1. Background

“Support to Electoral Reforms in North Macedonia” is a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), implemented by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and its partner National Youth Council of Macedonia (NYCM).

The project overall objective (goal) is to support democratic and credible election processes that facilitate political participation and social integration by enabling voters to freely select their representatives and hold them accountable.

The project activities are designed to support this objective through the achievement of three outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Strengthened institutions conduct fair and efficient election processes

• Outcome 2: Internally democratized political parties present citizen-oriented policies and election programs

• Outcome 3: Empowered citizens hold political parties and elected officials accountable

Project beneficiaries are election management bodies at all levels; government agencies such as Ministry of Information, Society and Administration, Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services, State Statistical Office, Ombudsperson Institution, State Audit Office, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice; political parties, civil society organizations, voters and citizens.

The project started its implementation in August 2019 and it is expected to end in June 2023.

About the Academy for Public Policy (APP)¹.

The objective of the APP is to enhance the competences of representatives of youth wings of political parties for creating and influencing public policies. The APP has the objective to increase the knowledge and skills of representatives of youth wings of political parties on:

– identifying community problems in a participatory and inclusive way;

– designing evidence and values-based policy responses to community problems;

– presenting and communicating policy responses, including developing policies briefs,

– lobbying for implementation of the public policies;

– designing and implementing Innovative Initiatives to discuss the identified policy solutions with the community

The above objectives are achieved through different learning modalities and the key one being interactive, in person workshops. In total three workshops are envisioned focused on the following topics:

1. 1. Public Policy Cycle and Evidence Policy Making,

   2. Policy Communication, Argumentation and Presentation,

   3. Leadership, Lobbying and Advocacy, Community Engagement.

Within the aforementioned topic the principles of inclusive participation of vulnerable groups such as youth, women and people with disabilities should be mainstreamed in every and each topic.

2. Objectives

The project team is looking for Trainers and Practitioners to contribute in implementing of the Academy program in the following workshops / sessions:

I workshop

1. Public Policy Cycle, Evidence Policy Making, developing Policy Briefs;

II workshop

2. Communication, Argumentation and Presentation skills (in general and for the public policies)

3. Leadership (Skills and models, applied for political parties functioning);

III workshop

4. Lobbying and Advocacy (in general and for the public policies)

5. Community Engagement;

Each session should include theoretical approach and examples from the practice. The examples could be based in the country or from the region. The session should be interactive and engage participants to actively contribute in reaching the learning outcomes.

3. Deliverables expected by trainers:

1. Propose short concept for the session in coordination with the project team;

2. Develop learning materials in a form of Power Point presentation, handouts, instruction for group work, reference to the materials for further reading;

3. Implement the session;

4. Prepare session report (after completion of the session)

4. Qualification and Requirements:

• University degree in political science, social science or similar field (a master’s degree will be considered an advantage)

• 5 years of experience in training or practicing the topics listed under the section II;

• 5 years of practice at, or 3 implemented assignments for, political party in the country or abroad;

• Proven knowledge and ability to work with diverse group of beneficiaries (ethnic, gender, People with disabilities, etc)

• Excellent command of English and Macedonian language;

• Knowledge of Albanian language will be considerate strong asset;

• Previous experience in working with political parties will be considered an asset;

• Experience in working with governmental organizations and/or civil society organizations will be considered an advantage.

5. Time frame and consultancy days

For the implementation of the above tasks as part of 1 session, up to 3 consultancy days are anticipated (1 day for preparation, 1 day for delivering of the session and 1 day for preparation of the report).

6. Proposal and criteria for selecting the best offer

Each applicant may submit a proposal for conducting 1 or more sessions/workshops, by stating that in the application.

Private entities are allowed submit a proposal by nominating trainers or practitioners or a team of both that comply with the above listed criteria.

The proposals must include trainer/practitioner CV, Reference list and Financial Proposal.

• The CV should ensure the information requested under the section IV is included

• Reference list (contact information of at least 2 previous engagements)

• Financial Proposal should include all required costs regarding this assignment.

The service provider will be evaluated based on the following conditions:

CV weight of 70% and Financial proposal weight 30%. The technical proposal will be evaluated based on the criteria in the table below. The financial proposal must be reasonable and show efficient use of resources, and additional costs, if any, must be clearly identified. Offers will be compared amongst responsive bidders meeting technical requirements.

Criteria Category	Weight
Education	30%
Experience	40%
Price	30%
TOTAL	100%

VII. Deadline for application

The applicant must submit the required documents no later than 18.02.2021, 11:59 PM, on the following e-mail:[email protected] with subject line Training Expert Academy for Public Policy_ (name and surname).

* NYCM reserves the right to extend the deadline for application, if needed.