US Institute of Peace
DESCRIPTION/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Request for Proposals
United States Institute of Peace
Two trainers on Inclusive Governance, Systems Thinking, and Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA)
(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 specified time and date.
The response must be submitted by 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 conflict. 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 two highly capable and professional trainers to co-develop training curriculum for each training module and conduct trainings on inclusive governance, systems thinking, and problem-solving approaches for state actors in the four locales.
Purpose of the RFP
USIP’s Tunisia program will engage two trainers/experts to work with USIP to co-develop training curriculum and deliver trainings to local government on inclusive governance, systems thinking, and Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach in four locales: Sfax, Medenine Governorate, Tabarka, and Siliana. The objective of this training is to strengthen state actors with the approaches and tools essential 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.
Competitive offerors will have at least nine to twelve (9-12) years of demonstrated experience in inclusive and participatory governance, systems thinking applied in public sector, and Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) or related fields. A master’s degree in international development, public policy, good governance, public administration, or any other related field is preferred. Given that the objective of the training is to prepare government actors with essential approaches and knowledge on inclusive governance, systems thinking and PDIA, offerors should highlight relevant previous experiences in training state actors and applying these approaches. This opportunity is open to Tunisian national and international offerors, whether they are individuals, organizations, or companies with the relevant expertise and personnel. Additionally, offerors can either apply individually or as a duo.
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 to support local government officials in each locale to engage with CSO leaders in solving high-priority local environmental issues, USIP’s Tunisia program will engage two trainers/experts to work with USIP to co-develop training content and deliver training sessions to Tunisian local state actors on inclusive governance, systems thinking and PDIA. Even though the two trainers are requested to develop the training content jointly, they will be expected to deliver the trainings separately and parallelly. Each trainer will deliver the training sessions in two locales abiding by the same implementation schedule. Participants will include municipal council members, mayors, municipal administration, délégués and their staff and subnational representatives of technical ministries. The expected deliverables per one trainer/expert are as the following:
Co-develop training content on the following three modules:
* Inclusive governance: build the knowledge of government actors on the practices and benefits of inclusive governance, outlining its importance in reaching long term environmental solutions.
* Systems thinking: introduce systems thinking approach and tools applied in environmental public sector, such as interconnectedness, systems mapping and feedback loops, to enable state actors to unpack and analyze the complexities of the environmental issues.
* Problem-Driven iterative Adaptation (PDIA): build the capacity of government actors in identifying and conducting strategic changes to structures, laws and processes that are essential to addressing and preventing environmental issues in the long run. This module should provide participants with tools to deconstruct the problem, iterate and adapt their proposed actions to develop environmental solutions.
The training sessions will 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 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 trainings as the following per trainer:
* Deliver a three-day training on inclusive governance to 15 local and subnational state actors in two locales (30 participants in total considering two locales).
* Deliver a three-day training on systems thinking to 15 local and subnational state actors in two locales (30 participants in total considering two locales).
* Deliver a three-day training on PDIA to 15 local and subnational state actors in two locales (30 participants in total considering two locales).
To achieve these deliverables, the selected contractors are expected to work with the USIP Tunisia program, USIP’s environmental governance experts, and other trainers on peacebuilding, to tailor the curriculum to the project and its target identified needs.
Tentative Timeline
A tentative timeline for the completion of deliverables (per trainer) is provided below. USIP will work with the selected proposers to finalize deliverables and deliverable due dates upon selection.
Deliverable
Estimated Due Date
co-develop the content of the training including detailed agenda and session outlines
March 15, 2024
Deliver two training sessions (of three days) on inclusive governance for 15 participants in two locales (30 participants in total considering two locales).
May 31, 2024
Deliver two training sessions (of three days) on systems thinking for 15 participants in two locales (30 participants in total considering two locales).
June 30, 2024
Deliver two training sessions (of three days) on Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) approach for 15 participants in two locales (30 participants in total considering two locales).
July 31, 2024
Level of Effort
Working days should not exceed twenty-seven (27) 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 Narrative Proposal
The technical narrative proposal should be no more than 5 pages and include the following sections:
- Prior Experience:
+ Summarize your interest in this RFP and demonstrate your experience and knowledge in training and coaching government officials and community leaders in inclusive governance, systems thinking and Problem-Driven iterative Adaptation (PDIA)
+ . Highlight any experiences in which you applied these approaches to address environment or climate issues. Highlight previous experiences in which you worked in teams in developing curriculum for each training.
+ Describe your previous experience with a project of similar scope and complexity.
- Overall Approach and Methodology:
+ Specify your approach or methodology to complete the scope of work described in Section III.
- Key Personnel, Staffing, and Specific Expertise (Organizations Only)
+ Describe the key personnel, their role, their level of knowledge, and how their experience is related and beneficial. Describe the overall staffing plan for the project. Please note that staff may be non US citizens and do not require a security clearance.
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
For each of the key personnel, please provide a CV of no more than 5 pages. CVs will not count towards technical narrative proposal page limit.
Cost Proposal
The cost proposal shall include a detailed budget and a budget narrative. Budget must be in US dollars and in a spreadsheet format (e.g., Excel). Please note that USIP allows nonprofit organizations to include up to 15% indirect cost recovery on total direct costs for contracts.
USIP will cover all travel and logistical operations needed to implement the deliverables described above. Offerors do not need to include any travel or logistical costs in their offer.
Financial Management Assessment Form
Organizations must complete the Financial Management Assessment Form unless they have received Federal grants, contracts or cooperative agreements in the past two years and can provide their audited financial statement from their most recent fiscal year. This form is not required for applicants applying as individuals.
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 Narrative Proposal
40%
CVs
20%
Cost Proposal
30%
References
10%
General Instructions and Terms
- Complete proposals must be submitted by email to Ms. Sabrine Laribi [email protected] and Ms. 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 the 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=e071f07e1afe44a2ea370d69eed0e44f
Deadline: 31 Dec 2023