Request for Proposals Training on Cross-Cultural Communications June-July 2021

Europe Foundation invites proposals from qualified organizations or individuals to conduct a series of trainings on cross-cultural communications for young people involved in its Youth Integration Program to help them cultivate trust and promote meaningful interactions. Europe Foundation expects this assignment to be conducted between June-July 2021, depending upon the availability of the selected consultant/s.

About Europe Foundation

Europe Foundation’s mission is to empower people to effect change for social justice and economic prosperity through hands-on programs, helping them to improve their communities and their own lives. To achieve its mission, Europe Foundation strives to strengthen the capacity of individuals and institutions, empowering them to address pressing issues and to mobilize relevant stakeholders in issue-based dialogue, through raising public awareness and creating various coalitions, platforms or working groups, so as to effect positive change.

Program Background Information

The Europe Foundation’s Youth Integration Program strives to increase youth volunteerism and civic engagement to address targeted communities’ needs. The Foundation employs the Youth Bank (YB) methodology, an innovative way of increasing youth participation through creating groups of young people (aged 15-21) in a given community and empowering them with training and resources to find, fund, and oversee small youth-led initiatives that address salient for local communities’ issues. The YB concept is founded on the premise that involving young people in projects they design and manage is the most potent way to develop civic participation among youth. The uniqueness of the YB model is that young people are given the opportunity to independently undertake all the activities involved in the YB grantmaking cycle without constant supervision from adults. Each year, the YBs fund roughly 110 local youth-led initiatives in their communities, which could address needs as diverse as cleaning a community park through promoting gender equality to preparing first-time voters for elections. Currently, the Program covers the following towns and communities: , , , , , , Dedophlistskaro, , , , Gori, Gulripshi, , , , , , , Racha, Svaneti, Sokhumi, , Tserovani, and Zemo Barghebi.

To contribute to more stable, integrated and healthy society with increased engagement with the occupied territories, Europe Foundation and its partners started the implementation of USAID funded Empowering Youth for Peace project in October 2018. The project is cofounded by Sida and Danida and aims at contributing to enhanced youth volunteerism and civic engagement to address community needs. Toward this end, Europe Foundation and its partners are implementing actions that will support civic activism among and people-to-people contacts between ethnic Georgian and ethnic Abkhaz youth, so that the targeted young people can engage in community development actions, while at the same time develop greater understanding and mutual trust. Since

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the initiation of the project, Europe Foundation has conducted several capacity building and these efforts have translated into successful grantmaking cycles in all Youth Banks. Another capacity building activity for the YB members is the Cross-Cultural Communication (CCC) Training.

Goal and Methodology

The overall goal of the requested virtual training is to provide capacity building to the Youth Bank members (aged 15-21) in cross-cultural communication (CCC). The training should put specific emphasis on tolerance building and communicating across cultures to heighten the participants’ awareness of key issues around stereotypes, active listening, and non-aggressive communication. The training should also provide a space to address any concerns they might have prior to meeting their peers from other ethnic backgrounds and with different perspectives regarding conflict, as the training will be followed by a virtual Leadership Conference.

In total, three CCC trainings should be conducted, two in , and one in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At any point, Europe Foundation and its partners can virtually gather up to 30 young people (for all three virtual training sessions) for not more than a three-day-long activity, as long as the Consultant(s) can suggest a methodology, which envisions online and offline activities for all trainees. Considering the COVID-19 pandemic-related challenges and safety measures, the selected consultant(s) will not be required to travel and can assume that online facilitation will be an acceptable option provided that the training proposal clearly addresses the challenges that could arise during the online delivery of the training. The participants from each location will be competitively selected, based in part on the nominations from their peers.

Timeframe and Deliverables

Expected duration of the assignment is two months. The consultants will produce the following deliverables, all in English: 1. Design a module for a virtual training that will take place over the course of maximum three days with each session lasting no longer than 4 hours 2. Conduct three trainings for 30 youth, two in Georgia and one in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 3. Final report, which will include the following sections: a) Brief description of the context of the training b) Description of the goal and objectives of the training c) Description of methodology of the training d) Assessment of the trainee groups e) Outcomes of the training f) Recommendations g) Annexes, including the training program, etc. The report will be the sole property of Europe Foundation, which will retain the right to use it for internal and external purposes.

Announcement date: June 7, 2021. Proposal submission deadline: June 21, 2021 18:00 time (GMT+4).

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The deadline for the completion of the trainings and submission of the report: July 30, 2021 18:00 Tbilisi time (GMT+4).

Budget

The consultant should provide a detailed budget to Europe Foundation for providing the training services. The budget should not exceed USD 6,000.

Application Package and Selection Criteria

Interested applicants must submit the following information to Europe Foundation:  Cover letter, which includes a concise and detailed description of the consultant’s qualifications and how the applicant meets the requirements specified in the terms of reference,  Suggested training proposal with detailed methodology that demonstrates how the consultant will achieve the outcomes of the training and mitigate the risks that could arise during the implementation,  Evidence of two most recent consulting assignments completed by the consultant, involving similar trainings,  CV, and  Financial proposal/budget that includes a breakdown of costs (e.g. consultancy fee, facilitation related expenses).

The proposal must be submitted in English. The selection criteria will include the following:  Degree to which consultant’s qualifications and experience match Europe Foundation’s needs outlined above,  Cost-effectiveness of the proposal, and  Ability to adhere to the time constraints of the proposed activities.

Review Process

Proposals may be submitted by email to Natali Petriashvili ([email protected]). Please indicate “Cross-Cultural Communication Training” in the subject line of your email.

Questions regarding the RFP should also be directed to Natali Petriashvili ([email protected]).

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