REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)
Engagement of an Agency for Rapid Assessment of Client Perceptions, Continuation, and Discontinuation of Newer Contraceptive Methods in Odisha
Date of Issue: [17-Apr-2026]
RFP Closing Date and Time: [24-Apr-2026]
1. About PREM:
People’s Rural Education Movement (PREM) is a secular, humanitarian, non-political, and non-governmental organization working for the development of Adivasi (indigenous), Dalit, fisherfolk, and other marginalized communities of Odisha and other states of India. PREM has longstanding experience across education, health, livelihoods, disaster management, and women’s empowerment. It actively engages in advocacy, capacity building, and service delivery to ensure sustainable and inclusive development. Over the years, PREM has established itself as a trusted partner in addressing issues of gender equality, women’s rights, and community resilience.
PREM has a longstanding partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and supports implementation of several areas of work for UNFPA with the Government of Odisha, including in the domain of Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR).
About UNFPA
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is an international development agency that works to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA is the lead UN agency that expands the possibilities for women and young people to lead healthy sexual and reproductive lives. To read more about UNFPA, please go to:UNFPA about us
As a part of UNFPA’s longstanding partnership with the Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, the focus on reproductive rights has been strengthened over the years. One important element of this work includes the expansion of the basket of choice with the introduction of two new contraceptives.
Service Requirements/Terms of Reference (ToR)
Background & Context
India has expanded its contraceptive basket to strengthen informed choice and reproductive autonomy, including the introduction of single-rod subdermal implants and subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC/Antara) in selected states, including Odisha.
Of these methods, the subdermal implants fall within the category of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which are highly effective, require minimal user adherence once initiated, and have the potential to significantly reduce unintended pregnancies when supported by quality counselling and follow-up.
In Odisha, with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), these two methods are currently provided along with family planning counselling services in select districts. Subdermal implants are available in Ganjam, Cuttack, Khordha, and Sundargarh, while DMPA-SC (Antara) has been rolled out in Gajapati, Baleswar, Boudh, Bhadrak, Kandhamal, and Rayagada.
Along with making the newer contraceptives available, the priority has always been to strengthen service delivery systems, including through the placement of Family Planning Counsellors at District Headquarters Hospitals (DHHs).
Routine service delivery data is captured through facility-level registers and HMIS, documenting method uptake, timing of initiation (interval, post-partum, post-abortion), follow-up, and removal where recorded. While this provides a useful quantitative base, it offers limited insight into client experiences and perceptions, particularly around discontinuation and removal.
As the programme moves beyond expanding coverage to ensuring sustained use and satisfaction, there is a need to better understand continuation behaviour and the underlying reasons for discontinuation. Understanding the reasons for early removal of implants (including within the first year) and missed or delayed doses among DMPA-SC users will help strengthen counselling, follow-up systems, and management of side effects. At the same time, factors such as perceptions of side effects, family influence, and service responsiveness play a critical role in shaping women’s decisions and necessitate a deeper analysis.
This rapid assessment therefore adopts a client-centric approach to generate deeper insights into how women experience these methods over time, how expectations are shaped through counselling, and what drives continuation, switching, or discontinuation. The findings will inform strengthening of counselling protocols, follow-up mechanisms, and overall quality of family planning services.
3. Objectives
The study aims to:
- Estimate continuation patterns for DMPA-SC users (6-month and 12-month) and retention patterns for implant users, particularly in the context of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs).
- Assess client satisfaction across key domains including provider interaction, privacy, side-effect management, and adequacy of information
- Identify key drivers of discontinuation and early removal, including biomedical, socio-behavioural, and service-related factors
- Understand post-discontinuation pathways, including method switching and drop-out from the family planning continuum
- Capture provider perspectives on counselling, follow-up, and management of discontinuation and removal
Submission Instructions:
Please submit your Technical Proposal (must include supporting documents to justify the Required Criteria for the Bidder) and Financial Proposal (In the provided Template only) in separate email to [premprocurement@gmail.com] with the Mandatory Subject line of the e-mail as e.g. “Technical Proposal–Bidder Name- RFP NO/RFP/2026/002- "Rapid Assessment on Newer Contraceptive Methods in Odisha" by 24th April 2026, 23:59 Hrs.
Note: Technical & Financial Proposal to be submitted in separate email
# Bids that do not contain the correct email subject line, contain Technical & Financial Proposal in a single email, Any Financial Quote in the Technical proposal or submission of bid post to the above timelines may not be considered for further processing.
# Any Bid submitted will be regarded as an offer by the bidder and does not constitute or imply the acceptance of any quotation by PREM. PREM is under no obligation to award a contract to any bidder as a result of this RFP.
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.