Consultancy to Develop a Gender Strategy, Inclusive Gender Analysis and Action Plan for BRIDGE and CREATES Transboundary Basin Projects

Request for Proposals (RfP)
Consultancy to Develop a Gender Strategy, Inclusive Gender Analysis and Action Plan for BRIDGE and CREATES Transboundary Basin Projects RfP Reference: IUCN-2024-03- P03944-01
Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read the information and instructions carefully because non-compliance with the instructions may result in the disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.
1. REQUIREMENTS
1.1. A detailed description of the services and/or goods to be provided can be found in Attachment 1.
2. CONTACT DETAILS
2.1. During the course of this procurement, i.e. from the publication of this RfP to the award of a contract, you may not discuss this procurement with any IUCN employee or representative other than the following contact. You must address all correspondence and questions to the contact, including your proposal.
IUCN Contact: [email protected]
3. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE
3.1. This timetable is indicative and may be changed by IUCN at any time. If IUCN decides that changes to any of the deadlines are necessary, we will contact you.
DATE ACTIVITY
6 March 2024
Publication of the Request for Proposals
11 March 2024
Deadline for confirmation of intention to bid
12 March 2024
Deadline for submission of questions
13 March 2024
Planned publication of responses to questions 20 March 2024 Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“Submission Deadline”)
25 March 2024
Clarification of proposals
1 April 2024
Planned date for contract award
8 April 2024
Expected contract start date
3.2. Please email the IUCN contact to confirm whether or not you are intending to submit a proposal by the deadline stated below.
4. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
4.1. Your Proposal must consist of the following three documents:
• Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
• Technical Proposal (see Section 4.4 below)
• Financial Proposal (see Section 4.5 below)
Proposals must be prepared in English.
4.2. Your Proposal must be submitted by email to the IUCN Contact (see Section 2). The subject heading of the email shall be [RfP Reference – bidder name]. RfP- Consultancy to Develop a Gender Strategy, Inclusive Gender Analysis and Action Plan for the BRIDGE and CREATES Transboundary Basins – Bidder Name.
4.3. The bidder name is the name of the company/organisation on whose behalf you are submitting the proposal, or your own surname if you are bidding as a self-employed consultant. Your proposal must be submitted in PDF format. You may submit multiple emails suitably annotated, e.g. Email 1 of 3, if the attached files are too large to suit a single email transmission. You may not submit your Proposal by uploading it to a file-sharing tool.
IMPORTANT: Submitted documents must be password-protected so that they cannot be opened and read before the submission deadline. Please use the same password for all submitted documents. After the deadline has passed and within 12 hours, please send the password to the IUCN Contact. This will ensure a secure bid submission and opening process. Please DO NOT email the password before the deadline for Proposal submission.
4.4. Eligibility Not Applicable
4.5. Technical Proposal The technical proposal must address each of the criteria stated below explicitly and separately, quoting the relevant criteria reference number (left-hand column). Proposals in any other format will significantly increase the time it takes to evaluate, and such Proposals may therefore be rejected at IUCN’s discretion. Where CVs are requested, these must be of the individuals who will actually carry out the work specified. The individuals you put forward may only be substituted with IUCN’s approval. IUCN will evaluate technical proposals with regard to each of the following criteria and their relative importance:
IUCN will evaluate technical proposals with regards to each of the following criteria and their relative importance:
Description Information to provide Relative weight 1
Concept and methodology
1.1
Clarity and completeness of the tender
The proposal in its entirety 10 1.2
Proposed concepts and methods
A detailed description of approach, resources and workplan – set a maximum length 20 2
Qualifications and Experience of proposed consultants
2.1
Team leader/portfolio manager
Team leader’s CV 25
2.2
Other key staff to be employed on the project
CVs of key staff 15 2.3
Personnel who will monitor and
control the team and provide quality control and oversight
Description of available resources and services provided 5 3
Track record
3.1
Quality and relevance of references provided
3 letters of reference
10 3.2
Proven history of meeting deadlines 15 Total 100%
4.6. Financial Proposal
4.6.1. The financial proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods/services stated in the RfP in their entirety.
