Islamic Relief Worldwide
Islamic Relief is an international aid and development charity, which aims to alleviate the suffering of the world’s poorest people. It is an independent Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in the UK in 1984.
With an active presence in over 40 countries across the globe, we strive to make the world a better and fairer place for the three billion people still living in poverty. As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities – regardless of race, religion or gender.
We are signatories to the Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, and the Red Cross Code of Conduct, which sets ethical standards for organisations involved in humanitarian work and commits us to the important principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence. We are also firmly committed to the People in Aid Code of Best Practice. The high quality and impact of our work means we are among only 5 UK-based charities to have been certified against the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS). As full members of the INGO Accountability Charter, our excellence in transparency, good governance and social responsibility is recognised.
Our vision:
Inspired by our Islamic faith and guided by our values, we envisage a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled, and people respond as one to the suffering of others.
Our mission:
Exemplifying our Islamic values, we will mobilise resources, build partnerships, and develop local capacity, as we work to:
- Enable communities to mitigate the effect of disasters, prepare for their occurrence and respond by providing relief, protection and recovery.
- Promote integrated development and environmental custodianship with a focus on sustainable livelihoods.
- Support the marginalised and vulnerable to voice their needs and address root causes of poverty.
At the international level, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and is a signatory to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct. IRW is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) through raising awareness of the issues that affect poor communities and through its work on the ground. Islamic Relief is one of only 13 charities that have fulfilled the criteria and have become members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (www.dec.org.uk), and is certified by CHS.
IRW endeavours to work closely with local communities, focussing on capacity-building and empowerment to help them achieve development without dependency.
Please see our website for more information http://www.islamic-relief.org/
More about Islamic Relief
Islamic Relief (IR) is a faith-inspired humanitarian aid and development agency working to save and transform the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. We work in over 45 countries, assist people of all faiths according to need and do not discriminate in any way. IR is also a policy leader on Islamic humanitarianism, and our research programmes develop distinctive, practical approaches to the key issues that are affecting our world today.
Islamic Relief works with communities to strengthen their resilience to disasters, and we provide vital emergency aid when disasters occur. We help poor people to access basic services, including education, water and sanitation, as well as healthcare. We provide lasting routes out of poverty through our sustainable livelihoods’ schemes, and our integrated approach to development is transforming communities worldwide.
We tackle the root causes of poverty and make sure that the world’s most vulnerable people have a strong voice and real influence in both our programmes and advocacy. We are also a policy leader on Islamic humanitarianism, and our research programmes develop distinctive, practical approaches to the key issues that are affecting our world today.
Islamic Relief endeavours to:
- Protect life and dignity: respond to disasters and reduce their impact through a focus on innovative disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation
- Empower communities: IRW helps poor communities to improve their lives. With a focus on sustainable development, our programmes give poor people better access to essential services, and the opportunity to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves out of poverty, permanently.
- Campaign for change: In accordance with the prophetic example of speaking out against injustice, we tackle the root causes of poverty and suffering worldwide. Our challenging advocacy and campaigning efforts give vulnerable and marginalized communities a strong voice, and actively lobby for positive change. We work in partnership with other civil society organizations across a variety of platforms to shape the development agenda and improve the impact and effectiveness of humanitarian action. In addition, we add momentum to faith-community efforts to tackle global poverty and suffering.
- Strengthen the Islamic Relief family: Islamic Relief works hard to continually boost our capacity to reduce poverty and suffering worldwide. We are further improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our global governance and infrastructure. In addition, we continue to invest in systems that ensure we deliver the best possible value-for-money for donors – and compelling outcomes for the vulnerable people that we serve.
Purpose of the consultancy
This consultancy is being published on behalf of Islamic Relief Sweden (IRS), which was founded in 1992 and is incorporated as a Swedish non-profit organization. IRS is an independent organization, which is part of the worldwide Islamic Relief network “Islamic Relief global family”. IRS has a Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) with ECHO since 2021. IRS is seeking to capitalise on the ECHO FPA and is looking for an experienced consultant with expertise and in-depth knowledge of ECHO, to lead the development of full proposal(s) (eSingle Form) for selected ECHO HIPs.
Goals and OBJECTIVES
The consultant will be required to achieve the following objectives for this consultancy:
- Provide guidance and technical support related to ECHO requirements to IR country office(s) selected for ECHO funding application .
- Develop high quality proposal for selected ECHO HIPs in line with up-to-date ECHO requirements and in cooperation with relevant country offices. This will include:
- Coordinating with relevant IR country offices in order to collect all necessary inputs, annexes and contributions to develop the project proposal;
- Review and provide any other potential relevant technical sectoral guidelines to be building on and referring to into the proposal;
- Develop the proposal and all required annexes as per donor formats and requirements. A specific calendar will be developed once the HIP is identified for response. The calendar will specify deadlines for draft 1, draft 2 and final drafts with sufficient time for review and feedback by IR teams;
- Deliver the project proposal in ECHO eSingle format with all annexes and supporting documents ready for submission on APPEL system;
- Provide all necessary corrections and modification to the project proposal according to ECHO feedbacks and requests (to be scheduled according to ECHOs calendar); and
- The scope of work may need to be updated according to the request and requirements of ECHO.
