IUCN: Request for Proposals Page 1 of 23
Rwanda Climate Change Gender Action Plan (ccGAP)
Terms of Reference for hiring a Local Gender Consultant
IUCN Rwanda Country Office, Rwanda ccGAP
RfP Reference: IUCN-2024-02-ccGAP-01
Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read the information and instructions carefully because non-compliance with the instructions may result in disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.
1. REQUIREMENTS
1.1. A detailed description of the services and/or goods to be provided can be found in Attachment 1.
2. CONTACT DETAILS
2.1. During the course of this procurement, i.e. from the publication of this RfP to the award of a contract, you may not discuss this procurement with any IUCN employee or representative other than the following contact. You must address all correspondence and questions to the contact, including your proposal. IUCN Contact: tenders.rwanda@iucn.org
3. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE
3.1. This timetable is indicative and may be changed by IUCN at any time. If IUCN decides that changes to any of the deadlines are necessary, we will contact you. DATE ACTIVITY
23nd February 2024
Publication of the Request for Proposals
28th February 2024
Deadline for submission of questions
01st March 2024
Planned publication of responses to questions 14th March 2024 Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“Submission Deadline”)
21st March 2024
Planned date for contract award
25th March 2024
Expected contract start date
3.2. Please email the IUCN contact to confirm whether or not you are intending to submit a proposal by the deadline stated above.
4. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
4.1. Your Proposal must consist of the following three documents:
• Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
• Technical Proposal (see Section 4.4 below)
• Financial Proposal (see Section 4.5 below)
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Proposals must be prepared in English.
Your Proposal must be submitted by email to the IUCN Contact (see Section 2). The subject heading of the email shall be IUCN-2024-02-ccGAP-01- Local Gender Consultant. The bidder’s name is the name of the company/organisation on whose behalf you are submitting the proposal, or your own surname if you are bidding as a self-employed consultant. Your proposal must be submitted in PDF format. You may submit multiple emails suitably annotated, e.g. Email 1 of 3, if attached files are too large to suit a single email transmission. You may not submit your Proposal by uploading it to a file-sharing tool.
IMPORTANT: Submitted documents must be password-protected so that they cannot be opened and read before the submission deadline. Please use the same password for all submitted documents. After the deadline has passed and within 12 hours, please send the password to the IUCN Contact. This will ensure a secure bid submission and opening process. Please DO NOT email the password before the deadline for Proposal Technical Proposal
The technical proposal must address each of the criteria stated below explicitly and separately, quoting the relevant criteria reference number (left-hand column).
Proposals in any other format will significantly increase the time it takes to evaluate, and such Proposals may therefore be rejected at IUCN’s discretion.
Where CVs are requested, these must be of the individuals who will actually carry out the work specified. The individuals you put forward may only be substituted with IUCN’s approval.
IUCN will evaluate technical proposals with regards to each of the following criteria and their relative importance:
Description
Information to provide
Relative weight
1
Conceptual and methodological approach
1.
Description of the conceptual and methodological approach including experimental designs, sample size and power calculations, and training delivery approach. (15 pt.)
2.
Explanation of the relevance and effectiveness of the methodological approach (5 pt.)
20
2
Operationalisation of the approach and Methodology
1.
Ability, proven by the experience/previous assignment, of the Local consultant to implement the proposed methodology (10 pt)
2.
Working programme / working schedule for delivery of outputs (10 pt.),
3.
schedule and task assignment descriptions aligned with international consultant (10 pt.),
4.
Work organisation, back-up services, quality control, logistics (10 pt.)
35
3
Consultants Competencies
Local consultant
Education: At least a master’s degree in social sciences and/or environmental sciences (5 pt.);
Work experience: At least 6 years’ experience in gender mainstreaming, for programs/projects, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and organization of related, (7 pt.).
Practical experience with equality and women’s empowerment initiatives and projects, ideally with national stakeholders (5pts)
Practical experience with environmental, climate change and/or natural resource management in relation to gender (5pt)
Program/Project M&E experience (3 pt.)
45
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Proven knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Rwanda. (5pts)
Experience working with stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental institutions at national and sub-national levels. (5Pts)
Proven experience in capacity building processes, including capacity to develop training processes for local organizations at a global level; (5pts)
Fluent in Kinyarwanda and English. (5pts)
TOTAL
100%
4.2. Financial Proposal
4.2.1. The financial proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods/services stated in the RfP in their entirety.
4.2.2. Prices include all costs
Submitted rates and prices are deemed to include all costs, insurances, taxes (except VAT, see below), fees, expenses, liabilities, obligations, risk and other things necessary for the performance of the Terms of Reference or Specification of Requirements. IUCN will not accept charges beyond those clearly stated in the Financial Proposal. This includes applicable withholding taxes and similar. It is your responsibility to determine whether such taxes apply to your organisation and to include them in your financial offer.
4.2.3. Applicable Goods and Services Taxes
Proposal rates and prices shall be exclusive of Value Added Tax.
4.2.4. Currency of proposed rates and prices
All rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in RWF.
4.2.5. Breakdown of rates and prices
For information only, the price needs to be broken down as follows:( INSTRUCTION: Include here all the required price information breakdown that is to be completed by the Proposers, for example daily rates or unit prices for goods. Delete this whole Section 4.5.5 if it is not needed.)
Description
Quantity
Unit Price
Total Price
1
2
3
4
5
6
TOTAL
4.3. Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be taken into account in the evaluation.
