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Aus4Equality (Vietnam)
During high level consultations in July 2015, the governments of Australia and Vietnam agreed on three pillars for Australia’s Bilateral Aid Investment Plan (2016 to 2020). The third of these pillars is to promote women’s economic empowerment, including ethnic minorities especially in the ethnically diverse, high-poverty region of north-west Vietnam. This pillar aligns with Australia’s development policy, which includes gender equality and women’s empowerment as a stand-alone sector for investment and identifies private sector development as the driver of growth in emerging economies.
Aus4Equality will focus on amplifying the following strengths and opportunities:
(a) Women’s already significant productive role in agriculture, and nascent involvement in production groups;
(b) The engagement of ethnic minorities in niche smallholder production and community-based services, such as catering; and
(c) The burgeoning tourism market and infrastructure, particularly in Lao Cai, which provides women with opportunities to transition to village-based or off-farm employment and income.
2.4 Aus4Equality has three linked objectives.
(a) Objective 1: Empowering local women: Women living in local communities have increased capacity, space and choices to beneficially engage with agriculture and tourism businesses.
(b) Objective 2: Inclusive business partnerships: Selected private sector actors within the agriculture and tourism sectors innovate to profitably and sustainably trade with more women entrepreneurs and operate in gender sensitive ways.
(c) Objective 3: Improving sector governance and policy: Government agencies reinforce policies, and enact plans, regulations and services that enable more inclusive socio-economic development.
DFAT will not accept proposals from Tenderers who have formed a consortium at this tender stage with any local organisations in Vietnam. Clause 8 in Schedule 1, Part 3 of the RFT (draft Contract) refers to a Management Consortium which will be engaged after Contract signature. DFAT have made this decision to ensure that all local organisations in Vietnam have the opportunity to be involved in Aus4Equality without the risk of exclusivity arrangements by Contractors being put in place.
DFAT acknowledges Criterion 1.5 in the Evaluation Criteria (Part 1 of the RFT, Clause 7.1) states ‘how they (tenderers) will develop and cohesively manage the program’s activities, partners, and consortiums’. Tenderers should address this criterion as to how they have managed consortiums in the past, and how they plan to develop and manage the Management Consortium involved in Aus4Equality after Contract signature and in accordance with Clause 8 in Schedule 1, Part 3 of the RFT.
As per RFT documentation.
Sept 17 to June 22