US Institute of Peace
DESCRIPTION/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Call for Independent Contractor(s)
United States Institute of Peace
Independent Contractor:
Trainer for State Actors Training on Peacebuilding Skills
(Open for National and International Offerors)
Relevant locations: Tabarka, Siliana, Medenine Governorate, Sfax
Release Date: November 28, 2023
RFP Due Date: 23:00pm Tunis time on December 31, 2023
Refer Questions to:
Submit Response to:
Ms. Sabrine Laribi [email protected]
Ms. Sabrine Laribi [email protected]
Ms. Amal Al-Hakimi
Ms. Amal Al-Hakimi
Pertinent responses will be made available to all offerors by e-mail. No inquiries will be accepted after the specified time and date.
The response must be submitted by the time and date listed above to be considered.
Introduction and Background
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is a national, nonpartisan, independent institute, founded by Congress and dedicated to the proposition that a world without violent conflict is possible, practical, and essential for U.S. and global security. In conflict zones abroad, the Institute works with local partners to prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflicts. For more information, please visit http://www.usip.org.
In Tunisia, USIP works with the government, civil society, and other relevant actors to address pressing challenges threatening the country’s stability, prosperity, and peace. This includes work on security sector reform, community dialogue and conflict resolution, education and training, civil society development, and responsive governance.
USIP has recently launched a new project with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support local environmental governance. The project seeks to foster collaboration between local communities, government, and other relevant stakeholders to solve priority local environmental issues in four locales across Tunisia: Tabarka, Siliana, Medenine Governorate and Sfax. USIP is seeking a highly capable and professional trainer to revise existing, and develop new, training content and conduct training sessions on peacebuilding foundational knowledge and skills for state actors in the four locales.
Purpose of the RFP
USIP’s Tunisia program will engage a trainer who will work with USIP to develop training content and deliver training sessions to local state officials on peacebuilding skills such as non-violent communication, dialogue, negotiation, and mediation in four locales: Sfax, Medenine Governorate, Tabarka, and Siliana. The objective of these training sessions is to strengthen state actors’ capacity by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogues involving various government actors, community leaders, private sector, and civil society representatives. Through these dialogues, relevant stakeholders will collaborate to address pressing environmental issues, adopting an adaptive, iterative problem-solving approach. To achieve this objective, it is important to tailor the peacebuilding skills training to meet the needs of the target group and the scope of the project.
The ideal offeror should have at least 9-12 years of proven experience in peacebuilding, nonviolent communication, dialogue, negotiation, and conflict resolution. A master’s degree in international development, peacebuilding, conflict resolution or a related field experience is preferred. Offerors should highlight relevant previous experiences in training state actors and applying peacebuilding skills to address governance issues. Knowledge in Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) is highly preferred.
For national offerors, fluency in Arabic is essential. Proficiency in French or English is preferred. For international offerors, fluency in English is essential. Proficiency in French and/or Arabic is preferred.
Background and Scope of Work
Under the project’s objective of supporting local government officials in each locale to engage with CSO leaders in solving high-priority local environmental issues, USIP’s Tunisia program will engage a contractor to work with USIP to develop content and deliver training sessions to Tunisian local state actors on peacebuilding skills as outlined below. Participants may include municipal council members, mayors, municipal administration, délégués and their staff as well as subnational representatives of technical ministries. The expected deliverables from the trainer are as follows:
Develop training content on foundational peacebuilding and dialogue approaches and skills: the training agenda and training content should focus on building foundational skills that are fundamental to peacebuilding and consensus building efforts. This includes nonviolent communication, dialogue, facilitation, negotiation techniques, and conflict resolution strategies. The trainer is expected to equip participants with the practical tools and knowledge needed to engage collaboratively and strategically in dialogues with the larger community.
The curriculum will include an adapted selection of peacebuilding approaches and skills, such as, but not limited to, conflict analysis, conflict resolution, dialogue, mediation, facilitation, and negotiation, and non-violent action approaches. The training sessions would typically include visuals such as slides or videos to help illustrate the module’s content and deliver comprehensive and engaging training. The selected contractor(s) may as well use interactive ways such as case studies, role-playing simulations, and group activities to encourage active participation; prepare handouts and a participants guide/toolbox to be distributed during and after the training.
Deliver training sessions on foundational peacebuilding approaches and skills as the following:
* Deliver a three-day training to 15 local and subnational state actors in Sfax.
* Deliver a three-day training to 15 local and subnational state actors in Medenine Governorate.
* Deliver a three-day training to 15 local and subnational state actors in Tabarka.
* Deliver a three-day training to 15 local and subnational state actors in Siliana.
To achieve these deliverables, the trainer will work with USIP to update, expand, and customize the existing curriculum and pedagogical approaches and then conduct these training sessions in the four locales. The selected contractor is expected to work closely with USIP Tunisia program and environmental governance experts to tailor the curriculum to the specific projects and identified needs.
Tentative Timeline
A tentative timeline for the completion of deliverables is provided below. USIP will work with the selected candidate to finalize deliverables and deliverable due dates upon selection.
Deliverable
Estimated Due Date
Develop the content of the training including detailed agenda and session outlines
February 29, 2024
Deliver four training sessions (of three days) on foundational Peacebuilding approaches and skills for 15 participants in each locale (60 participants in total considering all four locales).
