IntroductionName of Service: RFP-005-2025-National Financial Intermediary Firm for administering grants through the Rok Mekong project Relief Fund Facility (RFF) in eight targeted villages in Khammuane and Champasak, Lao PDR.   Country: LAO PDROnline Pre-bidding meeting: 02 May 2025 from 10:00-11:00 (Lao time)Deadline of Submission: 12 May 2025 Background:The Project entitled “Enhancing Integrated Water Management and Climate Resilience in Vulnerable Urban Areas of the Mekong River Basin (ROK Mekong Project)” is a transboundary project that seeks to strengthen the climate and disaster resilience of people and communities in vulnerable regions of Lao PDR and Cambodia through improved risk and vulnerability assessment and advancing an integrated approach to water resources management.The project looks to address gaps in efficient delivery of integrated water resource management to enhance the availability of resources for investment in water-related risk reduction at the institutional as well as community levels. There are two outcomes intended at the country-level activity implementation: 1) Inclusive assessment of water-related climate risks completed in the priority river basins, and 2) Enabling environment for gender-responsive climate risk-informed integrated water resources management (IWRM) developed. In Lao PDR, the project interventions are targeted in the Xe Bang Fai and Xe Don river catchment areas across eight target villages in four districts of the southern provinces of Khammouane and Champassak. The project is being implemented by UNDP, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) with inputs from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW).Outcome 2 of the project aims to improve the enabling environment for vulnerable groups, including women and ethnic groups, who are economically and financially susceptible to the impacts of climate change in the target provinces. To achieve this the project is developing a Relief Fund Facility (RFF) that will provide a framework for the eight target villages to identify and prioritize eligible activities, develop and submit grant proposals, and access grants to implement village-level interventions. Using the RFF Operational Guidelines, the project aims to disburse grants to the targeted villages as a pilot mechanism to demonstrate their sustainability, as well as potential for replication and scalability. The pilot will aim to ·         Increase village level disaster risk management and emergency preparedness as well as awareness for integrated water resource management ·         Build long term resilience of the villages to adapt to and mitigate against the impacts of climate change.·         Enhance financial capacities by improving financial knowledge and access at the community level to facilitate long term planning and inclusive development.    ·         Empower local communities by leveraging grants as a tool to foster cash-for-work, entrepreneurship and livelihood, volunteering and other initiatives, as appropriate to increase their overall resilience.  Scope of Work:The Financial Intermediary firm will be expected to perform the services described below:1.     Support the UNDP Rok Mekong project team with inception process for introducing the RFFThe UNDP Rok Mokong project team will lead the process of rolling out the RFF in the targeted villages. However, the financial intermediary firm is expected to help with the continuity of the roll-out process by supporting the following activities   ·         Selection process of the village committee (VC) responsible for preparing and submitting the grant proposal to the ROK Project team for review.·         Provide advisory on the selection of designated village focal point(s) and authorized signatories required for processing and disbursement of grants. ·         Disseminating and reiterating defined roles and responsibility of designated village focal point(s) and authorized signatories·         Providing technical assistance, as appropriate, to the VC for facilitating the development, revision and submission of grant proposals.  2.     Administer grant disbursements to the target villages in accordance with the RFF Operation Guidelines upon approval of proposals by the Grant Approval Committee (GAC) ·         Subsequent to approval by the GAC, in coordination with the UNDP Rok Mekong project team, complete the necessary processes for the release of RFF grant funds to the financial intermediary. The financial intermediary firm is expected to act as a passthrough vehicle to channel grants to the target villages;·         Set-up the, account for tracking and allocation of funds to the respective target villages in accordance with the disbursement schedule outlined in the approved grant proposal.·         Accept and verify disbursement requests from the designated village focal point(s) along with supporting documents and supplementary evidence.·         Coordinate with the designated UNDP ROK Mekong project focal point for approval prior to processing the disbursement request.   ·         Process and Transfer funds in accordance with the RFF Operation Guidelines. Funds may be transferred through various modalities which will be included in the RFF Operation Guidelines. An indicative list of modalities includes direct payments to vendors and equipment suppliers, cash-for-work, electronic disbursement or cash transfers to designated village focal point(s) for purchase of eligible items.       ·         Maintain updated transaction records of transfers    3.     Regular monitoring and reporting of utilization of disbursed funds to ensure compliance with approved Grant proposal. ·         Develop and maintain updated accounting records, use financial monitoring and tracking tools to ensure proper utilization of disbursed grants;   ·         Provide technical support to the Village Committee members on record keeping to ensure members correctly record and provide evidence for transactions in compliance with the RFF Guidelines.·         Undertake on-site inspection, as needed, during village visits and verify transaction records and financial information.·         Undertake monitoring visits to the target villages at regular intervals to gather evidence, record progress, ensure compliance and capture findings for the utilization of disbursed grants. ·         Coordinate with the respective Village focal points to collect any missing and/or additional information in relation to the disbursed funds.  ·         Bring to the attention of UNDP, the ROK Mekong project team and the GAC any irregularities and practices not in alignment with RFF Guidelines, approved grant proposals and/or UNDP Policies and Procedures.  4.     Conduct financial literacy trainings in the targeted villages to improve their financial access, knowledge and capacity.·         Assess capacity of the targeted village and develop a financial literacy programme accordingly to improve financial awareness, knowledge on financial services, fund management, digital applications and financial products, social protection mechanisms for village development.·         With support from the Rok Mekong project, promote the formation of village-owned and village driven volunteer groups and/or cooperatives to promote digital literacy, financial management, village banking services, social protection, entrepreneurship and small scale-enterprise.·         Promote financial transparency through establishment of village banking systems and application of innovative digital tools, if preferred by the target villages, to enable direct payments for cash-for-work into savings accounts of villagers or existing village banking members as a mode of payments and facilitate registration of non-members in village banks if this is preferable to the beneficiaries.·         With support from the Rok Mekong project, as appropriate, promote inter village exchange visits to improve financial literacy, knowledge and practices to promote collective learning.     5.     Prepare an interim and final progress report on grant utilization through the RFF pilot:  ·         Submission of an Interim assessment report highlighting progress results the utilization of funds, progress, financial statements in relation to the RFF. The interim report should also include challenges, learnings and recommendations on improving the RFF and the mechanism for grant disbursements   ·         Submission of a Final RFF Assessment report. The report should provide a summary analysis of the grant implementation results, the utilization of funds and relevant financial information. The Final report should also include insights from successful examples and/or case studies from target villages, along with a section on challenges, learnings and recommendations for improving the effectiveness, replication and scalability potential of the piloted RFF and the grant mechanisms.·         Present the findings from the pilots implemented in the target villages to stakeholders at the end of project event exhibition to be organized by the ROK Mekong project upon completion of the project.    In this regard, UNDP is seeking the services of a Financial Intermediary firm to administer, monitor and report on grants disbursed and in accordance with the Relief Fund Facility (RFF) Operation guideline being piloted the project in the eight targeted villages across four districts in Khammouane and Champasak province.  Interested suppliers must submit their offer directly in the system as instructed in the solicitation document, following the instructions in the available user guide. n case you have never registered before, you can register a profile using the registration link shared via the procurement notice and following the instructions in the guides available in UNDP website:  https://www.undp.org/procurement/business/resources-for-bidders. 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