4.4. Your proposal must remain valid and capable of acceptance by IUCN for a period of 90 calendar days following the submission deadline.
4.5. Withdrawals and Changes
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You may freely withdraw or change your proposal at any time prior to the submission deadline by written notice to the IUCN Contact. However, in order to reduce the risk of fraud, no changes or withdrawals will be accepted after the submission deadline.
5. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS
5.1. Completeness
IUCN will firstly check your proposal for completeness. Incomplete proposals will not be considered further.
5.2. Technical Evaluation
5.2.1. Scoring Method
Your proposal will be assigned a score from 0 to 10 for each of the technical evaluation criteria, such that ‘0’ is low and ‘10’ is high.
5.2.2. Minimum Quality Thresholds
Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.
5.2.3. Technical Score
Your score for each technical evaluation criterion will be multiplied with the respective relative weight (see Section 4.4) and these weighted scores added together to give your proposal’s overall technical score.
5.3. Financial Evaluation and Financial Scores
The financial evaluation will be based upon the full total price you submit. Your financial proposal will receive a score calculated by dividing the lowest financial proposal that has passed the minimum quality thresholds (see Section 5.2.2) by the total price of your financial proposal.
Thus, for example, if your financial proposal is for a total of CHF 100 and the lowest financial proposal is CHF 80, you will receive a financial score of 80/100 = 80%
5.4. Total Score
Your proposal’s total score will be calculated as the weighted sum of your technical score and your financial score.
The relative weights will be: Technical: 70% Financial: 30%
Thus, for example, if your technical score is 83% and your financial score is 77%, you will receive a total score of 83 * 70% + 77 * 30% = 58.1% + 23.1% = 81.2%.
Subject to the requirements in Sections 4 and 7, IUCN will award the contract to the bidder whose proposal achieves the highest total score.
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6. EXPLANATION OF PROCUREMENT PROCEDURE
6.1. IUCN is using the Invitation Procedure for this procurement. This means that only invited bidders may submit a proposal. IUCN typically invites from four to six bidders to submit a proposal.
6.2. You are welcome to ask questions or seek clarification regarding this procurement. Please email the IUCN Contact (see Section 2), taking note of the deadline for submission of questions in Section 3.1.
6.3. All proposals must be received by the submission deadline in Section 3.1 above. Late proposals will not be considered. All proposals received by the submission deadline will be evaluated by a team of two or more evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in in this RfP. No other criteria will be used to evaluate proposals. The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose proposal received the highest Total Score. IUCN does, however, reserve the right to cancel the procurement and not award a contract at all.
6.4. IUCN will contact the bidder with the highest-scoring proposal to finalise the contract. We will contact unsuccessful bidders after the contract has been awarded and provide detailed feedback. The timetable in Section 3.1 gives an estimate of when we expect to have completed the contract award, but this date may change depending on how long the evaluation of proposals takes.
7. CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS PROCUREMENT
7.1. To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.
7.1.1. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant proposal.
7.1.2. Any incomplete or incorrectly completed proposal submission may be deemed non-compliant, and as a result you may be unable to proceed further in the procurement process.
7.1.3. IUCN will query any obvious clerical errors in your proposal and may, at IUCN’s sole discretion, allow you to correct these, but only if doing so could not be perceived as giving you an unfair advantage.
7.2. In order to participate in this procurement, you must meet the following conditions:
•
Free of conflicts of interest
•
Registered on the relevant professional or trade register of the country in which you are established (or resident, if self-employed)
•
In full compliance with your obligations relating to payment of social security contributions and of all applicable taxes
•
Not been convicted of failing to comply with environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection
•
Not bankrupt or being wound up
•
Never been guilty of an offence concerning your professional conduct
•
Not involved in fraud, corruption, a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism, or any other illegal activity.
7.3. You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
7.4. If you are participating in this procurement as a member of a joint venture, or are using sub-contractors, submit a separate Declaration of Undertaking for each member of the joint venture and sub-contractor, and be clear in your proposal which parts of the goods/services are provided by each partner or sub-contractor.
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7.5. Each bidder shall submit only one proposal, either individually or as a partner in a joint venture. In case of joint venture, one company shall not be allowed to participate in two different joint ventures in the same procurement nor shall a company be allowed to submit a proposal both on its behalf and as part of a joint venture for the same procurement. A bidder who submits or participates in more than one proposal (other than as a subcontractor or in cases of alternatives that have been permitted or requested) shall cause all the proposals with the bidder’s participation to be disqualified.
7.6. By taking part in this procurement, you accept the conditions set out in this RfP, including the following:
•
It is unacceptable to give or offer any gift or consideration to an employee or other representative of IUCN as a reward or inducement in relation to the awarding of a contract. Such action will give IUCN the right to exclude you from this and any future procurements, and to terminate any contract that may have been signed with you.
•
Any attempt to obtain information from an employee or other representative of IUCN concerning another bidder will result in disqualification.
•
Any price fixing or collusion with other bidders in relation to this procurement shall give IUCN the right to exclude you and any other involved bidder(s) from this and any future procurements and may constitute a criminal offence.
8. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION
8.1. IUCN follows the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The information you submit to IUCN as part of this procurement will be treated as confidential and shared only as required to evaluate your proposal in line with the procedure explained in this RfP, and for the maintenance of a clear audit trail. For audit purposes, IUCN is required to retain your proposal in its entirety for 10 years after the end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when requested.
