RFQ FY21-067 Partnership Humanitarian Guidance Tools and Training

Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 75 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

Read more about Plan International’s Global Strategy: 100 Million Reasons at https://plan-international.org/strategy

About the commissioning office

This consultancy is commissioned by Plan International Global Hub, which has the accountability for delivery excellence across Plan International, in line with our global strategy.

Background/Context

Plan International is committed to making a lasting impact on the lives of the most vulnerable and excluded children while creating greater equality for girls. In order to catalyse the sustainable, transformative change we seek, we partner with and influence a wide range of actors across humanitarian and development contexts at all levels, including in the countries in which we operate. Plan’s Global Guidance, Building Better Partnerships, lays out the principles and steps for our work in partnership across the development–humanitarian spectrum and across all levels – local, national, regional and global – in whatever country and for whatever purpose. This includes formal and informal civil society at national and local levels, including youth groups networks and associations, local and national private sector actors and local government authorities.

While Plan International implements humanitarian programming with partners, there is currently no specific tailored guidance, tools or learning material available for offices and staff working in humanitarian contexts. With the adoption of an internal position on Localisation of Humanitarian Action, and with findings and recommendations from our CHS review, Plan is in increasing need of clear guidance, tools and training for staff on how we can apply our global Partnership principles and steps within our humanitarian work so we can strengthen our internal capacity to build strong, and impactful partnerships across our humanitarian work.

Purpose

The purpose of the consultancy is to strengthen Plan’s internal guidance and learning materials for working in humanitarian partnerships, so Plan staff have the knowledge, skills and tools to strategically plan, manage and work with partners. The consultant is expected to review Plan’s existing partnership guidance and provide complementary guidance, tools and learning products for working in disaster preparedness and humanitarian response.

Scope

The consultant will review Plan’s existing partnership guidance, which is currently more tailored for development settings and provide a package of complementary tailored partnership guidance, tools, and training content responsive to the needs of Plan’s work in humanitarian settings.

The final guidance package will be designed in a way that can be integrated into existing guidance and training pathways. It is therefore expected to expand further upon the comparative advantages of partnering in emergencies and cover detailed guidance for each of Plan’s 7 partnership steps, together with selected operational support tools. Examples of specific sections are likely to include:

· Partner selection and assessment

· Financial considerations, including how to budget with a partner

· Partner engagement in proposal development and programme design

· Managing safety and security, and avoiding risk transfer

· Partner organisational development support and partner staff talent/professional development

Specifically, the guidance package will include:

1. Written guidance and tools for Plan’s partnership processes in emergencies

2. A related training package focused on working with partners in humanitarian contexts in line with the written guidance, aimed primarily at deployable humanitarian staff and country office-based staff (humanitarian, partnership, programmes, operations, finance). This will consist of:

o Online learning module content

o A written script for an introductory video

o A ToT package including a training outline, detailed session plans and notes with training slides and additional learning aids

The work is expected to align to Plan’s Programme and Influencing approach, Plan’s existing Building Better Partnerships Guidance, Principles and Steps, Plan’s localization position paper, and our commitments under the CHS Standards, building on internal learning and recommendations and enabling Plan to adopt sector-leading practices for working with partners in humanitarian contexts.

Methodology

The consultancy will have a specific focus on developing practical, easy to use guidance and tools, and associated interactive and engaging learning content. The consultant will conduct a desk-based review of Plan International’s existing guidance and good practice guidance available externally within the sector. Colleagues from across Plan International will be consulted on the requirements and content of the guidance, tools and training and feedback is to be incorporated in the final product. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring all work is carried out in line with Plan International’s Code of Conduct and local legislation. All methodologies and tools used and developed throughout the consultancy will be proposed by the consultant and reviewed by the technical oversight team established by Plan International, composed of humanitarian and partnership technical staff.**

Key Deliverables

Deliverable 1
Inception report and presentation, including:

• Proposed timeline

• Recommendations based on analysis of current documents, and sector good practice

