity with relevant literature on health policy and strategy for Bangladesh and the RCRC movement
Skills
 Excellent planning and organizational skills for setting up an efficient schedule, conduct interviews
comfortably with participants, capturing key elements in context, work with a wide range of stakeholders
and authorities
 Experience in undertaking multi-stakeholder consultations and communication skills for achieving consensus
amongst multiple stakeholders while compiling policy and strategic documents and guidelines, ability to
exercise discretion in handling confidential information and deal tactfully with multiple stakeholders
 Strong analytic writing skills in English, with ability to express thoughts clearly, write concisely, and expand
ideas in logical sequence with a clear, straightforward approach
 Ability to work in a culturally diverse environment and in a team and open to consultative processes.
 Experience in public-private partnerships (PPPs) (both for-profit and not-for-profit) and inter-sectoral
coordination on health services in developing countries
7. Administrative matters
a. Duty Station
 The consultant will be provided with a suitable working desk at the BDRCS NHQ premises at Moghbazar
for the duration of the work.
 The consultant is expected to use own computer and other communication equipment required for the
task.
b. Support from the BDRCS
 BDRCS shall ensure all the necessary support to the consultant required for this assignment. The support
includes:
 Establish links and arrange meetings and interactions between the consultant and relevant persons
within the RCRC movement personnel as required
c. Cost
 The cost for the consultancy services will be covered by the existing framework agreement between
IFRC/ICRC/SRC/other PNSs and BDRCS as applicable. Once the consultancy is carried out, only the agreed
upon rate of daily fees will be paid to the consultant/ firm. The consultancy/firm should submit one
invoice directly to the BDRCS NHQ in the template which can be provided later.
d. Payment Modalities
 The Consultant/firm will receive 30% of the total remuneration after submitting the inception report
along with workplan.
 The Consultant/firm will receive the rest 70% of the total remuneration after submitting the final
documents.
This payment will be inclusive of all taxes and VAT and any other legal deduction/obligations linked to this
assignment. Payment will be done by BDRCS to the consultants’ nominated bank account through bank chaque.
BDRCS shall make necessary deductions (for tax) at source that are obligatory as per the rules and regulations.
Detail Bank Information of the Consultant/firm will be necessary to complete the process.
Account Name :
Account No :
Routing Number :
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 Swift Code :
Bank Name :
Address :
 Accountability and communication
This project is being supported by IFRC, ICRC, SRC along with other PNSs, and representatives from all of them
are important stakeholder in this endeavour. The consultant or firm needs to keep close contact with Dr. Nahid
Ahmed Chowdhury who is the Director-Health and share periodic updates in a group including the Deputy
Secretary General, Health Director, Deputy Director along with the other PNS representatives.

 Responsibility and competence

The consultant/firm has to agree to comply in all professional tasks with the rules and regulations of BDRCS and
IFRC in country as well as the Code of Conduct with the signature of the ToR. Either party can cancel this
agreement within a prior 7-day written notice.

BDRCS can terminate the agreement without notice and payment in the following cases:
 If the consultant cannot fulfil the requirements and the agreed deadlines
 If the consultant cannot submit the deliverables within the time specified in the contract
 If the quality and standards of the work fail to meet reasonable standards that have so been communicated
in writing.
Two original copies of these ToR as an agreement will be signed between the consultant and the BDRCS.
8. Ownership and Copyright
All documents generated through this assignment should be submitted to the BDRCS including details of all
locations, names and details of people interviewed, the signed consent forms, all transcripts of interviews and
English translations with time code. Existing documents and reports from BDRCS archive can also be used. All
contents of the consultancy will be copyrighted to BDRCS unless otherwise indicated. BDRCS will have full rights
of the materials produced under this ToR and will have the right to edit/modify and share the materials with
relevant stakeholders through web sites, social media etc. as appropriate.
9. Criteria for selection of the best offer
The consultant/firm will be selected through competitive bidding with defined selection criteria.
Before conducting the technical and financial evaluation of the proposals received, BDRCS will perform a
preliminary examination of these proposals to determine whether they are complete, whether any
computational errors have been made, whether the documents have been properly signed, and whether the
proposals are generally in order. Proposals missing any of the required documents or which are not in order as
aforesaid may be rejected.

10. Proposal submission

Interested consultant/firm should submit a complete written proposal with the following sections for
documents, naming them appropriately;
1. Technical proposal with detailed methodology and conceptual framework with expected deliverables
and timelines, man days required (3-5 pages).
2. Profile of the consultant or team composition (updated CV - max 2 pages) explaining why s/he or the
firm are the most suitable for the work and stating how they meet the selection criteria.
3. Relevant experience (max 3 pages) with at least three sample of relevant documents delivered to clients
in the last 3 years.
4. Three References with contact details (email, contact number).
5. Financial proposal with detailed budget breakdown, in the shared template, along with NID, TIN-PIN-
trade license, etc.
6. Apply Instruction: Interested consulting firms/ consultants are requested to submit all required papers
with technical and financial proposals as well as company profile & personal CV to the undersigned on
or before November 06, 2022. For any clarification regarding Terms of Reference (ToR) all concerned
are requested to communicate through email to logistics@bdrcs.org.

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 11. Apply Instruction:
Interested consulting firms/ consultants are requested to submit all required papers with technical and financial
proposals as well as company profile & personal CV to the undersignee on or before November 6, 2022.
Director
Logistics Department
Bangladesh Red Crescent Socie
Red Crescent Sarak, 684-686
Boro Moghbazar, Dhaka-1217

Note
BDRCS is not bound to select any bidder and may reject all proposals. Furthermore, since a contract would be
awarded in respect of the proposal which is considered most responsive to the needs of the project concerned,
due consideration being given to BDRCS’s general principles, including the principle of best value for money,
BDRCS does not bind itself in any way to select the bidder offering the lowest price. BDRCS may, at its discretion,
ask any bidder for clarification of any part of its proposal. The request for clarification and the response will be
in writing. No change in price or substance of the proposal shall be sought, offered or permitted during this
exchange.

With Thanks,
Mohammad Lutfor Rahman
Director HR and Admin & Logistics
Bangladesh Red Crescent Society

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