REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 

Develop And Implement Project On Empowering Women In Informal Sector Through Livelihood Promotion[1] 

Background

Majority of women in informal sector ( over 60%) earn low income and experience poor quality of employment. Although the major cause of low income among women in the informal sector is the low level of physical and human capital investment in their enterprises, the prevalence of gender based discrimination in labor and other markets further aggravates the situation. Informality affects women more severely than men and contributes to their invisibilization of their work and contribution to economy. 

Women workers in the informal sector form one of the most vulnerable groups.  The factors compounding their vulnerability are irregular work, little or no bargaining power, little or no access to institutional credit, training and information, lack of capital and assets, no social protection system and Lack of control over earning 

Not much intervention exists to enable these women gain skills to participate in the labor force and as entrepreneurs, improve their access to credit, finance and viable markets, and ensure that the necessary networks are in place to support women producers’ and entrepreneurs’ empowerment and increased decision-making within the various sectors in which they operate. 

Justification

While women in informal sector are involved in a range of production activities for local markets as part of their survival strategies, there is a need for capacity development of these women producers to develop high-quality and in-demand products, increasing their access to viable markets while at the same time linking to local and national women’s networks, and to fair trade partners. It is essential that women producers and entrepreneurs be given skills in marketing, quality control, and business development, so as to enhance their competence in the income generating activities they pursue.  

Moreover, a strategy to merely increase income of the women in informal sector may not essentially improve their socio- economic conditions, considering their vulnerability status at home and work. Therefore, it is imperative that any strategy to ensure their economic empowerment must be accompanied with social and political empowerment which could improve their bargaining power both in the household and at work. It has been recognized that organizing women at the grassroots level has significant positive impact on their work and their life if such organization combines voice representation along with access to skills and resources such as finance and information. 

Women’s economic empowerment is one of the focus areas of UN Women and prioritizes women in excluded sections as target group, informal sector being the one.  For the economic empowerment of these women, there is a pressing need to ensure that various initiatives such as building capacities of these women and their institutions, access to resources as well as policy advocacy are being carried in coordinated and synergetic approach. Such intervention will promote women’s economic security through establishing market links at the local and national level, developing business skills of the women, ensuring required backward and forward linkages, developing products, enhancing negotiation and bargaining skills for fair terms of trade that will ensure economic security. 

The objective of the project is to address the challenges faced by informal sector women workers involved in producing and selling agriculture and traditional craft products to enhance their productivity and income.   

Key activities

UN Women is seeking the service of a highly qualified organization with extensive expertise and knowledge in the work related to livelihood development and social protection of informal sector women workers  

Specifically, the organization will undertake the following tasks:

·         Build and strengthen the capabilities of community-based organizations ( SHGs, clusters ,federations, cooperatives etc.) so that women, through such CBOs, can adopt strategies of collective bargaining at the market level for fair trade practices and social security provisions

·         Organize women's production and promote the development of the whole production cycle from accessing appropriate raw materials, capital, standardization, quality control, branding, value addition, product promotion   and  direct access to buyers and markets (without middlemen).

·         Build linkages for knowledge, capital , inputs and markets

·          Develop entrepreneurial skills of women by training them in marketing, value addition and business skills.

·         Ensure regular availability of financial services to the women

·         Sensitize government functionaries and officials to respond to women’s demand for social security provisions. 

Target Group

·         Informal sector women workers involved in agriculture and traditional crafts products in one state each

·         3000 Women (1500 per district per activity) 

Project Location

Two States: One project site in One District in each State  

Expected Outcomes

·         Increased skills and income of women involved in production of agriculture and traditional craft products.

·         Women in  informal sector  increasingly exercise their rights for social security provisions  and minimum wages by the end of the programme

·         Women in  informal sector display an enhanced sense of equality as economic actors in the household 

·         Government functionaries and official (at various levels from the village to the state) exhibit more sensitivity and increasingly respond to the demands of women in informal sector under various constitutional provisions and entitlements – pensions, insurance, minimum wages, and relevant policies, by the end of the programme. 

Duration of Assignment

Three years: August 2011- August 2014
 

Guidelines for the Submission of Proposals  

What is the format for the proposal?

Given the above details, the proposal (7-10 pages) should contain, at minimum, the following:

1.       A brief technical proposal which includes:

• Contact information
• Organizational information :  type of organization,  goal, mandates and strategies of organizations, technical expertise, partnerships and coordination, description of relevant experience, details of past achievements as result of work
• Project Description: problem analysis, purpose, rationale, time frame, geographic location (specify districts, blocks, number of villages etc.)
• Project Focus: with whom (activity target group, partners and stakeholders) and who will be benefiting (ultimate beneficiaries).
• Capacity and Skill Development strategy.
• Sustainability Strategy
• Logframe (articulating key Outputs, SMART indicators and means of verification  (see template below)
• The proposed three year work plan based on the general timeframe given above (see work plan template below)
• Monitoring plan

 

2.       A budget proposal (in Excel with detailed footnotes or with a separate line-by-line budget narrative).  

The Breakdown of financial costs could include: Personnel; Equipment (specify); Monitoring (including travel, other); Dissemination, Organizational support (communications, materials – this should not exceed 7% of the total budget); Audit.  Budget for each year should be in a different excel sheet.

