Bangladesh has registered positive economic growth for much of the past decade, yet poverty remains widespread as the country is confronted with major labour market challenges. There is a high prevalence of low-income and informal employment, while wage employment constitutes a small part of the market. Moreover, the labour market is characterised by a strong correlation between the lack of skills development opportunities, low skill status of workers, low productivity and earnings in both the formal and informal sectors, and a high rate of gender inequality. Increasing workers" skills and overcoming gender imbalances will play a vital role in the future development of the country.
Bangladeshi women face significant structural barriers to participating in the income generation workforce. Compared to men, they are less likely to engage in skills development and more likely to be unemployed. These disparities are rooted in systemic challenges including gender stereotypes, limited job opportunities, occupational inequality, and the heavy burden of domestic and caregiving responsibilities. Additionally, women often lack access to essential networks, face restrictive social norms, and operate within an environment where there is a lack of supportive gender policies and infrastructure. Enhancing women's employment opportunities and their economic and social empowerment through skills programs and employment promotion is key to a sustainable economic development.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working as a development partner of Bangladesh since 1972. The project "Skills Training and Employment Promotion for Women Workers in Bangladesh" (ADVANTAGE) aims to gear selected elements of the skills development system in Bangladesh more towards the needs of young, disadvantaged women by improving access to short-term trainings that qualify them for employment. The project builds the capacities of training providers to implement gender responsive and labour market-oriented trainings, while focusing on women"s empowerment, gender transformation, and increased awareness of gender equality. ADVANTAGE further partners with the National Skill Development Authority (NSDA) to design and develop inclusive, gender responsive, and transformative strategies, innovative approaches, and guidelines, and collaborates with local civil society to create awareness and change stereotypes regarding skills and labour market participation.
The target group of ADVANTAGE consists of women aged 14 to 35 with an education up to grade 10, as well as other vulnerable groups (e.g. transgender population, persons with disabilities), with measures implemented in Dhaka Division.
Specifically, ADVANTAGE strengthens the capacities of selected governmental and private skills training institutions by developing new competency-based training courses aimed primarily at young, disadvantaged women and by improving the personnel and institutional conditions for an effective and sustainable implementation of these courses.
The tenderer is responsible for improving the competency-based training (CBT) framework for disadvantaged women by developing new gender-responsive CBT courses and updating existing ones, training trainers, managers, and master trainers to implement these courses, and providing an infrastructural needs assessment of selected training institutions to improve training conditions. All measures should sustainably improve access to quality vocational training and employment for women based on greater gender equality.

The assignment contributes to the overall objective of improving selected elements of the vocational training system in Bangladesh towards the needs of young, disadvantaged women and the indicators:

1. Skills training institutions have access to an improved range of innovative approaches for gender-responsive competence-based training courses
1.1. 20 competency-based training courses are reviewed and gender mainstreamed
1.2. 10 competency-based training courses aimed at young, disadvantaged women are available for implementation by skills training institutions
2. Selected skills training institutions have created the personnel and institutional conditions for the implementation of innovative competency-based training offers for young women
2.1. 100 managers and teachers, 36% of whom are women, from skills training institutions were successfully trained to implement innovative competency-based training offers
2.2. 10 skills training institutions have each implemented two measures to improve their institutional structures and processes for competence-based training of women
The tenderer is responsible for providing the following work packages:

Work package 1: Review existing and pre-selected Competency Based Trainings (CBTs) and mainstream gender-responsive pedagogy and didactical methodology (relevant for assignment indicator 1.1.)

The tenderer will be tasked to improve the CBT offerings of institutions by reviewing 20 existing competency-based qualification trainings aimed at young, disadvantaged women.
- Desk reviewing of 20 short-listed CBT courses
- Updating of quality standards, curricula, teaching, learning materials and methods for the review of existing CBT trainings
- Presenting the updated CBT to the National Skills Development Authority (NSDA) and other relevant partners
- Coordinate the validation process of the updated CBT"s
Work package 2: Development of 10 competency-based training courses aimed at young, disadvantaged women in selected Skills Training Providers (STPs) (relevant for indicator 1.1.)

The tenderer will be tasked to improve the CBT offerings of STPs by developing 10 new competency-based qualification trainings aimed at young, disadvantaged women and to be accredited by NSDA. These STPs are considered as "lighthouses".
These courses are to be developed in close co-operation with NSDA, private sector and other relevant organizations like civil society or chambers of commerce. The format should promote the participation of women in CBT courses, content and training methods to be aligned with the needs of vulnerable women to improve their employability. Digital tools shall be considered. Cooperation with industry is crucial.
- Needs assessment of CBT course gaps
- Support formation of expert panel, facilitate expert panel decision-making workshop
- Preparation of curriculum development workshops
- Facilitate workshops to jointly work on quality standards, curricula, teaching methods, learning material outlines and methods
- Collect results and draft recommendations from workshops
- Development of quality standards, curricula, teaching material, learning materials and methods for the new CBT trainings
- Piloting of new CBTs
- Evaluation and validation of 10 CBT gender-responsive trainings

Work package 3: Training of 100 managers and teachers of selected vocational institutions/ STPs (relevant for indicator 2.1)

The tenderer will be tasked to improve the capacities of selected teachers and managers of STPs in Greater Dhaka to conduct gender-responsive CBT courses for women. The 10 lighthouse institutions that will implement the new 10 CBTs in work package 2 will receive infrastructural updates as stated in work package 4.

- Support the selection of in total 100 managers and teachers
- Conduct a comprehensive training needs assessment for
- teachers and managers that will implement the reviewed CBTs
- teachers and managers that will implement the new CBTs.
- Based on the training needs develop a capacity development strategy
- Facilitation of inception workshop with GIZ and NSDA and presentation of capacity development strategy
- Conduct training using the materials developed from WP 1 and WP 2
- Improve/Develop the teaching package for the teachers

Work package 4: 10 training institutions have each implemented 1 infrastructural measure to improve their institutional structures for competency-based training of women (relevant for indicator 2.)
The tenderer will be tasked to improve the infrastructure of to be selected lighthouse STP"s to improve the learning environment for women in an effective and safe manner. (childcare, safety lighting, sanitation, restrooms, accessibility etc.) Any measures related to construction are not to be considered.
- Support the selection of 10 lighthouse institutions
- Conduct assessment of the current state of infrastructure in 10 skills training institutions
- Choose 1 pilot institution to develop disability inclusive admission criteria
- Short-list of identified gaps regarding equipment and technology
- Facilitate joint decision with key partners on procurement package (procurement and contracting will be done through GIZ).
- Monitoring of the works, quality check and final approval of completion

ADVANTAGE is a project for the empowerment of women. Women in the team will have easier access to the communities and will be perceived as closer to gender equality. When selecting personnel, the tenderer shall ensure a balanced distribution of experts in terms of gender

GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.

The contracting authority reserves the right to purchase services consisting of the repetition of similar services entrusted to the undertaking to which the same contracting authority awarded an initial contract, provided that these services are in conformity with a basic project for which the initial contract was awarded. (see Sec. 14 para. 4 no. 9 Public Procurement Regulation).

According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.

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The execution conditions result from the information given in the contract notice and the tender documents.