Expression of Interest (EoI)

Consultancy for developing and implementing Women Executives Evolution (WEEV) Programme

Reference Number: 83485880

1. Context

The “Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment” (WEE) project is part of the Special Initiative (SI) “Decent Work for a Just Transition” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH among others. Under the brand Invest for Jobs, the SI collaborates with the private sector to create jobs and improve working conditions in Rwanda. The WEE project was launched in January 2024 and is being implemented by GIZ Rwanda in cooperation with the Rwanda Ministry of Trade and Industry. The WEE project aims to enhance the economic participation of women in Rwanda. It focuses on two main areas of activity: (1) improving working conditions for female employees and (2) improving economic and societal conditions for women-led companies. The project’s key success indicators are the creation of good jobs for women, the improvement of working conditions for women, and improved performance of women-led businesses.

Despite the significant strides Rwanda has made in promoting gender equality, as evidenced by its high representation of women in public leadership roles, women in private companies often face unique challenges that hinder their career advancement. Despite contributing significantly to the economy, many women executives encounter barriers such as limited access to mentorship, training, professional networks, and leadership opportunities. The women executives evolution programmer aims to empower women employees in Rwandan private companies (both SME and larger companies) by addressing these gaps and fostering an enabling environment for their career progression.

2. Tasks to be performed by the contractor

The contractor develops and implements a women executives evolution (WEEV) programme. The programme is targeted at formally employed women at different stages in their career who show an interest to progress in their career path. This can include women in entry level positions, technical positions as well as mid-level management. Top management is not part of the target group. Participants can apply individually with approval by their company management. Companies can also nominate participants, with the maximum number of participants per company set at 5.

The purpose of the WEEV programme is to expand non-technical skills of the participants that would help them with career advancement. The selected participants will participate in a structured training and mentoring programme with a total duration of 3 months. The programme shall be implemented in the following cities: Kigali, Muhanga, Rubavu and Musanze. For each city the cohort shall be around 25 women, with a total of 100 women. The contractor will be responsible for procuring adequate venues for all sessions.

The programme shall include two parallel tracks: 1) Training and 2) Mentoring.

The 1) training track shall include a balanced mix of input from the trainers as well as group work and other interactive methodology. The topics covered in these trainings shall include: Career planning, goal setting, public speaking, networking, self-branding, confidence building, work-life balance and feminine leadership (how to lead as a woman without necessarily adopting stereotypical masculine attributes, instead embracing empathy, collaboration and intuition). The training sessions shall be attended by all participants of the regional cohort. There shall be bi-weekly half-day sessions of 3-4 hours (to be confirmed in cooperation with the contractor) over the course of 3 months.

For the 2) mentoring track, each regional cohort shall have mentors who work with groups of five participants. Mentors will share experiences from their own career, guide participants’ reflections on the content shared in track 1), and facilitate group discussions on experiences, challenges encountered at the workplace, and aspirations. The participants in the group of five shall be grouped according to their level of career advancement. Each mentor can work with 2-3 groups. Regarding scheduling, the mentorship sessions can be done on the same days as the training sessions or separately. The mentorship sessions should add up to at least 12 virtual or in-person contact hours (should be at least 50% in-person) over the course of 3 months. The distribution of these contact hours is flexible, but 6 sessions are recommended.

The contractor designs an application format for both participants and companies and creates promotional materials for the programme. The contractor is also responsible for active outreach, both to interested participants as well as companies. Part of the mobilisation is actively reaching out to companies in the region and introducing the programme to relevant managers/ HR.

The WEEV programme shall also have a sustainable impact within the companies that employ the programme participants. The contractor shall engage companies to integrate (additional) training/coaching for their women employees, adopt internal measures on gender-responsive promotion policy or other measures to increase representation of women in leadership positions.

After the completion of the programme the contractor analyses the learnings from the programme and recommends options for continuation of the programme as part of the final report.

Women with disabilities shall be encouraged to participate in the programme.

Targets to be achieved by the contractor:

• 100 women improve their working conditions by accessing employee development programs (here the WEEV programme)
• 10 companies integrate an element of Gender Diversity Management (such as budget for additional training/coaching of women employees, internal measures on gender-responsive promotion policy or other measures to increase the proportion of women in decision-making positions) into their structures and processes, as evidenced by a standardized evaluation form at the beginning and end of the support period.