8.2. In the Declaration of Undertaking (Attachment 2) you need to give IUCN express permission to use the information you submit in this way, including personal data that forms part of your proposal. Where you include personal data of your employees (e.g. CVs) in your proposal, you need to have written permission from those individuals to share this information with IUCN, and for IUCN to use this information as indicated in 8.1. Without these permissions, IUCN will not be able to consider your proposal.
9. COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact procurement@iucn.org. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confidential and are not considered in breach of the above restrictions on communication (Section 2.1).
10. CONTRACT
The contract will be based on IUCN’s template in Attachment 3, the terms of which are not negotiable. They may, however, be amended by IUCN to reflect particular requirements from the donor funding this particular procurement.
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11. ABOUT IUCN
IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Headquartered in Switzerland, IUCN Secretariat comprises around 1,000 staff with offices in more than 50 countries.
Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.
IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.
Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.
www.iucn.org
https://twitter.com/IUCN/
12. ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 Specification of Requirements / Terms of Reference
Attachment 2 Declaration of Undertaking (select 2a for companies or 2b for self-employed as applicable to you)
Attachment 3 Contract Template
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Attachment 1
Rwanda Climate Change Gender Action Plan (ccGAP)
Terms of Reference for hiring a Local Gender Consultant
Institutional framework
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a membership Union composed of government and civil society organizations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organizations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development, and nature conservation. Created in 1948, IUCN is today the world’s largest and most diverse network, drawing on the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,500-member organizations and some 18,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments, and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to play the role of incubator and trusted repository of international best practices, tools, and standards.
IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse actors, including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities’ organizations, and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development. Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a broad and diverse portfolio of conservation projects around the world. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems, and improve people’s well-being.
With a comprehensive rights-based framework underpinning its conservation and sustainable development efforts, IUCN recognizes that protecting and promoting women’s rights and advancing gender equality, including through women’s empowerment, are not only globally agreed imperatives, but are fundamental to fulfilling its mission. The Human Rights in Conservation Team leads efforts to advance and support gender-sensitive action across the Union, with members, and through a wide range of projects and partnerships, including a 15-year program with USAID called Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT). Recognizing women as agents of change, and the value of the diverse knowledge, experiences and capabilities of women and men alike, AGENT envisions a world that addresses environmental work at all levels with gender-responsive policies and actions. AGENT drives transformation toward a more sustainable and equitable future for all people.
Currently, global mandates for gender action on climate change have increased for governments. Therefore, understanding how to “do” gender mainstreaming in policies, plans and strategies is critical for them. In response to this need for governments, IUCN’s Human Rights in Conservation Team has developed the methodology for the development of climate change Gender Action Plans (ccGAP).
The ccGAP methodology is multi-sectoral and participatory, bringing together government and civil society to identify gender and climate change issues in local contexts and sectors and
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develop innovative activities and pathways that enable gender-responsive national climate change policies, strategies or plans.
Context of the process
In 2023 USAID through AGENT and at the request of the Rwandan Ministry of Environment, has decided to support the development of a ccGAP in the country. The ccGAP development process in Rwanda aims to ensure that national climate change commitments are implemented in an intersectional and socially inclusive, gender-sensitive manner, ensuring that women, men and young people can access, shape and benefit from climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience-building interventions.
To this end, the ccGAP should be based on policies, strategies, NDCs, Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy, identifying gender gaps and gender-responsive actions that each priority sector should implement to improve rights-based, gender-sensitive and socially inclusive climate decision-making, programming, and practice. The sectors to consider for the development of the ccGAP in the country in relation to adaptation are agriculture, land and forestry, heath and cross-sectoral water and human settlement. The mitigation sectors are energy and agriculture, forest and other land Use and cross-sectoral waste.
IUCN’s methodology for creating a ccGAP is highly participatory and multi-stakeholder. It fosters mutual capacity building among women’s organizations, gender experts, decision makers and climate change practitioners, creating action plans together to enhance mitigation, adaptation and resilience for women and men across the country. The process presents opportunities to build new knowledge and capacity, including through the development of gender analysis for each nationally designated priority sector. It also provides a dedicated space to identify and strengthen enabling conditions, such as policy synergy and coordinating bodies. Thus, implementation opportunities are based on the priorities, needs and ideas of various women’s groups that exist in the country.
SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY
Overall objective
IUCN is seeking to recruit a local consultant in Rwanda to closely support the development of the ccGAP. The local consultant, will work collaboratively with a team of international consultants to undertake:
1)
Intersectional gender analysis of the country and adaptation and mitigation sectors
2)
elaboration of the methodology and facilitation of national workshops for women and multi-sector groups, which will be designed both to build capacity and to generate and collect key actions for the creation of sectoral gender action plans,
3)
elaboration of the ccGAP with sectoral gender plans which have objectives, actions, results, indicators, responsible parties, and budgets.
The consultant will collaborate closely with the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, among other key government ministries and departments; and IUCN.
Specific objectives
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The local consultant will be responsible for:
1.
Liaising with Rwanda government ministries and agencies as well as local and national organizations with mandates focused directly or indirectly on supporting environmental, gender, and/or climate change matters. Facilitating the collection of documents and information materials from different stakeholders in line with the requirements of the ccGAP.
2.
Lead in the identification of potential national and local stakeholders to be consulted under the ccGAP process.
3.
