Empowering Palestinian Institutions and Civil Society (EPICS) Technical Assistance component

The Empowering Palestinian Institutions and Civil Society (EPICS) programme aims to improve the viability, legitimacy and inclusion of governance and service delivery, to protect and support civic space, and to empower women, in the OPTs. It will provide technical assistance to PA institutions across governance sectors, with a particular focus on financial viability and provision of essential services, in order to protect the fiscal viability and legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Through improving PA viability and legitimacy it will help reduce the drivers of instability and extremism. EPICS will be managed by the British Consulate General Jerusalem. FCDO intends to engage a supplier of Technical Assistance to deliver Output 1: Strengthened systems and capacities for centre of government processes, public financial management (PFM) and tax. The TA supplier may also be requested to support Output 2: Strengthened systems, processes and capacities for transparency, accountability and inclusion. TA for PFM will include building individual capacities, systems and processes within the PA (mostly the Ministry of Finance, but also the Prime Minister's Office) to improve the PA's ability to set budgets that are based on a medium-term fiscal framework, itself based on accurate macroeconomic forecasts, which reflects the PA's agreed plans and policy priorities and which enable, to the extent possible, the equitable delivery of quality services. TA for tax will include building individual capacities, systems and processes within the Ministry of Finance to strengthen its ability to collect domestic taxes and broaden the tax base. The TA supplier may also be required to support Centre of Government functions; those that enable the PA as a whole to function across its ministries and agencies. These may include policy and legislative development and implementation, strategic planning, aid management, the PA reform agenda and coordination of cross-cutting issues such as gender, inclusion and climate change. This may include supporting the passage of legislation and policies that improve inclusion and protection for women and other marginalised groups. Other activities that the TA supplier may be required to support include: transparency and accountability, including working with the Palestinian Legislative Council if elections take place; women's empowerment and inclusion; anti-corruption; and strengthening the rule of law. Technical assistance will be provided by a mix of Palestinian and expatriate experts, engaged on long-term and short-term bases, as appropriate. They will provide training and mentoring to their PA counterparts. We are seeking a supplier able to employ a problem-driven iterative adaptation approach (PDIA), especially given the longer the normal programme duration and the security and political dynamics.

Additional information: FCDO will be holding an on-line EME event on 7th Sept - to attend you will need to register at the following link.

https://forms.office.com/e/BwDNXSQSLR