Program Design Consultancy

Terms of Reference (ToR):
Program Design Consultancy
Short Term Consultancy Service 2023

Date: March 2023
Duration of consultancy: 4 months
Diakonia’s Middle EastOfficeisinvitingconsultants(Individuals/Firms)to submit proposals on
“Program Design Consultancy”, as more specifically described in the attached Terms of
References (TOR) of this RFP.

Diakonia intends to award a shortterms consultancyforthe services described in the TOR to the
offer which the technical and financial proposal is deemed to be the most advantageous, best
value.

Any questions about this RFP must be e-mailed by (March 20, 2023) to the email address
[email protected] , must be in English, and mustreference to the subject heading.
Deadline forsubmittingproposalis(March 31, 2023), 5:00PM(Stockholm LocalTime).
N.B.: This RFP for Program Design Consultancy, no way obligates Diakonia to pay any cost
incurred in the preparation and submission of your proposal.

Sincerely,
Peter Ottosson,
MENA Regional Director

Introduction

Diakonia is an international Faith Based development organization rooted in two churches in
Sweden, the Swedish Alliance Mission and the Uniting Church in Sweden. The organization
currently worksthrough local officesin 24 countries in Africa, Latin America, Middle East and
Asia by supporting local partners. Diakonia’s vision is aJust, Equal andSustainableworld. Our
missionandgoalare to change unfair political, economic, social and cultural structures that cause
poverty, oppression, inequality and violence.

The basis for all ourwork is the will of people to change and improve the world. Our efforts are
aimed at people whose lives are compromised by poverty, oppression and/or violence in various
ways. Our strategy for change is to raise the awareness of individuals of their rights and empower
vulnerable groups in society to come together and organize themselves to work for sustainable
change. As a result, Diakonia organizes its strategies into the levels of knowledge/awareness,
organizing, action and influence. Diakonia wants to give a voice to the poor and seeks to
empower the rights holders to be the agents of change and owners of the process of demanding
theirrights.

We work in strong partnership with local organizations, based on common values, open dialogue
and trust. With few exceptions, Diakonia does not implement projects but strengthens and
empowers civil-society organizations to change their own reality. The concept of “good donor
ship” is key to our work, characterized by partners’ownership,supporttopartners’own agendas
and strategies and long-term predictable funding.

In each country the partners form a country programme. Diakonia promotes cross fertilization,
encourages synergy and coordination within the partner group in a country programme. In each
country we identify central obstacles and problems within our thematic areas, as well as forces
for change in civil society. We search to find ourspecific niches, and with whom to buildstrategic
alliances for greater impact.

Diakonia focuses on 6 thematic/intervention areas namely Human Rights, Democracy, Gender
Equality, Social & Economic Justice, Conflict and Justice and Emergency Response and
Disaster Resilience.

Diakonia Middle East and North Africa

Diakonia regional MENA office covers Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Egypt
and Israel. The Organization also runs a regional programme for children's literature to enhance
children’s imagination, creativity and critical thinking through reading and creative writing,
research, animation and use of social media; as well as a programme for rehabilitation of people with disabilities for community-based rehabilitation and inclusive education to advance the
process of inclusion.

In Egypt, Diakonia prioritises support to reform and democratisation processes, where women,
people with disabilities and children at risk are in focus for the work of the partner organizations.
seeks to achieve lasting improvement in people's lives, the organization supports work carried out
on different levels of the Egyptian society by local civil society organizations. With the aim of
promoting human rights, democracy and gender equality.

In Occupied Palestine territory, Diakonia works towards promoting peace and security, increasing
respect for human rights, building local democracy, and eradicating the multidimensional aspects
of poverty. Through the partnerships with around 40 Palestinian and Israeli non-governmental
organizations that together cover five thematic areas: Democracy, human rights, social and
economic justice, gender equality and conflict and justice.

In Lebanon, Diakonia’s work aims to ensure that the rights of people living in poverty and
vulnerability are respected through improved accountability, democratic culture, and gender
justice. Where Diakonia seeks to increase accountability of public institutions in their fulfilment
of obligations towards the most vulnerable rights holders, to improve Gender Justice through
coordinated advocacy efforts of civil society organizations, and to strengthen and support civil
society organizations in their mobilization and advocacy work towards sustainable and systematic
change.

The Lebanese partner portfolio includes a combination of field experience and strong networking
and advocacy capacity. With a strong thematic focus on Palestinian refugee rights, socio-economic
rights, prisoners’ rights, rights of worker and employees, rights of people with disabilities, and
women’s rights.

In order to advance the adoption of feminist principles among operation civil society organizations
operating in the MENA region. Diakonia is recruiting a consultancy service for the design of a
regional program focusing on fostering CSOs’ work based on feminist principles in Egypt,
Palestine, Lebanon (and potentially Jordan).

Purpose of the Assignment

To support Diakonia’s regional office in designing a regional program focusing on promoting
feminist principles in Egypt, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) “and
potentially Jordan”, including applying and integrating feminist principles to project design,
implementation, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning. As well as on the institutional
level.

Scope of Assignment

In order to successfully complete this assignment, the awarded consultant/s must:

• Desk Review for Diakonia’s Global Strategy; MENA Regional Strategy; and Country
Strategies and Programs for Egypt, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT);
as well as Diakonia’s Feminist Principles with the aim of identifying the common work
areas among the target MENA region countries.
• Conducting feminist principals needs assessment for the aforementioned countries based
on the desk review.
• Conducting a consultation workshop with feminist organizations in the target MENA
region countries (Diakonia partner and non-partner CSOs).
• Aligning the partners’ programs to advance existing strategies in the new regional program.
• Conducting a situational analysis and a report for the participating partners/countries in
the regional program.
• Outlining the regional program and completing the required documents; including a
minimum two years action plan.
• Designing a regional program based on the needs assessment.

Deliverables

• A regional program document based on applying and Integrating feminist principles
including regional context analysis (program impact, outcomes, outputs; log frame/PME;
sustainability plan; two years action plan; and budget).
• A comprehensive final report covering the assignment.

Qualification of the Consultant and Team Composition

The Consultant should have the following qualifications:

1. Good understanding of international development cooperation, particularly preconditions for
civil society development.
2. Advanced degree in social sciences, development, sociology, business administration or other
relevant/related fields.
3. A proven track record with conducting context analysis and programs design for international
development organizations.
4. Strong working knowledge of the NGO sector in MENA Region.
5. Minimum 10 years professional expertise in program design, international development cooperation, gender-equality, women’s rights advocacy, and feminism.
6. Team members proposed to be involved in this consultancy should have relevant experience
for the consultancy assignment.
7. Extensive experience working with donors.
8. Demonstrated analytical and excellent report writing skills in English language.
9. Excellent communication and presentation skills.

Timeline and Schedule (level of effort)

The total duration for this assignment is four months (15 April 2023 – 15 August 2023)
 

The numbers of days here are estimated numbers

Form of Payment

As full consideration for the services performed by the consultant under the terms of the contract,
Diakonia shall pay the Consultant 30% upon signature of contract (transportation costs included).

The remaining 70% payment will be made upon certification of satisfactory performance of the
assignment, number of total days and approval of the final report by Diakonia and receiving an
official invoice with VAT included from the Consultant.

The consultant with support from the Country representative will handle the venue, refreshments
(provision of lunch if needed), and stationary for the training sessions should be the responsibility
of the consultant and included in the proposed budget. Diakonia will be responsible to inform
partners and invite them to trainings in case it is needed.

Quotes

All tenders, complete with attachments including work plan/timetable, budget, CVs, is to be
submitted electronically to Mr. Peter Ottoson, MENA Regional Director
[email protected], and CC Ghada Hammam [email protected] no later than
March 31, 2023, Bidders must demonstrate in writing that they have the capacity and skills
required to carry out the task.

Confidentiality Clause

The consultant shall respect the confidential nature of all information acquired during this
consultancy with Diakonia.
Interested individuals/firms are requested to submit their CV’s with one page for relevant
experience; including a list of similar assignments. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted