UNDP is seeking a Call for Proposals from NGOs/CSOs for Youth civic and political participation in the Arab region baseline report and recommendations, country office sensemaking towards enhancing coherence and effectiveness of programmatic interventions.
Through its Regional Youth Project, the UNDP Regional Bureau for the Arab States seeks to foster the value of co-creation and inclusion in public policy processes that concern young people. Based on the assumption that creating better interfaces between the people and the government will lead to more responsive and relevant public policies and services and ultimately better development outcomes, it seeks to support UNDP Country Offices and partner governments in working towards:
Youth engagement in public life and public policy design – by exploring and promoting innovative tools and frameworks for integrating a youth perspective in policy formulation and service design.
A whole of government approach on youth. Enhanced institutional capacities and ensured horizontal and vertical co-ordination across state institutions and nongovernmental bodies, which is critical to ensure that all stakeholders are working in harmony towards a shared vision for youth.
Strengthened youth (serving) structures and networks (innovation hubs, national youth councils and centers, think tanks, incubators) to foster a generation of engaged and empowered citizens.
Phases
The UNDP Regional Bureau for the Arab States has sought to partner with a regional policy research center to get a baseline read on the operating environment within the region, sub-regions and individual countries, highlighting challenges and opportunities and leverage points with the overall objective of informing a region-wide, up-to-date support program tailored to country-specific needs and constraints. The assignment is structured into three phases:
Data collection and analysis: Baseline assessment of youth civic and political participation in the Arab region. The research was commissioned to help address questions around contextual challenges and needs, as well as feasibility of capacity building and policy incubation programs in each country.
Actionable intelligence/sensemaking: Publishable regional report as a regional flagship knowledge product; and design and co-delivery of country office sensemaking workshops with the aim of generating demand for country office support engagements geared towards enhancing coherence and effectiveness of programmatic interventions based on systems logic.
Advisory and implementation support: Country office engagement to design portfolios of options. This phase will be led by the UNDP Reginal Hub with support from a regional think tank, knowledge, or research center.
Objectives
Building on the work undertaken to date through the research commissioned in early 2022 by the UNDP Regional Bureau for the Arab States youth team, which provides a preliminary baseline assessment about civic and policy engagement of youth in the MENA region, UNDP is looking to engage an NGO to conduct the second phase of the overall assignment which will cover the socialization of the research findings with relevant programmatic teams and colleagues in the UNDP Amman Regional Hub, country offices and headquarters, and the facilitation of a process of joint sensemaking.
This shall be done in two steps. The engaged NGO will deliver a presentation and design a virtual workshop that enables interested colleagues to engage with and make sense of the data and share experiences and good practices with colleagues across the region.
Funding Information
Budget size and duration Proposals amounts should not exceed a total of 15,000 USD. The amount requested in the proposal should be commensurate with the organization’s administrative and financial management capabilities. Project implementation must not exceed 50 Calendar Days of duration.
Deliverable
Deliverable (1): Prepare 1 survey for UNDP country office(s) to inform workshop design. Design and deliver 1 sensemaking and validation online workshop tailored to primarily programmatic colleagues at the country level, in addition to regional and HQ staff. Debrief with Youth team and delivery of 1 one pager with key takeaways to inform country office deep dives.
Deliverable (2): Design and co-deliver (with regional youth team) 3-4 country office online deep dives for joint extraction of actionable intelligence for clusters of countries with similar operating environments and/or thematic challenges and issues for deeper dive into challenges, identification of leverage points in the system. Deliver 1 short intelligence brief (2 pages) per each country comprised of contextualized analysis and recommendations for interventions.
Deliverable (3): Deliver regional 1 report (approx. 50 pages) on youth participation divided by topics or themes (e.g., women; PWD; former fighters; statesociety relations; challenges to civic engagement, sources of youth polarization; weaknesses and opportunities for international assistance, etc.), including theme-related recommendations.
Target countries:
The UNDP Regional Bureau for the Arab States covers 17 countries. Given the complexity of challenges and constraints in several countries, 13 countries will be part of the initial research cohort to hedge against the risks of delaying the entire process, if the research team encounters bottlenecks in one or more countries. This research comprised the following 13 countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Somalia, Tunisia, Yemen.
Eligibility Criteria
Project Team Leader Qualifications:
PhD in development studies, human rights, gender, law, or any related field.
Minimum of 7 years of professional technical experience in research and capacity assessment of society organization, CSOs engagement, and governance at the national and/or international levels. Experience in the technical area of stakeholders’ participation community development, and social risk assessment and mitigation.
7 years of experience working in the MENA on youth, governance, civil society, or related fields.
Experience carrying out participatory stakeholders’ analysis. Experience preparing stakeholders/young people project analysis and developing action plans.
Prior experience in the safeguards assessments and processes of international organizations and donors, such as UNDP, World Bank.
Proven record of previous publications/reports related to CSOs engagement and governance. Gender and women’s empowerment knowledge is an asset.
In-depth research and policy advisory experience in socio-cultural, geopolitical, and economic regional context.
Excellent command of English. Working knowledge of Arabic and French is an advantage.
Qualifications of the NGO
The Ngo wishing to be considered for the services described herein would be expected to meet the following qualifications and experience:
A legal and valid NGO registration recognized by the authorities in the country of registration.
A minimum 2 years proven experience in program design and implementation, in training and coaching students and activists on policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and policy articulation.
Proven experience in conducting action-oriented research, and policy analysis and advice to international organizations, including the UN, donors, and other development actors in the fields of civil society, youth empowerment, local governance.
Proven relevant experience in the Arab region.
Adequate quality assurance procedures, risk mitigation measures and financial standing.