Methodology and approach
The research team will propose a relevant and fitting methodology for the research build upon the following key needs of IRW;
- Review relevant literature and documents, including the selected HIPs and its Technical and Policy Annexes.
- Review relevant ECHO policies and guidelines: including but not limited to the Guidance on the Operationalisation of the Minimum Environmental Requirements and Recommendations for EU-funded humanitarian aid; Guidance for medium-large scale multipurpose cash transfer programs; Disaster Preparedness Guidance Note to ensure alignment between this guidance and the new proposal; and ECHO Visibility guidelines.
- Review ECHO formats and their guidelines, e.g. Single Form guidelines (for Partnership period 2021-2027), to ensure the proposal is aligned with them.
- Take into account ECHO evaluation criteria (listed in the HIP documents) to ensure the proposal addresses all of them.
- Work in consultation with IRS and assigned country-based staff (focal persons).
- Work in consultation with IR Worldwide staff: MEAL to agree on formulation of indicators, results and objectives; Financial Controller to agree on budget; technical advisors as relevant (especially in the areas of disaster preparedness and gender mainstreaming, as well as data); and Green Response and Logistics Officer (ECHO Minimum Environmental Requirements).
Deliverables
Depending on the start date of the consultant and submission deadline for selected HIPs, agreement on exact dates per deliverables will be reached on:
- Start of the work and familiarisation with relevant documents:
- First draft to be delivered in Word version
- Second draft to be delivered in Word version
- Complete final proposal – Deliver in MS Word and completed offline eSingle Form version.
Consultancy Competencies, Experience and Skill Requirements
Required competencies of the consultant would be:
- Have a strong and practical understanding of ECHO’s policies
- Proven track record of successfully submitting and winning ECHO funded bids in the last two years
- Master’s degree in international development, or a related higher degree
- A minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience related to humanitarian proposal development, with clear understanding of the humanitarian architecture
- At least three (3) similar assignments related to the preparation, formulation and development or management of emergency response programme within the last two (2) years.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the use of the latest version of ECHO Single Form
- Experience in at least two of the following sectors is required: Protection, GBV and gender in emergency, health, Cash
- Very good English writing skills
Timetable and reporting information
The total duration of the assignment is 4 months. The project is expected to run for a maximum of 30 working days (starting in November 2023 and concluding by end of January 2024) with the following schedule;
Date
Description
Responsibility
6th October 2023
Tender live date
IRW
23rd October 2023
Final date for submission of bid proposal
Consultant
24th October 2023
Proposal review
IRW
30th November 2023
Interviews with shortlisted firms/consultants
IRW
1st November 2023
Contract award and finalisation
IRW
Reporting information:
Contract duration: Duration to be specified by the consultant (no more than three months preferred)
Direct report: Head of Programme Funding and Partnership Development
Job Title: Consultant: Consultancy services for an external consultant for ECHO proposal writing (e Single form), October 2023
The consultant will communicate in the first instance with and will forward deliverables to the IRW Programme Funding and Partnership Development department.
Proposal to tender and costing
The consultant interested in carrying out this work must submit the following items as part of their proposal/bid:
- Detailed cover letter/proposal outlining a methodology and approach briefing note.
- Résumé(s) or CV(s) outlining relevant skills and experience possessed by the consultant who will be carrying out the tasks and any other personnel who will work on the project.
- Example(s) of relevant work done of similar evaluations in PDF.
- The consultancy daily rate (fill in appendix 1)
- Expenses policy of the tendering consultant. Incurred expenses will not be included but will need to be agreed in advance prior to contract award (fill in appendix 1)
- Be able to complete the assignment within the timeframe stated above.
- Be able to demonstrate experience of outcome reviews, mapping and impact assessment/evaluation approaches for similar work.
- 40% of the total amount – First upfront payment
Terms and Conditions
The consultant would provide financial proposal outlining detailed break up of costs and charges. There would be formal agreement on payment schedule and funds transfer process once the consultant would be selected. Payment will be made in accordance with the deliverables and deadlines for this project so are as follows:
- 30% of the total amount – submission of the first draft of the evaluation report
- 30% of the total amount – submission of the final evaluation report including all outputs and attachments mentioned above
We can be flexible with payment terms, invoices are normally paid on net payment terms of 30 days.
Additional information and conditions of contract
The following additional information will be expected from the consultant and be pursuant to the conditions printed beneath as well as the terms and conditions in the consultancy contract.
- The ToR document is between the consultant and Islamic Relief Worldwide.
- Islamic Relief Worldwide is a legally registered charity under the laws of the United Kingdom charity registration number 328158
- This document covers the consultancy project identified and described in this document and related correspondence and may not be expended for any other purposes without the prior written approval of Islamic Relief Worldwide, Head of Programme Funding and Partnership Development
- The consultancy will be carried out under the auspices of the Islamic Relief Worldwide, Programme Funding and Partnership Development. The lead consultant will be working in the capacity of a freelance consultant, an individual or for an organisation.
- Collected data, information, reports and reference documents should be submitted, along with any audio files and transcripts collected.
- Intellectual Property Rights to all research, and data, conducted and collected and the final proposal belongs solely to Islamic Relief Worldwide.
- In case of contraventions or breach of any of the terms of the agreement, any outstanding payments to the Lead Consultant or the organisation will be withheld.
During the consultancy period,
IRW will only cover:
Consultancy fees
Any travel costs to visit IRW or any of our country offices if required.
IRW will not cover:
Tax obligations as required by the country in which he/she will file income tax.
Any pre/post assignment medical costs. These should be covered by the consultant
Medical and travel insurance arrangements and costs. These should be covered by the consultant.
To access or download the tender documents please follow the link below;
https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/
How to apply
Consultancy contract
This will be for an initial period that is to be specified by the consultant commencing in November 2023 (exact date to be mutually agreed). The selected candidate is expected to work remotely and report to the Head of Programme Funding and Partnership Development of IRW.
The terms upon which the consultant will be engaged are as per the consultancy agreement. The invoice is to be submitted at the end of the assignment and will be paid on net payment terms 30 days though we can be flexible.
All potential applicants must fill in the table beneath in Appendix 1 to help collate key data pertaining to this tender. The applicant must be clear about other expenses being claimed in relation to this consultancy and these must be specified clearly.
For this consultancy all applicants are required to submit a covering letter and CV’s of all potential consultants including the project lead.
A proposal including, planned activities, methodology, deliverables, timeline, and cost proposal (including expenses) are expected.
Other relevant supporting documents should be included as the consultants sees fit and this may include examples of similar work done.
All applicants must have a valid visa or a permit to work in the UK (if travel is required to the UK). A valid visa/work permit is also required for those areas required to be visited as part of this consultancy.
This consultancy is open to any persons, freelancers, sole traders, research firms, consultants, policy and research think tanks, universities, academics, SME’s, large organisations and corporations including NGO’s.
Tender dates and contact details DETAILS
All proposals are required to be submitted by Monday 23rd October 2023 at 1.00pm UK time pursuant to the attached guidelines for submitting a quotation and these be returned to; tendering@irworldwide.org
Following submission, IRW may engage in further discussion with applicants concerning tenders in order to ensure mutual understanding and an optimal agreement.
Quotations must include the following information for assessment purposes.
- Timescales
- Full break down of costs including taxes, expenses and any VAT and be able to demonstrate best value for money
- References (three are preferred)
- Technical competency for this role
- Demonstrable experience of developing a similar piece of work including a methodology
Note: The criteria are subject to change.
All applicants/bidders must also fill in appendix 2 which is a new mandatory requirement for suppliers to be registered onto our system and for their bids to be accepted and processed.
For any issues relating to the tender or its contents please email directly to; tendering@irworldwide.org. This address is for queries and advice only.
Appendix 1
Please fill in the table below. It is essential all sections be completed and where relevant additional expenses be specified in detail. In case of questions about how to complete the table below, please contact; tendering@irworldwide.org
Consultancy costs and expenses
Cost evaluation for consultancy on Tender for consultancy services for an external consultant for ECHO partnership guidance and proposal writing (e Single form), October 2023
Full name of all consultants working on this project
Full company trading name
No of proposed hours per week
No. of proposed days
Preferred days
Non preferred days
Earliest available start date
Expected project finish date
Day rate (required for invoicing purposes) £
Total cost for consultancy in GBP (less taxes and expenses) £
Expenses (flights) £
Expenses (accommodation) £
Expenses (transfers) £
Expenses (in country travel) £
Expenses (visa) £
Expenses (security) £
Expenses (food) £
Expenses (print/stationary) £
Expenses other (please specify) £
Total expenses £
Total VAT or taxes £
Total cost for consultancy in GBP (inclusive of taxes and expenses) £
Note
The applicant is expected to take responsibility for paying full taxes and social charges in his/her country of residence.
Appendix 2 – Supplier registration
To express your interest in this tender or to register your interest simply fill in the information in the table beneath and return to tendering@irworldwide.org.
The information beneath in red is mandatory and must be supplied without fail otherwise you will not be registered on our system. If in doubt contact us on the email address above.
Expression of interest or to your register interest
Tender name
Full company name/consultant name
Full name of contact person
Full telephone number (including country code)
Full postal address
Property Name/Number
Address Line 1
Town/City
Country
Postcode
Complete email address
Company VAT number
Company registration number
To access or download the tender documents please follow the link below;
https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/