May 31, 2024
Level of Effort
Working days should not exceed fifteen (15) working days per trainer, in total. This is an estimation, USIP will work with selected offerors to agree on a final calculation of working days.
Expected Type of Contract: Firm Fixed Price
Submission Requirements
Any proposal that does not contain all items listed below may be considered nonresponsive. Please read attentively the terms and conditions attached to this request before submitting your application. For more detail on the selection process, including corresponding evaluation criteria, please see Evaluation Criteria in Section V below. To be considered under this RFP, please submit the following:
Technical Requirements
To be considered, please submit a cover letter of no more than 5 pages with the following information:
* Summarize your interest this RFP and demonstrate your experience and knowledge in training and coaching government officials and community leaders in peacebuilding, dialogue, non-violent communication, mediation, participatory problem-solving, and conflict resolution. Demonstrate your knowledge and experience in adaptive, iterative problem-solving processes. Highlight any experiences in which you applied peacebuilding knowledge to environment or governance issues.
* Describe your previous experience with a project of similar scope and complexity.
* Specify your approach or methodology to complete the scope of work described in Section III.
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Please provide a CV of no more than 5 pages. CVs will not count towards technical narrative proposal page limit.
Cost Proposal
Provide a detailed budget specifying your proposed daily rate. Budget must be in US dollars. USIP will cover all travel and logistical operations required to implement the deliverables. Offerors do not need to include any travel or logistical costs in their offer.
References
Provide the name and contact information for two references, preferably those that have experience supervising you or working with you on a similar project.
Certification Page
Complete and sign the Certification Page below and submit with the proposal.
- Selection Process
- Schedule
Date
Schedule
November 28, 2023
RFP issued
December 10, 2023
Questions concerning RFP and project emailed to [email protected] and [email protected] no later than 23:00 Tunis Time.
December 20, 2023
Answers to questions will be made available to all offerors.
December 31, 2023
Proposals are due no later than 23:00 Tunis Time. Late submissions may not be accepted.
January 15, 2024
Notification to selected offeror
January 30, 2024
Estimated project commencement date
USIP may adjust dates in the schedule or cancel this RFP at any time prior to contract award.
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the criteria below. For more detail on each submission requirement, see Section IV of this RFP. The USIP Selection Committee will review all proposals received on time using the evaluation criteria established below based on the best value offered to USIP. The Selection Committee reserves the right to reject any or all proposals, in whole or in part, to award multiple contracts, and/or to enter negotiations with any party, in the best interests of the Institute.
Evaluation Criteria
Weight
Technical Requirements.
40%
CVs
20%
Cost Proposal
30%
References
10%
General Instructions and Terms
- Complete proposals must be submitted by email to [email protected] and Amal Al-Hakimi [email protected] by 23:00pm Tunis time on December 31, 2023.
- The Institute is not liable for any costs incurred by offerors prior to issuance of an executed contract with the Institute.
- Submissions must be typed and submitted electronically and must include all submission requirements outlined in the Submission of Requirements section of this RFP. No changes or corrections to a response will be allowed after the deadline.
- All submissions should be in English and US dollars.
- Any questions concerning this RFP should be directed to Sabrine Laribi and Amal Al-Hakimi at [email protected] and [email protected]. Pertinent responses will be made available to all offerors by email. No inquiries will be accepted after specified time and date.
- Any proposal not addressing all RFP requirements may be considered non-responsive. Late proposals may be rejected as non-responsive.
- This RFP is not an offer to enter into an agreement with any party, but rather a request to receive proposals from offerors (organizations or persons) interested in providing the services outlined herein. Such proposals shall be considered and treated by USIP as offers to enter into a contract.
- USIP shall not be obligated for the payment of any sums whatsoever to any recipient of this RFP until and unless a written contract between the parties is executed.
- Unless stated otherwise within this RFP, the selected Contractor shall be responsible for providing all equipment and/or supplies required to perform the services.
- The selected Contractor shall not discriminate against any person in accordance with Federal, state, or local law.
- The submission of any materials to USIP in response to this RFP will constitute (i) a representation that the Offeror owns or has unrestricted license to use and license such materials and all intellectual property expressed therein; and (ii) the grant of a non-exclusive license to USIP to use such materials and intellectual property for any purpose, including specifically the evaluation, negotiation, and documentation of a contract with any party.
- Offeror will commit to adhering to the attached USIP Terms & Conditions, else risk removal from consideration. Exceptions to these terms must be clearly outlined in an annex to the Technical Proposal.
Certification Page
(Please submit with the proposal)
A. The Offeror certifies that: (1) Prices in the offer have been arrived at independently without consultation, communication, or agreement with any other competitor; (2) Prices in the offer have not been and will not be knowingly disclosed by the offeror, directly or indirectly, to any other competitor before bid opening or contract award unless otherwise required by law; and (3) No attempt has been made or will be made by the offeror to induce any other competitor to/not to submit an offer for the purpose of restricting competition.
B. Has the offeror received funding from USIP? Yes/NO If yes, provide the grant or contract number and the offeror’s main point of contact at USIP:
On Behalf of Offeror:
Name of Organization or Independent Contractor
Signature of Authorized Official
Printed Name of Authorized Official
Title
Date
How to apply
To apply for this position, please use the following URL:
https://ars2.equest.com/?response_id=5f0a143429cce6c49b296ca58c3b2324
Deadline: 31 Dec 2023