Assisting with organizational and logistical arrangements for the planned national workshops in close collaboration with IUCN’s Rwanda office and the Ministry of Environment.
4.
Lead the mapping efforts of relevant women’s, youth and community organizations and other national experts and stakeholders.
5.
Supporting the international consultant team through timely communication and ensuring adequate understanding of the local context.
6.
Preparing summaries highlighting the main discussions and key outcomes from the consultative meetings and workshops with national and local stakeholders engaged in the ccGAP process.
7.
Play a key role in the elaboration of the ccGAP, ensuring local context and considerations are adequately captured.
Duration of the consultancy: 25 days
Qualifying requirements
▪
A Rwandan national with relevant in-country experience and a minimum of 6 years combined practical experience with gender equality and women’s empowerment initiatives and projects, ideally with national stakeholders.
▪
At least a master’s degree in social sciences and/or environmental sciences
▪
At least 6 years’ experience in gender mainstreaming, for programs/projects, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and organization of related trainings.
▪
Proven knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Rwanda.
▪
Practical experience with environmental, climate change and/or natural resource management in relation to gender.
▪
Experience working with stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental institutions at national and sub-national levels.
▪
Proven experience in capacity building processes, including capacity to develop training processes for local organizations at a global level; and
▪
Fluent in Kinyarwanda and English.
Suggested payment schedule. Deliverable Percentage of payment Completion/delivery dates (2024)
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1. stakeholder mapping to be consulted under the ccGAP process y database of documents to be consulted
30%
April
2. organizational and logistical arrangements for the planned national workshops
20%
May
3. summaries highlighting the main discussions and key outcomes from the consultative meetings and workshops with national and local stakeholders engaged in the ccGAP process and draft ccGAP
20%
May- Oct
4. Validated ccGAP
30%
Proposal evaluation criteria
IUCN will consider both technical and financial aspects in the evaluation of the proposal. The designated evaluation team will first evaluate the technical capacity of the team and, if the technical requirements are satisfactorily met, will proceed to evaluate the financial proposal. The evaluation matrix will combine technical and financial scoring according to the following weighting: TECHNICAL 70 / FINANCIAL 30.
Description
Information to provide
Relative weight
1
Conceptual and methodological approach
3.
Description of the conceptual and methodological approach including experimental designs, sample size and power calculations, and training delivery approach. (15 pt.)
4.
Explanation of the relevance and effectiveness of the methodological approach (5 pt.)
20
2
Operationalisation of the approach and Methodology
5.
Ability, proven by the experience/previous assignment, of the Local consultant to implement the proposed methodology (10 pt)
6.
Working programme / working schedule for delivery of outputs (10 pt.),
7.
schedule and task assignment descriptions aligned with international consultant (10 pt.),
8.
Work organisation, back-up services, quality control, logistics (10 pt.)
35
3
Consultants Competencies
Local consultant
Education: At least a master’s degree in social sciences and/or environmental sciences (5 pt.);
Work experience: At least 6 years’ experience in gender mainstreaming, for programs/projects, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and organization of related, (7 pt.).
45
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Practical experience with equality and women’s empowerment initiatives and projects, ideally with national stakeholders (5pts)
Practical experience with environmental, climate change and/or natural resource management in relation to gender (5pt)
Program/Project M&E experience (3 pt.)
Proven knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Rwanda. (5pts)
Experience working with stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental institutions at national and sub-national levels. (5Pts)
Proven experience in capacity building processes, including capacity to develop training processes for local organizations at a global level; (5pts)
Fluent in Kinyarwanda and English. (5pts)
TOTAL
100%
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Attachment 1I:
DECLARATION OF UNDERTAKING in relation to RfP <insert RfP reference>
I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am an authorized representative of the following organisation:
Registered Name of Organisation (the “Organisation”): _______________________
Registered Address (incl. country): _______________________________________
Year of Registration: __________________________________________________
I hereby authorise IUCN to store and use the information included in the attached Proposal for the purpose of evaluating Proposals and selecting the Proposal IUCN deems the most favorable. I acknowledge that IUCN is required to retain the Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after the end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when reasonably requested.
Where the Proposal includes Personal Data as defined by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), I confirm that the Organisation has been authorized by each Data Subject to share this Data with IUCN for the purposes stated above.
I further confirm that the following statements are correct:
1.
The Organisation is duly registered in accordance with all applicable laws.
2.
The Organisation is fully compliant with all its tax and social security obligations.
3.
The Organisation and its staff and representatives are free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest with regards to IUCN and its Mission.
4.
The Organisation agrees to declare to IUCN any real or perceived emerging conflicts of interests it or any of its staff and representatives may have concerning IUCN. The Organisation acknowledges that IUCN may terminate any contracts with the Organisation that would, in IUCN sole discretion, be negatively affected by such conflicts of interests.
5.
None of the Organisation’s staff has ever been convicted of grave professional misconduct or any other offence concerning their professional conduct.
6.
Neither the Organisation nor any of its staff and representatives have ever been convicted of fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation.
7.
The Organisation acknowledges that engagement by itself or any of its staff in fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism or involvement in a criminal organisation will entitle IUCN to terminate any and all contracts with the Organisation with immediate effect.
8.
The Organisation is a going concern and is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not suspended business activities, is not the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations.
9.
The Organisation complies with all applicable environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection.
10.
