The Government of Republic of Moldova has received financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) towards the cost of Talent Retention for Rural Transformation Project (TRTP) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for the recruitment of consulting services provided by an individual consultant.
The use of any IFAD financing shall be subject to IFAD’s approval, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the financing agreement, as well as IFAD’s rules, policies and procedures. IFAD and its officials, agents and employees shall be held harmless from and against all suits, proceedings, claims, demands, losses and liability of any kind or nature brought by any party in connection with TRTP.
The objective of this assignment is to contract an individual specialist to implement gender, targeting and social inclusion activities related to TRTP, that will work on a full-time basis under the general supervision of the project director and in close cooperation with components coordinators and the ME officer, the project targeting and gender specialist will be perform the following activities, with the purpose to manage implementation and to find solutions to problems, delays and bottlenecks by ensuring that project implementation schedule is on track. The gender, targeting and social inclusion specialist will be closely involved in every aspect of the Gender strategy implementation.
This request for expressions of interest (REOI) follows the general procurement notice that appeared on UN Development Business website on 1 February 2022, on the CPIU IFAD website on 31 Jan 2022, on MAFI website on 1 February 2022, on Economic magazine Logos Press no. 5 (1411) from 11 Feb 2022 and on Facebook and Instagram on 31 Jan 2022.
The attention of interested consultants is drawn to IFAD’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Policy[1] and the Revised IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption its Activities and Operations[2]. The latter sets forth IFAD’s provisions on prohibited practices. IFAD further strives to ensure a safe working environment free of harassment, including sexual harassment, and free of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in its activities and operations as detailed in its IFAD Policy to Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.[3]
Interested consultants shall not have any actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest. Consultants with an actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest shall be disqualified unless otherwise explicitly approved by the Fund. Consultants are considered to have a conflict of interest if they a) have a relationship that provides them with undue or undisclosed information about or influence over the selection process and the execution of the contract, or b) have a business or family relationship with a member of the client’s board of directors or its personnel, the Fund or its personnel, or any other individual that was, has been or might reasonably be directly or indirectly involved in any part of (i) the preparation of the REOI, (ii) the selection process for this procurement, or (iii) execution of the contract. Consultants have an ongoing obligation to disclose any situation of actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest during preparation of the EOI, the selection process or the contract execution. Failure to properly disclose any of said situations may lead to appropriate actions, including the disqualification of the consultant, the termination of the contract and any other as appropriate under the IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Projects and Operations.
The Consolidated IFAD Programme Implementation Unit (CPIU IFAD) now invites eligible Individual consultants (“consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services in the form of a curriculum vitae (CV), a Cover Letter (CL) and 2-3 professional references from the previous employers. A consultant will be selected in accordance with the individual consultant selection (ICS) method set out in IFAD’ Project Procurement Handbook that can be accessed via the IFAD website at www.ifad.org/project-procurement. Interviews will be conducted as part of the selection process.
The Gender, Targeting and Social Inclusion Specialist in the following main activities, but not limited to these:
- Advise and support the project manager, other members of the CPIU and field officers in the effective mainstreaming of targeting, gender and social inclusion in project activities.
- In close collaboration with the CPIU, develop full targeting and gender strategies and action plans to be updated regularly. Monitor its implementation regularly and report on results in the context of the gender Action Plan and in the periodic project progress report
- Work with each specialist in the CPIU in critically reviewing project design to see how each component or subcomponent addresses gender issues, and identify opportunities for strengthening implementation from a gender perspective.
- Review basic project implementation processes to provide feedback and suggestions on how to achieve the best possible project outcomes with respect to targeting, gender equality and women’s empowerment, and social inclusion.
- Ensure that activities of the targeting and gender strategies are reflected in the following:
- Preparation of the AWPB;
- Design and implementation of the project M&E system;
- Project progress reports;
- Project supervision.
- Contribute to the development of detailed TORs and tender documents of national and local service providers to various project components to ensure that target groups will be able to participate effectively in all components and meet the project’s targets.
- Together with M&E and knowledge management staff, establish an M&E system that captures and analyses disaggregated data on gender and social inclusion.
- Document and share M&E, learning and communication products.
- Analyse data to ensure that there are no adverse impacts on target groups as a result of project implementation, and suggest remedial measures if necessary.
The key criteria for shortlisting of Consultant are the following:
| Criterion | Weight |
| 1. General qualifications: | 15 |
| A master’s degree in social sciences, rural development or related discipline | 10 |
| Participation in specialized international training courses on gender, targeting and social inclusion is an advantage | 5 |
| 2. Specific previous experience in the field for vacant position: | 30 |
| At least 8 years’ experience working in gender, women empowerment and social inclusion issues; | 10 |
| Experience in projects integrating targeting and gender considerations across components/activities and M&E; | 10 |
| Experience in agricultural and rural development projects; | 5 |
| Experience in designing and delivering training modules | 5 |
| 3. Competencies (through Interview for candidates that score at least 35 points on the above criteria 1 to 2): | 55 |
| Language skills: Fluency in English and Romanian; good in Russian | 10 |
| Excellent communication (especially written communications; group facilitation skills), networking and coordination skills with various stakeholders | 10 |
| Highly motivated and committed to poverty alleviation and gender equality; | 10 |
| Competency technical test | 15 |
| Computer management skills especially office productivity tools | 10 |
| TOTAL | 100 |
Any request for clarification on this REOI should be sent via e-mail to the address below procurement@ucipifad.md no later than 4 May 2022. The client will provide responses to all clarification requests by 5 May 2022.
Expressions of interest in the form of curriculum vitae (CV) and Cover Letter must be delivered signed and in a written form to the address below by 6 May 2022, 10 AM. 25 May, 2022, 17:00 8 June, 2022, 17:00 (relaunched)
Interested candidates can find more information in ToR (see below)
Attn: Nadejda Russu, Senior Procurement Specialist
Ștefan cel Mare și Sfînt bd. 162, Chișinău, MD-2004
E-mail: procurement@ucipifad.md
Tel. (022) 22 – 18 – 80
[1] The policy is accessible at https://www.ifad.org/en/document-detail/asset/41942012.
[2] The policy is accessible at www.ifad.org/anticorruption_policy.
[3] The policy is accessible at https://www.ifad.org/en/document-detail/asset/40738506.