RFP: Gender Expert for Mekong Sustainable Manufacturing Alliance
About ISC
The Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) is an international non-governmental agency working to unleash the power of people to transform their communities in the face of climate change. ISC’s mission is to help communities, cities, and industry around the world address environmental, economic, and social challenges to build a better future shaped and shared by all.
Background
Aiming to strengthen the lower Mekong region as a competitive and environmentally sustainable manufacturing hub, the Mekong Sustainability Manufacturing Alliance (MSMA or the Alliance) program is a newly awarded USAID-funded Alliance, led by ISC, driving private-sector adoption of improved environmental and social safeguards by factories in the food processing and textiles sectors. The program will focus primarily on Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, with both country-specific and region-wide activities. Advancing gender and social inclusion in the manufacturing sector is one of the core elements of the Alliance.
Scope of Work
ISC is seeking a Gender Expert (“Consultant”) to develop the Alliance’s strategy for advancing gender equity and inclusion in the manufacturing sector. The Consultant will be responsible for ensuring the integration of the strategy in all of the Alliance’s activities. The Consultant will also design and implement pilot programs in factories to advance gender inclusion and representation of women in leadership positions in the factories.
ISC seeks applications from individuals from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Consultant can express interest for a specific country(ies) based on expertise and experience.
Specifically, the Consultant will:
- Design, organize and conduct gender assessments in the context of textile and food processing sectors to inform the Alliance’s activities to advance gender equity and inclusion.
- Develop and implement the Alliance’s gender inclusion strategy to mainstream gender into all of the Alliance’s activities.
- Design training curriculum and conduct training of trainers for gender related issues.
- Coordinate with partners for the design and delivery of gender-focused trainings and other capacity-building activities for factories and brands.
- Design and lead the implementation of pilot programs in factories to advance gender inclusion, based on strong understanding and assessment of local issues and current conditions of women in factories.
Qualifications
The Consultant must have:
- An advanced degree in women’s/gender studies, public health, education or the social sciences, with a minimum of 10 years promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in policies and programs.
- Skill in designing, organizing and conducting gender assessment.
- Outstanding theoretical base in an area related to gender equality/women’s empowerment, with ability to conceptualize, design and produce complex reports or studies.
- Familiarity with international and regional conventions related to gender equality.
- Ability to coordinate the contributions of other specialists to complete this assignment; successful record related to the psychological, social, economic empowerment of women.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in the local language preferred.
Submission Requirements
Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services, along with cost information, by submitting a proposal via email to [email protected] [1], with RFP – MSMA Gender Expert in the subject line. The submission must be completed by July 23, 2021. For further questions, please contact Mi Tran (email: [email protected] [2])
- An expression of interest letter with contact details and examples of past performance relevant to the consultancy
- Description of qualifications in a CV (maximum 3 pages)
- Three references who can speak to consultant’s successful completion of similar work, with contact details (email and telephone)
- Consulting rate in USD