Expression of Interest for partnership with CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland for the strategic period 2024-2030

Expression of Interest for partnership with CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland for the strategic period 2024-2030

Background:

Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, Cooperative for Assistance & Relief Everywhere (CARE) International is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. We seek a world of hope, inclusion and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live in dignity and security. CARE vision 2030 helps to strengthen communities byproviding relief to people impacted by emergencies and contributing to economic empowerment that strengthens livelihoods over the long term in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While all that we do is to support the achievement of ending poverty (SDG 1), gender equality (SDG 5) sits at the heart of our programmatic ambitions and radiates throughout our work which places special focus on working alongside women and girls. We believe that, equipped with the proper resources women and girls have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. In 2023, CARE worked in 109 countries, reaching 167 million people through more than 1,600 projects.

CARE’s expertise lies in our holistic and inclusive approach to tackling poverty and injustice. We are a global connector of communities living in poverty to those holding power. We elevate the voice of the vulnerable and leverage our organizational diversity and learning to tackle inequalities and bring about lasting impact.

CARE’s six impact areas drive progress towards our overall goal to end poverty by working side-by-side with communities to understand the root causes of poverty, find and scale innovative, gender-responsive, locally-led solutions. Firstly, because they are critical barriers to poverty reduction, and secondly, because they are areas where CARE has developed world class expertise at all levels of our global network:

• Gender Equality: 50 million people of all sexes benefit from greater gender equality (especially the elimination of gender-based violence, and the strengthening of women’s and girls’ voice, leadership and education).
• Right to Food, Water and Nutrition: 75 million people, the majority of whom are women and girls, strengthen the realization of their right to adequate food, water and nutrition,
• Right to Health: 50 million people increase the realization of their right to health, and 30 million women their right to sexual and reproductive health,
• Humanitarian Assistance: CARE provides quality, gender-focused and localized humanitarian assistance to 10% of people affected by major crises, reaching at least 50 million people by 2030.
• Economic justice for women: 50 million women have more equitable access to and control over economic resources and opportunities.
• Climate Justice: 25 million poor and marginalized people, especially women and girls, have increased their resilience and adaptive capacity to the effects of climate change and are contributing to the energy transition.

Partnership principles: Partnership is central to CARE’s global vision and mission. We aim to be a partner of choice for governments, civil society organizations, social movements, the private sector and donors who seek long term solutions for fighting poverty and social injustice. We work with others to maximize the impact of our programs, building alliances and partnerships with those who offer complementary approaches, are able to scale up effective programming approaches, and/or who have responsibility to fulfil rights and reduce poverty through policy change and implementation.

We commit to working in ways that support and reinforce, not replace, existing capacities. CARE also holds fast to the humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, humanity and operational independence in our partnerships. By 2030, CARE and its partners seek to help 200 million people from the most vulnerable and excluded communities overcome poverty and social injustice.

CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland:

CARE International has been working in Somalia/Somaliland since 1981 providing life-saving assistance to people affected by recurrent humanitarian crises and conflict, and tackling the underlying causes of poverty and vulnerability to build resilience. Our programs make significant contributions to the substantial humanitarian needs as well as recovery and development efforts across

In 2024, CARE Somalia/Somaliland completed development of a new strategy for the period 2024 – 2030, which sets out a new direction that reinforces our commitment to locally-led and gender-transformative work, but with a bold shift in mindset that embraces an enterprising approach and climate smart actions.

Reinforcing our collaboration and partnership with government, civil society, local and international aid agencies and institutions and the private sector, our 2024 – 2030 strategy will see us continue providing life-saving humanitarian assistance to conflict and crisis affected populations while building gender responsive community resilience to climate related and other shocks and stresses.

