ANNEX C: CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST CEISWI20150004
CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST No.Project title and Identification: / Project Location:
Livelihoods: Graduation Approach Roll-out at UNHCR / The partner will work primarily with UNHCR personnel at Headquarters in Geneva, and in regional posts in South Africa or Southeast Asia, as well as personnel working in the countries implementing the Graduation Approach. Potential countries which the partner would support to adopt the Graduation Approach in 2016 are located in East Africa, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Brief Background of the Project:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State.
UNHCR’s ultimate goal is to help find durable solutions that will allow them to rebuild their lives in dignity. There are three durable solutions pursued by UNHCR for 6.4 million refugees in protracted situations: voluntary repatriation; local integration; or resettlement to a third country. While pursuing durable solutions, UNHCR works to increase the self-reliance and livelihood opportunities of refugees and other persons of concern.
The overall objective of the Global Strategy for Livelihoods (2014-2018) is to improve the social and economic ability of an individual, household or community to meet basic needs (including protection, food, water, shelter, personal safety, health and education) in a sustainable manner and with dignity. To do so, UNHCR seeks to develop and strengthen livelihoods of persons of concern, and to reduce their vulnerability and long-term dependence on humanitarian or external assistance. This enables them to become self-reliant people who lead active and productive lives and are able to weave strong social, economic and cultural ties with their host communities.
The Graduation Approach
The poorest, those at the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder, are chronically food insecure and continually susceptible to changes in the informal labour markets, price inflation of food staples, natural disasters and personal health shocks. Opportunities to find decent work and a basic standard of living are further limited by state apathy, poor infrastructure (such as lack of education and healthcare facilities, roads, modes of transportation), as well as repressive social norms. Safety nets such as food aid or cash transfer programs have provided food security but failed to provide them with the means to break their cycle of poverty and sustain livelihoods beyond the end of the program. In response to such gaps in development interventions, CGAP and the Ford Foundation launched the Global Graduation Programme to understand how safety nets, livelihoods support and microfinance can be sequenced to create pathways for the poorest to graduate out of extreme poverty, based on a model developed by BRAC in Bangladesh[1]. Ten Graduation pilots have been implemented in eight countries in partnerships with local organizations. Impact assessments and qualitative research have been conducted in all sites. A six-country randomized trial with a total of 10,495 participants recently found statistically significant impacts on all 10 key Graduation outcomes[2].
UNHCR’s Division of Programme Support and Management identified the CGAP-Ford Foundation’s Graduation Approach as a model that holds promise for the poorest refugees to successfully engage in sustainable livelihoods. UNHCR established Graduation pilots in 2013-2014 in urban contexts of Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Egypt; and more recently, in rural contexts of Burkina Faso and Zambia. While monitoring and evaluation is on-going, preliminary figures show over 1,500 people employed (both wage and self-employment) through the Graduation Approach in 2014-2015.
Implementation of the Graduation Approach is characterized by local partnership: UNHCR field offices partner with national UNHCR implementing partners. UNHCR has limited additional resources, and many of the livelihoods activities part of the Graduation Approach (i.e. training, self-employment grants, and access to finance) are already being implemented by UNHCR and partners, whether part of a comprehensive programme design or ad-hoc. One of UNHCR’s main goals is to introduce the Graduation Approach in order to better sequence and target the livelihoods activities already implemented by UNHCR and local partners in order to more strategically facilitate sustainable livelihoods.
Goal/Objective, Expected Outcome and Main Activities:
UNHCR seeks a partner to support the objective of increasing sustainable employment and economic self-reliance of persons of concern through improved and cost-effective implementation of livelihoods interventions.
The partner will follow up with country offices that previously applied the Graduation Approach and implement the rollout in three additional countries in 2016, providing technical support and advice based on the technical guidelines developed in 2014-2015. The partner will work with the Livelihoods Unit and the participating country Operations to plan the implementation of the Graduation Approach and to determine the timing and the modality for receiving technical support from the partner along key stages of the project cycle as follows:
· Project Design
The partner is expected to conduct design missions to the countries, alongside UNHCR personnel. The design phase will determine the targeting criteria for selecting participants for the Graduation Approach, and the composition and sequencing of the support package (grants, skills training, coaching, savings mechanisms, business support, etc.).
· Capacity-Building of Local Staff and Implementing Partners
The UNHCR staff and local implementing partners will receive adequate training to familiarize themselves with the methodology of the Graduation Approach. The partner will provide and/or support this to the extent necessary, with attention to the coaching component and to the development of a “livelihood plan” with the project participants; to the skills training component; and the savings mobilization system.
· Baseline Assessment
The partner will assist in ensuring that proper baseline data is collected, which will provide an essential yard-stick by which project results can be measured over time. Typically, a baseline assessment is conducted by an external entity such as a university or specialized consultant with the support of UNHCR.
· Graduation Approach Implementation
The partner will provide additional technical advice and support through field missions as well as remotely. Remote support includes reviewing sub-agreements and other project documentation; assessment reports; mission preparation; and preparation of capacity-building/training materials; as well as responding to ad-hoc Graduation Approach needs.