4.6.2. Prices include all costs Submitted rates and prices are deemed to include all costs, insurances, taxes (except VAT, see below), fees, expenses, liabilities, obligations, risks and other things necessary for the performance of the Terms of Reference or Specification of Requirements. IUCN will not accept charges beyond those clearly stated in the Financial Proposal. This includes applicable withholding taxes and similar. It is your responsibility to determine whether such taxes apply to your organisation and to include them in your financial offer.
4.6.3. Applicable Goods and Services Taxes Proposal rates and prices shall be exclusive of Value Added Tax.
4.6.4. Currency of proposed rates and prices All rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in USD.
4.6.5. Breakdown of rates and prices For information only, the price needs to be broken down as follows:
Description Quantity Unit Price (US$) Total Price (US$) 1 Inception Report outlining the methodology, stakeholders’ engagement plan and work schedule
1
2
Draft gender equality and social inclusion analysis and action plan and; 1
3 Final gender equality and social inclusion analysis and action plan incorporating IUCN and stakeholders comments 1
TOTAL
4.7. Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be taken into account in the evaluation.
4.8. Your proposal must remain valid and capable of acceptance by IUCN for a period of 90 calendar days following the submission deadline.
4.9. Withdrawals and Changes You may freely withdraw or change your proposal at any time prior to the submission deadline by written notice to the IUCN Contact. However, in order to reduce the risk of fraud, no changes or withdrawals will be accepted after the submission deadline.
5. EVALUATION of PROPOSALS
5.1. Completeness
IUCN will firstly check your proposal for completeness. Incomplete proposals will not be considered further.
5.2. Technical Evaluation
5.2.1. Scoring Method
Your proposal will be assigned a score from 0 to 10 for each of the technical evaluation criteria, such that ‘0’ is low and ‘10’ is high.
5.2.2. Minimum Quality Thresholds
Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.
5.2.3. Technical Score
Your score for each technical evaluation criterion will be multiplied with the respective relative weight (see Section 4.4) and these weighted scores added together to give your proposal’s overall technical score.
5.3. Financial Evaluation and Financial Scores
The financial evaluation will be based upon the full total price you submit. Your financial proposal will receive a score calculated by dividing the lowest financial proposal that has passed the minimum quality thresholds (see Section 5.2.2) by the total price of your financial proposal.
Thus, for example, if your financial proposal is for a total of CHF 100 and the lowest financial proposal is CHF 80, you will receive a financial score of 80/100 = 80%
5.4. Total Score
Your proposal’s total score will be calculated as the weighted sum of your technical score and your financial score.
The relative weights will be:
Technical: 70%
Financial: 30%
Thus, for example, if your technical score is 83% and your financial score is 77%, you will receive a total score of 83 * 70% + 77 * 30% = 58.1% + 23.1% = 81.2%.
Subject to the requirements in Sections 4 and 7, IUCN will award the contract to the bidder whose proposal achieves the highest total score.
6. Explanation of procurement procedure
6.1. IUCN is using the Invitation Procedure for this procurement. This means that only invited bidders may submit a proposal. IUCN typically invites from four to six bidders to submit a proposal.
6.2. You are welcome to ask questions or seek clarification regarding this procurement. Please email the IUCN Contact (see Section 2), taking note of the deadline for submission of questions in Section 3.1.
6.3. All proposals must be received by the submission deadline in Section 3.1 above. Late proposals will not be considered. All proposals received by the submission deadline will be evaluated by a team of two or more evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in this RfP. No other criteria will be used to evaluate proposals. The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose proposal received the highest Total Score. IUCN does, however, reserve the right to cancel the procurement and not award a contract at all.
6.4. IUCN will contact the bidder with the highest-scoring proposal to finalise the contract. We will contact unsuccessful bidders after the contract has been awarded and provide detailed feedback. The timetable in Section 3.1 gives an estimate of when we expect to have completed the contract award, but this date may change depending on how long the evaluation of proposals takes.
7. Conditions for participation in this procurement
7.1. To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.
7.1.1. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant proposal.
7.1.2. Any incomplete or incorrectly completed proposal submission may be deemed non-compliant, and as a result you may be unable to proceed further in the procurement process.
7.1.3. IUCN will query any obvious clerical errors in your proposal and may, at IUCN’s sole discretion, allow you to correct these, but only if doing so could not be perceived as giving you an unfair advantage.
