Request for Proposals for Consulting and Professional Services

DESCRIPTION: The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) requires the services of a Consultant for a Sectoral Evaluation of the EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING INTERVENTIONS OF CANADA’S BILATERAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN MALI 2014–2018. The project goal is:

Identifying and notifying stakeholders in Mali about the key components promoting complementarities between projects and the synergies and leverage effects in the implementation of policies and programs in education and vocational training sectors. Providing elements for reflection and to instruct and guide policy dialogue between the Malian stakeholders (Government of Mali [GoM], civil society organizations, etc.) and the international development stakeholders (financial and technical partners, non-governmental organizations [NGOs], etc.) working in Mali, including the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD); Providing options to guide the planning of the new programming by equipping the structures of the Malian ministries in the sector, as well as the civil society organizations and Malian technical partners working in the field, and the Canadian or international executing agencies involved in the delivery or interested in becoming involved in supporting the development of the education and vocational training sector in Mali.

The specific objectives are

Evaluate the results achieved in Mali’s education and vocational training sector. Identify key elements that contributed to synergies and/or complementarities between projects and beyond (catalyst) the results achieved as expected by these projects in the areas of focus. Determine the key components that hindered synergies and complementarities between the projects in the intervention sectors; Assess the integration of gender equality and women's economic empowerment with regards to employability in the implementation of education and vocational training sector programming and the most significant results; Identify findings, conclusions and recommendations to meet the above purpose. Draw lessons from the conclusions on the synergy between projects, the quality of education and the reduction of gender inequalities. Identify findings, conclusions, recommendations and lessons learned to fulfill the goals mentioned above

The purpose of this notice is to invite formal costed proposals from eligible Consultants. Based on proposals received, one Consultant will be invited to negotiate a contract with DFATD for the provision of services. DFATD reserves the right to reject any or all proposals received. The amount allocated to this contract will not exceed two hundred forty-eight thousand Canadian dollars (CAN$248,000) excluding applicable taxes. The consultant will propose the anticipated contract duration in months. WORKING LANGUAGE OF THE PROJECT The working language for this evaluation mandate will be French. DESCRIPTION OF TEAM The Consultant must provide a team of qualified people with a combination of evaluation skills and thematic knowledge to successfully complete this exercise in the Malian context. More specifically, the team must make arrangements so that gender equality is taken into account at every step of the evaluation cycle (i.e. design, data collection, analysis and reports). Given the security situation, it is recommended to have a joint team with international and local staff. Evaluation Team Leader The Consultant will assign qualified people to the following positions:

Evaluation Team Leader Local expert specialized in the field of education Local expert specialized in the field of vocational training Local expert specialized in gender equalityThe Evaluation Team Leader or one of the proposed specialists may partially or fully take on a specialist’s responsibility.

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS Proposals should be presented following the instructions provided in the Request for Proposals document to be obtained through the GETS on the Internet (https://buyandsell.gc.ca ). Please note, DFATD does not send out Request for Proposals directly to interested Bidders. In order to be considered, proposals must be completed and received no later than 14:00 hrs (EDT), on closing date, at the following email address: URP-BRU@international.gc.ca The Bid Receiving Unit (BRU) email address is for the sole purpose of bid submission. PROPOSALS SUBMITTED VIA FACSIMILE WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. INQUIRIES Questions relating to this notice must be directed by email to: Henri Thibault, Senior Contracting Officer, SGCP Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada E-mail: henri.thibault@international.gc.ca