Before starting implementation, the contractor develops a concept for the programme as part of their inception presentation. This concept includes the following aspects:

• Topics outline: Including career planning, goal setting, public speaking, networking, self-branding, confidence building, work-life balance and feminine leadership (how to lead as a woman without necessarily adopting stereotypical masculine attributes, instead embracing empathy, collaboration and intuition)
• Structured approach for engagement of companies/management to ensure that participants return to a workplace where management is aware of the benefits of the programme and intends to integrate related measures into their structures and processes.
• Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) approach for measuring project indicators’ achievement
• in terms of improved working conditions (namely access to employee development programs)
• in terms of integration of gender diversity managements elements into companies’ structures and processes. The GDM elements are aligned with the six pillars of the Gender Equality Seal from the Gender Monitoring office (GMO) and include: i) work life balance policies, ii) increasing the proportion of women in decision-making positions, iii) Elimination of sexual harassment in the workplace, iv) Increasing the presence of women/men in fields traditionally dominated by men/women (horizontal and vertical), v) Elimination of gender-based pay gaps, vi) Ensuring inclusive and non-sexist communication, vii) Public safety.
• Timeline
• Didactics: Mix of presentations/input by the trainers as well as group discussions and inspirational talks by mentors
• Options for continuation of regional cohorts beyond the 3-month programme (e.g. setting up group chats for continued networking and mentoring)

The contractor is responsible for providing the following services:

Technical

• Develop concept for women executives evolution programme (outlined above)
• Design application format for both participants and companies
• Mobilize participants (create promotional materials and reach out to candidates – individuals and companies)
• Implement training and mentoring programme (3 month running time)
• Implement company engagement to expand Gender Diversity Management of participating companies (4 month running time)
• Implement M&E activities and analyse learnings
• Continuation plan

Managerial

• The contractor is responsible for selecting, preparing, training and steering the experts assigned to perform the advisory tasks.
• The contractor provides equipment and supplies (consumables) and assumes the associated operating and administrative costs.
• The contractor manages costs and expenditures, accounting processes and invoicing in line with the requirements of GIZ.
• The contractor joins regular meetings with the GIZ team to give updates
• The contractor reports regularly to GIZ in accordance with the current AVB of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

In addition to the reports required by GIZ in accordance with the AVB, the contractor submits the following reports:

• Inception presentation
• Brief interim report after first month of programme

Certain milestones, as laid out in the table below, are to be achieved during the contract term:

Period of assignment: from 20.05.2025 until 31.12.2025

3. Concept

In the tender, the tenderer is required to show how the objectives defined in Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed) are to be achieved, if applicable under consideration of further method-related requirements (technical-methodological concept). In addition, the tenderer must describe the project management system for service provision.

Note: The numbers in parentheses correspond to the lines of the technical assessment grid.

Technical-methodological concept

Strategy (1.1): The tenderer is required to consider the tasks to be performed with reference to the objectives of the services put out to tender (see Chapter 1 Context) (1.1.1). Following this, the tenderer presents and justifies the explicit strategy with which it intends to provide the services for which it is responsible (see Chapter 2 Tasks to be performed) (1.1.2).

The tenderer is required to present the actors relevant for the services for which it is responsible and describe the cooperation (1.2) with them.

The tenderer is required to present and explain its approach to steering the measures with the project partners (1.3.1) and its contribution to the results-based monitoring system (1.3.2).

The tenderer is required to describe the key processes for the services for which it is responsible and create an operational plan or schedule (1.4.1) that describes how the services according to Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed by the contractor) are to be provided. In particular, the tenderer is required to describe the necessary work steps and, if applicable, take account of the milestones.

Project management of the contractor (1.6)

The tenderer is required to explain its approach for coordination with the GIZ project. In particular, the project management requirements specified in Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed by the contractor) must be explained in detail.

The tenderer is required to draw up a personnel assignment plan with explanatory notes that lists all the experts proposed in the tender; the plan includes information on assignment dates (duration and expert days) and locations of the individual members of the team complete with the allocation of work steps as set out in the schedule.

4. Personnel concept

The tenderer is required to provide personnel who are suited to filling the positions described, on the basis of their CVs (see Chapter 7), the range of tasks involved and the required qualifications.

The below specified qualifications represent the requirements to reach the maximum number of points in the technical assessment.

Team leader – Senior Consultant

Tasks of the team leader

• Concept development and implementation of the WEEV programme
• Company engagement
• Overall responsibility for the advisory packages of the contractor (quality and deadlines)
• Coordinating and ensuring communication with GIZ, partners and others involved in the project
• Personnel management, in particular identifying the need for short-term assignments within the available budget, as well as planning and steering assignments and supporting experts from the short-term expert pools
• Monitoring and evaluation; regular reporting in accordance with deadlines

Qualifications of the team leader

• Education/training (2.1.1): university degree (master’s) in education, business, or other related social sciences
• Language (2.1.2): B1 level language proficiency in Kinyarwanda and C1 level English
• General professional experience (2.1.3): 15 years of professional experience in professional training, education, and/or business development
• Specific professional experience (2.1.4): 7 years in higher education and/or developing and implementing upskilling programs
• Leadership/management experience (2.1.5): 5 years of management/leadership experience as project team leader or manager in a company
• Other (2.1.8): 2 years’ experience in the area of upskilling women

Short-term expert pool 1 Consultants “trainers” with minimum 2, maximum 4 members

For the technical assessment, an average of the qualifications of all specified members of the expert pool is calculated. Please send a CV for each pool member (see below Chapter 6 Requirements on the format of the bid) for the assessment.

