REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS (RFA)

ELECTION OBSERVATION IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

 

Summary

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is seeking local civil society organizations in Papua New Guinea to recruit, train, and deploy citizen observers for the 2022 General Elections to monitor the electoral process, including election day, to increase citizen engagement and oversight in the electoral process.

To apply, partners should complete the attached application and send it to [email protected] no later than March 17, 2022. Additional questions may be sent to the same email address.

Funding for selected applicants is contingent upon donor approval.

 

Background

NDI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, non-governmental organization that responds to the aspirations of people around the world to live in democratic societies that recognize and promote basic human rights. Since its founding in 1983, NDI and its local partners have worked to support and strengthen democratic institutions and practices by strengthening political parties, civic organizations and parliaments, safeguarding elections, and promoting citizen participation, openness, and accountability in government.

With staff members and volunteer political practitioners from more than 100 nations, NDI brings together individuals and groups to share ideas, knowledge, experiences and expertise. Partners receive broad exposure to best practices in international democratic development that can be adapted to the needs of their own countries. NDI’s multinational approach reinforces the message that while there is no single democratic model, certain core principles are shared by all democracies. NDI began working with civil society and women activists in the Pacific Islands in 2015. NDI’s programming goal in the Pacific Islands is to support inclusive and citizen-centered governance by advancing domestic election monitoring efforts, strengthening civil society, enhancing government transparency and accountability, and raising awareness on barriers to women’s political participation. Throughout the region, NDI has focused on mapping violence against women in politics (VAW-P) and providing strategies for politically active women to keep themselves safe, as well as uplifting the experiences of marginalized groups over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, NDI has supported a range of programs in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville has included a range of programs to strengthen women’s political participation and to increase transparency related to key governmental processes, particularly related to open election data and the post-referendum consultations between the Papua New Guinea government and the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

For more information about NDI, please visit www.ndi.org.

 

Statement of Work

NDI will be partnering with select organizations to conduct observation activities for the 2022 parliamentary elections. Selected applicants will monitor key election processes, including the campaign and polling period. In addition to gathering key information and data on the campaign environment and polling processes, the observation will have a thematic focus, including the monitoring of the implementation of COVID-19-related guidelines as well as any incidents of violence against women in politics during the campaign and polling period.^[1] Partners will work collaboratively with NDI to recruit citizen observers, develop observation checklists and other materials, deliver training sessions on election monitoring, deploy short- and long-term observers to collect data, and assess the observation findings, producing timely, public reports that include targeted recommendations.

NDI may provide the technical subject matter expertise and tailored training on election observation, data collection, analysis, and report writing to assist the partner in building skills to selected groups, before the start of the grant.

Selected applicants will also be required to coordinate with NDI’s ongoing initiative with the University of PNG monitoring the openness of election data to promote greater transparency and accountability to inform their observation activities as well as other election observation missions.

NDI intends to issue one or more subgrants for a total of up to US$54,000 in value to support observation activities across the full electoral process, including election day. Activities funded through subgrants under this project are expected to begin on or around April 15, 2022  for a five-month project.

NDI strongly encourages partnerships between applicants in Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville for joint applications and project implementation. Ideally, both regions would be represented in the expertise and/or locations of the selected applicant(s).

 

Eligibility

In Papua New Guinea, NDI is seeking to provide a subaward to non-governmental organizations or civic groups who have experience with election observation. The selection of organizations will be based upon an evaluation of the organization’s experience, program goals and strategy, planning and operational capacity. The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience training and deploying citizen observers to monitor local elections, as well as assessing key observation findings.

If applying as a group, at least one organization in the group must be officially registered. The registered organization will also serve as the legal representative on behalf of the group, to receive and manage funds and serve as the official subgrantee.

 

NDI Disclosure Statement

NDI reserves the right to reject any and all applications. NDI reserves the right to consider applications for modification at any time before an agreement is awarded. NDI should not be liable for any costs associated with the preparation, transmittal, or presentation materials submitted in response to the RFA. NDI makes no certification as to the accuracy of any item and is not responsible or liable for any reliance on or use of the information or for any claims asserted therefrom.

NDI reserves the right to contact applicants to seek additional information and clarifications based on the submission of proposals following the submission deadline.

The application should be valid for 90 days from the due date of this RFA.

 

Application

Basic Information

• Organization name
• Organization address
• Application date
• Authorized representative(s)
• CVs of key personnel who will carry out project activities, detailing previous experience and expertise on the training topics and approaches
• Names of at least four key personnel in leadership roles in the organization (such as Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director, Chairman of the Board, Program Manager, etc.)
• How did you hear about this funding opportunity?

Organization registration number: _________________________.

(Please note: if you are applying as a group, please list the name and registration number of the organization who will be the primary recipient of the subaward.)

 

Organization Mission

Please list the mission of your organization. This does not have to be related to the contract, specifically, but should reflect your values and commitment to the community.

 

Political Context

Provide a brief political overview of the challenges and opportunities for election monitoring in Papua New Guinea.

 

Project Approach

Please provide a detailed list of activities you will undertake as part of this project.

Sample activities:

• Recruiting and training long-term campaign observers and election day citizen observers
• Conducting election observation
• Assessing election observation findings and developing recommendations
• Writing a final report on observation findings and recommendations
• Disseminating recommendations to relevant stakeholders

Be specific: describe the expertise you can provide in recruiting, training and deploying citizen observers; analyzing observation findings; and your access to and plans to engage stakeholders.

The safety of all partners and project participants is paramount to NDI. Due to the continuous challenges posed by COVID-19, the project activities will be designed to account for local COVID-19 prevention guidelines and NDI policies in effect at the time when the activity is scheduled to take place.

 

Past Projects and Experience

Please provide a list of previous projects the organization has worked on relevant to the scope of this program, and how those projects were funded. Please list all relevant projects within the last three years.

In this section, please include the names of at least two contacts that can speak to your past work experience in election monitoring.

 

Budget

Please provide a proposed detailed budget and corresponding budget notes for all project activities, inclusive of all expenses (for example, staff time, office supplies cost, workshops, travel, etc.).

 

Project Overview and Timeline

Provide a timeline demonstrating how your organization would implement a long-term observer program, using the sample table below as a guide. For each activity, please mark the necessary number of boxes to indicate its duration.

Please include all important elements of the program implementation in the list of activities. Please add more rows if needed for additional activities.

	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	Month 7	Month 8	Month 9
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4

 

Disclosure and Certification

Please provide disclosure of any known past, present or future relationships with any parties associated with NDI. For example, applicants should disclose if a member of their Board is also a member of NDI's Board currently or in the past, or if they are affiliated (such as a board member, current/past employee or family member, volunteer, etc.) with a civil society organization that is a current, past or planned recipient of NDI funding.

Please also certify in this section that the prices offered were arrived at independently and without the purpose of restricting competition with other applicants, including but not limited to subsidiaries and that prices have not been and will not be knowingly disclosed to any other applicant unless required by law.

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in NDI having to re-evaluate the selection of a potential application.