The Organisation is not included in the UN Security Council Sanctions List, EU Sanctions Map, US Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions List, or the World Bank listing of ineligible firms and individuals. The Organisation agrees that it will not provide direct or indirect support to firms and individuals included in these lists.
11.
The Organisation has not been, is not, and will not be involved or implicated in any violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, or injustice or abuse of human rights related to other groups or individuals, including forced evictions, violation of fundamental rights of workers as defined by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, child labour, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment.
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______________________________________________________
<Date and Signature of authorised representative of the Proposer> < Name and position of authorised representative of the Proposer
Attachment 1II
CONTRACT REFERENCE NUMBER
PROJECT NUMBER
AWARD NUMBER
CONSULTANCY AGREEMENT
(the “Agreement”)
between
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, an international association established under the laws of Switzerland, with its World Headquarters located at Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland (hereafter “IUCN”),
and
[full legal name of other party], [type of company] established under the laws of [name of country], with headquarters located at [address], [country] (hereafter “Consultant”)
IUCN and the Consultant shall be referred to herein individually as a “Party” and together as the “Parties”.
PREAMBLE
Whereas the mission of IUCN is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable;
[OPTION 1] Whereas IUCN has received a donation from [name of the Donor] (hereafter the “Donor”) to implement the Project [insert the name] (the “Project”) and wishes to benefit from certain skills and abilities of the Consultant with the aim of providing IUCN with assistance and support in [describe the activities for which support is expected from Consultant].
[OPTION 2] Whereas IUCN wishes to obtain advisory and consulting services from the Consultant [for XXX or in the area of XXX] and the Consultant agrees to assist IUCN with such services under the terms and the conditions set forth in this Agreement.
Whereas the Consultant has represented to IUCN that it has the required expertise and experience;
Now therefore the Parties agree as follows:
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1. SERVICES
1.1 The Consultant will [short description of the services], perform the tasks and deliver the deliverables no later than the agreed deadline(s) as set out in the terms of reference attached as Annex I (the “Services”).
1.2 The Consultant will assign [name of the person(s) and title(s)] (the “Key Personnel”), who is/are(an) employee(s) of the Consultant, to the performance of the Services on behalf of the Consultant. The replacement of any Key Personnel must be approved in advance by IUCN in writing.
1.3
IUCN reserves the right to request any reports (progress, financial or otherwise additional to those required under the Agreement), which could be considered to be reasonably required to evidence satisfactory performance under the Agreement. All financial records and other relevant documents relevant to or pertaining to this Agreement may be subject to inspection and/or audit at the discretion of IUCN or of the Donor. The Consultant agrees to allow IUCN or Donor’s auditor(s) access to such records during normal business hours and to allow interviews of any employees who might reasonably have information related to such records. In the event of inspection or audit, IUCN or Donor shall provide the Consultant reasonable prior written notice.
1.4
The Consultant shall not subcontract the Services to third parties without the prior written consent of IUCN. However, the Consultant may under its own responsibility use the services of others provided such services are of an auxiliary or clerical nature.
2. TERM This Agreement comes into effect on [date] [or] [upon its signature by both Parties] (the “Effective Date”) and will expire on [date] (the “Expiration Date”).
3. INDEPENDENT STATUS
3.1
The employees, directors or shareholders of the Consultant shall not be entitled to any pension, bonus or other fringe benefits from IUCN.
3.2
The Consultant shall have no authority to enter into contracts or to incur any other legally binding commitment on behalf of IUCN.
3.3
No employee, director or other representative of the Consultant shall hold him or herself out or permit itself to be held out as having authority to do or say anything on behalf of or in the name of IUCN.
3.4
The Consultant shall be solely and exclusively liable for any and all taxes, levies or dues required to be paid in any of the countries where this Agreement applies, on any amounts paid to the Consultant by IUCN and has sole responsibility for declaring such amounts to the relevant tax authorities.
4. OBLIGATIONS
4.1.
The Consultant shall carry out its duties in an expert and diligent manner and to the best of its ability and shall promptly and faithfully comply with all lawful and reasonable requests which may be made by the IUCN Contact Person.
4.2.
The Consultant shall give written or oral advice or information regarding the execution of the Services as and when required by IUCN.
4.3.
In the case of illness or accident or a case of Force Majeure as described under clause 16.3 preventing the Key Personnel from performing the Services, the Consultant shall promptly notify IUCN in writing of impediment.
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5. REMUNERATION
5.1
As full remuneration for the Services performed under the terms of this Agreement, IUCN shall pay the Consultant a fixed and firm lump sum of [currency/amount in numbers (amount spelled out in letters)] (“the Remuneration”) based on [number of days] days of work at a daily rate of [daily rate] as follows:
5.1.1 A first instalment of [currency/amount in numbers (amount spelled out in letters)] corresponding to 30% of the Remuneration upon receipt of a signed copy of this Agreement together with a first invoice;
5.1.2 A second instalment of [currency/amount in numbers (amount spelled out in letters)] corresponding to 30% of the Remuneration [please indicate what task(s)/deliverable(s) will trigger payment] and presentation of the corresponding invoice; and
5.1.3 A third and last instalment of [currency/amount in numbers (amount spelled out in letters)] corresponding to remaining 40% of the Remuneration upon satisfactory and timely completion and IUCN written acceptance of all Services as specified in Annex I. The final invoice must be submitted no later than [insert the no. of days e.g. 30 days] after IUCN’s written acceptance of all Services or after the Agreement end date whichever is later.
