Project Description: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD or the Bank) has drafted a Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality (the Strategy) in its countries of operation (CoOs). It is the Bank’s practice, in line with its Public Information Policy 2014, to invite stakeholders to give their views on the Bank’s policies and strategies, and to take into consideration comments and feedback obtained during the public consultation process. In line with this, the Bank will conduct a stakeholder engagement process to obtain feedback and views on the draft Strategy.
Assignment Description: The EBRD wishes to engage a consultant (the Consultant) to provide advice, logistical and organisational support to the Bank in structuring and delivering five public half-day meetings to be held in Rabat or Amman, and Istanbul, Ankara, Almaty and Bucharest in September and October 2015 to discuss the Strategy (the Assignment).
The expected outcome of the Assignment is an efficiently conducted consultation process leading to a summary of public comments on the Strategy that can then be used to further inform the document, where appropriate.
The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:
- Assist the EBRD’s Gender Team and liaise with the EBRD’s Civil Society Engagement Unit in identifying potential stakeholders and participants, guaranteeing broad representation of different ethnic/social/economic groups; seek input for the agenda; establish neutrality of the facilitator(s); identify, interview, select and hire local facilitators satisfactory to the Bank. Just prior to the public meetings, provide a short training to the local facilitators and translators in order to brief them on the contents of the Gender Strategy. Prior briefing sessions regarding meeting design, objectives, etc. are to be held with the EBRD and the selected consultants.
Provide input and advice to the Bank as to the format, venue, agenda, timing of meetings, and facilitation of the public consultation for each specified location. Provide CVs for translation and facilitation experts.
- Lead and coordinate the participation invitation process. Prepare a database of participants, in accordance with European Union (EU) requirements for privacy and encouraging a wide range of interest groups
- Organise venues and catering for each public consultation meeting.
- Provide information for participants (comprising meeting agenda, list of EBRD attendees, names of the facilitators, evaluation form) and other supplies as determined during the planning of the consultation meetings
- Prepare communication materials (banners, posters, media articles) for the meetings and publicise them in each location to the relevant stakeholders, subject to a review by EBRD of proposed drafts.
-- Organise and pay for travel, accommodation, etc. (to be reimbursed by the Bank) for a limited number of civil society participants, in particular, from countries where there are no public consultation meetings planned.
- Chair and manage each public meeting with the local facilitators, including layout and set-up of meetings, availability of required presentation and background material, possible exhibits, tools used in assessing comments and concerns, participants’ list, ensure proper reporting of participants’ comments, draft summary and meeting notes from each meeting. Oversee the coordination of all on-site needs
- Report on individual meetings and general consultation meeting report. A meeting report will be prepared for each meeting, with comments on each identified theme or topic (to be agreed with EBRD) in separate sections, with an overall summary report of the public meeting consultation process.
Status of Selection Process: Interested firms or groups of firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start on 1 August 2015 and be completed by 1 November 2015.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 128,000.00 (exclusive of VAT).
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.
Funding Source: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by the Bank from its own resources. Selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms with extensive experience in convening public consultation programmes in international settings focused on gender equality, women’s economic empowerment and/or good governance. The Consultant’s team of experts will preferably have :
- Extensive experience of public consultation with civil society organisations (CSOs) in different contexts, including the EBRD’s countries of operation, as follows: e.g., human rights; gender equality and women’s rights; transparency and governance; social issues; environment, health and safety; diversity; and ethnic minorities.
- Understanding of the EBRD’s policies and procedures, in particular the 2013 Strategic Gender Initiative (SGI) to enable facilitation (familiarity with terminology, etc.)
- Local capabilities in the locations for planned meetings (Rabat or Amman, Istanbul and Ankara, Almaty and Bucharest). The London meeting will be hosted in the EBRD’s offices.
- Audience analysis, public consultation programme design
- Participatory methodologies for civil society engagement and consultation
- Convening international public consultation events
- Problem-solving through negotiations and mediation and conflict management skills
- Facilitation skills in the languages required
- Writing up public proceedings and analysing the outcome
It is recommended that a part of this Assignment will be carried out by local experts.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
a. Key Expert No 1 (Team Leader) with preferably 15 years of previous professional experience in COOs and on gender equality, women’s rights or social development. Excellent project coordination and management skills, and analytical and report writing skills.
b. Key Expert No 2 (Civil Society Facilitator) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in civil society in COOs, with significant skills in networking diverse stakeholders and with good logistical /organisational skills. In addition to English, this expert should preferably be fluent in at least 1 (preferably 2) of the following languages: Russian, Turkish, French and Arabic.
c. Key Experts No 3 (Pool of Additional Experts) with a background in the promotion of gender equality, women’s rights or social development in the different regions, covering the following areas: environment and sustainability; governance and political participation; and ethnic minorities, disabilities and other minorities. In addition to English, these experts should preferably be fluent in at least 1 of the following languages: Russian, Turkish, French and Arabic.
d. Key Experts No 4 (National Dialogue Facilitators) able to speak Russian, Turkish, French and Arabic, technical staff (to manage on site facilities)
Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be selected for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:
1. Company/group of firms’ profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2-4 pages).
2. Details of previous project experience or similar assignments particularly undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration) , main activities, objectives.
3. CVs of key experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.
4. Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:
http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.
The above information should not exceed 10 pages excluding CVs and contact sheet.
The complete expression of interest (including CVs, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) should be submitted, in English electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded (4MB), the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.
Bank Contact Person:
Georgia Vasiliadis (Ms)
Principal Advisor
Technical Cooperation Team
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
Tel: + 44 20 7338 7750, Fax: +44 20 7338 7451
e-mail: vasiliag@ebrd.com
Notes:
1. The selection will normally be made from responses to this notification only. Consultants will not be asked to submit a proposal. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected from a shortlist and be invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
2. The shortlist criteria are: (a) Firm’s previous relevant project experience in the Bank’s countries of operation (10%)
(b) Firm’s previous relevant project experience in gender issues and or women’s rights (20%)
(c) CV of Key Expert No 1 (20%)
(d) CV of Key Expert No 2 (15%)
(e) CVs of Key Experts No 3 (15%)
(f) CVs of Key Experts No 4 (20%)
