Consultancy - Gender Advisor

Request for Proposals

Gender Advisor

Responses Due: June 2, 2023 by 5:00 pm ET (US Eastern)

Applicants may email questions and proposals to the following contacts (both in copy):

ehoulihan@ndi.org / mbutoy@ndi.org

Erin Houlihan, Program Director / May Gladys Butoy, Program Director, Philippines

National Democratic Institute

455 Massachusetts Ave., NW, 8th Floor

Washington, DC 20001-2621

I. Executive Summary

The National Democratic Institute is seeking the support of a consultant based in the Philippines to provide technical expertise, facilitation support, training and coaching to local elected officials and staff, civil society organizations and community members engaged in implementing a Local Government Gender Assessment and Action Planning (LGGAAP) process. The LGGAAP process aims to support local governments, working in partnership with community members, to apply a gender lens to identify and understand gender inequalities, gender-based constraints and inequitable norms and dynamics operating within the community, and then take steps to address them in an inclusive and consultative way. In the Philippines, it will be applied to assess gender-related challenges and identify solutions related to the delivery of a specific government service, such as health, social welfare, or education. The consultant is expected to work with local officials, residents and civil society to help setup a Gender Assessment Team composed of local government officials, staff, civil society and community members and for assisting to define the objectives and expected outcomes of the assessment process. The consultant will be responsible for building the capacity of the Gender Assessment Team to effectively carry out its tasks through training and workshops, and for providing recommendations and technical advice. The tasks of the Gender Assessment Team involve conducting desk research and public consultations, data analysis, developing and validating a research report, co-creating a gender action plan, and establishing a monitoring mechanism.

II. About NDI

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization that has supported democratic institutions and practices in every region of the world for more than three decades. NDI receives grants and cooperative agreements to pursue its mission from U.S. Federal agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State (DOS), as well as grants and service contracts from private and international donors such as the United Nations Development Fund, the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank, among others.

Since its founding in 1983, NDI and its local partners have worked to establish and strengthen political and civic organizations, safeguard elections and promote citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. NDI works on five continents with political parties, governments, parliaments and civic groups to establish and strengthen democratic institutions and practices. The Institute uses a multinational approach that reinforces the message that while there is no single democratic model, certain core principles are shared by all democracies. That philosophy has been applied in more than 132 countries since NDI’s founding. NDI has been a pioneer in the use of technology as an integral component of democratic development. The Institute has helped citizens create and refine tools to advocate, organize and mobilize in ways that encourage governments to be more accountable and create opportunities for citizen-led social and political change.

III. Context

Local governments are the closest and most visible to the people. They create policies, oversee and allocate funding, and provide services that play a unique role in the daily lives of community members. This makes local governments particularly important for advancing the equal rights of women.

Local governments often have limited access to systematic information about women’s diverse perspectives, priorities and needs, which is necessary to develop more gender responsive policies and gender transformative approaches. Gender inequalities are embedded in all societies across the world, women tend to face considerable and diverse barriers in public participation, accessing services and navigating infrastructure and public facilities within their communities. Yet women comprise just 5 percent of mayors worldwide and just 36 percent of elected officials in local deliberative bodies globally.

In order to address this gap, NDI developed the Local Government Gender Assessment and Action Planning (LGGAAP) Implementation Guide. With funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Institute is piloting the gender assessment and action planning process in communities in four countries, including the Philippines.

The objective of the LGGAAP process is to equip local governments, in partnership with civil society and community members, to adopt a more gender intentional approach to governance. It is intended to support local government capacity to apply a gender lens to identify and understand gender inequalities, gender-based constraints, and inequitable norms and dynamics, and then take steps to address them in an inclusive and consultative way.

NDI’s theory of change for gender intentional local governance is:

If local governments incorporate gender perspectives and gender transformative approaches, and operate with the principles of transparency, accountability and collaboration, then women can be empowered to take a meaningful and active part in their communities and have greater agency over their lives.

In the Philippines, the LGGAAP process will assist a local government to identify and address challenges in the delivery of a specific government service, such as health, social welfare, or education. The 2018 Mandanas-Garcia ruling by the Supreme Court of the Philippines provided local governments a larger share of national revenues and additional responsibilities for programs transferred to the local level, and became effective in 2022. Under the ruling, national government agency programs in diverse sectors (health, social welfare, education, agriculture, environment, labor and employment) will be devolved to local governments. This provides a key opportunity for local institutions taking on additional service delivery responsibilities to work with civil society and community members to develop gender assessments and action plans specifically targeted at gender equity in local service delivery.

