Request for proposals for the development of a Gender and Human Rights training in East and South Africa

Summary Information

• Department: Africa
• Location(s): preferably East or South Africa
• Desired start date and duration: Start asap – maximum end date 23rd of December 2022
• Under direction of: the Senior Manager HR- Africa & Asia Pacific and the DEI Lead

Consultancy Summary

About the Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is creating a more sustainable world by using social and market forces to protect nature and improve the lives of farmers and forest communities. To achieve our mission, we partner with diverse allies around the world to drive positive change across global supply chains and in many of our most critically important natural landscapes.

Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests and biodiversity, take action on climate, and promote the rights and improve the livelihoods of rural people.

As an international non-profit organization with more than 30 years of experience in sustainability transformation, we understand that the social and economic well-being of rural communities is tightly connected to ecosystem health. This knowledge has shaped our rigorous programs to advance sustainable land-use and commodity production.

At the Rainforest Alliance we combat climate change, protect forests and biodiversity, promote human rights, and improve livelihoods. The enormity of the social and environmental challenges we are facing requires working together in a broad alliance. This is why we bring farmers, forest communities, companies, and consumers together to change the way the world produces, sources, and consumes.

Why

To protect nature and improve lives it’s becoming increasingly urgent that we approach the way we use our land and produce food and other products in more sustainable ways. For this to succeed we need to fundamentally change the way that businesses operate and source, and the choices we all make as consumers.

How

Our growing global alliance aims to transform our relationship with our natural resources and each other, to create a better future for people and nature together.

The Rainforest Alliance encourages diversity and inclusion across the global organization. With this commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ages, disability and any other protected group.

Overview

In the context of its certification program Rainforest Alliance has developed the so called assess-and-address approach, a human rights due diligence approach according to international guidelines human rights due diligence as laid out by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The assess-and-address approach requires certificate holders to put a system in place that identifies, remediates and monitors risks and actual cases of human rights violations.

The organization sees the need to not only require from certificate holders to have such a system in place, but to also ensure that its own system in place follows our Code of Conduct and meets the requirements of human rights due diligence at the level of the own organization. A first step in that direction is the strengthening of the training and awareness raising of all staff on human rights related to the work floor, including gender awareness, and the strengthening of the knowledge about the systems in place to report on and address violations of the Code of Conduct and/or those rights. This reinforcement training will be piloted with the staff of East and South Africa. Based on the results, the training will be improved and rolled out in those offices where this training has not yet taken place. Moreover, the outcomes of the training will indicate if internal procedures and systems needs to be updated.

Main Objectives

The consultancy seeks to reinforce expected behavior of staff based on the organizational values and principles of human rights and gender equality. It is therefore foreseen to develop and implement a training process, based on existing training material developed for the Latin America staff on concepts of gender equality, diversity, equity and inclusion, acceptable behavior and on the structures and procedures in place to report on and address violations of the Code of Conduct. This should be piloted with the staff members of the East and South Africa region of the Rainforest Alliance by the end of this year (2022). Based on the outcomes of the pilot, the training material should be improved so that the training can be replicated at the level of the whole organization. Ultimately, the outcomes should lead to an inclusive, safe and equitable work floor at the level of the whole organization.

Deliverables

1. Work plan that outlines the activities, methodology and timeline;
2. Training modules with activities for participants, and trainer’s facilitation guide that include at least: 1) concepts of human rights, gender equality, diversity, equity and inclusion, acceptable behavior, RA’s values and Code of Conduct 2) structures and procedures in place to report on and address violations of Code of Conduct and 3) behavioral change: how to create a safe environment and address unacceptable behavior, including best practices and examples for short and long term. Training modules should be based on training material that was developed by RA for a similar process. Training modules should be improved based on evaluation of participants and feedback of HR lead, DEI lead and Gender lead. The training process should have a strong participatory approach, be related to the local context, create a safe surrounding and include at least an initial diagnostic of the needs, focal groups and workshops;
3. Action plan that indicates actions to be taken to maintain safe and respectful environment within the team of East and South Africa, specifying responsible persons and timelines;
4. Communication strategy that reinforces expected behaviors;
5. Recommendations including focus areas and actions points from Q1 2023;
6. Evaluation incl. evaluation methodology of the training process by the consultant/consultancy firm and by the participants.

General terms and conditions for Request for proposal

• Proposals and/or any additional information received after the submission time and date are subject to rejection by The Rainforest Alliance. Incomplete proposals may be rejected by RA at its discretion.
• The Rainforest Alliance reserves the right to request additional information at any time during the procurement process.
• RA is at liberty to make multiple or no selections as part of the proposal process. RA also reserves the right to cancel the procurement.
• All proposal costs shall be borne by the applicant and will not be reimbursed by RA.

Selection Criteria

The Consultant or Consultant Firm should meet the following criteria:

• Master’s degree (equivalent) in gender, women’s studies, human rights, social studies, international development, or another relevant field;
• Experience managing programs with gender-sensitive and gender mainstreaming approaches, gender balance and healthy relationships. Experience with gender transformative approaches is required;
• Strong experience in developing training material for professionals including trainers;
• With strong knowledge of human rights due diligence systems and grievance mechanisms;
• With demonstrable skills in the management and use of technologies for the development of dynamic, participatory, and innovative training processes. Proficient in the use of learning platforms (moodle);
• Experience developing and facilitating participatory processes in safe surroundings towards long term behavior change with professionals, specifically in East and/or South Africa;
• Demonstrated ability to work with staff with diverse cultural backgrounds and mindsets, including challenging circumstances;
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills, written and verbal proficiency in English.