CONTEXT Introduction and Background The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has selected a CARE Bangladesh led consortium to implement the project titled ‘Nature Based Adaptation towards Prosperous and Adept Lives & Livelihoods in Bangladesh (NABAPALLAB/ নবপ ব )’ in two Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) – Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor. The other consortium members are CNRS, Cordaid, C3ER-BRAC University, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK), Friendship, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), iDE, and Practical Action. It is a key component of the Bangladesh-UK Accord on Climate Change and will deliver the adaptation outcome of the FCDO’s flagship Bangladesh Climate and Environment Programme (BCEP). The programme will make a significant contribution in Bangladesh to progress against GoB’s policies and priorities e.g., National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), commitments to biodiversity conservation etc. And it will also contribute to UK’s commitment to International Climate Finance (ICF). Due to environmental sensitivity and high anthropogenic pressures such as overharvesting, overfishing, pollution and illegal logging, the Sundarbans mangrove and the Hakaluki Hoar wetland are at a vulnerable stage with climate change. The NABAPALLAB project aims to engage communities living in Ecologically Critical Areas (ECAs) of Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor to strengthen their resilience and conserve the rich biodiversity of these areas. The project aims to diversify and improve these communities’ livelihoods and reduce over dependence on critical ecosystems through innovative Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and Locally Led Adaptation (LLA). The NABAPALLAB project seeks to ensure inclusion of “all people” considering age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, caste, belief, and disability. The project aims to ensure that inclusion is ensured throughout the project cycle ensuring gender, age, disability and ethnicity inclusion is incorporated across all the interventions. The consortium members are committed to ensuring that at least 40% of the project beneficiaries will represent women, persons with disability, indigenous people, religious, and ethnic minorities in NABAPALLAB. Contracting organization Handicap International – Humanity & Inclusion (HI) Bangladesh Programme is requesting the services described in these Terms of Reference. HI is a 41-year-old independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. The organization works alongside persons with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote Page 2 of 13 respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. HI is presently active in over sixty countries, including Bangladesh. HI has been operating in Bangladesh since 1997, implementing emergency and development actions aimed at improving the protection, quality of life, and the promotion of rights of vulnerable individuals, including persons with disabilities. HI’s current operations are centred in Northern (Kurigram) and Southern parts (Cox’s Bazar) and technical support is delivered in southern-west part (Sundarbans ECA) of the country. Background of the assignment Individuals facing vulnerabilities in Bangladesh encounter numerous barriers that obstruct their access to essential services. Over the past year, NABAPALLAB has concentrated on reaching these marginalized populations through inclusive interventions, specifically targeting climate-resilient livelihoods, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH), as well as nature-based solutions. This assignment aims to extract insights from the NABAPALLAB projects to identify and analyze good practices that support marginalized groups, particularly women, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, and ethnic minorities. The focus will be on assessment and evidence collection regarding the selection, participation, and access to services for vulnerable individuals within the Sundarbans ECA zones and documentation of NABAPALLAB’s good practices through case stories from Gender responsive and Inclusive perspective, aimed at showcasing the project implementation. The initiative will target the districts of Khulna, Bagerhat, and Satkhira, emphasizing gender-responsive and inclusive project interventions. The strategy and design of the project, along with the action plan for gender-responsive and inclusive interventions, will be intricately linked to the inclusion of marginalized groups. Additionally, this assignment aims to propose potential activity designs for marginalized communities, particularly in the context of climate-resilient and inclusive project interventions focusing on WASH, livelihoods, and nature-based solutions. Furthermore, the assignment also includes working with HI to develop a dedicated Gender and Inclusion Action Plan for the NABAPALLAB project. This will involve a review of the Barriers and Facilitators Assessment conducted by NABAPALLAB, identifying data gaps, and formulating a comprehensive Gender Action Plan. Objective of the assignment The primary objective of this assignment is to document gender-responsive and inclusive good practices through evidence collection during the second year of implementation. This includes a locally led approach to nature-based solutions (NbS), nature-positive livelihood practices, and infrastructural resilience, specifically in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) and community infrastructure. Page 3 of 13 Furthermore, the assignment is fundamentally focused on developing a dedicated Gender and Inclusion Action Plan, which will include suggested activities related to the locally led approach to NbS, nature-positive livelihood practices, infrastructural resilience, renewable energy solutions, and climate-resilient infrastructure. This assignment will be within the framework of the NABAPALLAB initiative in the Sundarbans Ecosystem Climate Adaptation (ECA) and will identify potential bottlenecks where recommendations can be effectively implemented. Keeping this in mind, here are objective of the evidence documentation: Objective 1: Assessment and evidence collection concerning the selection, participation, and access to services for individuals facing vulnerabilities to evaluate the current state of inclusive practices to guide the future Gender and Inclusion action Objective 02: Conduct policy reviews and identify service provision gaps across government entities, development partners of NABAPALLAB, the private sector, and co-management committees in the areas of Livelihood, WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene), and Nature-Based Solutions. Objective 3: Documentation of NABAPALLAB’s good practices from Gender responsive and Inclusive perspective, aimed at showcasing the project implementation and identifying potential activities for Gender and Inclusion Action Plan. Objective 4: Develop a dedicated Gender and Inclusion Action Plan (GIAP) for the respective project with ssuggested potential activities for the marginalized communities focused on climate resilient inclusive WaSH, Livelihood and nature-based solution. Scope of Work     To understand how vulnerable populations are targeted and actively participated in the NABAPALLAB interventions through nature-based solutions and locally led adaptation, as well as in the areas of Livelihoods and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH), within the NABAPALLAB project. To identify the relevant policy review and service provision gap identification both Govt, and NABAPALLAB partners, Private sector/LSP, Co-management committees of Livelihood, WASH and Nature based solution through desk review of relevant policies and project documents. To identify the gender-responsive and inclusive approaches that empower vulnerable individuals to develop climate-resilience adaptation within the NABAPALLAB project. To propose potential activities along with the inclusive modifying designs those are cost effective and sustainable. Develop gender and inclusion action plan within the NABAPALLAB Project. Identify opportunities to enhance the project’s interventions to be more gender-responsive and inclusive. Page 4 of 13 Methodology Based on the expected outcome of the assignment, a mixed methodology will be adopted which will involve robust literature review and multiple data collection. A literature review will be conducted to serve as a secondary source of information. A comprehensive literature review must encompass all existing relevant national policies to review the existing gaps, relevant NABAPALLAB project documents, and available study reports, with particular emphasis on the Barriers and Facilitators reports to identify the data gaps to develop the Gender and Inclusion Action Plan. For data collection methods, male and female, aged, person with disability and individuals from ethnic and minority community respondents will be included, utilizing purposive sampling for focus group discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews (IDIs), Key Informant Interviews (KII), and case stories. These methods will allow for a holistic understanding of inclusive good practices and ensure the documentation is accurate, insightful, and valuable for the intended audience. Additionally, the assignment will include household survey for more in-depth understanding of the targeted community. While the secondary data review will serve to identify data gaps, the primary data will subsequently address those gaps through proposing actions identified from good practices and the target participants for those actions to develop a dedicated gender and inclusion action plan for the project.

For details please see the Terms of Reference

How to Apply:

Submission Method:

Online Bid Submission: Interested and qualified individual trainer or firm are requested to submit Technical and Financial Proposals by 01 March 2025 (on or before 11.59 PM) either through e-mail to: logistics@bangladesh.hi.org mentioning subject “Ref: PD-DHAK-00555, Development of evidence-based gender responsive and inclusive good practices with Gender and Inclusion Action Plan (GIAP) in the Sundarbans Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).” *If the file is too big to fit into 1 email (limit 15MB per email), bidder should split the submission into multiple emails, mentioning chronological order. Or, Physical Bid Submission addresses: Proposals to be submitted to Handicap International Dhaka office: House 3/A, Road 36, Gulshan-2, Dhaka-1212. The envelope should clearly indicate the Invitation to tender reference as per below: “Ref: PD-DHAK-00555, Development of evidence based gender responsive and inclusive good practices with Gender and Inclusion Action Plan (GIAP) in the Sundarbans Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).” *All documentation submitted should be done in their own clearly labelled envelopes (e.g., technical proposal, financial proposal, Legal Documents etc.), which are submitted in one single envelope as detailed above.

For details please see the Terms of Reference