7.2. In order to participate in this procurement, you must meet the following conditions:
• Free of conflicts of interest
• Registered on the relevant professional or trade register of the country in which you are established (or resident, if self-employed)
• In full compliance with your obligations relating to payment of social security contributions and of all applicable taxes
• Not been convicted of failing to comply with environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection
• Not bankrupt or being wound up
• Never been guilty of an offence concerning your professional conduct
• Not involved in fraud, corruption, a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism, or any other illegal activity.
7.3. You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
7.4. If you are participating in this procurement as a member of a joint venture, or are using sub-contractors, submit a separate Declaration of Undertaking for each member of the joint venture and sub-contractor, and be clear in your proposal which parts of the goods/services are provided by each partner or sub-contractor.
7.5. Each bidder shall submit only one proposal, either individually or as a partner in a joint venture. In case of joint venture, one company shall not be allowed to participate in two different joint ventures in the same procurement nor shall a company be allowed to submit a proposal both on its behalf and as part of a joint venture for the same procurement. A bidder who submits or participates in more than one proposal (other than as a subcontractor or in cases of alternatives that have been permitted or requested) shall cause all the proposals with the bidder’s participation to be disqualified.
7.6. By taking part in this procurement, you accept the conditions set out in this RfP, including the following:
• It is unacceptable to give or offer any gift or consideration to an employee or other representative of IUCN as a reward or inducement in relation to the awarding of a contract. Such action will give IUCN the right to exclude you from this and any future procurements, and to terminate any contract that may have been signed with you.
• Any attempt to obtain information from an employee or other representative of IUCN concerning another bidder will result in disqualification.
• Any price fixing or collusion with other bidders in relation to this procurement shall give IUCN the right to exclude you and any other involved bidder(s) from this and any future procurements and may constitute a criminal offence.
8. Confidentiality and data protection
8.1. IUCN follows the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The information you submit to IUCN as part of this procurement will be treated as confidential and shared only as required to evaluate your proposal in line with the procedure explained in this RfP, and for the maintenance of a clear audit trail. For audit purposes, IUCN is required to retain your proposal in its entirety for 10 years after the end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when requested.
8.2. In the Declaration of Undertaking (Attachment 2) you need to give IUCN express permission to use the information you submit in this way, including personal data that forms part of your proposal. Where you include personal data of your employees (e.g. CVs) in your proposal, you need to have written permission from those individuals to share this information with IUCN, and for IUCN to use this information as indicated in 8.1. Without these permissions, IUCN will not be able to consider your proposal.
9. Complaints procedure If you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact [email protected]. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confidential and are not considered in breach of the above restrictions on communication (Section 2.1).
10. Contract The contract will be based on IUCN’s template in Attachment 3, the terms of which are not negotiable. They may, however, be amended by IUCN to reflect particular requirements from the donor funding this particular procurement.
11. About IUCN IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together. Headquartered in Switzerland, IUCN Secretariat comprises around 1,000 staff with offices in more than 50 countries. Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards. IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous people’s organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being. www.iucn.org https://twitter.com/IUCN/
12. ATTACHMENTS Attachment 1 Specification of Requirements / Terms of Reference Attachment 2 Declaration of Undertaking (select 2a for companies or 2b for self-employed as applicable to you)
Attachment 3 Contract Template
Annex 1: Terms of reference – Consultancy to develop gender equality and social inclusion analysis and action plan for creates and bridge projects in east africa
1.
Background
IUCN ESARO is implementing the following two of its field projects – 1) Building River Dialogues and Governance (BRIDGE) funded by Swiss Development and Cooperation and whose aim is to catalyse transboundary water resources management and development, safeguard water supply and sanitation and biodiversity conservation; and 2) Climate resilient transboundary water management in Eastern Africa (CREATES) funded by Denmark and whose aim is to enhance transboundary water management to support development and regional integration. This is proposed and is still being developed.
The two projects are implemented in the following transboundary basins: Sio-Malaba-Malakisi (SMM) – shared between Kenya and Uganda; Mara – shared between Kenya and Tanzania; Kagera – shared between Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania; Turkana – shared between Kenya and Ethiopia; and Juba-Shabelle – shared between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.
