Background

A.Title of the Project: Support to the State of Kuwait in the implementation of SDG 5 on Gender Equality

This assignment is implemented within the framework of the Project: “Support to the State of Kuwait in the implementation of SDG 5 on Gender Equality”. The project is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Kuwait’ office, UN Women and implemented by the Women Research and Studies Center at Kuwait University.

B. Background of the project

On 25 September 2015, HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait, pledged Kuwait’s commitment to implementation of Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals before assembled world leaders at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York. The Kuwait National Development Plan (KNDP) 2015-2020 has also established a set of goals and targets that will assist Kuwait to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. To this end, UNDP Kuwait and the UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States have partnered with the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and development and the Kuwait University’s Women Research and Studies Center to support a national programme to accelerate the implementation of SDG 5 in the State of Kuwait.

This project has set in motion longer term transformative changes that will enable Kuwait to achieve the ambitious goals set under the women’s empowerment agenda of the SDGs in Kuwait. The project capitalizes on, and complements, previous work carried out by UNDP during the previous 2009-2012 CPAP cycle on women’s empowerment and supports Outcome 2 of the current CPAP, and on work currently being carried out by UN Women in the rest of the Arab States region. This project will focus on three key areas including: 1) the enhancement of women’s participation in political and public life; 2) women’s participation in all sectors is enhanced through increased awareness and application of gender-positive policies to promote women’s participation; and 3) Making data available to support elaboration of a comprehensive national plan to address violence against women.

The KNDP plays an integral part in the future of development in Kuwait and thus requires active engagement from the necessary stakeholders and highlighting their achievements including Kuwaiti women, this can greatly facilitate the optimal execution of the KNDP enabling better results and prosperous growth in Kuwait.

Within this context, UNDP is seeking to contract a consultant to strengthen the capabilities of electoral female candidates and help female politicians develop networking skills through with the development of a Networking Strategy between Ra’edat Women's Network and WRSC contextualized to the Kuwaiti context. The reason for involving Ra’edat network is because it is the only Pan Arab regional network of female parliamentarians dedicated to achieving gender equality in the Arab states. Ra’edat has 200 active members of current and former parliamentarians from 14 Arab States. Along with more than 100 members from political and human rights backgrounds, and has adopted the 2030 Agenda in accordance with the SDG Goal #5. Moreover, Ra’edat members enjoy a wide range of experiences and are very prominent in their own societies. The Network enjoys good visibility through its vibrant participation in local, regional and global key events and through its website and social Media presence.

The Network launched a policy paper to achieve gender parity in political party structures, electoral lists and ran several regional meetings, advocacy campaigns, and conferences to implemente the recommendations(consider providing a web link to some of these events).

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of UNDP Kuwait Programme Team to provide the needed technical support to:

1. Review and Conduct a brief assessment of current networking and cooperation practices within WRSC

1. Conduct meetings and a brief assessment of current partnership and cooperation practices within WRSC with different stakeholders, CSO’s, and WRSC former and current trainees who are political aspirants
2. Determine approaches on how women in Kuwait can substantively engage with Ra’edat according to their needs
3. Based on the above, produce an inception report of the findings of the review, suggested methodology and work plan for the whole assignment.

2. Consultation, strengthened capacity and knowledge of WRSC regarding the value and nature of strategic networking and establish concrete linkages with Ra’edat (1 roundtable).

1. Share and present the main findings and recommendations with WRSC and propose an overall plan and methods for improvement.
2. Collect feedback and ensure that all WRSC staff and related stakeholders have a shared understanding of the benefits of networking and the reasons for engaging with Ra’edat as a strategic partner
3. Based on the above, draft a Networking Strategy -aligned with Ra’edat regional network-for Women leaders that aims to raise the networking skills of women political aspirants and women in leadership positions.

