The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Rome, Italy, hereby solicits proposals for the Provision of the Capacity Building for Producers in Biological Control, Alternative Control, and the Utilization of Biological Pesticides Against Crop and Stock Pests in the Dosso and Maradi Regions, along with Related Activities for JP RWEE II in Niger. Phase II of the Joint Program "Accelerating progress towards the economic empowerment of rural women (JP RWEE II) follows the first phase (2015-2021) implemented in the communes of Falwel and Sokorbé (Dosso region), Djirataoua and Guidan Amoumoune (Maradi region). Like the first phase, the JP RWEE II will be implemented in partnership between FAO, IFAD, UN Women and WFP over a period of five (5) years and generates synergies that capitalize on the mandate, comparative advantages and institutional strengths of each agency to bring about lasting and large-scale improvements in the lives of rural women. The JP RWEE II Niger is part of the international JP RWEE project, which is currently being implemented in six (6) countries (Pacific Islands, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Tanzania and Tunisia). The program targets 15,000 beneficiaries, including 12,000 women in the Communes of Fabidji and Kankandi (Department of Boboye) in the Region of Dosso, and Soly-Tagriss and Gazaoua (Departments of Dakoro and Gazaoua respectively) in the Region of Maradi. The objective of Phase II is to secure the livelihoods, rights and resilience of rural women to advance sustainable development, the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. The four expected outcomes of the program are: i) Outcome 1: Improved food security and nutrition of rural women and their households, contributing to equitable and sustainable food systems; ii) Outcome 2: Increased income, decent work and economic empowerment of rural women to secure their livelihoods and build their resilience; iii) Outcome 3: Strengthen the voice and empowerment of rural women for leadership and full and equal participation in their households, communities, organizations and governance systems; iv) Outcome 4: Strengthen legal, policy and institutional frameworks from a gender perspective to create an enabling environment for rural women to secure their livelihoods, rights and resilience. In addition, two new cross-cutting perspectives have been introduced to strengthen the impact of the program: • The use of gender-responsive transformative approaches address historically unequal power dynamics between men and women and discriminatory social norms. This should contribute to positive, transformative and structural change at the household, organizational, community and local and national policy levels; • Use Resilience Lens enable rural women and their households to anticipate, adapt and respond to climate change, hazards and other shocks, while minimizing environmental and COVID-19 impacts.
