Job Description
KEY INFORMATION
Job Title: Expert in export development for MSMEs and promoting GESI in trade
Sector: Trade and Gender
Position Type: Consultancy
Position Location: Remote
The deadline to apply is December 13, 2022.
BACKGROUND
Funded by Global Affairs Canada, the Expert Deployment Mechanism for Trade and Development (EDM) provides technical assistance to Official Development Assistance (ODA)-eligible countries to maximize the development impacts of trade and investment. Over seven years (2018-2025), EDM will invest CAD $16.5 million to support Canada’s developing country trading partners to negotiate, implement and benefit from and adapt to trade and investment agreements with Canada.
EDM is a demand-driven project that will benefit potential partners – including governments, local private sector groups and local civil society organizations – through capacity building and technical advisory support on policy reform issues that have a high potential to reduce poverty and gender inequalities, and support progress in trade and investment agreement negotiations.
Paraguay has been identified by Global Affairs Canada as a priority country for trade technical assistance under the EDM, in the context of the ongoing Canada-MERCOSUR FTA negotiations. Assistance provided under the EDM is expected to strengthen Paraguay’s capacity to participate in the negotiations, to implement the resulting agreement and to benefit from the opportunities it creates.
Paraguay is committed to improving gender equality and social inclusion. To that end, it has developed: (a) The National Development Plan 2030 - Axis 1: Poverty reduction and social development; (b) the National Poverty Reduction Plan; (c) the Fourth National Plan for Equality between Women and Men - Axis 3.4 Economic Empowerment; and (d) Agenda 2030, focused on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Despite these efforts to establish the legal and institutional basis to advance gender equality and social inclusion, women, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized groups in the senior ranks of government, business and trade, and face all the classic barriers to participation in the economy.
The Fundación Paraguaya de Cooperación y Desarrollo (FPCD), through its Microfinance programme, provides access to capital, training and ongoing support to financially excluded women, Indigenous Peoples, and other low-income groups in order to strengthen precarious employment, promote job creation and increase gender equity. This programme provides loans as well as education, business, and community development services to address other poverty-related problems. The financial and entrepreneurial education provided by Fundación Paraguaya enables clients to start businesses or scale up existing businesses. Through its offices in 25 communities in Paraguay the FPCD serves more than 70,000 small and emerging micro-entrepreneurs and their families.
EDM has provided support to promote gender equality and social inclusion in trade and investment in Paraguay. Technical assistance has been provided to identify the barriers to the participation of women in trade; to train public officials on the use of Gender-Based Analysis “Plus” in trade policymaking; and to design export development training programs for women entrepreneurs and for producers of fine crafts.
In collaboration with the Human Rights Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay, the FPCD has requested EDM technical assistance to develop training and public awareness programs to increase the participation in trade of gender and social inclusion target groups. This assistance is intended to extend the reach of EDM support to regional and rural populations.
LINKAGE TO EDM PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORK
This assistance is consistent with the approved EDM Country Needs Assessment Plan for Paraguay, Mandate 2, Strengthening Trade Promotion.
The assistance is also aligned with the EDM Performance Measurement Framework, Immediate Outcome 1320, Improved capabilities among targeted civil society organizations focused on women, labour standards, environment, or Indigenous peoples to support their stakeholders in benefitting from trade and investment agreements with Canada.
DESCRIPTION OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE REQUEST
The technical expert(s) will design and deliver a capacity-building program for FPCD officials to prepare them to provide export development training and advice to MSME led by women, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized groups. This capacity-building assistance will include the design of a training program and related teaching materials for use by FPCD officials in delivering gender-responsive and inclusive export training to MSME.
To ensure their relevance, the capacity-building program and MSME training tools should take the specific economic / trade circumstances of Paraguay into account.