• Mapping of potential guidance/ tools/ other content needs

Approx. Length 20-25-page report + 10 slide (max) presentation

Deadline 15 April 2021

Estimated total number of days 10

Deliverable 2
Final written guidance package and tools

A written script for an introductory video

10 pages guidance document + tools/annexes

Approx. Length Script for 3 mins video content

Deadline 21 May 2021

Estimated total number of days 15

Deliverable 3 Final training package, including

• Online learning module content

• A ToT package including a training outline, detailed session plans and notes with training slides and additional learning aids

Deadline 18 June 2021

Estimated total number of days 15

Duration and Timeline

The consultant will be contracted between the period of April 2021 and June 2021. All work (including translations of final products which will be done by Plan following submission of the final deliverables) must be completed by end June 2021.

Activity Inception meeting, desk review of internal/external resources, interviews with key staff, develop inception report and presentation

Time April

Estimated Days of work 9.5

Activity Presentation and feedback session of inception report to technical oversight team

Time Mid-April

Estimated Days of work 0.5

Activity Consultation workshops with country offices, drafting and testing content. Review and validation of contents by technical reference group (to be arranged and facilitated by the consultant)

Time April-May

Estimated Days of work 14.5

Activity Presentation and feedback session of guidance package and script to technical oversight team

Time Mid-May

Estimated Days of work 0.5

Activity Training package content creation, testing and refinement. Review and validation of contents by technical reference group.

Time May-Jun

Estimated Days of work 15

Activity Final handover of all resources to Plan (Plan will translate guidance and training package into Spanish and French by 30 June)

Time 18 June

Management Arrangements

The consultant will be identified and contracted by Plan International. The contract will be managed by the Global Coordinator Civil Society Strengthening and Partnership Development. A technical oversight team consisting of a small number of humanitarian and partnership staff will provide support to the consultant and be responsible for signing off key deliverables.

Technical Reference Group

A technical reference group composed of Plan International partnership and humanitarian staff from Country, Regional, and International levels will support the consultant in the following:

• Provide support to the consultant by sharing key resources and materials

Provide feedback, comments and edits to relevant drafts of key deliverables

It is important to Plan that partners are also engaged in steering the work. The consultant should propose a suitable mechanism for meaningful engagement of partners in this project in their proposal submission.

Budget

Plan International follows a fair Procurement process and does not divulge our budgets. Value for money is very important to Plan International, as every additional £ saved is money that we can use on our humanitarian and development work throughout the world.

Expected skills, competencies, and experience of Consultant

Required

· Advanced University Degree in International Development, social work or another related discipline. Applications will be also be considered from those holding a bachelor’s degree with very strong and relevant work experience.

· Extensive hands-on experience working with international organisations in brokering and managing partnerships in humanitarian contexts and programmes, within both protracted and rapid onset emergencies

· Significant experience of donor contract requirements and operational support functions particularly related to partnership work

· Understanding civil society strengthening approaches, and the localisation agenda

· Understanding of gender responsive and transformative approaches

· Strong research, analytical and writing skills

· Experience developing training and learning materials for adult learners

· Strong understanding of adult learning principles

· Flexible work attitude, with the ability to follow direction and work independently across a virtual work environment

· Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to independently track and follow-up on various tasks

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

· Computer skills, including MS Office, Excel, PowerPoint, online survey tools

Submission of Offers

Qualified candidates are requested to prepare and submit a financial and technical proposal by 7 March 2021, including:

• Curriculum vitae with 2-3 examples of previous work

• A detailed application outlining the proposed methodology and detailed work plan (maximum 3 pages)

• A detailed financial proposal

• 3 References

Please send the above and a cover letter clearly stating your interest in the project quoting RFQ FY21-067, relevant work experience, and consultancy fee to [email protected]. Shortlisted consultants will be invited to discuss their proposals in more details, after which the successful consultant will be contracted and will be expected to start shortly thereafter. A service contract will be signed between the consultant and Plan International.

Contract & Payment terms

Please note that, if successful, Plan International’s standard terms of payment are 30 days after the end of the month of receipt of invoice, or after acceptance of the Goods/Services/Works, if later. If once selected the successful selected candidate is classed to be within the UK IR35 regulation, they may be offered a fixed term employment contract for the project and not a consultancy contract.