Request for Proposals 

- Due Diligence Consultancy

RFP n#: 2026-8-PR-DD

Location:Lahore, Pakistan

Start date:15 11 2026

End date:15 02 2027

Technical Team: Programmes

All applications must be submitted via email to [email protected] 

You may submit questions to [email protected]- RFP n# 2026-8- PR-DD” until 15 September 2026, noting that the final submission deadline for bids is the 20 September 2026.

Questions, requests and applications sent after the deadline will only be considered in exceptional circumstances.

Description

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme. Our mission: to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. Through our network of field-level partners we have provided training on sustainable farming practices to more than 2.9 million cotton farmers in 26 countries. More than a fifth of the world’s cotton is now grown under the BCI Standard and our membership network includes more than 2,400 members. 

Better Cotton Initiative, Pakistan (BCI Pakistan) is registered in Pakistan and working under a collaboration/service agreement with Better Cotton Initiative, Global.

More information about BCI can be found on our website: www.bettercotton.org

Background

This process will be used to select consultants to conduct the Due Diligence of potential programme partners (PP) in Pakistan over the coming years. 

The purpose of the Due Diligence process is to help BCI to ensure that the PPs we work with, or fund, have adequate governance structures, policies, and operational systems in place. It can also help organisations ensure they observe both international and domestic law and build towards the requirements of corporate Due Diligence. 

The Due Diligence framework aims to reduce partnership risks for BCI and also supports PPs by implementing a remediation plan to enable them to comply with BCI’s requirements, strengthen their organisation and ensure a long-term partnership. 

Due Diligence is an on-going, proactive, and reactive process through which PPs can identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for how they address actual and potential adverse impacts as an integral part of decision-making and risk management systems.

BCI’s due diligence covers seven areas: ethics, governance, HR, environment and operations, financial stability and governance, and where applicable - downstream local partners.

The due diligence is structured around:

• Assessing the organisation and its undertakings to identify the factual circumstances under which the business is operating.

• Identifying and assessing any actual or potential risks by evaluating the factual circumstances against recognised standards.

• Preventing or mitigating the identified risks by adopting and implementing a corrective risk action plan.

Scope of Work

The objective of the consultancy is to conduct the Due Diligence process in Pakistan with one (1) existing PP, in accordance with BCI’s guidelines.

Through direct relationships with the PP, the consultant will be responsible for undertaking the entire Due Diligence process with the support of BCI’s team. In addition to skills, competencies and expertise, we will consider value for money and demonstrable commitment to the sustainability field to evaluate applications.

A BCI team member located in Pakistan will closely follow and support the consultant in the Due Diligence management and coordinate the PP relationship. Other team members will also support. The BCI team will therefore include, but is not limited to:

• Senior Director of Programmes, based in London

• Partnerships Manager, based in Geneva

• BCI country representative

BCI will provide all Due Diligence materials to the consultant who will follow the procedure and guidelines and use the template:

• The Due Diligence Handbook

• The template for the kick-off session with PPs

• The Due Diligence questionnaire for PPs = 35 questions + sub-questions + attachments

• The Due Diligence analysis framework

• The template for the Final Report

• The template for the Financial Health Check

The consultant will be required to follow these main steps to conduct the Due Diligence:

1. In coordination with the BCI team: prepare the mission, create a roadmap, identify BCI and PP contacts, define roles, prepare the kick-off meeting, prepare the shared folders

2. Lead the kick-off meeting with PPs

3. Support the PP in completing the Due Diligence questionnaire: Hold bi-weekly meetings, review answers and analyse submitted documents, provide feedback and requirements for more detail or accurate answers from PPs, prepare corrective risk action plan.

4. Lead the financial health check with the BCI tool

5. In coordination with BCI team, validate the PP’s responses and provide a risk score with the BCI tool

6. Complete the final Due Diligence report

7. Conduct a final meeting with the PP to review the Due Diligence results and agree to the corrective risk action plan

To proceed with these tasks, an estimated timeframe to conduct one Due Diligence is proposed:

High-level Timeline

Required Skills & Knowledge

Application Requirements

Proposals responding to this Request for Proposals should be a maximum of 10 pages (excluding CVs), and include the following:

• Overview of relevant experience

• Proposed methodology and timeline

• Detailed and transparent budget, in PKR, including time allocation, day rates and all applicable taxes

We thank all applicants for their interest; however only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

BCI is committed to good practice and transparency in the management of natural, human and financial resources. All applications will be reviewed under the principles and subject to BCI’s policies on equal opportunity, non-discrimination, anti-bribery & corruption and conflict of interest.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

• Demonstrated understanding of this RFP

• Quality and clarity of the proposed approach and methodology 

• Feasibility of the proposed activity plan and timeline, and appropriateness of time allocated to delivering each task

• Relevant professional experience of the proposed consultant(s) 

• Quality and relevance of the sample work submitted 

Financial Evaluation Criteria

• Quality and clarity of budget provided, and level of detail included

• Alignment of the budget to the activity timeline detailed in the technical proposal

• Value for money 

• Adherence to the available budget