Terms of Reference (ToR) CONSULTANCY SERVICE TO CONDUCT A BASELINE ASSESSMENT FOR THE PROJECT ENTITLED “POWER OF VOICES PARTNERSHIP(PVP)

1. BACKGROUND

1.1. Project summary

DURATION: 5 Years (2022 – 2026)

COUNTRY: Occupied Palestinian Territory (West Bank & Gaza)

DONOR: Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1.2. Description of the project:

FAIR for ALL project aims to achieve fundamental, systemic change through a paradigm shift in the roles of the state and the market. This means moving away from the dominance of the market and towards more responsive and responsible states, citizens, companies, and investors. This require challenging vested interests, tackling power imbalances and helping to build new economic models and principles that put people and the planet before profit.

The program presumes that active citizens and a strong, rooted and diverse civil society should play a crucial role in driving this fundamental shift. Citizens – activists, grassroots women, workers, farmers, thought leaders – should propose alternative models which are based on principles of agency, shared value and equal relations of power. Their organizations should challenge belief systems that put profits before people and planet and hold companies and investors accountable for rights abuses in their supply chains. They should activate citizens to monitor public spending and advocate for governments to bring in trade and tax reforms that will contribute to more equal sharing of wealth that is created in value chains. Therefore, The overall goal of FAIR for ALL is that : A strengthened Civil Society which is capable of creating space and mobilizing people across geographies to demand and contribute to more inclusive and sustainable trade and value-chains that respect human rights, protect the environment and promote women’s economic empowerment.

This implies rebalancing the reliance on dominant primary-commodity value chains, reforming tax and trade regimes and increasing investment in local and national value chains that benefit small-scale farmers, workers and artisanal miners; in particular women and their communities.

By strengthening civil society, the program aims to contribute to trade and value chains that support SDGs number 5,8,10,12,16, and 17. The main focus of FAIR for ALL program is to support and strengthen CSOs to play their diverse roles; as educators, mobilizers, creators and watchdogs to make trade and value chains FAIR for ALL. The OPT FAIR for ALL program, which will be implemented by partners of Oxfam in OPT and SOMO, has the following focus areas:

1) Advocate for policies (on e.g. quality assurance and import substitution) that contribute to an enhanced agricultural sector with increased linkages to regional and international markets, focusing on youth, women and women’s rights organizations, cooperatives and women led businesses.

2) Advocate for improving key regulations (tax refunds, anti-dumping, anti-monopolism, protection of local products, regulating central markets, cooperative laws) that directly impact the agricultural sector and living conditions of small-scale farmers in Palestine. Research on malpractice and exploitation in agricultural value chains will inform advocacy strategies.

3) Advocate for ease of movement for raw and processed agricultural products, trade between Gaza and the West Bank, marketing promotions for buying local products, external trade and export facilitation through supporting trade missions, B2B meetings and trial shipments, co-financing and incentives engaging the private sector.

4) Advocate for increased budget allocation in the agricultural sector, increased transparency, accountability and reallocation of budgets to respond to the needs of Palestinians in general and the targeted groups in particular.

5) Promote gender equity and gender-sensitive policies and laws by advocating for gender responsive budgeting at the national and local levels, and to promote women’s rights in the private and public sectors. Value chains in processed food, dates, olive oil, grapes and small ruminants will be selected as an entry point for testing recommended changes and models in the agriculture sector.

1.3 FAIR for ALL Pathways for change (TOC):

FAIR for ALL will be implemented through four pathways for change which will contribute to the strategic objective of the program. The four pathways put people at the center of change, and they are strongly connected and mutually reinforcing: private sector change requires public sector support and vice versa.

Pathways 1 and 2 aim to strengthen civil society to contribute to a more responsible private sector that respects human rights, women’s rights and labor rights, prevents environmental harm and distributes gains from value-chains more equally. Pathway 1 encourages the development and promotion of business practices which share value more equally and empower women; pathway 2 strengthens civil society to advocate for a more responsible private and financial sector.

Pathways 3 and 4 contribute to a more accountable public sector that protects and fulfils the rights of people working in, or impacted by primary-commodity value chains, and that invests in more inclusive and sustainable value chains. Pathway 3 strengthens civil society to advocate governments to effectively regulate the private sector; pathway 4 encourages fiscal and trade reforms that enable increased social spending and investment in economies that produce jobs and income for local communities.

Within each pathway, the focus is on strengthening Civil Society capacities and women’s and men’s voices to raise awareness, activate and mobilize (young) citizens and constituencies, navigate shrinking and shifting civic space, influence and engage with public- and private-sector actors, and build coalitions to deliver transformative change.

1.4. Beneficiaries

• Rural women, especially poor and vulnerable women (and their households)
• Members of women cooperatives.
• Palestinian public sector and CSOs.
• Farmers.
• CSOs, government, small-scale farmers and youth.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises.

1.5. Main implementing partners

Palestinian Farmers’ Union (PFU)

Transparency Palestine (AMAN)

Rural Women’s Development Society (RWDS)

Palestine Trade Center (PalTrade)

1.6. Selected Value Chains**

1- Olive & Olive oil

2- Grapes

3- Dairy

* Will be confirmed later.