Training on Communication, Advocacy and Networking for Policy Influence for National CSOs in Azerbaijan

Deadline: 15-Sep-21

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a 3-year project “Developing innovation-driven and sustainable civil society in Azerbaijan to build a strong and influential Civil Society Sector by fostering meaningful participation of the CSOs in policy formulation and policy debate, and enable them to better represent and voice the interests and concerns of their constituencies.

The purpose of the assignment is to strengthen the capacities of the civil society organizations in Azerbaijan to communicate effectively and to influence the public policies and promote policy changes through advocacy and networking.

In order to contribute to the set overall goal, the project envisages a capacity enhancement programme, with the main objective being to increase the capacity of the CSOs representative in a number of key areas by offering them new knowledge of the contemporary methodologies and techniques as well as the opportunity for exchange and practical experience. These key capacity areas the project focuses on include:

Policy research and preparation of policy papers
Communication and visibility
Advocacy for policy change
Alliance building and networking for policy influence

Topics

The content of the training should be designed around three areas and cover the following topics:

Communication:
- To gain knowledge on the best approach to present the CSO message to policy makers
- To enhance the capacity of CSOs in communicating the message to the media
Advocacy for policy change:
- To increase understanding on the role of the CSOs in advocacy and stages of an advocacy process.
- To learn on the way to identify key messages and deciding of the most effective approach in advocacy.
- To learn on how to formulate an advocacy effort on a policy or regulatory issue relevant to the participating CSOs in the workshop.
- To understand the approach for managing and implementing an advocacy process, by setting specific targets together with corresponding activities, timeframe and budget.
Alliance building (coalitions) and networks for policy influence:
- To increase understanding on the advantages and disadvantages of CSOs coalitions and networks and the way to mitigate the risks when entering a coalition or a network
- To enhance knowledge in carrying out an assessment of potential partners in order to design the appropriate coalition communication strategy

Expected outputs

Inception report detailing the overall approach to the assignment, training methodology and content, learning outcomes and methods
Delivery of the 4 training events to around 80 CSOs, each training event for up to 20 CSOs
Training report outlining the pre- & post-test assessment, general trainer’s reflections on training workshops, overview of most common issues of concern, recommendations for improvements and statistical results of trainee feedback forms.

Criteria

Qualifications of the Service Provider: The Service Provider must describe and explain how and why they are the best entity that can deliver the requirements of UNDP by indicating the following:
Business Licenses – Registration Papers, Tax Certification etc.
- Profile – describing the nature of business, field of expertise, licenses, certifications, accreditations;
- The company’s portfolio of previous projects for similar services as those required by UNDP, indicating description of the contract scope, contract duration, contract value, contact references / contact details;
- At least two reference letters from previous customers / clients / partners reflecting the nature of projects implemented, their results, and the role of the applicant company;
- Written Self-Declaration that the company is not in the UN Security Council 1267/1989 List, UN Procurement Division List or Other UN Ineligibility List.
Proposed Methodology for the Completion of Services:
- The Service Provider must describe how it will address / deliver the demands of the RFP; providing a detailed description of the essential performance characteristics, reporting conditions and quality assurance mechanisms that will be put in place, while demonstrating that the proposed methodology will be appropriate to the local conditions and context of the work.
- The Service Provider shall also submit a detailed work plan aligned with the proposed methodology and proposed staffing.
Qualifications of Key Personnel: The Service Provider must provide:
- Names and qualifications of the key personnel that will perform the services indicating who is Team Leader, who are supporting, etc .;
- CVs demonstrating qualifications must be submitted if required by the RFP; other
- Written confirmation from each personnel that they are available for the entire duration of the contract.