Tasks of the short-term expert pool

• Support the team leader with the concept development, implementation, company engagement and M&E
• Organization and moderation of training sessions
• Outreach to and support of programme participants

Qualifications of the short-term expert pool

• Education/training (2.6.1): 1 expert with university qualification (bachelor’s) in education, business or other related social sciences, 1 expert with university qualification in business, economics or other related social sciences
• Language (2.6.2): 2 experts with C2-level language proficiency in Kinyarwanda and C1 level English
• General professional experience (2.6.3): 1 expert with 5 years of professional experience in the education or training sector, 1 expert with 5 years of professional experience in the business development or advisory sector
• Specific professional experience (2.6.4): 1 expert with 3 years of professional experience in organizing and/or implementing trainings or coachings, 1 expert with 3 years of professional experience in engaging the private sector
• Other (2.6.7): 1 expert with 1 year experience implementing programs for upskilling women

Short-term expert pool 2 Consultants with 5 minimum and 10 maximum members

For the technical assessment, an average of the qualifications of all specified members of the expert pool is calculated. Please send a CV for each pool member (see below Chapter 7 Requirements on the format of the bid) for the assessment.

Tasks of the short-term expert pool

• Implement coaching sessions

Qualifications of the short-term expert pool

• Education/training (2.7.1): 5 experts with university qualification (bachelor’s) or TVET degree in any field
• Language (2.7.2): 5 experts with C2-level language proficiency in Kinyarwanda
• General professional experience (2.6.3): 5 experts with 5 years of professional career in the service or manufacturing sector.

Other (2.7.7): 5 experts who have participated in 1 professional development programs as a mentor or mentee

The tenderer must provide a clear overview of all proposed short-term experts and their individual qualifications.

5.  Costing requirements

All business travel must be approved in advance by GIZ staff in writing. The amounts below for travel expenses and other costs are compulsory and non-negotiable.  Specification of inputs

Please note that administrative work, data collection and any other overhead cost is to be included in the expert fee.

6. Requirements on the format of the tender

The structure of the tender must correspond to the structure of the ToR. In particular, the detailed structure of the concept (Chapter 3) should be organized in accordance with the positively weighted criteria in the assessment grid (not with zero). The tender must be legible (font size 11 or larger) and clearly formulated. It must be drawn up in English.

The complete tender must not exceed 7 pages (excluding CVs). If one of the maximum page lengths is exceeded, the content appearing after the cut-off point will not be included in the assessment. External content (e.g. links to websites) will also not be considered.

The CVs of the personnel proposed in accordance with Chapter 4 of the ToRs must be submitted using the format specified in the terms and conditions for application. The CVs shall not exceed 3 pages each. They must clearly show the position and job the proposed person held in the reference project and for how long.

Please calculate your financial tender based exactly on the parameters specified in Chapter 5 Quantitative requirements. The contractor is not contractually entitled to use up the days, trips, workshops or budgets in full. The number of days, trips and workshops and the budgets will be contractually agreed as maximum limits. The specifications for pricing are defined in the price schedule

7. Outsourced processing of personal data

The performance of the Contract may involve the processing of personal data by the Contractor, such as (but not limited to) the processing of names and contact information. In such cases, the Contractor acts as an independent DATA CONTROLLER and must comply with ALL applicable data protection obligations, including those arising from regional and local laws. The Contractor may only process personal data if the objective to be achieved cannot be achieved without this data. The data protection principles such as lawfulness, data minimization, accuracy, purpose limitation, storage limitation, transparency, integrity and confidentiality and accountability as well as the numerous rights of the data subject must be observed. GIZ is in no way responsible for such processing.

In cases where the contractor follows the instructions of a GIZ partner, the partner is the data controller. The laws and standards applicable to it and the contractor must be complied with and implemented.

If the Contractor is not subject to the GDPR and the applicable laws do not contain any explanations of the data protection principles and rights mentioned here, the definitions of the GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) should be used.

8.  Submission of the offer

Your EoI has to be submitted in 2 separated emails to RW_Quotation@giz.de until latest 21.04.2025

The technical offer has to be submitted in PDF format and as attachment to the email with the subject: 83485880–Technical offer. Technical Proposal must include the following documents:

• A cover letter expressing your interest in this assignment
• Technical Proposal (technical proposal template must be used)
• Administrative documents: Company registration certificate (RDB), VAT registration certificate, Tax clearance certificate
• Completed form of “Self-declaration of eligibility for the award”
• Up to date CVs of proposed experts

The financial offer has to be submitted in PDF format and as attachment to the email with the subject: 83485880–Financial offer. The costs must be in RWF and VAT excluded (Price sheet must be used).

If the emails exceed the default email size of 30MB, offers can be exceptionally submitted through https://filetransfer.giz.de/, as indicated. The subject of recipient notification must be edited with the subject “83485880-Technical/Financial offer“ and the notification message must include the password to access the files.

Offers submitted through any other sharing platform, as google documents or similar will not be considered.

Without the subject mentioned, your offer may not be considered

Offers submitted in hard copy will not be considered.

GIZ reserves all rights.