IV. Scope of Work

In collaboration with NDI staff:

• Conduct meetings with the regional officials to develop objective criteria and identify a short list of potential municipalities or cities for LGGAAP implementation.
• Conduct introductory meetings with local government officials and staff and civil society representatives in short-listed localities and provide detailed recommendations on one or more municipality or city for LGGAAP implementation, based on criteria and discussions with local governments.
• In collaboration with local leaders:
• Conduct a mapping exercise of departments and individuals within the local government that could contribute to and/or lead the LGGAAP
• Identify and work to secure local government commitments to dedicated resources to support the process, and identify potential resource gaps;
• Support local government to establish an inclusive and diverse Gender Assessment Team to oversee the design and implementation of the LGGAAP process, including on options and good practices for (s)election or appointment procedures, composition and outreach.
• Assess and build the capacity of the Gender Assessment Team – through workshops, developing/adapting and implementing trainings, holding regular meetings, or other consultations – on the LGGAAP process, key concepts and core skills (i.e. research skills, public consultation methods, data management and analysis, etc.).
• Based on the above assessment, support, advise and build the capacity of the Gender Assessment team to:
• Develop its internal structures and organizational procedures;
• Define the objectives and desired outcomes of the process, including the sectoral focus of the assessment (i.e. health, social services, transportation, security, etc.);
• Develop a work plan;
• Develop and implement external and internal communication plans;
• Conduct desk research under the assessment objective;
• Develop and conduct a robust public data collection process (i.e. through key informant interviews, surveys, focus groups, etc.) and analyze the data;
• Develop findings into a report, with recommendations,
• Solicit community feedback through a consultative and iterative process and revise the report and findings to incorporate feedback.
• Co-create a draft action plan with discreet commitments that can be integrated into a more inclusive and responsive local budgeting process.
• Devise and stand up monitoring mechanisms to track and regularly report on the implementation of the action plan commitments, including through relevant budget allocations.
• Throughout, offer recommendations and strategies to ensure the LGGAAP process is inclusive and meets the needs of diverse groups of citizens and stakeholders.
• Provide regular updates and ongoing communications with NDI.
• Any administrative or other tasks related to successful implementation of LGGAAP tool as assigned by NDI.

Deliverables:

The consultant would agree to produce the following deliverables, to be approved by NDI staff:

• Weekly activity updates in a form to be determined in coordination with NDI
• Work plan
• Training materials, including agendas and participant assessments
• Training implementation
• Training outcomes reports
• Participation in sessions/meetings/workshops with local government officials and staff, civil society representatives and Gender Assessment Team
• Substantive commentary (recommendations, suggestions, edits) and assistance on materials produced by the Gender Assessment Team, (such as its work plan, communications plan, public data collection plan and instruments, versions of draft reports and recommendations, action plan, monitoring plan and others as appropriate)
• Interim progress report
• Final progress report

Travel:

Depending on the location of the consultant, may require regular travel to the partner locality, with flexible working hours. NDI will cover the cost of travel and lodging according to NDI procurement rules.

Duration:

NDI will hire the consultant for 10 months with possibility of extension, pending funding.

V. Criteria for Selection

Vendors who meet the following criteria will be given preference:

• Demonstrated expertise, through a combination of relevant education and experience, in the following areas: gender equality and gender mainstreaming, gender assessment/analysis and planning, gender responsive budgeting, women’s rights advocacy;
• Previous experience working with international organizations, local governments, NGOs or other relevant institutions, preferably with local stakeholders;
• Thorough understanding of the gender, political, legal, economic and social context of The Philippines;
• Excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills and the ability to liaise with various stakeholders, including (local) government officials;
• Legal ability to work and reside in Philippines;
• Ability to meet deadlines and work in a team, but also takes individual initiative;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Fluency in English;
• Basic computer skills (Microsoft Office Programs, email, Internet).

Must be located in the Philippines and eligible to work.

VI. Submission Process

Interested applicants should submit:

• CV in English
• Proposed daily rate. If consultant prefers to propose a monthly or weekly rate, that should be noted. In general, NDI expects specific needs to vary by week/month so a daily rate is expected as most feasible.
• Cover letter in English
• Optional: Any additional writing sample or research report that demonstrates your relevant qualifications and experience in English.

• If the execution of work to be performed requires the hiring of subcontractors, you must clearly state this in your proposal. NDI will not refuse a proposal based upon the use of subcontractors, however, NDI retains the right to refuse the subcontractors selected by a vendor.

All final proposals should be submitted via email to contact information (same as above) at the National Democratic Institute by 5:00 pm ET on June 2, 2023.

Early submissions are welcome and appreciated. NDI will evaluate bids based on the experience of the vendors and the quality of the proposal. NDI may request meetings or calls to discuss proposals and reserves the right to reject any and all bids. NDI also reserves the right to consider bids for modification at any time before an award is made. NDI will not be liable for any costs associated with the preparation, transmittal, or presentation of any materials submitted in response to this RFP, but reserves the right to request further information before making an award. Please note that selected vendor(s) would be expected to use NDI’s standard contract template, a copy of which is available upon request.