3. Conduct a Planning workshop to discuss the draft networking strategy with political aspirants (2 Days)

1. Develop Training packages including (Trainee manual/ Sessions plan and agenda / Training announcement/ Training activities/ Trainer’s manual/ presentations and training materials / Training evaluations);

4. Conduct regional roundtable discussion with Ra’edat members to finalize the networking strategy and future action plan (2 Days)

1. Communicate with Ra’edat members the nature and outcome of the assignment
2. Invite Ra’edat members with expertise in the GCC and familiarity with the Kuwaiti context
3. Arrange submission of all required documentation of Ra’dat members’ visit in coordination with UNDP (passports, contact details, etc) .
4. Organise the roundtable for Ra’edat members to finalize the  Networking Strategy with WRSC. To include an action plan that covers: session plan and agenda/roundtable announcement/roundtable activities/trainer’s manual/presentations and learning materials.
5. Register participating political aspirants in the Ra’edat Website with the opportunity to exchange experiences in an online community blog.

5. Develop a manual for the WRSC Networking Strategy for Leaders including an action plan that includes:

1. Define Networking strategy, vision, objective, output, and outcomes.
2. Define WRSC priorities and develop a roadmap for the Strategy’s implementation including the scope and area of Networking and linkages with Ra’edat (1 roundtable). 
3. Develop an action plan :
   1. Setting Up, Managing and Maintaining the Strategy                    
   2. Evaluation and Monitoring networking and collaboration    

6. Final assignment report including an executive summary of the whole mission, main findings, description of the intervention, summary of all the above deliverables, and final recommendations

Expected results and Deliverables 

Institutional Arrangement

The consultant will:

1. Report on day to day aspects of the assignment to the Project team consisting of UNDP  & WRSC/KU.
2. Consultation meetings will take place at UNDP & WRSC/KU.
3. All deliverables and documents should be approved by WRSC/KU, GSSCPD and UNDP.
4. Copyright of all final deliverables should be assigned to UNDP.
5.   Payments are subject to submission of invoice and approved deliverable.

Duration of the Work   

The duration of this consultancy is expected to be 5 weeks with at least 3 weeks physical presence in Kuwait.  Expected start date of the assignment is 17 Mar 2019, 2 round trips covered

Duty Station

1. Due to the consultative nature of the assignment, especially in task 1,4 and 5, certain time of physical presence in Kuwait is required and consultants are expected to be there as and when needed to complete the assignment.
2. When in Kuwait, the consultant is expected to conduct this assignment from own premises with visits to WRSC/KU & UNDP offices for meetings and consultations. 

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

The financial proposal submitted shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. The financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, living allowance, and the number of anticipated working days).

Travel: All envisaged travel and other related costs must be included in the financial proposal.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging, and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed

Evaluation

Cumulative analysis

Total score=Technical Score + Financial Score.

Technical Criteria weight - 70%, 700 scores maximum 

Financial Criteria weight - 30%. 300 scores maximum

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 490 from 700 point in the Technical part of evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

The selection of candidates will be done in 3 stages:

1st stage: Prior to detailed evaluation, all applications will be thoroughly screened against eligibility criteria (minimum qualification requirements) as set in the TOR in order to determine whether they are compliant/non-compliant.

2nd  stage: Evaluation of technical proposals

Short-listed candidates will be evaluated based on the following criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 490 points (70%) at the Technical Evaluation would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

3rd stage: Financial evaluation

Cumulative analysis will be used based on the following methodology: All the offers of individual consultants who scored 490 (70% from 700) and more points during the desk review are acceptable for financial evaluation. The lowest financial qualified proposal receives 300 points and all the other technically qualified proposals receive points in inverse proportion per the formula:

The candidate achieving the highest cumulative score for both Technical and Financial evaluations will be recommended by the Evaluation Committee for contracting.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability http://www.kw.undp.org/content/kuwait/en/home/operations/procurement.html using the template provided by UNDP;
• Personal CV or P11 http://www.kw.undp.org/content/kuwait/en/home/operations/procurement.html, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and three (3) professional references;
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment; 
• Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Competencies

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
• Good knowledge of the UN system; 
• Excellent problem solving and facilitation skills;
• Demonstrated research and analytical knowledge and skills;
• Demonstrated ability to work in multicultural settings and in teams
• Flexibility to travel as needed.

Required Skills and Experience