Consultancy Services: Women empowerment

• Introduction: Background to the assignment

Since the establishment of PARC in 1983, the organization has adopted an important direction with the belief that women play a crucial role in achieving integrated rural development. For this reason, PARC works to empower women socially, economically and politically by giving them priority in different interventions and/or targeting them on equal basis and free competition with males.

. “Women empowerment” as a smart economic development approach is adopted nationally. This objective/outcome is expected to be achieved through:

R 2.1. Building capacities individually and collectively: Women must be equipped with knowledge, skills, self-confidence required to succeed in their roles as individuals and members of their households, agribusiness, SMEs management, SCOs and communities. Moreover, the program focuses on women mobilization and organization, where women have the right and should be enabled to be organized in socioeconomic bodies (groups, SME, SCOs and networking) based on good governance and accountability best practices.

R 2.2. Household Influence: Women farmers/processors need enhanced influence over household decision making, particularly decisions related to the household division of labor, the use of household income and decisions affecting the food women and their families.

R 2.3 Promoting women’s rights, gender equity and deploying all efforts to reduce VAW.

R 2.4. Access and productivity: Women access to and control over productive assets and services including land, water, tools, inputs, financial and extension services, and in using these resources sustainably.

R 2.5. Access to market and labor: fair distribution of added value along the supply-demand chain, equal labor wages and safe working conditions.

The planned activities include: specialized training courses in the field of safe production , processing and marketing; Granting for women CBOs in the field of  production processing and marketing of women produce; Awareness raising campaigns , workshops about women rights.; Exhibition; Women innovation fund; Providing women clubs with necessary logistics; Partially covering running cost of women clubs; Training sessions about women rights ( labor rights, decent works); Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy; Publications, reports, and based evidence case studies at national level  on achieving gender equality; Women national days; Participation in national and international conferences and meetings.

Location: Gaza Strip

• Scope of work:

This consultancy services aims to:

1. provide 3 approved visibility studies for 3 future women productive cooperatives by covering all the primary parts of the visibility study needed to submit to the Cooperative Work Agency such as Conduct a Preliminary Analysis, prepare a Projected Income Statement (performing financial analysis), Conduct a Market Survey (performing market analysis), Plan Business Organization and Operations (performing technical analysis), Prepare an Opening Day Balance Sheet & Review and Analyze All Data …etc.
2. Identifying the gaps: The consulting firm should conduct a need assessment to identify the needs of each of the 3 women's manufacturing units in terms of the requirements of the operational and administrative processes and determine the required infrastructure requirements in order to produce products that complies with the requirements of good production and food safety requirements and the principles of good manufacturing.
3. Determine the requirements of production lines the consulting company must study the manufacturing process and determine its requirements of: operations, tools and machines Required to manufacture the product under the best possible conditions, and shall also include specifying the specifications of the required tool & machines and the specifications or terms of reference required for the procurement process
4. Development of industrial design for women production units

The consulting firm shall develop the industrial design of each of the three women's manufacturing units in accordance with their respective production processes and in accordance with the food safety rules and good manufacturing principles.

• Consultant Qualifications

The consultant/ consulting firm must have the resources, abilities, and technical expertise to achieve the work. The following skills are also essential:

• Consultancy firm with technical experience in small scale food processing projects.
• Experience in preparing visibility studies for  future women productive cooperatives by covering all the primary parts of the visibility study needed to submit to the Cooperative Work Agency.
• Knowledge and experience in evaluating, Identifying the gaps & Determine the requirements of production lines for women production units.   
• Attach a CV about the company and a sample of similar previous works

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO TENDER

The submitted offers should be in US dollars excluding VAT. The tenderer should be able to issue zero VAT invoices in addition to deduction at source certificate (شهادة خصم مصدر).

1. 1. The tenderer must comply with the standards and requirements set out in the price offer.
2. The submitted offer is binding to the Supplier nor the tender offer may be withdrawn after submission and remains binding by a period of three months starting from the date of the offer.
3. Tender documents delivered by hand.
4. Late applications will not be accepted
5. The tender envelop must be sealed and stamped.
6. Tender must stamp all bid papers.
7.  The implementation area only Gaza Strip
8. announcement fees, on the internet or websites, will be paid by the bid winner
9. Interested service providers can obtain a copy of the TOR dossier on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 until , Wednesday March 28, 2018 from 09:00 am to 02:30 pm in the Agricultural Development Association’s office in Gaza.

SUBMISSION DATE

1. The proposal should be submitted no later than (2:00 PM) on the Sunday, April 07, 2019 in PARC premises’ in Gaza Strip.
2. A pre-bid meeting will be held on Thursday, April 04, 2019. Interested companies should attend the pre-bid meeting at PARC’s office at noon at 12:00 pm.