Caritas Austria promotes development work through long-term partnerships with church and civil society organizations in defined partner regions. Caritas supports them in their work and helps them find ways out of poverty for disadvantaged people and enable them to live with dignity. Development cooperation is focused on the two priorities “A future without hunger” and “A future for children and young people”. For further information, please refer to the Caritas Austria website: www.caritas.at

The “SAGES” program (Food Security, Gender and Sex Equality) – implemented in the regions of Center-North in Burkina Faso, Kayes in Mali, as well as Tambacounda and Kaolack in Senegal during the period from 01.07.2021 as of 06/30/2026 – contributes to gender equality (SDG 5) as well as the eradication of poverty (OGS 1) and hunger (SDG 2).

The specific objectives, results and actions of the program are:

(1) Women active in agriculture have improved and more equitable access to productive resources and services in agriculture and benefit fairly from the benefits generated.

Raising awareness of human rights, particularly women’s rights.
Improve women’s access to information and agricultural training.
Improve women’s access to land, inputs, agricultural tools and equipment, as well as financial services.
Improve women’s access to markets and control of income from agricultural work.

(2) Women and men from poor rural households work together on an equal footing to adapt to the consequences of climate change and to sustainably cover the food needs of their families while preserving ecosystems.

Raising awareness of gender equality in agriculture and building resilience capacities to the effects of climate change.
Capacity building in the field of sustainable food production and storage.
Support for the protection and restoration of natural resources
Fight and prevention of malnutrition within families, particularly among women and young children.
Creation of structures to reduce the time spent by women on unpaid activities and household chores.

(3) Development actors (in the areas of gender equality and agriculture) have improved knowledge on the links between gender and food security and are collaborating more closely to strengthen the position of women in agriculture.

Capacity building of implementing organizations to promote a transformation process towards gender equality.
Networking and knowledge management between development actors in the field of gender equality and food security.
Raising awareness among local authorities and service providers so that they better integrate gender equality issues into their planning and work.

Target groups: These are 6,460 rural households who mainly benefit from egalitarian and gender-sensitive support in sustainable agricultural activities and increased food security. These rural households correspond in total to approximately 44,367 vulnerable people. Among them, special attention is given to 8,336 women working in agriculture, whose equal rights and empowerment will be promoted. In addition, the nutritional situation of the women concerned (and especially pregnant and breastfeeding women) as well as approximately 7,132 children under five years old will be improved in order to prevent or treat malnutrition. In addition, the following actors benefit from capacity building to better integrate gender issues into their daily work: 90 employees of local partner organizations, 109 other development actors (e.g. grassroots organizations, NGOs, state actors) and 92 local public officials. As indirect beneficiaries, the rural population (approximately 141,200 people) as well as government institutions in the program regions will benefit from the program results.

The evaluation will cover the period of implementation of SAGES until its completion, between September 2024 and January/February 2025. Data collection will take place in the targeted regions in West Africa (Burkina Faso – Central region). -North, Mali – Kayes region, Senegal – Tambacounda region and Kaolack region) as well as virtually with stakeholders in Austria for the transnational component.

The evaluation criteria will be relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency and sustainability prospects, in line with OECD DAC standards. The impact will not be assessed, given its long-term nature.

We are seeking submissions from experts and/or teams experienced in development program evaluation, with specific expertise in the areas of gender equality and food security.

Any additional information on the methodology and approach, deliverables, duration of the mission, required qualifications, annexes, etc. can be found at the following link:

https://wolke.caritas.at/s/dTc6iNcjHbGPzys

Password: Skpc4wzY4G

Requests for clarification:

Requests for clarification can be sent no later than 05/19/2024 at midnight CET to marion.hollaus@caritas-austria.at

How to apply

Submission of the offer request:

For your request, please use the offer request form (Annex 1). Applications must be submitted in French.

Please note that only signed offers can be accepted (see page 9 of the request for offer). A scanned copy of the signature will be accepted (by email).

Selection criteria :

− Presentation of offers: compliance with the instructions in the invitation and the terms of reference

− Financial, economic, technical and professional capacity of the bidder; − Ability to cover the entire service (preferred) or to have to outsource certain tasks (well justified);

Award criteria:

Best value for money.

The selection process will take place between June 3 and 21, 2024.

Deadline for receipt of offers:

Offers must be submitted by email no later than 02/06/2024 to Moritz Miksche by email (moritz.miksche@caritas-austria.at).

Any additional information on the methodology and approach, deliverables, duration of the mission, required qualifications, annexes, etc. can be found at the following link: