947 Albanian nationals were referred to the UK’s National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in 2018, making Albania the second highest source country of potential victims to the UK. In October 2018 the Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability announced that the UK would spend at least £2m in Albania up to March 2021 to tackle modern slavery. The UK government (the Authority) is looking for a consortium of organisations to collaborate in Albania to deliver this programme.
Objective
The successful consortium will deliver a programme of work to tackle modern slavery from Albania by providing capacity building for local criminal justice officials, targeted strategic communications campaigns, and support for victims and individuals at risk of being trafficked.
Summary of requirements
The programme will cover the following areas:
- victim support packages. For example: focusing on long term reintegration, helping victims into education and employment to reduce vulnerabilities
- support for individuals at risk of being trafficked. For example: education and employment support to prevent these individuals from being trafficked in the first place
- evidence-based and targeted strategic communications and prevention campaigns. For example: research to further identify target communities and vulnerabilities, followed by pilot communications activity to reduce the risk of trafficking
- capacity building for local criminal justice officials. For example: training for local criminal justice officials (judges, lawyers, prosecutors) to support them to handle these cases effectively
Programme management and delivery
The programme will be delivered by a consortium, led by a multilateral organisation, a coalition under which several partners work together under a consortium arrangement. A multilateral organisation will be the ‘lead partner’, and will sign the grant agreement with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and act as the lead of the consortium, while other partners take part in the implementation as ‘implementing partners’. The lead partner may also implement part of the programme.
The consortium must nominate one lead organisation who will be accountable to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the use of the funds and who will be responsible for the grant award arrangements with other consortium members. The lead partner carries the full legal and financial responsibility for the action and will ensure that all implementing partners respect the obligations of the grant agreement.
The consortium-lead will be responsible for the overall governance of the consortium, including financial management capacity and how the consortium manages and mitigates risks, including fiduciary risk, and safeguards and protects vulnerable people. The lead partner will nominate a partner with safeguarding expertise who can advise on the organisational people safeguarding governance arrangements. The consortium-lead will be a multilateral organisation. Other consortium members may be other types of organisations, such as non-governmental organisations.
Geographical scope
Programme activity will be focused in Tirana and the three main northern districts of origin for potential victims of trafficking identified in the UK National Referral Mechanism – Diber, Shkoder and Kukes. Where appropriate, for example when rehabilitating / reintegrating victims, activity may take place in other parts of Albania.
Assessment
Bids will be assessed against the following criteria:
- alignment with the above mentioned priorities and outcomes
- outcomes are achievable within the funding period
- clear monitoring and evaluation procedures
- sustainability demonstrating that project benefits continue after the funding ends
- ODA eligibility and promotion of gender equality
- strong risk and financial management, including consideration of safeguarding risks
- overall value for money
How to bid
If you wish to apply, please complete the attached full project proposal template and send it to erjola.foto@fco.gov.uk by 6 September 2019.
Please ensure all sections of the form are completed. Do contact us if you have questions about any aspect of the bidding process. The successful project proposal should be notified by the end of September.
Documents for downloading
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