By implementing three mutually supportive programs designed along the humanitarian-development nexus, we aim to directly reach over 4.2 million people with our work by 2030, including close to 2 million with lifesaving humanitarian assistance:

• Education and Gender Equality: Builds the capacity of government institutions to provide gender responsive formal education services, while building adolescents and young people’s literacy and vocational skills through non-formal education opportunities. We are strengthening the capacity of women’s rights organizations and civil society organizations engaged in youth, gender equality and inclusion.
• Climate Justice and Food, Water, and Nutrition: Contributes to increased food and nutritional security of vulnerable populations. We promote gender-responsive, climate-smart and sustainable crop/livestock production, economic recovery and women’s economic justice through Savings Groups Networks, linking pastoralists and smallholder farmers to financial services, value chain and market opportunities, sustainable access to water, and strengthening early warning systems for preparedness and disaster risk reduction.
• Humanitarian Assistance: Provides life-saving access to food and livelihood assistance and contributes to early recovery activities; improves health and nutrition outcomes, implements water, sanitation & hygiene (WASH) interventions, addresses Protection in Emergencies and gender equality among vulnerable individuals of all genders. We contribute to the humanitarian coordination platforms and promote gender-responsive emergency assistance with the help of Rapid Gender Assessments and the promotion of local organizations’ and women’s leadership in humanitarian response and decision-making.
• Our priority impact groups include: vulnerable populations affected by climate shocks and/or conflict (IDPs, returnees, host communities) with a focus on vulnerable women (age 15-49 years), adolescents and youth, children aged under 5; small holder (agro) pastoralists and small scale farmers; economically vulnerable women and girls, children within school age.

Partnership typology: CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland works with a wide variety of different types of organizations, in a variety of relationships, formal and informal and in bilateral and multi-stakeholder relationships. We have organized these into 7 broad categories:

• Local Civil Society Organizations and Networks
• Grassroots organizations/Social Movements
• Governmental Organizations
• International Agencies/Multi-lateral Institutions
• Research and Academic Institutions
• Media Entities
• Private sector

We value trust, equity, transparency and accountability, and base our partner relationships on shared vision, goals and values. We promote a culture of equality, mutual respect, complementary strengths, and shared commitment to achieve mutually agreed upon objectives. We recognize the need to engage in new and diverse ways with a various actor, increasingly, as a convenor, a connector and a supporter of locally-led civil-society in all its diversity. This recognition drives our commitment to decentralizing power, funding, and resources in our work. In partnership, we can collectively achieve more, have greater impact and do so in inclusive, cost-effective and sustainable ways.

Purpose/Objective of the EOI:

CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland is pleased to send out ab Expression of Interest aimed at forging mutually beneficial partnerships with various actors and allies, including Women-Led and Women’s Rights Organizations (WL/WROs) for the implementation of its Strategic Plan for 2024 – 2030. The objective of this Expression of Interest (EOI) is to identify and qualify potential strategic partners and allies in different locations where CARE has operational presence in the three program pillars.

Eligibility criteria:

We invite organisations with expertise in one or more of CARE’s sectors/ thematic pillars of intervention, priority impact groups, and who are interested and motivated to collaborate with CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland in current or future projects and programs.

Application process:

Interested organizations are invited to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) by 8th of October 2024 via CARE’s digital application form:https://ee-kobo.care.org/x/LakV54O3. We strongly encourage applications from women-led organizations as women leadership is an asset and priority for CARE in Somalia/Somaliland.

Selection process:

Step 1: Expression of Interest: In the first stage, we ask you to share some basic information about your organization with us, your motivation for collaboration with CARE, the expectations and added value you place on our partnership. Kindly also submit supporting documentation where applicable.

Step 2: Review of the application package: An initial shortlist of partners based on defined Minimum Eligibility Criteria, solicited formal and informal references and recommendations. All applying organizations will be informed about the outcome of their submission, and selected organisations will be informed on how to proceed further.

Step 3: Successful partners will be subject to due diligence and organizational capacity assessment, and a commitment to Safe and Accountable programming principles, use of Code of Conduct and ensuring zero tolerance for fraud, corruption, and SEA in the operations.

Additional information

• Partnerships will be rolled out across multiple stages with successful partnerships fully integrated by the end of 2024.
• Successful applications will engage in partnership with CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland during the strategic period from 2024 to2030.
• Please note that this EOI or any prequalification afterwards does not amount to any contractual obligation on the part of CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland.
• Being identified as potential partner for CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland does not automatically guarantee assignment of projects, partnership agreement or funding. All potential collaborations are subject to specific project needs and/or alignment with strategic goals.
• Upon reviewing your submission, CARE may request a face-to-face or virtual meeting to further discuss and validate the information provided in your application. This interaction is a vital part of our collaborative approach to partnership validation.
• During the prequalification period, additional documentation may be requested to help with comprehensive assessment of the suitability and readiness of the applicant organizations for partnership.