Without limiting the scope or focus of the training program proposed by technical experts, the following issues should be included:
- how to build an export development strategy
- assessing the export readiness of MSME
- how MSMEs can participate in value chains
- how to overcome barriers to export faced by MSME, including specific barriers relevant to MSME led by women, Indigenous Peoples, and other marginalized groups
- e-commerce and the use of social media in export development
- the benefits of Fair Trade and other voluntary sustainability certifications
- the growth of the market for “green” products and the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility and environmental sustainability
- how to identify and make use of the opportunities created by free trade agreements
- how to access public sector programs and services available to support MSME exports in Paraguay
- case studies or examples that feature MSME led by women, Indigenous Peoples, or other marginalized groups
The capacity-building program should also include gender and social inclusion considerations to inform FPCD’s approach in planning and delivering the training program for MSME led by women, Indigenous Peoples, and marginalized groups to promote accessibility and meaningful participation in the training.
The direct beneficiaries of this assistance are the participating staff of FPCD offices and programs. The indirect beneficiaries will be the women, Indigenous and other entrepreneurs who will benefit from the training delivered by FPCD.
In the near term, the success of this assistance will be measured in the increased knowledge of FPCD staff. In the longer term, its success will be measured in the number of MSME trained by FPCD and their success in increasing export sales, creating jobs and reducing poverty in regional and rural communities.
TECHNICAL EXPERT PROFILE/EXPERTISE REQUIRED
Bidders must demonstrate extensive knowledge and experience in:
- Export development strategies for MSME, including those led by women, Indigenous Peoples, and marginalized groups
- Public sector policies and programs to support export development for MSME, including those led by women, Indigenous Peoples, and marginalized groups
- Trade policy and the provisions of free trade agreements, including those designed to promote the participation in trade of MSME led by women, Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups
- Gender equality and social inclusion in the context of trade and export development
- The impacts of trade on the environment and strategies to mitigate the negative impacts
- The design and delivery of adult education
- The delivery of technical assistance in developing countries
TIMELINES
- Starting date: January 2023
- Proposed duration: 3 months
DELIVERABLES
- A detailed work plan, work schedule and budget for the delivery of activities.
- Draft and final training program and teaching materials and pre and post training evaluations.
- Final Narrative Report on Mandate: Due within 30 calendar days of completion of all TA activities. The report shall describe activities delivered; results achieved (versus initial expected results and baseline); lessons learned of relevance to future EDM activities; expenses incurred by the Consultant in carrying out the TAA; gender equality and social inclusion outcomes, environmental outcomes, document officials trained/participating in activities (name, gender, job title, institutional affiliation). This report will be reviewed and approved by EDM prior to being shared with Global Affairs Canada.
- Contribute as necessary to the development of EDM communication materials and participate in an EDM roundtable highlighting key results achieved
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCESS
For your proposal to be considered, please name your document in the following format:
Name of Technical Assistance Request (found above), Consultants Last Name, First Name
(Proposals can be submitted by a single consultant or a consortium of consultants).
Your proposal should contain the following sections:
- Cover letter
- Proposal that includes the following:
- Your approach to implementing this TA, taking into account COVID related travel restrictions. Provide as much detail as possible. (10 pages maximum)
- Describe your approach to ensuring that gender equality and social inclusion are considered in all aspects of the TA, including approach, content, and delivery. (2 pages maximum)
- Describe your approach to ensuring that environmental impacts are considered in all aspects of the TA, including approach, content, and delivery. (1 page maximum)
- Outline your project management and monitoring strategy for the implementation of the activities. (2 pages maximum)
- Indicate all personnel who are being proposed to implement this project, their roles and responsibilities. Include all CVs of proposed personnel/experts. (20 pages maximum)
- Provide estimated level of effort (in days) and provide consulting rates (in CAD$) for each proposed personnel and/or expert who will be implementing the project.
Please submit your proposal as one document through the Cowater Career Page. Emailed proposals will not be accepted. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
ABOUT US
With more than 35 years’ experience, Cowater International is a global leader in management consulting services specializing in international development and has managed the implementation of over 800 projects in more than 80 countries around the globe. We work with governments, partner organizations, communities and civil society to design and implement sustainable solutions that generate lasting social, financial and environmental impacts. Our adaptive approach to management has led to our yearly award-winning work and recognition as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies since 2017. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Cowater International also has corporate offices in Montreal, Quebec; London, United Kingdom; Nairobi, Kenya; and Brussels, Belgium, in addition to project offices in a wide variety of other locations across Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia.