United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Tender document for consultancy on mapping IR HIV/Aids activities in country offices, October 2018

Islamic Relief Worldwide

Islamic Relief is an international aid and development charity, which aims to alleviate the suffering of the world's poorest people. It is an independent Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in the UK in 1984.

As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities - regardless of race, religion or gender.

Our vision:

Inspired by our Islamic faith and guided by our values, we envisage a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled and people respond as one to the suffering of others.

Our mission:

Exemplifying our Islamic values, we will mobilise resources, build partnerships, and develop local capacity, as we work to:

Enable communities to mitigate the effect of disasters, prepare for their occurrence and respond by providing relief, protection and recovery.

Promote integrated development and environmental custodianship with a focus on sustainable livelihoods.

Support the marginalised and vulnerable to voice their needs and address root causes of poverty.

We allocate these resources regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief, and without expecting anything in return.

At the international level, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, and is a signatory to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct. IRW is committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through raising awareness of the issues that affect poor communities and through its work on the ground. Islamic Relief are one of only 13 charities that have fulfilled the criteria and have become members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (www.dec.org.uk)

IRW endeavours to work closely with local communities, focussing on capacity-building and empowerment to help them achieve development without dependency.

Please see our website for more information http://www.islamic-relief.org/

Project background

Islamic Relief is committed to SDG (sustainable development goals) 3, Good Health and Well-being and SDG 5, Empowerment of Women and Gender Equality. This requires the organisation to better recognise HIV/AIDS issues prevalent across the communities where the organisation works. Also, more intentional integration of HIV/AIDS considerations is required. Islamic Relief has established a Gender Justice Policy in 2015 which recognises the importance of integrating sexual and reproductive health programmes. It has also established GBV polices on early and forced marriage, and FGM, as well as a sexual and reproductive health policy in place. IRW is currently in the process of conducting global consultation on the Islamic Gender Justice Declaration.

Objectives

IRW is seeking a Consultant/Consultancy Company with a proven background in HIV/AIDS programming to carry out mapping of Islamic Relief HIV/Aids activities and identify potential programmes and country offices for HIV/AIDS intervention. The consultant will also review IRW’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) policy to recommend areas for development.

It is proposed that a consultant be recruited for a period of 30 days. The successful candidate will primarily provide support to Islamic Relief on their work on HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence and advocacy. Specifically, the consultant will carry out mapping of the Islamic Relief HIV /AIDS activities in relation to protection, in particular gender-based violence (GBV) and in relation to inclusion and ‘leaving no one behind. The consultant will also review IRW’s SRH policy to ensure it covers up to date needs.

Scope

The scope of this assignment is to map IRW’s AIDS programmes and suggest areas of intervention.

Methodolgy

Under the guidance of /or in collaboration with the Gender Inclusion and Protection Advisor, the Consultant shall work with Islamic Relief country offices to do a mapping of their activities on HIV/AIDS,GBV and inclusion:

Country

· The consultant will explore Islamic Relief’s existing work on HIV in Africa to find opportunities for strengthened partnerships: Where has the leadership and drive been? What has worked well?

· The consultant will document lessons learned and replicable models from Islamic Relief South Africa work for other countries and regions.

· The consultant will explore contacts re: strengthening national response to HIV in specific countries e.g.- Niger, Mali, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Afghanistan etc.

o The consultant will identify a potential country for a pilot programme of Islamic Relief to integrate HIV activities into ongoing work to address protection concerns, exclusion, sexual and other types of violence in conflict situations.

o The consultant will visit 2 country offices if required to examin current programmes, and suggest future interventions.

· The Consultant will seek to work with and learn from their partnership with UN Women as they focus on Gender, Protection and Inclusion, in particular sexual violence in conflict countries in the region, then develop a strategy of integrating HIV component into IR work.

· The consultant will explore UNAIDS MENA Regional office’s relationships with the Arab League to identify opportunities of engagement.

Global-

The consultant will identify existing partnerships and together with UNAIDS suggest opportunities to maximize the IR-UNAIDS existing relationships and partnerships to bring HIV into IR work and to strengthen entry points and programmatic work on Sexual Violence to include HIV.

Some of those partnerships/opportunities could be:

· AU/UNAIDS

· OIC (the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation): Explore Research options to develop strong data to convince countries to act.

· IDB (Islamic Development Bank: Identify best entry points)

· MCF (Muslim Charities Forum) and other Islamic NGOs: What is their intake on GBV and HIV/AIDS?

Organisational:

· The consultant will inform IR Gender Justice Policy with the findings of the mapping and suggest policy revisions (specific amendments and additions)

· The consultant will revisit IRW’s SRH policy and provide feedback

Project requirements

The successful consultant is expected to have:

· Functional understanding of HIV, Inclusion and Protection, in particular GBV especially in conflict situations.

· Experience of working cross- culturally; ability to communicate clearly and articulately. Excellent interpersonal skills and professional manners are essential

· Ability to work independently and to manage large amounts of information; to work systematically and to produce to deadlines.

· Sensitivity towards and interest in cross-cultural issues and human rights issues.

· Strong interpersonal, representational and advocacy skills.

· Ability to ensure that the principles around human rights, gender and the meaningful involvement of people living with HIV are adhered to and applied in all IR partnership work and strategies.

· Degree in social sciences, health or related subject

· Advanced level of English, understanding of Arabic or Friench would be an asset.

Project output

A written report of the research and findings along with recommendations for action between 20 and 50 pages. The report should cover IRW’s AIDS mapping and recommend future programme intervention. It should also review SRH policy and suggest areas for improvement.

Timescales

Timescales for this project are as follows;

Task

Completion date

Proposal deadline

15^th of October 2018

Shortlisting, interview and final selection

22 October 2018

Start date

26^th October 2018

1st draft

9^th of November

Final document

23^rd of November 2018

Contract duration: Duration to be specified by the consultant

Direct report: Programmes quality department

Location: UK, Birmingham

Job Title: Consultant; HIV/AIDS mapping

Proposal to tender and costing:

Consultants (single or teams) interested in carrying out this work must:

a) Submit a proposal/bid, including the following;

i. Detailed cover letter/proposal outlining a methodology and approach briefing note

ii. CV or outline of relevant skills and experience possessed by the consultant who will be carrying out the tasks and any other personnel who will work on the project

iii. Example(s) of relevant work

iv. The consultancy daily rate

v. Expenses policy of the tendering consultant. Incurred expenses will not be included but will be agreed in advance of any contract signed

vi. Be able to complete the project within the timeframe stated above

vii. Be able to demonstrate experience of outcome reviews, mapping and impact assessment/evaluation approaches for similar work

Terms and conditions

Payment will be made in accordance with the deliverables and deadlines as follows:

· 25% of the total amount – submission of the inception report

· 25% of the total amount – submission of the first draft of the evaluation report

· 50% of the total amount – submission of the final report including all outputs and attachments mentioned above

We can be flexible with payment terms, invoices are normally paid on net payment terms of 28 days.

Additional information and conditions of contract

During the consultancy period,

IRW will only cover:

· Consultancy fees

· Any travel costs to visit IRW or any of our country offices

IRW will not cover:

· Tax obligations as required by the country in which he/she will file income tax

· Any pre/post assignment medical costs. These should be covered by the consultant

· Medical and travel insurance arrangements and costs. These should be covered by the consultant

For further details on this tender or to access the tender documents then please visit our website on the link beneath;

https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/open-tenders/tender-for-consultancy-on-mapping-ir-hivaids-activities-in-country-offices-october-2018/

Consultancy contract

This will be for an initial period that is to be specified by the consultant commencing from October 2018 (exact date to be mutually agreed). The selected candidate is expected to work from their home/office and be reporting into the Programmes Quality Department of IRW.

The terms upon which the consultant will be engaged are as per the consultancy agreement. The invoice is to be submitted at the end of the assignment and will be paid on net payment terms 28 days though we can be flexible.

All potential applicants must fill in the table beneath in Appendix 1 to help collate key data pertaining to this tender. The applicant must be clear about other expenses being claimed in relation to this consultancy and these must be specified clearly.

For this consultancy all applicants are required to submit a covering letter and CV’s of all potential consultants including the project lead.

A proposal including, planned activities, methodology, deliverables, timeline, and cost proposal (including expenses) are expected.

Other relevant supporting documents should be included as the consultants sees fit.

All applicants must have a valid visa or a permit to work in the UK (if travel is required to the UK). A valid visa/work permit is also required for those areas required to be visited as part of this consultancy.

Tender dates and contact details

All proposals are required to be submitted by Monday 15^th of October 2018 1.00pm UK time pursuant to the attached guidelines for submitting a quotation and these be returned to tendering@irworldwide.org

For any issues relating to the tender or its contents please email directly to tendering@irworldwide.org

Following submission, IRW may engage in further discussion with applicants concerning tenders in order to ensure mutual understanding and an optimal agreement.

Quotations must include the following information for assessment purposes.

1. Payment terms (payment normally made within 28 days of invoice)

2. Full break down of costs including taxes, expenses and any VAT

3. References (two are preferred)

4. Technical competency for this role

5. Demonstrable experience of developing similar training courses

Note: The criterias are subject to change.

Appendix 1

Please fill in the table below. It is essential all sections be completed and where relevant additional expenses be specified in detail. In case of questions about how to complete the table below, please contact tendering@irworldwide.org

Cost evaluation of a mapping IR HIV/Aids activities in country offices, October 2018

Applicants name

Company name

No of proposed hours per week

No. of proposed days

Preferred days

Earliest available start date

Non preferred days

Hourly rate

Total per week

Inclusive of Taxes if relevant (Total)

Other expenses (please specify)

Other expenses (please specify)

Other expenses (please specify)

Preferred payment terms (IRW UK terms are normally 28 days).

Total cost for consultancy (for one month)

Total cost for consultancy (for proposed period)

Note

The applicant is expected to take responsibility for paying full taxes and social charges in his/her country of residence.