Invitation for “Market Actor Facilitator” in North Macedonia

We Effect Europe Regional Office through the “Income Increase and Socio-Economic Empowerment of Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups from Rural and Sub-Urban Areas 2021- 2025” (IISEE) Project is currently looking for collaboration with qualified CSOs, cooperatives, associations, research institutions, and other types of organizations registered and active in North Macedonia that share the core values of We Effect and are working in the following two market systems:

• Market system A: Improved local services for rural population, in particular youth and women. Refers to local services available for people from rural communities.
• Market system B: Legal framework for employment opportunities and enabling the environment for access to local services for rural communities.

The focus of interventions under the market system for the development of local services available for people from rural areas is to sustainably improve and enhance the quality of livelihoods of the low-income rural population, especially women, while ensuring effective access to local services in rural communities that will contribute to the improved socio-economic status of the target group.

Interventions under this market system shall address the recognized need for support in the establishment or upgrade of existing market opportunities for products or services offered by rural populations, especially small-scale food processing operators located in rural communities.

It is strongly recommended that potential applicants focus their activities on the selected market systems, and pay attention to:

• Gender: to ensure that the proposed actions will target and involve at least 50% women as beneficiaries, and
• Environment, Climate Change, and Resilience (ECCR): to ensure that the proposed actions will apply sustainable practices, especially in the promotion of rights to access natural We Effect’s work within ECCR focuses on the “do-no-harm” principle, the precautionary principle, the “no loss” principle, sustainable waste management and the non- use of genetically modified crops.

It is expected that the selected partner organizations will implement the interventions derived from the presented market system areas by July 2025.

Qualification Requirements / Criteria for Choice of Partners

In order for an organization to become a We Effect’s partner, it must adhere to the following criteria:

• Share We Effect’s goals and values as expressed in our global strategy.
• Have been registered for at least one year and operate within the laws of the country concerned.

• Be politically independent.
• Show commitment to be democratically governed both in policy and practice.
• Be member-based or be striving to become member-based.
• Operate in We Effect’s priority working areas of sustainable rural development or adequate housing.

• Show commitment to manage development cooperation funding according jointly established working principles and rules.

• Show commitment to work towards financial sustainability.
• Adhere to the rights-based principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, empowerment and transparency

Organizations working at a national level or with decentralized offices and branches are strongly encouraged to apply. International organizations including their branch offices in their respective country are not eligible for cooperation under this call.

Evaluation Criteria for technical evaluation of concept note, organizational capacity and proposed budget

• Clarity and Coherence of the submitted concept note (10 points)
• Relevance of the Concept Note to Rural Development and Market Systems (10 points)
• Potential of the Intervention for Positive and Sustainable Change (10 points)
• Reach of rights-holders with the Intervention (1o points)
• Number of Services Provided (5 points)
• Organizational Capacity in Rural Development or Market Systems (15 points)
• Organizational Details and Structure (10 points)
• Clarity, justification and detail in the proposed budget (10 points)
• Alignment of the proposed budget with activities/deliverables (10 pts)
• Cost-effectiveness of the budget (10 points)

Application

The offer should contain:

1. Concept Note of the proposed action that is likely to bring about positive change for rural population and targeted enterprises supporting local rural development in a selected market system (We Effect template)
2. Proposed budget for the intervention (We Effect template)
3. Proposed Operational Plan (We Effect template)
4. An organisational profile of a maximum of 3 pages that includes the following information:
   1. Organizational details, including legal status and year of registration:
   2. A short description of the work of the organization including
      1. Management structure, including governing bodies and organogram
      2. Membership structure
      3. Number of members (gender and age segregated data)
      4. Type of members (individual, collective)
      5. Web site address or social media profiles (if applicable)
      6. Contact person
   3. List of implemented projects in rural development relevant or market system(s) in the last 3 years, demonstrating clear results, successful implementation, and measurable impact along with their respective budgets
5. Declaration of Relationship signed

Offers to be submitted by email to: [email protected]; [email protected] and [email protected] by 28 April 2025 COB.

The subject line of the email shall state “Offer for cooperation with We Effect’s IISEE Project”. Each organization can submit only one application.

Applications not compliant with the above instructions and deadline will not be taken into consideration.

If you have any questions or require further clarification, please feel free to reach out to the contact e-mail [email protected] no later than 18 April 2025.

We Effects reserves the right to select as many offerors as the available budget allows for Market Actor Facilitator partnership. The final number of selected offerors will be determined based on the alignment of their proposals with our requirements, the overall quality of their submissions, and the available funding for this initiative. This selection process ensures that we maximize the impact of the program within the financial constraints, while also maintaining a fair and competitive evaluation process.

MISCONDUCT

If you want to alert, We Effect on suspected discrimination, corruption, or other serious misconduct during the application process, do not hesitate to use our Whistleblowing System.

You can find answers to frequently asked questions here.