About the Job
Consultancy Service for STTA (Short Term Technical Assistance) service for Translation of Training Manuals developed to Provide Soft & Hard Skills Training for Women WASH Professionals and WASHCO Members under the
USAID/Ethiopia Climate Resilient WASH Activity
About RTI
Research Triangle Institute (RTI) has over 30 years’ experience assisting governments, communities, and the private sector. As a not-for-profit, independent research institute based in North Carolina, USA, RTI has roughly 6,000 employees with global experience implementing international development projects. RTI’s Sustainable Growth & Resilience (SG&R) technical unit within the International Development Group brings together RTI experts and capabilities across food security, agriculture, energy, environment, water, governance, and economic opportunity. SG&R will leverage RTI’s experience designing and delivering multisectoral programming and technical solutions to respond to climate change, build resilience, and promote economic growth around the world.
SG&R’s Water portfolio has delivered innovative, breakthrough solutions in key development sectors globally, including water sector governance, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, water resources management, community engagement, urban resilience, and institutional capacity building.
Introduction
Background of the Project
The USAID Climate Resilient Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (CR-WASH) Activity is a five-year activity aimed at accelerating the expansion and sustainability of climate-resilient water services and the adoption of key hygiene and sanitation practices for underserved and vulnerable lowland areas in Afar, Oromia, Somali, and South Ethiopia regions. The Activity will achieve this through four complementary intermediate results (IRs):
- Professionalize and expand climate-resilient water services.
- Increase sustainable access to and use of sanitation and hygiene products and services, including menstrual health and hygiene.
- Improve gender power dynamics.
- Strengthen the enabling environment for climate-resilient water and sanitation services.
To improve the existing gender power dynamics in WASH sector, CR WASH Activity has a plan to minimize the gap through capacity building training for women WASH professionals and WASHCO members. This will lead to achieving gender inclusion and ensuring women’s equal participation in and benefit from WASH services and leadership. To achieve this, the CR-WASH Activity emphasizes strengthening the capacity of women in the WASH sector at both community and institutional levels.
To support this capacity building, the CR-WASH Activity has developed training manuals tailored to the needs of WASHCO members and women WASH professionals. Currently, the CR WASH Activity plans to translate the manuals into the local languages of Afar, Amharic, Oromia, and Somali. The translations will ensure inclusive access to the training and training materials.
Objective of the Assignment:
The objective of translating the training manuals is to translate training manuals into local languages to facilitate the effective participation and capacity building of women WASH professionals and WASHCO members, ensuring that content remains accurate, culturally appropriate, and easy to understand.
Scope of Work
The STTA will be responsible for the following tasks:
- Review existing manuals to understand the content, technical terminology, and intended audience.
- Consult with the client to clarify technical terms, context, and specific nuances related to WASH and gender-sensitive content.
- Translate the manuals from English to designated local languages ( Afarigna, Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Somali).
- Ensure translations maintain technical accuracy, cultural relevance, and gender-sensitive language.
- Conduct a thorough review to check for grammatical, typographical, and contextual errors.
- Ensure that translations accurately reflect the original meaning and tone of the content.
- Engage native speakers, WASH experts, and gender specialists to validate the translated manuals.
- Incorporate feedback and make necessary revisions.
- Ensure the translated manuals match the original document’s layout, structure, and design.
- Provide the final documents in both Word and PDF formats.
Deliverables and timeframe for submission
Supervision and Reporting Arrangement
The STTA will closely work with CR WASH Gender Advisor on the day-today activities of the assignment and reports to the CR WASH DCoP- technical.
Payment and Schedule
The contractual total amount will be negotiated between the STTA and RTI International, following established contractual processes.
The STTA will be paid fees based on specified deliverables and the schedule below based on the approval of the Gender Advisor.
About You
Expected Experience and Qualifications
Essential Requirements
- Copy of valid and renewed business license, TIN, and VAT registration certificate.
- Firm’s contact details: telephone number, email, and contact person’s name.
- Prices may be quoted in USD, but payment will be made in ETB according to the prevailing exchange rate on the payment request date.
The selected firm should meet the following criteria:
- Proven Translation Experience:
- At least 5 years of experience translating technical documents, preferably in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) or development sectors.
- Demonstrated experience in translating materials into Amharic, Afarigna, Oromiffa, and Somali languages.
- Linguistic and Cultural Competence:
- Native or near-native proficiency in the target languages (Amharic, Afarigna, Oromiffa, and Somali).
- A thorough understanding of regional dialects, cultural contexts, and gender-sensitive language.
- Technical Knowledge:
- Familiarity with WASH terminology and concepts to ensure accurate translation of technical content.
- Experience with gender-related content and ensuring translations reflect gender-sensitive terminology appropriately.
- Quality Assurance:
- Established process for proofreading and quality control to ensure accuracy, consistency, and readability.
- Experience in collaborating with subject matter experts for validation of translated content.
- Team Composition:
- A team of qualified translators, preferably with a degree in linguistics, translation studies, or related fields.
- Access to native speakers for each language, particularly for Afarigna, Oromiffa, and Somali.
- Availability of gender specialists or consultants to ensure gender-sensitive translations.
- Previous Work Samples:
- Submission of at least three samples of similar work, including technical manuals or training materials.
- Project Management Capability:
- Ability to manage multiple translations simultaneously and deliver on time.
- Clear processes for client communication, progress updates, and handling feedback.
Submission Requirements:
Interested firms/organizations should submit the following:
- A detailed proposal outlining the approach to be taken, including methodology, work plan, and timeline,
- Profiles of the professionals under the firm highlighting relevant experience and qualifications.
- Examples of previous work in translation of training materials or technical manuals
- A daily rate and detailed budget breakdown for the entire assignment should include all expenses, such as transportation, accommodation, and any other costs of the consultant related to the validation workshops. CR WASH will not cover any expenses beyond the agreed amount.
Evaluation Criteria:
A preliminary evaluation of the required legal documents will be conducted. Those who do not qualify in this evaluation will not be considered for the next phase.
After the preliminary evaluation, qualified proposals will be assessed according to the specified technical and financial criteria and methodology.
The weights given to the technical and Financial Proposals are:
- Technical =80% , and
- Financial =20%
Applicants getting less than 40% out of 80% in the technical evaluation shall be rejected and the financial proposals of those firms scoring 40% and above shall be considered.
RTI shall award the applicant that has the highest point in the total sum of results of the technical and financial evaluation.
Required Skills
- Training and Development
Submission Deadline:
Submit a complete EOI in PDF format via email to [email protected] Include the reference number RTI/CR-WASH/STTA- Translation Service/0050/2024 in the subject line of the submission. The application should be addressed to: Attention: Procurement Unit. Any EOI received after the deadline for submission shall be declared late and will be rejected.
All proposals must be submitted by December 31, 2024, at 5:30PM local time.
Contact Information:
For any inquiries and submission of proposals, please contact – USAID CR WASH activity procurement at [email protected]
More Information
- Address Ethiopia
- Experience Level Senior
- Total Years Experience 5-10