5.2
The Consultant must submit a valid invoice quoting the Contract Reference Number and number of the instalment for each payment to be made.
5.3
If the tasks defined in the Agreement are not fulfilled to the satisfaction of IUCN within the requested time limit, IUCN reserves the right to withhold any further payments and recuperate any funds already paid for unfulfilled Services.
5.4
IUCN shall make payments to the Consultant’s bank account (to be opened in the name of the Consultant in the place where Consultant is established or where the Services are provided) as follows:
Complete Account name: [xxx] Account type and currency: [xxx] Bank name: [xxx] Bank address: [xxx] Account No.: [xxx] SWIFT Code or other bank routing code: [xxx] IBAN No: [xxx]
5.5
The Consultant shall bear bank charges for international wire-transfers (namely from the Consultant’s bank or any intermediary banks) associated with any transfer of funds that IUCN may make hereunder.
5.6
Funds that remain unused at the Expiration Date or termination date of this Agreement must be returned to IUCN within sixty (60) days following either of such dates, as applicable.
6. TRAVEL EXPENSES(If applicable)
6.1 Travel expenses in connection with this Agreement shall not exceed [currency/amount in numbers] [(currency and amount in words)]. All travel has to be approved in writing (email accepted) by the IUCN Contact Person before any reservation is made.
6.2
The IUCN Travel Policy and Procedures for Non-Staff shall apply to all travel expenses and is available at https://www.iucn.org/corporate/finance/procurement/iucn-travel-policy.
6.3
A financial report with receipts (e.g. transportation, accommodation, meals and incidentals) must be submitted in the currency of the Agreement to the IUCN Contact Person in order for reimbursement to be made.
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7. CONSULTANT’S WARRANTIES AND UNDERTAKINGS
7.1
The Consultant warrants that its performance of the Services under the terms of this Agreement will not infringe on the rights of any third party or cause the Consultant to be in breach of any obligation towards a third party.
7.2
The Consultant warrants that it has obtained the assignment of all Results and Intellectual Property rights pertaining to the Results from his employees (including without limitation the Key Personnel).
7.3
The Consultant shall maintain at its sole expense liability and any other relevant insurance covering the performance of this Agreement. IUCN may require the Consultant to provide a certificate of insurance evidencing such coverage.
7.4
The Consultant represents and warrants that no part of the Remuneration shall be provided to, or used to support, individuals and organizations associated with terrorism as identified on any sanction list published by the European Union, the United States Government, the United Nations Security Council or other relevant agency or body.
8. CONFIDENTIALITY
8.1
The Consultant will not disclose or use, at any time during or subsequent to this Agreement, any confidential information of IUCN or any other non-public information relating to the business, financial, technical or other affairs of IUCN except as required by IUCN in connection with the Consultant’s performance of this Agreement or as required by law. In particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the Consultant shall keep confidential all Intellectual Property and know-how disclosed to it by IUCN, which becomes known to it during the period of this Agreement or which it develops or helps to develop in providing the Services to IUCN.
8.2
The Consultant may communicate confidential information only to those of its employees who are directly and necessarily involved in the performance of this Agreement or who are bound to the Consultant by obligations no less stringent as the ones mentioned in this Agreement.
8.3
The Consultant shall:
8.3.1
not disclose to third parties (including news and social media) without express prior written consent of IUCN the contents of this Agreement and the results of work performed as part of the provision of the Services;
8.3.2
disclose know-how and other confidential information of IUCN which is provided by IUCN to the Consultant for the purpose of carrying out the Services only to those persons necessary to accomplish the Services and only to the extent necessary for the proper performances of the Services or to persons bound to the Consultant by obligations no less stringent as the ones mentioned in this Agreement.
8.4
The Consultant agrees to immediately notify IUCN in writing if it becomes aware of any disclosure in breach of the obligations of this clause 8. It shall be responsible for any breach of these obligations by its employees or subcontractors. The Consultant will take all steps necessary to prevent further disclosure.
9. PROPERTY OF RESULTS
All notes, memoranda, correspondence, records, documents
and other tangible items made, by the Consultant in the course of providing the Services will be and remain at all times the property of IUCN. At any time, even after the termination of this Agreement, the Consultant shall, upon request, promptly deliver to IUCN all such tangible items which are in its possession or under its control and relate to IUCN, its business affairs and clients and/or the Services.
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10. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
10.1 Intellectual Property rights are any and all rights and prerogatives, registered or not, arising from the Swiss and international legislation on the protection of notably patents, design, trademark, as well as know-how and trade secrets.
10.2
Pre-existing Intellectual Property (Pre-existing Rights”) of a Party means any rights, title and interests in, to and under any and Intellectual Property that have been conceived or developed by such Party prior to the Effective Date or that is conceived or developed by such a Party at any time wholly independently of the implementation of this Agreement. Subject to the rights and licenses expressly granted under this Agreement, each Party shall retain ownership of its Pre-existing Rights. The Consultant hereby grants to IUCN a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty free, sub-licensable license to use Pre-existing Rights incorporated in the Services. The Consultant shall ensure that it has obtained all the rights to use any Pre-existing Rights belonging to third parties that are necessary to implement this Agreement.
10.3 All Intellectual Property rights, including copyright, in the Services produced under this Agreement are vested in IUCN and the Consultant hereby assigns and agrees to assign to IUCN or its nominee, with full title guarantee, all rights in and to any Intellectual Property resulting from the implementation of this Agreement for the full duration of such rights, including, without any limitations, the right to use, publish, license, translate, sell or distribute, privately or publicly, any item or part thereof wherever in the world enforceable.
