Call for bids: promoting consent education in Romania

Background

The British Embassy in Bucharest invites project proposals to promote the education of Romanian youth on consent and related issues. It is part of a wider portfolio of British Embassy projects to support efforts to improve the rights of women and girls in Romania, as well as a multi-year program of projects on modern slavery and human trafficking.

In the first 6 months of 2021, 10,643 Romanian women and young girls reported beatings and other violence, in 65% of cases the perpetrator was their partner or ex-partner. 84% of incidents occurred at the place of residence. Police intervened in 28,486 cases of domestic violence, of which 7,659 were high-risk. 22 women died. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that cases of sexual harassment among students have increased in a country where a third of women report some form of sexual harassment. Romania is also the EU country with the highest number of people trafficked to the UK.

Understanding consent is an important part of preventing sexual violence and violence against women. It also contributes to improved social attitudes towards women and a wider understanding of respect for individual autonomy. It would also contribute to the formation of healthy relationships and the fight against violence in relationships.

In this context, we will welcome applications for projects with a total budget of 48,500 RON that will improve consensual education in Romania, targeting both young men and women. These projects can provide education around consent directly or create materials and opportunities for teachers to use them.

The goal

• improve young people’s understanding of consent, including but not limited to consent in relationships
• to improve young people’s understanding of how lack of consent or manipulated consent can constitute abuse in different circumstances; including violence and sexual abuse, but also other forms of coercive control and abuse

Scope of work

The project should have a national reach where possible, but we will consider targeted pilot projects. It should also aim to create long-term resources that will be used beyond the immediate life of the project.

Events

For this project to be successful, it is essential that the project implementer builds effective relationships to ensure buy-in at the political and operational levels. Potential interventions may include:

• training for secondary school teachers on consent education
• creating an online guide that explains the principles of consent and that students can easily access
• study sessions for high school students by agreement
• youth-oriented campaigns that promote consent
• pilot projects that can be used as an evidence base to promote further consent education

Project approach

The British Embassy in Bucharest will approve project proposals. This proposal will form the basis for project planning. The proposal should indicate how the implementing partner will implement activities to support the objectives outlined above through an implementation plan and budget based on supporting activities. The British Embassy in Bucharest will oversee the planning of the project and ensure the necessary contacts with the executors, including, if required, the Romanian authorities.

The project implementer will manage the logistics of the project and is expected to take into account the context of the pandemic and its possible impact on the implementation of the project when submitting the application.

The Embassy will provide contact persons and coordinators for UK institutions or experts that may be needed in the process, including UK policy on consent education.

How to make a bet

Our process will consist of a one-step full application.

Bids must be completed in English. You will need to complete and submit the following documents:

Send these documents to the address bucharest.projects@fcdo.gov.uk and andrada.petrache@fcdo.gov.uk. The subject of the letter should be the following: the name of the performing organization and the name of the project.

Project sponsors reserve the right to request additional information from bidders before making a decision.

Activity-based budgets should list the activities required to achieve the project outcome(s). All expenses must be in Romanian New Lei (RON).

Reporting

The reports to be produced during this project must be submitted in English:

• an opening memo detailing the approach and proposed activities. It should also outline the key stakeholders to be involved, the proposed schedule of activities, the risks, the safeguarding approach and any additional details, including a communication plan
• draft report
• three monthly financial statements
• after a streamlined comment process, a final report

Composition of project groups

The British Embassy in Bucharest will appoint a British Embassy in Bucharest Project Director (Goran Mandić, 1st Secretary) and a Project Manager (Andrada Petrace, Senior Political Officer) to oversee the implementation of the project.

Project proposals must demonstrate that the number of staff of the implementing partner corresponds to the project objectives and that the staff have relevant knowledge and experience in the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as education on these topics in Romania. as a detailed knowledge of the Romanian context. They must also have proven experience working with youth and the education system in Romania.

Timing and amount of input

The bidding round is an open and competitive process, according to the assessment of the British Embassy in Bucharest. The selected partner will be contacted by mid-November. After the application is approved, the Grant Agreement will be signed with the tender winners. In the documents section you will find an example of a grant agreement.

Your organization is expected to sign the contract within a week of receiving the funds. Failure to do so may result in reallocation of funds. The implementing organization will be required to submit an updated report and a final assessment of the project.

There is no prepayment. Reimbursements will be completed once the activities are completed and all receipts have been submitted. Executing organizations will request repayment using an invoice (including receipts and a financial statement of expenditure) and repayment will be made on the dates agreed in the relevant contract.

The budget must be presented in new Romanian lei (RON). All payments will be made in RON to a bank account in Romania.

Please send any questions regarding the competition to andrada.petrache@fcdo.gov.uk.

The project is expected to be implemented from mid-November 2022 to the end of March 2023. Important milestones will be:

• Submission of draft report: January 2023
• final report: March 2023

Budget

Grant applications must include an estimated budget of at least 48,500 RON.

Depending on the quality of the proposals, the British Embassy reserves the right not to allocate all or part of the available funds. The Embassy also reserves the right to award a grant in a lower amount than requested by the applicant. In such a case, applicants will be asked to increase the amount they co-finance, to offer other means of co-financing, or to reduce the total costs without changing the essence of the proposal.