Scottish Peace Programme: request for proposals.

B. Background

B.1 Development of a Peace Platform in Scotland

The Scottish Programme for Government 2021 committed to establishing a Peace Institute in Scotland.^[2] The following year, the findings of a research project were submitted in a report to the Scottish Government outlining options for establishing a Peace Institute which would orient the "women in conflict" fellowship within that strategy. A copy of that report is available on request by emailing 1325fellowships.applications@gov.scot. Some key findings of the research were:

1. Strong support from a vibrant set of organisations. There is a lively and diverse peacebuilding ‘sector’ in Scotland who overwhelmingly welcome the prospect of a Peace Institute and see it as enhancing their work.

2. International complex landscape. The proposition for a Scottish Peace Institute comes at a time where international conflicts are becoming more complex in their nature, their resolution more challenging, and traditional ways of ‘doing’ peacebuilding is being re-thought. It is important that establishment of the Peace Institute responds to these realities.

3. Recognition of Scotland’s distinctive offer in this space:

• A vibrant peacebuilding sector that makes a powerful contribution but has no focal point to connect different organisations and initiatives.
• A devolved status which provides an example of how smaller nations within larger states can transition towards greater democracy in a peaceful and consensual manner.
• A stated Scottish Government commitment, and a related social sensibility for social justice, human rights and equality, as a principle of government; an ethos of ‘civic-ness’ and resolving differences democratically rather than through force. This commitment is coupled with recognition of the lasting consequences of Scottish historical involvement in slavery and colonisation, and a commitment to use that experience to inform current peacebuilding activities.
• Scotland’s strong global cultural contribution that has historically linked to peace and bringing people together (e.g. Edinburgh Festival).
• Scotland’s expertise and history of peace-making and building and support for dialogue.
• Scotland’s diverse mix of expertise relating to current peacebuilding challenges, such as, managing climate change; women peace and security (and feminist approaches to security); digital provision relating to peace and justice; softer ‘conflict prevention’ skills; mediation, and building a ‘culture of peace’ and “better, fairer, and more localised and inclusive systems of governance”.

One of the recommendations of that research was that the Peace Institute should be established in an incremental way to build capacity and credibility, step-by-step. We are therefore seeking to establish a Peace Platform as a preliminary step towards the achievement of this recommendation, which will provide a common and coherent platform to support and co-ordinate Scotland’s existing peacebuilding stakeholders. In developing a “Peace platform” Scottish Government will be able to better assess the potential for further investment in a Peace institute, in line with the full recommendations of the report.

The grant will include an inception phase of 6 months to build upon this research and consult with stakeholders in Scotland and internationally, including from conflict affected geographies.

Leveraging Scotland’s policy position on taking a Feminist Approach to International Relations (FAIR) and legacy of delivering the 1325 Women in Conflict Fellowships via our international development funding, the Peace Platform will have a specific focus on promoting research, advocating for and implementing feminist approaches to peacebuilding.

Our vision is for a well-connected and well-capacitated organisation which would, on SG's behalf and with SG funding, facilitate the coordination of peace-building organisations and thinkers in Scotland to increase collective impact, and identify/create opportunities for its members/stakeholders to engage strategically in peace-building activities globally. The Service Provider will act solely as a facilitator of this network, with members setting its terms of reference and directing its activities in a collaborative manner.

B.2 1325 Women in Conflict Fellowships Programme

The Fellowships programme aims to further the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which “reaffirms the role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflict, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction, and stresses the importance of their equal participation in all efforts for the promotion of peace and security”.^[3]

Following the success of a £365k pilot programme launched in 2016-17 which aimed to bring together a team of 50 women activists for training in mediation and negotiation skills, in an effort to build sustainable and long-lasting peace in war torn countries, then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the main 1325 Women in Conflict Fellowship Programme during her visit to the UN Headquarters in 2017.

Her announcement committed to provide training for at least 50 women every year from International Conflict Zones in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia to give them the skills and confidence to maximise their contribution to building a safer world through involvement in peace processes.^[4] This was subsequently expanded to include South Asia, South and Central America and sub‑Saharan Africa.

Since 2017, the tri-annual residential Fellowship programmes (21 cohorts) have been delivered by a Scottish NGO and taken place in Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders. This has involved almost 379 women from 30 different countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. By the end of the 2023/24, the Fellowship Network will include women from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Fiji, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kashmir, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malasia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria, The Maldives, Tunisia, Turkiye, Uganga, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Continued support for the Fellowships programme was announced at the start of the current parliamentary term. To date it has helped to establish a unique alumnae network and community of practice which has been deployed to provide critical support to peace processes around the world.

The aims of the Fellowship programme are currently to:

• Deliver a programme providing training to up to 50 women per annum on topics including mediation; reconciliation; political participation; transitional justice; constitution building; gender equality; policy advocacy; and self-care strategies.
• Provide a safe space and a platform enabling the sharing of experiences in relation to UNSCR 1325 and the global Women, Peace, and Security agenda; women’s roles in peace building and conflict resolution; and gender equality.
• Facilitate a network of women engaged in an on-going learning and experience-sharing process, building a sustainable and evolving alumnae community.

B.3 Scottish Government’s International Development Fund

This grant is funded through the Scottish Government’s International Development Fund. The SG places great importance on Scotland being a good global citizen. This means playing its part in tackling global challenges including poverty, injustice, climate change and inequality, through both investment and policy decisions.

In terms of wider SG commitments on climate, as per Scottish Ministerial commitments to build a fairer and more sustainable environment, proposals should take account of the need for sustainable use of resources ^[5].

To support and promote fair work practices, another important requirement for the grant-holders is alignment with the Fair Work First criteria as well as equivalent arrangements and legal requirements in partner countries.

At the forefront of our efforts is the IDF, which was established in 2005 to support our international development work through financial investment.

B.4 International Development Review 2020/21 (March 2021)

In 2020/21, we undertook a review of our approach to International Development in the light of COVID-19 and to respond to issues for international development highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement^[6]. The outcomes of the Review were announced through a statement made by the then Minister for International Development, Jenny Gilruth, to the Scottish Parliament by means of a Government-Initiated Parliamentary Question (GIPQ) on 3 March 2021^[7].

The outcomes from our Review, and further evolution of our programme, may be seen to be centred on changes to:

• our underpinning approach; and
• the key thematic areas for our investment in Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia; note that our investment in Pakistan, through our existing Women and Girls’ Scholarships Programme, was confirmed to remain.

A key outcome of the Review in terms of our future approach, and commitments announced through the GIPQ, relevant to this programme include that SG would commit to partner country-led development; amplifying global south voices; inclusion and diversity; and equality; and contribute to sustainable development and the fight against poverty, injustice and inequality internationally. These commitments were made through our new International Development Principles which had been co-developed with civil society in our partner countries and in Scotland during the Review.

Our big shift in terms of our approach has therefore been to our new Principles. Where we listened to the voices of the Global South, looked at the great work we had already achieved and looked to learn lessons from our partners. We want to put the Global South in the driving seat of our policy-making, programming, defining our strategies, shaping project delivery and wherever possible implementing with us. This is a major pivot in our traditional approach to devising funding calls and designing programmes for our development investment, and is a journey on which we will continue.

Following this review, we also committed to take a feminist approach to international development (as part of Scotland’s FAIR), which reaffirms our commitments on equalising power and the advancement of equality, in particular gender equality.

As such, and in line with the outcomes of our 2021 Review, we have adopted a twin track approach to advance gender equality by creating dedicated gender equality focussed programmes and mainstreaming gender equality across all of our international development work. Aligned with this approach, all new spend will be required to meet the minimum criteria as set out in our guidance note at Annex G .

B.5 Statement of Requirement

The SG is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced organisation or consortia with strong links to Scotland to undertake the design, implementation and management of its Women, Peace and Security Programme, comprising Strand 1 (Establishment of a Scottish Peace Platform to take forward Scottish Government’s peace-building objectives), and Strand 2 (Delivery of the Scottish Government’s 1325 Women in Conflict Fellowships Programme).

Requirements:

• Organisations(s) with experience conducting research, convening and delivering training in the area of conflict resolution/peace building and with the governance capacity to host the Peace Platform.
• Excellent organisational linkages in Scotland and Internationally for conflict resolution and peace building, and ability to leverage these to create opportunities for the Fellows and Scottish organisations to engage in peace building activities.
• Suitably qualified personnel/network of associates with experience in providing practical, hands-on support for conflict resolution.

Note that organisations or consortia are asked to submit applications for the design, implementation and management of both Strands 1 and 2. It is crucial the supplier is Scotland based, or has strong linkages to Scotland in order to best facilitate the development of the Platform.

B.6 Criteria for Grant Holders

A list of assessment and eligibility criteria for the grant holder for the programme is outlined in the Technical criteria section summary, Annex A (full list), and reflected in Annex B (Application form).

Should your application be successful, you will be bound by Scottish Government Terms and Conditions for International Development grants for any award. An example of the Terms and Conditions are attached at Annex F and should be read in full before applying.