· Monitoring and Evaluation
The partner will conduct missions to monitor implementation and provide technical backstopping to UNHCR staff and local implementing partners. These trips will be used to verify the participant selection, the quality of livelihood planning, the asset transfer/distribution, and overall progress of the participants.
· Capturing Lessons Learned
The partner will consolidate and document lessons learned in each Graduation site during the monitoring and capacity-building missions as well as remotely.
· Roll-out Strategy
The partner will contribute to the wider roll-out of the Graduation Approach throughout UNHCR country Operations by consulting with the Livelihoods Unit and sharing knowledge and documents that would be relevant for a roll-out strategy (such as project templates, M&E tools, capacity-building/training materials, etc.).
· Financial and narrative reporting
The partner will also be responsible for submitting all required reporting to UNHCR, including quarterly financial reports and biannual performance reports, accompanied by mission reports for each mission.
Intended Population of Concern:
Refugees and other persons of concern in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Burkina Faso, Zambia and another three pilot countries.
Project Period [estimated start and end dates of project]:
January 15th 2016 – December 31st 2016
Submission Deadline: / Date Decision Results to be Communicated to Applicants:
December 10th 2015 / January 6th 2015
Selection Criteria
Criteria Description / Assigned Weighting
Sector experience and expertise:
· The partner must be a registered non-for-profit organization to provide the stated services.
· The partner, and its designated focal point(s) for the work with UNHCR, must have at least ten years of experience implementing the Graduation Approach in a variety of contexts.
· The partner must show evidence of its capacity to perform all services described above (in particular, project design, capacity-building, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation).
· Experience in refugee contexts is a plus. / 45%
Project management:
· The partner must have ability to deliver project objectives, accountability mechanisms and sound financial management, taking into account the audit results of the previous UNHCR-funded projects, past performance and the external audit of partners’ financial statements, where applicable.
· The partner must have strong capacity to manage multiple activities in various country contexts at a time, coordinating with various stakeholders.
· The partner must show flexibility and ability to swiftly respond to potentially changing situations in country Operations.
· The partner must have communication and writing skills. / 40%
Cost effectiveness:
· The level of direct costs and administrative costs imposed on the Project in relation to project deliverables will be considered. / 10%
Experience working with UNHCR:
· Global and/or local partnerships including knowledge of UNHCR policies, practices and programmes and an understanding of and ability to work within UNHCR’s funding limitations and associated inherent risks is a plus.
· Partners that have three consecutive qualified audit opinions for UNHCR-funded projects may not be considered. / 5%
Issuing UNHCR Office
Contact Address
Signature, Head of Office
Full name and title, Head of Office
Name of UNHCR Office
Date
ANNEX D: CONCEPT NOTE [TO BE SUBMITTED BY PARTNER]
CONCEPT NOTE(A detailed project description is not required unless requested by UNHCR)
Tick if applicable / Identification Number
Proposal in response to UNHCR Call for Expression
Partner Initiated Concept Note
Name of Organization:
Contact Information and Address:
Project Location:
Submitted to UNHCR Office:
Project Goal and Envisaged Outcomes
Brief description of goals and expected outcomes.
Background and Rationale
Please describe the unique advantage your organization brings to the project for achieving the desired goals and outcome for the persons of concern.
Methodology and approach
Brief description of the activities, methodology and approach to be used for the project to address the need and achieve the desired outcome for the persons of concern. Describe how the methodology and approach links/complements UNHCR’s objectives for the persons of concern, detailing each step of the project cycle (project design; capacity-building of local staff and implementing partners; baseline assessment; Graduation Approach implementation; monitoring and evaluation; capturing lessons learned; and roll-out strategy). Indicate whether any other partner(s) or contractor(s) will be used in the delivery of the project activities.
Resources
Brief description of how the required resources would be mobilized and the estimated total cost of the project, including total funding to be requested from UNHCR, the organization’s contribution (financial and/or in-kind) as well as any contributions by other donors. Please provide number of projects and resources currently managed.
Technical capacity
Brief description of the distinctive technical capacity and strengths to deliver the desired outcome of this project. Include all relevant experience and qualifications (specifically, where and with what partners the organization has implemented the Graduation Approach previously), and a brief description of areas of improvement for which the organization may require support.
References
Three references for UNHCR to contact that will be able to elaborate on your relevant experiences and specific qualifications relevant to this partnership. Include full contact information.
Expectations
Brief description of the partner’s expectations of UNHCR for the successful implementation of this project.
Other
Any other information the organization would like to provide to UNHCR.
Signature
Name/title of the duly authorized Partner Representative
Name of the Partner
Date
Guidance Note on the Selection and Retention of Partners for Project Partnership Agreements 4 of 6
[1] http://www.cgap.org/blog/how-graduation-approach-fits-social-protection-programs
[2] http://www.sciencemag.org/content/348/6236/1260799