SOCIAL INCLUSION PROJECT

GENERAL PROCUREMENT NOTICE

The Republic of Bulgaria through the Ministry of Labor andSocial Policy has received financing in the amount of EURO 40 million from the World Bank toward the cost of the Social InclusionProject, and it intends to apply part of the proceeds to payments for grants, consulting services, training and audit to beprocured under this project.

The objective for the Social Inclusion Project (SIP) forBulgaria is to promote social inclusion through increasing the school readiness ofchildren below the age of seven, targetinglow-income and marginalized families (including children with a disability and other special needs).The project includes thefollowing 2 components:

Component I: Integrated social and childcare services (EURO37.39m).  Component 1 consists of a menu of community subprojects including services andinfrastructure investments from which the municipality can choose according to its needs. It covers provision of a set ofintegrated social and childcare services for parents and children from marginalized groups and children with a disability.Municipalities will subcontract third sector agencies with contracts involving performance targets and per capita basedremuneration. 

This service integration effort as well as greateravailability of full-day child care is expected to contribute to an increase in employment among low-income parents. Component Iincludes the following Subcomponents: Subcomponent I.1 # Programs for children aged 0-3 and their parents: This subcomponenttargets parents from the moment of conception, and includes parent and family-focused social services by trained service providerssub-contracted by the municipality. They consist of an integrated parenting program with semi-formal orientations in small groupsettings, individualized counseling and mobile community outreach. Subcomponent I.2 # Programs for children aged from 3 topre-school age and their parents: This subcomponent covers a menu of options for municipalities to enhance access to formalkindergarten or childcare services for children from marginalized backgrounds and special needs, including additional healthservices and measures to increase the number of childcare places. It also includes measures to support demand (low income parentsto seek child care) and supply (municipalities to promote access of low income children to child care). Formal kindergarten andpreschool services would be offered in existing kindergartens and schools, while alternative child care services would be offeredin private or municipal facilities. Subcomponent I.3 # Infrastructure and material investments: This sub-component allowsparticipating municipalities to finance, (i) infrastructure rehabilitation in existing or transformed municipal kindergarten orchildcare service buildings as well as educational materials, and (ii) to finance the construction of new childcare centers inunderserved areas, based on a set of identification and targeting criteria.  The content ofthe services provided at these centers will depend onthe demands of the municipality and can comprise kindergartens or alternativeservices.  The financing of infrastructure investments under the project will not exceed 50percent of the overall loan volume, depending on the demand for such investments. Subcomponent I.4 # Training for serviceproviders:  Training for service providers and kindergarten staff is anessentialprecondition to effective social and childcare service provision. Separate for each category of trainees, training will beprovided before services start and would include refreshers and handholding. 

Component II: Capacity-building (EURO 2.51m).  Supporting the design and pilot launch of a national school readiness program, the SocialInclusion Project will also finance necessary capacity-building activities at the central and municipal level. This component alsoincludes an allocation to support Project auditing and construction works inspection for municipal Sub-Projects. Component IIincludes the following Subcomponents: Subcomponent II.1 # Local projectmanagement capacity building:  Municipal staff and social workers working at the municipal level will receive training and capacity building in threemajor areas: inter-agency work, more specifically cross-sectoral cooperation (education, health, social services as well as socialassistance); sub-contracting of services to and cooperation with NGOs, accessing European Structural and Cohesion Funds.Subcomponent II.2 # Impact evaluation: The SIP would support the development of a rigorous impact evaluation mechanismto informprogram design and report on program effectiveness. 

Under the project will be launched several QCBS proceduresfor: service provider training, kindergarten staff training, interagency work training for municipalities, contracting of servicesto and cooperation with NGOs training for municipalities, accessing European Structural and Cohesion Funds, impact evaluationsurveys # baseline, intermediate and end project.

Procurement of contracts financed by the World Bank will beconductedthrough the procedures as specified in the World Bank's Guidelines: Procurement underIBRD Loans and IDA Credits (current edition), and is open to all eligible bidders  as defined in the guidelines. Consulting services will be selected in accordance with the WorldBank's Guidelines:Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers (current edition).

Specific procurement notices for contracts to be bid under theWorld Bank's contracts for consultancy services will be announced, as they become available, in UN Development Business and dgMarket, in the nationally wide newspapers andin local newspapers.

Contact: Ministry of Labor and Social Policy

Attn: Mrs. Elena Kremenlieva, Director, Social InclusionDirectorate

2 Triaditsa Str., 1051 Sofia, Bulgaria

Tel: 00359 2 8119645, 00359 2 9810183

Fax: 00359 2 9810719

E-mail:ellena@mlsp.government.bg