Developing and delivering a Leadership course for women parliamentarians on advancing gender equality

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 179 national Member Parliaments and 14 regional parliamentary bodies. The IPU promotes democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people. It works for peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment, climate action and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action.

The IPU recognizes gender equality as a key component of democracy and works to achieve the equal participation of men and women in politics. It provides support to parliaments in advancing gender equality, increasing women’s political participation and leadership, and in transforming themselves into gender-sensitive institutions that deliver on women’s rights.

Women parliamentarians have been at the forefront of advancing gender equality outcomes. They have done so by passing gender-responsive legislation and working towards making parliaments more gender-sensitive institutions. Yet, women remain a minority in most parliaments. As of March 2023, women hold only 26.5% of parliamentary seats globally.[i] In addition, once elected, the obstacles they face are numerous. For instance, IPU studies have shown that women members of parliament (MPs) who advocate for women’s rights and gender equality are more likely to be the target of gender-based violence and harassment.[ii]

Building political will and supporting initiatives to promote gender equality remain a challenge, in particular for women MPs. To address this, capacities and skills can be developed and enhanced to support advocacy by women MPs and the overall influence they can have on advancing gender equality.

Objectives

To support their capacities to advance gender equality in and through parliament, the IPU aims to provide women MPs with a leadership course on advancing gender equality. The course will be tailored to the particular challenges and needs of women MPs. It will aim at building capacities though learning and practicing, sharing of experiences, good practices and challenges.

The ultimate objective of the leadership course is to enhance women MPs influence in parliament and among other stakeholders for the advancement of gender equality.

The specific expected results of the leadership course are the following:

• To provide a space for women MPs to learn and practice, strategize together, and share experiences, good practices and challenges in advancing gender equality through parliamentary work in their respective countries, taking into account the mindsets and cultural norms that inhibit progress.
• To equip women MPs with skills, tools and strategies to leverage their influence in advancing gender equality in parliament and throughout the parliamentary ecosystem.
• To empower women MPs to build trust and navigate tensions that can arise when advancing issues related to gender equality.
• To enable women MPs to overcome resistance within parliament, as well as to work collaboratively.
• To equip women MPs with techniques of verbal self-defense against sexist behaviour and verbal attacks.
• To establish a social engagement strategy to be used during and beyond the course.
• To sustain support to women MPs by establishing and coordinating follow-up support modalities such as a women MPs group to stay in touch, continue sharing experiences and strategies, and to have access to expert advice and counsel. Such a group can be on a dedicated online platform and/or a communications platform such as WhatsApp, Signal, or other.

The leadership course is to be conducted online in both English and French. A series of four (4) courses will be delivered. Each course will benefit a group of 25 women MPs from different countries.

All intellectual property rights of this leadership course will be the sole property of the IPU.

Scope of work

In this context, the IPU is requesting proposals from a company/organization specialized in leadership education to:

• Design the content and programme of the course  
• Set up an online learning/training platform.
• Organize and conduct the course
• Design and coordinate follow-up support modalities (as described above).

Key deliverables

Phase 1: Organization of a discovery exercise that will include a presentation by the company/organization on the concept, content and programme of the course, as well as on the material to be made available.

In its conceptualization and planning of the course, the company/organization shall take into account that:

• The pedagogical approach is built around best practices in adult education where learning is socialized, applied through reflection and comes as a result of a rich exchange among participants.
• The concept of a learning journey is applied before, during and after the course, including with access to advice and counselling, and online engagement between participants.
• The course includes modules that will cover different aspects of parliamentary leadership for gender equality in different contexts and cultures.
• The course includes presentations, breakout groups and interactive online exercises.
• Tools such as self-assessments, as well as videos, readings and podcasts are made available before, during, and after the course.
• An online learning/training platform is provided.
• The course and all related materials and communications are made available in English and French.
• The course is delivered live online in English and French.

Phase 2: Implementation of a pilot course for a group of women MPs.

This shall include:

• Invitation to participants.
• Provision in advance of the course programme, access to the online learning/training platform and course material to participants and the IPU.
• Delivery of the course.
• Evaluation of the course by participants.
• Collection of feedback on the content, programme and modalities of the course and on the materials provided.
• Adaptation of the content, programme and modalities of the course, as well as on the material provided, based on the feedback received in order to provide a final version of the content, programme and modalities of the course in Phase 3 (described below).
• Provision of a report including a course evaluation by participants and an account of the course’s implementation and key takeaways.
• Establishment and coordination of follow-up support modalities such as a group of women MPs to stay in touch, continue sharing experiences and strategies, and the provision of expert advice and counsel. The group can be on a dedicated online platform and/or communications platform such as WhatsApp, Signal, or any other.

Phase 3: Implementation of the Leadership course to three (3) other groups of women MPs from different countries.

This shall include:

• Invitation to participants.
• Provision in advance of the course programme, access to the online learning/training platform and course material to participants and the IPU.
• Delivery of the course.
• Collection of feedback on the content, programme and modalities of the course and on the materials provided.
• Establishment and coordination of follow-up support modalities such as a group of women MPs to stay in touch, continue sharing experiences and strategies, and the provision of expert advice and counsel. The group can be set up on a dedicated online platform and/or communications platform such as WhatsApp, Signal, or any other.
• Provision of a report including a course evaluation by participants and an account of the course’s implementation and key takeaways.

Phase 4: Provision of a final report including an overall evaluation of the courses and the follow-up support modalities, key takeaways and recommendations, and provision of all the course’s modules, exercises and methods of delivery as IPU property.

Timeline                                                  

It is expected that the supplier will be chosen in May 2023 to start work in June 2023. A series of four (4) courses will be delivered between July 2023 and March 2024.

Remuneration

The IPU shall pay the selected company or organization in instalments following the satisfactory completion of the respective deliverables. The proportions would be as follows:

• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 1 – 20%
• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 2 – 30%
• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 3 – 30%
• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 4 – 20%

Criteria for selection

The IPU will evaluate each proposal and may contact the top proposals for follow-up questions or a meeting.

The IPU will choose the supplier based on the following criteria:

• Experience of the company/organization
• Experience in working with parliaments, and in designing and delivering training courses for members of parliament
• Expertise in gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment
• Technical expertise and flexibility to accommodate the proposed timeline
• Quality of past work
• Cost proposal

Bidders with strong experience in similar trainings are strongly desired.

Submissions that do not demonstrate strong professional experience in adult learning in international settings, online courses, provision of continuous follow-up support, gender equality and women’s empowerment will not be considered.