Expression of Interest (EOI)

School Education Department, Government of Balochistan

The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has allocated a Maximum Country Allocation (MCA) of about USD 150 Million for Pakistan. Balochistan has been allocated a proportion of USD 23.686 Million for the implementation of the Balochistan Education Partnership Compact (2024-28) duly endorsed by the Local Education Group (LEG) and reviewed by the GPE Secretariat under Quality Assurance Review (QAR).

Through this Expression of Interest (EOI), the School Education Department aims to select a Grant Agent (s) (GA) in line with the standard procedure laid out by GPE, as well as for the specified three (03) types of grants: System Capacity Grant: US$ 1.210 million, System Transformation Grant: US$ 18.695 million, Girls’ Education Accelerator: US$ 3.781 million. The Grant Agent (s) will manage the MCA in a manner that:

1. Support Effective & Inclusive Partnership
2. Grant Application Preparation
3. Fiduciary responsibilities in compliance with the Financial Procedure Agreement with the GPE trustee (The World Bank)
4. Program implementation and monitoring
5. Reporting

The Expressions of interest (EOI) submitted by all the eligible organizations / development partners must be in line with the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for Grant Agents of the GPE. Organizations must clearly name the grants for which they are applying as grant agents.

The Grant Agent (s) so selected will facilitate the process and assist the School Education Department in the preparation of the full proposals to be submitted to GPE to access the allocated grants under various categories/types. Moreover, the Grant Agent (s) will be selected through a transparent process through a Selection Committee. The decision of the Selection Committee will be presented to the Local Education Group (LEG) for endorsement.

Applications are invited from interested organizations meeting a set of the following specified minimum standards regarding financial management, institutional capacity and self-investigative powers:

1. Financial Management

Please explain your organization’s ability to discharge fiduciary and administrative responsibilities, particularly for the GPE funds:

1. The organization has robust financial management and accounting systems that ensure accuracy of financial management and reporting;
2. The organization has appointed an independent external audit firm or organization, whose work is consistent with recognized international auditing standards;
3. The organization has an internal audit mechanism;
4. The organization has control frameworks; has adequate policies and procedures in place for risk assessment and management; has adequate policies and procedures in place to guide activities and ensure staff accountability.

2. Institutional Capacity

Please explain your organization’s ability to formulate and support the implementation of programs of similar scope of work, support capacity building of the government in the implementation of Balochistan Education Partnership Compact, and commitment to joint education sector dialogue and coordination:

1. Legal status: a legally registered organization has the authority to enter into legal agreements and receive funds;
2. The organization has a good track record for timely implementation of similar projects, and has a good track record of achieving appropriate programmatic results;
3. The organizational structure and quality of management enables it to competently manage or oversee the execution of funded projects, including through management of sub-recipients;
4. The organization has procurement procedures (for both internal / administrative procurement and procurement by recipients of funds, with written standards based on widely recognized processes and an internal control framework to protect against fraud, corruption and waste; and
5. The organization demonstrates existing capacities for monitoring and independent evaluation of projects.

3. Transparency, self-investigative powers and anti-corruption measures

1. The organization has robust policies and procedures for addressing misuse of funds, act as Supervising Entities or Implementers;
2. The organization can demonstrate competence to deal with financial mismanagement and other forms of malpractice;
3. The organization has policies and procedures in place to protect individuals from retaliation due to providing information in relation to misuse.

4. Prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment safeguards

1. The organization has clear written policies and procedures regarding safeguarding of children, staff and other beneficiaries;
2. The organization has publicly available avenues to confidently report incidents of abuse, violence or exploitation;
3. The organization has the ability to ensure independent and objective investigation of reported incidents of abuse, violence or exploitation; and
4. The organization has policies and procedures in place to protect victims and whistleblowers from retaliation.

To qualify as a Grant Agent, your organization must be a multilateral agency partner, a GPE donor country or an INGO (GPE will screen INGOs for their fiduciary capacity). Please also state and confirm that your organization is familiar with the selection process as laid out by GPE and has acquired all necessary approvals demonstrating that there is agreement within your agency at the highest appropriate level to take up this role.

5. Important Indicative Timelines

• - 02 February 2024: Call for Expression of Interest issued
• - 16 February 2024: Deadline for submission of Expressions of Interest
• - 19-21 February 2024: Review of Expressions of Interest by School Education Department
• - 23 February 2024: Comparative analysis will be presented by PPIU to the Selection Committee for final selection of the GA (s).
• - 26 February 2024: Results of the process will be communicated to the successful agency(ies);
• - 27 February 2024: Successful Agency (ies) will be presented to LEG for endorsement.
• - 28 February 2024: School Education Department, Government of Balochistan, will officially inform GPE Secretariat about the grant agent (s) selection.

How to apply:

Agencies interested in participating in this Expression of Interest (EOI) are requested to submit their documents electronically clearly mentioning ‘Call for Expression of Interest for Grant Agent in Balochistan’ in the subject of email. Send your submissions to sameeullah8555@yahoo.com, rizwanahmed_67@ymail.com. Please also submit a hard copy of the document to the office of the Additional Secretary (Dev.), Focal Person PPIU, School Education Department, Government of Balochistan, Block No. 08, Civil Secretariat, Quetta on or before 16th February 2024. Later submissions will not be considered.

ANNEX: Useful documents for grant agents

Standard selection Process for Grant Agents	Download
Grant Agents Minimum Standards	Download
Terms of Reference for Grant Agents	Download
Conflict Resolution Procedures	Download
Balochistan Education Partnership Compact (2024-28)	Download