10.4 The Consultant confirms that IUCN shall have all rights of development, manufacture, promotion, distribution and exploitation in relation to the projects undertaken and products developed in the course of the provisions of the Services and the Intellectual Property created or arising from the provision of the Services.
10.5 Neither Party shall have the right to use the other Party’s name, logo and/or other trademarks in any medium and for whatever purpose without the other Party’s prior written consent in each instance of use.
11. LIABILITY AND INDEMNITY
11.1 IUCN shall not be held liable for any damage caused or sustained by the Consultant, including any damage caused to its employees and / or third parties as a consequence of or during the provision of the Services or the implementation of the Present Agreement.
11.2 The Consultant agrees to indemnify and hold IUCN harmless from any and all losses and damages that IUCN may incur as a result of Consultant’s actions or omissions in rendering the Services or the breach of any of the Consultant’s obligations contained in this Agreement.
12. COMMUNICATION AND NOTICES
12.1
All correspondence and notices in connection with the implementation of this Agreement must be directed as follows:
IUCN Contact Person
Consultant Contact Person [name] [title] [name of IUCN Programme/Office] [address] [phone] [email]
[name] [title] [address] [phone] [email]
12.2
In case the Contact Person is being changed, the authorized representative of each Party shall notify the other Party in writing (email accepted).
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13. ETHICS, FRAUD AND CORRUPTION
13.1 The Consultant shall comply with the principles and expected standards of conduct equivalent to those stipulated in Section 4 of the Code of Conduct and Professional Ethics for the Secretariat, available at https://www.iucn.org/downloads/code_of_conduct_and_professional_ethics.pdf, which by signing this Agreement, the Consultant confirms it has reviewed and accepted.
13.2 The Consultant shall take all necessary measures to prevent any situation where the impartial and objective implementation of the Agreement is compromised for reasons involving economic interest, political or national affinity, family or emotional ties or any other shared interest.
13.3 The Consultant represents and warrants that there are no potential or actual conflicts of interests in relation to the implementation of this Agreement. If, during the course of this Agreement, the Consultant becomes aware of facts which constitute or may give rise to a conflict of interest, the Consultant shall promptly inform the IUCN Contact Person in clause 12.1 in writing, without delay. The Consultant shall immediately take all the necessary steps to rectify this situation. IUCN reserves the right to verify that the measures taken are appropriate and may require additional measures to be taken within a specified deadline.
13.4 The Consultant shall take all necessary precautions to avoid fraud and corrupt practices in implementing this Agreement. The Consultant shall comply with the standards of conduct equivalent to those stipulated in IUCN’s Anti-fraud Policy, available at https://www.iucn.org/downloads/anti_fraud_policy.pdf, which by signing this Agreement, the Consultant confirms it has reviewed and accepted.
13.5 The Consultant shall cooperate fully in any investigations linked to events under this clause which may be carried out by IUCN and/or the Donor and shall give access to all records (and to its staff if applicable) in the event that this is needed to support investigations of complaints of unethical behavior, fraud or corruption. IUCN reserves the right to take necessary legal action and/or terminate the Agreement in accordance with clause 16 if it determines that any fraud, corruption and/or unethical behaviour has occurred. Any repayment claim may also include interest, investment income or any other financial gain obtained as a result of the fraud.
14. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND POLICY ON THE PROTECTION FROM SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, SEXUAL ABUSE, AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT (SEAH POLICY)
14.1
IUCN recommends the Consultant to apply non-discriminatory practices in terms of benefits and remuneration for both men and women employees in the performance of this Agreement.
14.2 The Consultant will comply with the principles and standards of protection equivalent to those stipulated in the SEAH Policy available at https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/seah_revised_version_2020apr27.pdf
15. PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA
15.1 Personal Data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual, unless otherwise defined under applicable law. The Parties commit themselves to respect applicable data protection laws and regulations and process Personal Data in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
15.2 IUCN may share Personal Data of the Consultant and / or Consultant Key Personnel with the Donor and other IUCN partners strictly involved in the implementation of the Project. The Consultant will have the right of access its Personal Data and the right to rectify any such Personal Data held by IUCN. If the Consultant has any queries concerning the processing of Personal Data, it shall address them to IUCN using the online form located at (https://portals.iucn.org/dataprotection/requestform).
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15.3 IUCN may in the course of performance of this Agreement provide the Consultant with Personal Data. The Consultant shall limit access and use of Personal Data to that strictly necessary for the performance of this Agreement and shall adopt all appropriate technical and organizational security measures necessary to preserve the strictest confidentiality and limit access to Personal Data.
15.4 Where the Consultant engages another processor for carrying out specific processing activities on behalf of IUCN, the same data protection obligations as set out in this Agreement and the applicable law shall be imposed on that other processor by way of an agreement. Where that other processor fails to fulfil its data protection obligations, the Consultant shall remain fully liable to IUCN for the performance of that other processor’s obligations.
15.5 Where Personal Data is transferred to a country that has not been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for Personal Data or to an International Organization within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the Consultant shall ensure that appropriate safeguards in accordance with applicable law are provided.
15.6 The Consultant shall promptly, and in any case within twenty-four (24) hours inform IUCN through the online form located at (https://portals.iucn.org/dataprotection/requestform), if it determines and/or discloses to a competent public authority and/or affected data subjects that a Personal Data breach has occurred.
