Jobs and Careers

COMPETITION TYPE : 

Call for Proposals

DETAIL DESCRIPTION : 

"Economic and social participation of vulnerable displaced and local population in the South Caucasus” (EPIC) is a regional South Caucasus project, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). In Armenia the project was launched in October 2018.

The project in Armenia serves the following objectives:
a. improve the overall framework conditions in the country for economic and social
integration of vulnerable displaced and local populations through strengthening
capacities of state and non-state actors;
b. increase income opportunities for the target group, especially for women and young
people, through increasing their employability skills and improving business
development opportunities for them;
c. create new economic perspectives for vulnerable displaced women, refugee women,
women in refugee-like situation and local women;
d. empower the target group, especially youth and women, and their organizations to
promote change in their communities;
e. strengthen capacities for gender-, inclusion-, context- and conflict-sensitive dialogues
between state and non-state actors and the target group.

EPIC is highly committed to gender equality and promotes women’s economic empowerment and social participation within their communities.

The necessity for developing an Integration and Reintegration Strategy (Draft Strategy) for Armenia is determined by the fact that there is no comprehensive policy aimed at integration and reintegration of displaced persons and other relevant groups in Armenia, and no target policies are being implemented. In fact, there are some programmes aimed at the reintegration of returning citizens that are implemented mostly by non-governmental organization (NGOs), basically through funding from international organizations and the countries where returnees are sent back from, with occasional involvement of some state agencies in the mentioned programmes. Such programmes, however, are not sustainable and don’t cover all the needs of returning population groups. There is an issue of coordination of programmes implemented by various agencies in this area, having a negative impact first of all on the activities of state
government bodies, but also on the activities of international organizations and NGOs
operating in this field.
Thus, with the objective to improve the framework conditions for the integration of displaced persons in Armenia, GIZ provided technical support to the Migration Service of Armenia back in 2019-2020 for the development of a comprehensive integration strategy for displaced persons - including migrants, returnees, asylum seekers in Armenia. To this end, GIZ also closely cooperated with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The Draft Strategy institutionalizes the integration/reintegration process of different groups by defining target policies, establishing a referral system and coordinating different initiatives aimed at the integration of displaced persons. In addition, with the technical support of GIZ an Action plan with its Monitoring and Evaluation system was developed as a supplement to the Draft Strategy.

The Strategy was circulated among line institutions. After the consolidation of all the feedback and comments, the Strategy was submitted to the RA Government for approval. However, due to COVID-19 and the war in 2020, the approval of the document was postponed.
Following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, thousands of people were displaced, with many seeking refuge in Armenia. The displacement led to a significant strain on Armenia's resources, including housing, employment, and social services, as the country was already grappling with economic difficulties and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Draft Strategy needs to be adjusted due to the need for comprehensive support in areas like housing, employment opportunities, education, and mental health services. The sheer number of displaced persons and their specific needs require a more targeted approach, with a focus on long-term solutions to ensure their successful integration into Armenian society. This adjustment is crucial to alleviate the strain on both the displaced persons and the host country, facilitating a more stable and sustainable future for all parties involved.

Tasks to be performed by the contractor
a. Objective
To revisit the Integration and Reintegration Strategy along with its Action Plan and M&E system to align with the existing legal framework and current needs of the target population.

b. Relevance
After the Migration and Citizenship Service was formed under the Ministry of Interior Affairs the coordination role of the issues related to displaced persons is taken over by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MLSA), with this new mandate, MLSA intends to revisit the Integration Strategy developed by the Migration Service with the technical support provided by GIZ.
For the needs assessment GIZ in close collaboration with MLSA will conduct one-day
orientation workshop1 on Integration and Reintegration Draft Strategy to identify the needs of the MLSA and the stakeholders for revisiting the Integration Strategy. Overall, the workshop will play a pivotal role in laying the groundwork for a well-informed, collaborative, and contextually appropriate Integration and Reintegration Strategy for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia.
Recognizing the need to address the evolving challenges and changes that have emerged since 2020, there is a need for the review and adaptation of the Integration Strategy, which will be done as a next step. The revision of the paper aims to incorporate the experiences and lessons learned from the country's post-2020 circumstances, ensuring that the revised document accurately reflects the current realities and effectively addresses the socio- economic integration challenges.

c. The contractor is responsible for providing the following services:
1) Alignment of the Integration and Reintegration Strategy and its action plan with the
existing legal regulations (including International and National Legal Acts, Strategies
and Policy Papers, etc.).
2) Interviews with key informants (MLSA, Migration and Citizenship Service, IOM,
UNHCR and other stakeholders), and wrap up the identified needs, challenges, any
gaps (data, time frame, capacities, etc.) and suggested solutions aimed at
improvement of the Strategy.
3) SWOT analysis to assess the needs of the MLSA for effective implementation of the
Strategy (as well as the action plan).
4) Revising the results framework of the draft strategy with tentative interventions/activities under each result (structure to be based on specific Government regulation on the design of strategies), based on the results of the desk review, data mapping, interviews, SWOT analysis.
5) Validation of the results framework.
6) Revisit and update of the Draft Strategy (including the Action Plan & M&E plan).
7) Facilitation of validation workshop on the Draft Strategy with MLSA and other
stakeholders, aimed at presenting the draft updated version of the Strategy, reviewing
it with open discussions, exchanging ideas on the ways for effective implementation
of the Strategy.
8) Finalizing the Draft Strategy based on the results of the validation workshop,
comments on the document and present the final version to MLSA.
9) Costing of the Draft Strategy and its Action Plan.

The company will coordinate closely in all technical issues with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and GIZ . All activities have to be agreed with the GIZ and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
The hired company report to the GIZ:
- Progress reports
- Final Report
The reports shall be submitted to GIZ in English. Conducting internal consultations with
MLSA, revision and updating of the Strategy will be done in Armenian.

All the detailed information can be found in the below-attached files.

REQUIREMENTS : 

In the tender, the tenderer is required to show how the objectives defined in Chapter 0 (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 0 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 0 (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 and contributions of other actors (partner contributions) in accordance with Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed) (1.4.2).
The tenderer is required to describe its contribution to knowledge management for the
partner (1.5.1) and GIZ and to promote scaling-up effects (1.5.2) under learning and
innovation.

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 months) and locations of the individual members of the team complete with the allocation of work steps as set out in the schedule.

Further requirements (1.7)
Revisiting the Integration and Reintegration Strategy has to be conducted taking into account the legal compliance, sustainability measures and budgetary considerations in close consultations with all the relevant stakeholders and responsible authorities.

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
Tasks of the team leader
- 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
local and international short-term experts;
- Regular reporting in accordance with deadlines.

Qualifications of the team leader
- Education/training (2.2.1): University degree in Management, Social Science, Economics or other relevant field;
- Language (2.1.2): At least B2-level language proficiency in English;
- General professional experience (2.1.3): 8 years of professional experience in the fields
of forced displacement or migration and socio-economic policy;
- Specific professional experience (2.1.4): 8 years of professional experience in strategic
planning (including costing framework development) in social sectors, public
administration or a related field;
- Leadership/ management experience (2.1.5): 5 years of management/leadership
experience as project team leader;
- Development cooperation (DC) experience (2.1.7): 7 years of experience in DC projects.

Short-term expert pool with minimum 2, maximum 3 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 the attached files) for the assessment.

Tasks of the short-term expert pool
- Alignment of the Integration and Reintegration Strategy and its action plan with the
existing legal regulations (including International and National Legal Acts, Strategies and
Policy Papers, etc.).
- Interviews with key informants (MLSA, Migration and Citizenship Service, IOM, UNHCR
and other stakeholders), and wrap up the identified needs, challenges, any gaps (data,
time frame, capacities, etc.) and suggested solutions aimed at improvement of the
Strategy.
- SWOT analysis to assess the needs of the MLSA for effective implementation of the
Strategy (as well as the action plan).
- Revising the results framework of the draft strategy with tentative interventions/activities
under each result (structure to be based on specific Government regulation on the design of strategies), based on the results of the desk review, data mapping, interviews, SWOT analysis.
- Validation of the results framework.
- Revisit and update of the Draft Strategy (including the Action Plan & M&E plan).
- Facilitation of validation workshop on the Draft Strategy with MLSA and other
stakeholders, aimed at presenting the draft updated version of the Strategy, reviewing it
with open discussions, exchanging ideas on the ways for effective implementation of the
Strategy.
- Finalizing the Draft Strategy based on the results of the validation workshop, comments
on the document and present the final version to MLSA.
- Costing of the Draft Strategy and its Action Plan.

Qualifications of the short-term expert pool
- Education/training (2.2.1): University degree in Social Science, Economics or other
relevant field
- Language (2.1.2): At least B2-level language proficiency in English
- General professional experience (2.1.3): 5 years of professional experience in the fields
of forced displacement or migration and socio-economic policy
- Specific professional experience (2.1.4): 8 years of professional experience in strategic
planning (including costing framework development) in social sectors, public
administration or a related field
- Development cooperation (DC) experience (2.1.6): 3 years of experience in DC projects

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

For all the details please see the attached files.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES : 

If you are interested in performing this work, please submit a bid in accordance with the GIZ bidding conditions described below till 28 November 2023, 17:00 (date of receipt at GIZ). Proposals received after the deadline will not be considered.
Your bid should be submitted electronically.

Electronical offer
Your bid, comprising the technical offer (company’s background, relevant experience, CVs of involved experts etc.) and the financial offer (signed document, including the number of working days of each expert) must be clearly marked as such, and submitted as two separate emails. Please send your bid to: AM_Quotation@giz.de with the following subject line:
- For technical offer with the subject line: 83452322 Technical Offer
- For financial offer with the subject line: 83452322 Financial Offer

All documents must be submitted in PDF format. Please do not put any other recipient in copy.
The technical offer must always be separate from the financial offer. Technical and Financial offers should be submitted in English language.

Financial offer
The proposal package is to be submitted in AMD.
The payment will be done in local currency. Tax and customs privileges shall apply to this procurement. Please take this into consideration while preparing your company’s offer.
The Tax Identification Number of GIZ is: 02898241

Procedural questions
Please address any commercial, technical and procedural questions at an early stage. Questions will be answered if they are received at the latest two working days before the closing of the tender. Questions must be raised in writing by email only to:
Mrs. Kristine Ghambaryan, email: kristine.ghambaryan@giz.de

Please clearly mention in your application letter that you learned of this job opportunity through Career Center and mention the URL of its website - www.careercenter.am, Thanks.

ATTACHMENTS:

83452322ToRRevised.pdf - ToR 83452322CallForProposals.docx - Call for Proposals docx 83452322CallForProposals.pdf - Call for Proposals 83452322RevisedAssessmentGrid.pdf - Assessment Grid 83452322AVBlocalMarch2022EN.pdf - Contract in English 83452322AVBlocalMarch2022AM.pdf - Contract in Armenian