Oxfam Canada is seeking Requests for Proposals for a Capacity Strengthening Consultancy. Proposals are due by Friday, December 18thwith a start date for the consultancy of January 18th. For further information, please contact: deborah.simpson@oxfam.org.
Oxfam Canada – International Program Department, Program Impact Unit
Request for Proposals for a Consultancy to help Oxfam Canada better support its partners in Organizational Capacity Strengthening
Closing date and time: December 18th by 5 pm
Proposals must be submitted in writing via email to:
Background and rationale:
Oxfam Canada (OCA) is an affiliate of the international Oxfam Confederation networked in over 90 countries as part of a global movement for change. Our mission is to build lasting solutions to poverty and injustice with a focus on improving the lives and promoting the rights of women and girls. For more information on our organization, please visit us at www.oxfam.ca.
OCA focuses on organizational capacity strengthening because we believe that strong women’s rights organizations (WROs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) are key agents of change in achieving gender justice and human rights. We consider there to be an inherent link between programming and organizational capacities, where organizations can do better gender justice work with their communities when their own internal structures, processes, and work are more sustainable, democratic, and gender-just. Since 2009, Oxfam Canada has used a self-directed Capacity Assessment Tool (CAT) with its international partners. From June to September 2020, an external evaluation of the CAT was conducted. One of the main findings was that though the tool and assessment process itself is found to be useful by partners, OCA needs to strengthen its support of organizational capacity strengthening within those partner organizations over the course of implementing joint projects.
Scope of the consultancy and required qualifications of the consultant/s:
OCA is seeking an experienced and qualified consultant (individual or firm) to support Oxfam Canada in strengthening its in-house organizational foundations, ways of working, and systems on capacity strengthening through:
- Updating and clarifying the internal rationale, principles, and process for engaging in capacity strengthening and the role of the CAT within that theory.
- Developing and sharing relevant guidance, procedures and recommendations for Oxfam Canada relating to capacity strengthening based on international good practices that could be adapted to multiple projects.
More specifically, the consultant/s would be expected to:
- Familiarize themselves with OCA’s Capacity Assessment Tool and the original rationale as outlined in the Engendering Change project (2009 – 2014)
- Review the CAT Evaluation Report, and specifically recommendations #2, 5-6, 7, 18, 35, 37 which directly relate to the work of the Capacity Strengthening Consultancy
- Conduct background research on best practices and current context in the organizational development and capacity strengthening field
- Update/clarify OCA’s internal rationale for engage in capacity strengthening work in consultation with OCA staff
- Recommend ways of simply and consistently communicating the CAT theory and approach to project teams, facilitators, and local partners
- Recommend how OCA can better support partners in their capacity strengthening work, including better integrating capacity strengthening with OCA’s existing work on systems change
- Recommend adult learning methodologies to use within partner capacity strengthening
- Recommend strategies on how to mitigate the tension between a GAC RBM approach and partner-led capacity strengthening work
Desired qualifications:
- Strong expertise in organizational development/capacity strengthening and adult learning methodologies
- Demonstrated experience working with women’s rights and gender equality initiatives
- Familiarity with Oxfam programming
- Excellent online facilitation skills
- Ability to draft a clear report of approximately twenty pages recommending how OCA can better support the capacity strengthening efforts of its partners, including:
- outlining internal rationale, principles, and process for OCA’s engagement in organizational capacity strengthening and the role of the CAT within that theory; and
- relevant guidance, procedures and recommendations for OCA relating to organizational capacity strengthening based on international good practices that could be adapted to multiple projects
Timeline, deliverables and budget for consultancy:
The timeline for the consultancy is January 18th to March 12th 2021. We anticipate that the consultancy will require between 16-20 days, including:
- Document review (CAT tools, Engendering Change documentation, CAT Evaluation Report) – 2-3 days
- Research on best international practices in organizational development/capacity strengthening – 4-5 days
- Consultation with a sample of OCA staff to clarify current and potential future practices in capacity strengthening – 3 days
- Writing of a report outlining how OCA can better support capacity strengthening efforts of its partners – 3-4 days
- Socialization of the report findings and recommendations with key OCA staff via facilitating an online workshop – 2-3 days
- Incorporating feedback and final report submission – 2 days
The consultant/s will be expected to provide the following deliverables during or by the end of the consultancy:
- A slide deck for use in the online workshop with staff (in advance of the workshop for comments and changes)
- An annotated bibliography of best international practices in organizational development/capacity strengthening
- Written report which includes reflections from OCA staff consultation; proposed internal rationale, principles and process for OCA’s engagement in organizational capacity strengthening; and guidance, procedures and recommendations for OCA relating to organizational capacity strengthening based on international good practices.
OCA is budgeting up to a maximum of CDN $20,000 including consulting fees and all other expenses. Please specify your daily rate in your proposal.
Request For Proposals Schedule:
The key dates associated with this RFP are:
Release of RFP to Bidder 17.00 hrs EST December 4th 2020
Questions due to OCA 12.00 noon EST December 11th 2020
Responses to Questions 17.00 hrs EST December 14th 2020
Proposals due to OCA 17.00 hrs EST December 18th 2020
Please note that proposals that do not comply with the above schedule will not be considered. OCA requires that proposals remain valid for a minimum of ninety (90) calendar days from the date of submission.
Intellectual Property:
Ownership and copyright of all data, drafts and final products will be the sole and exclusive property of OCA.
Conflict of Interest:
A conflict of interest is any situation where an individual’s private interests may be incompatible or in conflict with his or her duties and responsibilities as personnel on this project. A conflict of interest exists whether or not the individual is actually swayed by the competing interest. OCA staff, board members, their spouses, spousal equivalents, dependent children, parents or siblings are not eligible to bid on this project.
Other:
OCA will not fund the preparation, submission or presentation of proposals in response to this RFP. OCA does not bind itself to accepting the lowest bid submitted in response to this RFP. OCA does not bind itself to accepting any of the proposals received.
Expressions of interest and proposal requirements:
The Program Impact Unit of OCA seeks expressions of interest and proposals from consultants. Interested consultant/s should clearly indicate their background experience and knowledge of the subject area, how they meet the required skills and experience, and their availability. Selection of the consultant/s will be done by the Program Impact Unit and will be based on the strength of the qualifications provided by potential candidates through their:
- expression of interest/cover letter
- CV
- proposal (technical and financial), maximum 2-3 pages
- sample of relevant previous report
Potential consultants need not be based in Canada. The deadline to submit a proposal for the Capacity Strengthening Consultancy is by close of business on December 18th 2020. All submissions should be sent to: deborah.simpson@oxfam.org.