In the region, generally it has been noted that there are sufficient gender policies, laws and strategies and plans for promoting gender equality and social inclusion in all the sectors. The major challenge however, is the limited implementation of the stipulated provisions and actions that can lead to optimal gender equality and inclusion. There is also limited coordination across sectors responsible for water resources, climate, environment and natural resources. This makes gender and social integration more challenging if the major thematic areas that are closely related are not well coordinated.
The intention of these two projects is thus focussed on going beyond recommendations for increased gender participation targets to implementing actions on the ground to address gender equality and social inclusion.
Gender equality and equity are matters of fundamental human rights and social justice, as well as a pre-condition for sustainable development. IUCN is committed to furthering gender equality and equity in order to build a Union that understands the importance of equal opportunity and inclusion, and whose policies respect diversity.
2.
Objectives of the Consultancy
The overall objective of this consultancy is to conduct gender equality and social inclusion analysis in the project areas to identify key challenges and to develop an action plan to address these challenges while creating opportunities for diverse members of the society to provide input on their needs and experiences, building capacity for stakeholders to integrate theses needs into the project activities. These actions will ensure that gender is mainstreamed in every stage of the project, from (development to) implementation to monitoring and evaluation.
3.
Specific Activities
Task 1: Review the two project documents and identify key entry points in terms of activities that would support gender equality and social inclusion;
Task 2: Review the IUCN Global and ESARO Gender Policy/Strategy and and Practice to identify entry points, challenges and experiences;
Task 3: Conduct gender equality and social inclusion analyses in the project areas to identify key challenges. The gender analysis should elaborate on gender roles in socio-economic activities and natural resource management, dependencies on natural resources, environmental degradation, women’s access to productive resources and their legal rights, as well as their influence in collective decision-making. The gender analysis should also include a review of national, regional and international gender equality and environmental mandates and policies, specifically in areas related to women’s rights, land rights, natural resources including water, climate change among others. It should explore gender dynamics across six core thematic areas: (1) legal and customary laws; (2) attitudes, customs and beliefs related to gender norms; (3) division of time, space and labour; (4) participation, inclusion and representation; (5) access and control of resources and services; and (6) environmental stressors and vulnerability.
Task 4: Map local and national stakeholder groups to engage in project activities, including in conducting the gender analysis. As part of the gender analysis methodology, consultations with a wide-network of in-country gender experts is encouraged. It will be important for consultants to develop a contact list of gender-related groups, women’s organisations, indigenous peoples’ rights organisations and other relevant stakeholders that participate in consultations to help ensure these stakeholders are engaged throughout the project.
Task 5: The consultants should ensure that gender equality and social inclusion is considered and addressed as a cross-cutting component in the two projects. The consultants should ensure participatory and inclusive methods are used and gender-disaggregated data and information is collected from local consultations. The consultants are encouraged to provide inputs to the recruitment process for the following CREATES Technical Advisors: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Monitoring and Evaluation and the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS). These positions will ensure that the project activities contribute to reducing gender gaps in sectors related to the project.
Task 6: Develop a gender action plan to guide and advise gender mainstreaming in the two projects. The gender action plan should draw upon results from the gender analysis and include actions to overcome barriers (gender gaps) identified during the gender analysis. The gender action plan should not only focus on external outcomes, but also provide guidance to the internal management and organization of the project (e.g. staff communication, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, etc.). The gender action plan for the project should provide guidance in relation to strategies; capacity building initiatives; strategic alliances with gender and women’s organizations, as well as relevant civil society organizations with strong work on gender in the project sites.
4.
Deliverables
The successful consultant will develop & deliver gender equality and social inclusion analysis and action plan with the specific outputs detailed below:
•
Inception Report outlining the methodology, stakeholders engagement plan and work schedule;
•
Draft gender equality and social inclusion analysis and action plan and;
•
Final gender equality and social inclusion analysis and action plan incorporating IUCN and stakeholders comments.
5.
Requirements and/or Criteria
The successful candidate/consultant for the assignment should have the following minimum (qualifications and experience) requirements:
•
The team leader should have at least 10 years of experience in Gender Equality and Social Inclusion field,
•
The team leader should have a postgraduate degree, master’s degree preferred in sender studies, development studies or related fields,
•
Strong (proven) written and oral communication skills,
•
Familiarity with the 5 basins and the socio-economic realities of these basins and
•
Two sample work of a similar previous work is mandatory.
6.
Evaluation of Quotations/Offer
The selection will be determined by capacity/experience, the ability to work within the estimated timelines and the economic offer.
You are cordially invited to respond (prepared in English) detailing the following (in a single document or zipped folder):
•
Curriculum vitae for team members and a team leader,
•
Technical proposal outlining envisaged approach (3 pages max),
•
At least 2 examples showcasing previous work similar to this call,
•
Financial proposal/estimate budget.
ANNEX 2 DECLARATION OF UNDERTAKING in relation to RfP
I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am an authorised representative of the following organisation:
Registered Name of Organisation (the “Organisation”): _______________________
Registered Address (incl. country): _______________________________________
Year of Registration:__________________________________________________
I hereby authorise IUCN to store and use the information included in the attached Proposal for the purpose of evaluating Proposals and selecting the Proposal IUCN deems the most favourable. I acknowledge that IUCN is required to retain the Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when reasonably requested.
Where the Proposal includes Personal Data as defined by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), I confirm that the Organisation has been authorised by each Data Subject to share this Data with IUCN for the purposes stated above.
I further confirm that the following statements are correct:
1.
The Organisation is duly registered in accordance with all applicable laws.
2.
The Organisation is fully compliant with all its tax and social security obligations.
3.
The Organisation and its staff and representatives are free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest with regards to IUCN and its Mission.
4.
The Organisation agrees to declare to IUCN any real or perceived emerging conflicts of interests it or any of its staff and representatives may have concerning IUCN. The Organisation acknowledges that IUCN may terminate any contracts with the Organisation that would, in IUCN sole discretion, be negatively affected by such conflicts of interests.
5.
None of the Organisation’s staff has ever been convicted of grave professional misconduct or any other offence concerning their professional conduct.
6.
Neither the Organisation nor any of its staff and representatives have ever been convicted of fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation.
7.
The Organisation acknowledges that engagement by itself or any of its staff in fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation will entitle IUCN to terminate any and all contracts with the Organisation with immediate effect.
8.
The Organisation is a going concern and is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not suspended business activities, is not the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations.
9.
The Organisation complies with all applicable environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection.
10.
The Organisation is not included in the UN Security Council Sanctions List, EU Sanctions Map, US Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions List, or the World Bank listing of ineligible firms and individuals. The Organisation agrees that it will not provide direct or indirect support to firms and individuals included in these lists.
11.
The Organisation has not been, is not, and will not be involved or implicated in any violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, or injustice or abuse of human rights related to other groups or individuals, including forced evictions, violation of fundamental rights of workers as defined by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, child labour, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment.
______________________________________________________

DECLARATION in relation to RfP
I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am self-employed and able to provide the service independent of any organisation or other legal entity.
Full name (as in passport):
Home or Office (please delete as appropriate) Address (incl. country):
I hereby authorise IUCN to store and use the information included in the attached Proposal for the purpose of evaluating Proposals and selecting the Proposal IUCN deems the most favourable, including Personal Data as defined by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I acknowledge that IUCN is required to retain my Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when reasonably requested.
I further confirm that the following statements are correct:
1. I am legally registered as self-employed in accordance with all applicable laws.
2. I am fully compliant with all my tax and social security obligations.
3. I am free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest with regards to IUCN and its Mission.
4. I agree to declare to IUCN any real or perceived emerging conflicts of interests I may have concerning IUCN. I acknowledge that IUCN may terminate any contracts with me that would, in IUCN sole discretion, be negatively affected by such conflicts of interests.
5. I have never been convicted of grave professional misconduct or any other offence concerning my professional conduct.
6. I have never been convicted of fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation.
7. I acknowledge that engagement in fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation will entitle IUCN to terminate any and all contracts with me with immediate effect.
8. I am not included in the UN Security Council Sanctions List, EU Sanctions Map, US Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions List, or the World Bank listing of ineligible firms and individuals. I agree that I will not provide direct or indirect support to firms and individuals included in these lists.
9. I have not been, am not, and will not be involved or implicated in any violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, or injustice or abuse of human rights related to other groups or individuals, including forced evictions, violation of fundamental rights of workers as defined by the
International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, child labour, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment.
______________________________________________________