16. TERMINATION
16.1 Termination for cause
16.1.1 IUCN reserves the right to terminate this Agreement in whole or in part, upon written notice with immediate effect in the event that the Consultant:
i.
has falsified or provided inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information in any documentation provided to IUCN;
ii.
defaults in carrying out any of its obligations under this Agreement;
iii.
has engaged in illegal acts, including, without limitation fraudulent or corrupt actions as defined in Code of Conduct and Professional Ethics for the Secretariat and IUCN’s Anti-fraud Policy (hereafter referred to as a “Fraud”);
iv.
enters into liquidation or dissolution other than for the purpose of an amalgamation or reconstruction; or
v.
ceases to carry on business, has a receiver or administrator appointed over all or any part of its assets or undertaking, enters into any composition or arrangement with its creditors or takes or suffers any similar action in consequence of a debt or other liability, or undergoes any process analogous to the foregoing in any jurisdiction throughout the world.
16.1.2 If it is determined that the Consultant has committed Fraud in competing for or in the performance of this Agreement, all expenditures incurred under this Agreement shall be undue and the Consultant shall promptly reimburse IUCN for all expenditures incurred in the performance of this Agreement.
16.2
Termination for lack of Donor funds
IUCN shall have the right to terminate this Agreement with immediate effect and without any liability for damages to the Consultant in case the agreement between IUCN and the Donor is terminated and/or the Remuneration funds become unavailable to IUCN.
16.3
Termination for force majeure
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16.3.1 The performance of this Agreement by either Party is subject to acts of God, war, government regulations, epidemics, pandemics, disaster, strikes (excluding strikes of respective Parties’ personnel), civil disorders, curtailment of transportation facilities, or other emergencies making it illegal or impossible for either Party to perform its obligations (“Force Majeure Event”). The Party subject to a Force Majeure Event shall promptly notify the other Party of the occurrence and particulars of such Force Majeure Event, including how it impacts the performance of its obligations under this Agreement. The Party so affected shall use diligent efforts to avoid or remove such causes of non or delayed performance as soon as is reasonably practicable.
16.3.2 This Agreement may be terminated unilaterally without compensation for any one or more of the foregoing reasons by written notice from one Party to the other.
16.3.3 Notwithstanding the above, the Parties may agree to a suspension or an extension of the Agreement as deemed appropriate. Upon termination of the Force Majeure Event, the performance of the suspended Services shall without delay recommence.
16.3.4 The Party subject to the Force Majeure Event shall not be liable to the other Party for any damages arising out of or relating to the suspension or termination of Services by reason of the occurrence of a Force Majeure Event, provided such Party complies with all the requirements under this article 16.3.
16.4
Effects of Termination
In the event of termination under this clause, IUCN shall pay the Consultant any outstanding Remuneration in respect of Services performed by the Consultant up until the effective date of termination, it being understood that the total amount payable by IUCN to the Consultant shall not exceed the Remuneration stated in clause 5 of the Agreement. The Consultant shall within thirty (30) days of termination, and at IUCN’s request:
16.4.1
to the extent possible, complete the Services subject to the Remuneration made available until the date of termination and stop all ongoing activities;
16.4.2
refund to IUCN any advance payments received in excess of the total expenditure incurred as evidenced in the invoices submitted to IUCN,
16.4.3
reimburse IUCN for any expenditures made in breach of the terms of this Agreement and
16.4.4
submit final technical and financial reports and any other materials, deliverables, works or other outputs created as at the date of termination under this Agreement.
17. APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
17.1
The performance and interpretation of this Agreement will be subject exclusively to the laws of Switzerland, excluding its conflict of laws principles.
17.2
Any dispute arising out of or in relation with this Agreement that cannot be resolved amicably by the Parties or by way of mediation shall be submitted to the competent courts of Lausanne, Switzerland.
18. GENERAL PROVISIONS
18.1
This Agreement is the complete understanding between IUCN and the Consultant and replaces all other agreements and understandings in reference to the subject matter of this Agreement.
18.2
Any modification or amendment of this Agreement shall be in writing and shall become effective if and when signed by both Parties.
18.3
This Consultancy Agreement is non-exclusive. IUCN is free to consult other experts in the Consultant’s field of specialization.
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18.4
This Agreement is personal to IUCN and the Consultant, and neither Party may sell, assign or transfer any duties, rights or interests created under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other.
18.5
Either Party waives all and any rights of set-off against any payments due hereunder and agrees to pay all sums due hereunder regardless of any set-off or cross claim.
18.6
All provisions that logically ought to survive termination of this Agreement shall survive.
This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all of which, taken together, shall constitute one and the same agreement. The Parties agree that the signed counterparts may be delivered by e-mail in a “.pdf” format data file or electronic signature (e.g., DocuSign or similar electronic signature technology) and thereafter maintained in electronic form, and that in this case such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing with the same force and effect as if such “.pdf” or electronic signature page were an original thereof.
Signed on behalf of:
IUCN, International Union for [full name of OTHER PARTY]
Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources
Date: __________________________ Date: ___________________________
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[Name of representative] [Name of representative] [Position of representative] [Position of representative]
ANNEXES
[please list all annexes named in the Agreement]
How to apply
Proposals to be submitted to tenders.rwanda@iucn.org before 14 March 2024