 

Project Name
Budget
SL.No.	Budget Heads	Unit/Qty	Rate	Total	%age	SL.No.	Notes on budget line items
1	Personnel[2]
	sub total Personnel
2	Programme [3]
	Sub total Programme
3	Equipment[4]
	Sub total Equipment
4	Administrative Costs[5]
	Sub total Administrative cost
	Total				100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applicants should include Annexes (supporting documents) such as detailed CVs, organization brochure, and examples of previous work and projects relevant to the assignment. 

What criteria will be used for the selection of the organization?

Organizations will be selected on the basis of technical (70%) and financial (30%) assessments. First a technical assessment will be undertaken. The technical and financial proposals should be submitted separately. 

 The assessment will review the following; 

Summary of Technical Proposal Evaluation Forms		Score Weight	Points Obtainable	Company / Other Entity
				A	B	C	D	E
1.	Management Plan Expertise of Firm/ Organization    submitting Proposal	30%	300
2.	Proposed Methodology Proposed Work Plan and Approach	40%	400
3.	Finance / Budget Plan	30%	300
	Total		1000

Evaluation forms for technical proposals are given below. The obtainable number of points specified for each evaluation criterion indicates the relative significance or weight of the item in the overall evaluation process. The Technical Proposal Evaluation Forms are:

Form 1: Expertise of Firm / Organization Submitting Proposal

Form 2: Proposed Work Plan and Approach 

Criterion for evaluation 

 

Technical Proposal Evaluation Form 2		Points Obtainable	Company / Other Entity
			A	B	C	D	E
Proposed Methodology Proposed Work Plan and Approach
2.1	To what degree does the Organization understand the task?	40
2.2	Have the important aspects of the task been addressed in sufficient detail?	40
2.3	Are the different components of the project adequately weighted relative to one another?	20
2.4	Is the proposal based on a survey of the project environment and was this data input properly used in the preparation of the proposal?	50
2.5	Is the conceptual framework adopted appropriate for the task?	50
2.6	Is the scope of task well defined and does it correspond to the TOR?	130
2.7	Is the presentation clear and is the sequence of activities and the planning logical, realistic and promise efficient implementation to the project?	70
		400

  

When is the proposal due?

The deadline for submission of proposals is 12 August 2011. Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered.  

To whom should the proposal be sent?

Submissions should be sent  in hard copy with a signed cover letter  mentioning  “Proposal to Develop and Implement Project on Empowering Women in Informal Sector through Livelihood Promotion” in the subject line. 

The submissions should be sent to:

Ms. Shahnaaz Basha
UN Women South Asia Regional Office
19 A Rajdoot Marg New Delhi – 110021
Fax: 91-11-26119130 

Electronic submissions may be sent to registry.india@unwomen.org  

UN Women will not consider applications:

·         Submitted by individuals without any organizational affiliation;

·         Submitted by organizations that do not have a legal status in the country of operation;

·         Submissions that have incomplete documentation, including blank or missing annexes. 

In cases where two or more organisations submit a joint proposal, the name of the organization that is taking the overall responsibility for satisfactory completion of the work, financial administration and reporting and overall accountability to UN Women must be clearly stated. A copy of the MoU between the two organizations must be attached. Relevant details related to the collaborating organization with clear roles and responsibilities in design, implementation and monitoring of the proposed project should also be mentioned
 

LOGICAL FRAMEWORK FORMAT

 

Results	Indicators	Means of Verification/Sources of Information	Assumptions/Risks
Goal –
Outcome 1 –The project is expected to contribute towards the achievement of this result, collectively with other development partners.	Link to relevant indicators.
Output 1.1 – The project will be directly held accountable for this result.			X – not needed
Activity 1.1.1	X – Not needed		X
Activity 1.1.2	X		X
Activity 1.1.3	X		X
Output 1.2 - The project will be directly held accountable for this result.			X – Not needed
Activity 1.2.1	X – Not needed		X
Activity 1.2.2	X		X
Activity 1.2.3	X		X
Outcome 2 –  The project is expected to contribute towards the achievement of this result, collectively with other development partners.	Link to relevant indicators.
Repeat as in above

  

 

IMPLEMENTATION WORK PLAN FORMAT