UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

WFD currently uses Microsoft Dynamics Business Central to power its ERP / accounting system. WFD introduced this system in 2019, which has been supported since then by an incumbent service provider. WFD is looking for a supplier to provide a managed help desk and technical support services to WFD Management and system users of Business Central for the next three year period. WFD is seeking an outsourced service provider to deliver the following services: - Highly responsive 24/7 Help Desk advice and assistance to enable WFD Management and users to access and use all aspects of Microsoft Dynamics Business Central at all times, including but not limited to the full range of reporting functionality - Managing the supply and provisioning of relevant licenses - Modifying the existing Business Central custom extensions to facilitate the installation of any updates to Business Central, as required. - Maintenance services to support continuous and reliable access to WFD's instance of Business Central - Training and awareness raising on best practice in using the system, for example, summaries of upcoming new features, regular webinars and other forums. - Customer intelligence services, including analysis, insights, and recommendations for continuous improvement to ensure that WFD is extracting most value from Business Central. In particular, WFD is looking for a supplier to adopt a proactive approach to providing oversight of new/improved/key features of the system. - Consultancy and development, as required from time to time, to configure Microsoft Dynamics to meet WFD requirements. For further information on how to apply, please refer to the RFQ document attached to the notice.

WFD currently uses Microsoft Dynamics Business Central to power its ERP / accounting system. WFD introduced this system in 2019, which has been supported since then by an incumbent service provider. WFD is looking for a supplier to provide a managed help desk and technical support services to WFD Management and system users of Business Central for the next three year period. WFD is seeking an outsourced service provider to deliver the following services: - Highly responsive 24/7 Help Desk advice and assistance to enable WFD Management and users to access and use all aspects of Microsoft Dynamics Business Central at all times, including but not limited to the full range of reporting functionality - Managing the supply and provisioning of relevant licenses - Modifying the existing Business Central custom extensions to facilitate the installation of any updates to Business Central, as required. - Maintenance services to support continuous and reliable access to WFD's instance of Business Central - Training and awareness raising on best practice in using the system, for example, summaries of upcoming new features, regular webinars and other forums. - Customer intelligence services, including analysis, insights, and recommendations for continuous improvement to ensure that WFD is extracting most value from Business Central. In particular, WFD is looking for a supplier to adopt a proactive approach to providing oversight of new/improved/key features of the system. - Consultancy and development, as required from time to time, to configure Microsoft Dynamics to meet WFD requirements. For further information on how to apply, please refer to the RFQ document attached to the notice.

WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender ("ITT") to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation. In order to strengthen the democratic resilience of Taiwan, there is an urgent need to address the impact that information operations and disinformation have on Taiwan's society and its electoral integrity. The authoritarian information tactics used across the Asia-Pacific region share similarities and aim to inhibit people's right to form independent opinions that are free of manipulative interference, as well as to make free choices during elections. WFD therefore seeks to strengthen partnerships among stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchanges about these information operation tactics, to enhance best practices countering electoral disinformation, and to build capacities in order to strengthen democratic actors' abilities to investigate information and counter them effectively. Objective The objective of this service aims to strengthen the democratic resilience of Taiwan by addressing the impact that information operations and disinformation have on Taiwanese society and its electoral integrity. Scope of work The service provider should implement following scope of work: • To implement 2 roundtables on information operations with at least 8 speakers attended • To conduct 2 capacity building training workshops on counter-disinformation with at least 80 participants attended • To deliver 2 follow-up activities, after implemented roundtables and training workshops, to ignite multi-stakeholder dialogue and to form a future collaboration platform • To submit 1 post-event report detailing the strategies and best practices to countering information operations during election. The report needs to compile the experiences of invited organizations and speakers, as well as the reflections of participants from the training workshops. The post-event report will be conducted in English. Timeline The timeframe below lists the key tentative dates for the preparation process. These will be agreed with the service provider once secured. Activity Date Deadline for applications - August 31st, 2022 Interviews with shortlisted applicants - September 1st, 2022 Submission of workplan, including methodology - September 5th, 2022 WFD feedback on the workplan - September 6th, 2022 Project Execution - September 8th, 2022 Follow-up activities - October 2022 to March 2023 Submission of post-event report - March 15th, 2023 Reporting • Mid-term report upon completion of 2 roundtables and 2 capacity building training workshops • 1 post-event report detailing the strategies and best practices to countering information operations during election. The report needs to compile the experiences of invited organizations and speakers, as well as the reflections of participants from the training workshops. Please refer to the ITT document atached for further details and information on how to apply.

WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender ("ITT") to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation. In order to strengthen the democratic resilience of Taiwan, there is an urgent need to address the impact that information operations and disinformation have on Taiwan's society and its electoral integrity. The authoritarian information tactics used across the Asia-Pacific region share similarities and aim to inhibit people's right to form independent opinions that are free of manipulative interference, as well as to make free choices during elections. WFD therefore seeks to strengthen partnerships among stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchanges about these information operation tactics, to enhance best practices countering electoral disinformation, and to build capacities in order to strengthen democratic actors' abilities to investigate information and counter them effectively. Objective The objective of this service aims to strengthen the democratic resilience of Taiwan by developing AI fact-checking chatbot that supports debunking disinformation. Scope of work The service provider should implement the following scope of work: • To develop AI fact-checking chatbot that supports disinformation debunking in Taiwan • To enable a crowd-sourced fact-checking system and provide open data for other counter-disinformation research groups to use for further research • To strengthen the capacity of the fact-checking community to further enhance its digital investigations capacity and to further improve the AI fact-checking ability Please refer to the Invitation to Tender document for further information on how to submit your bid.

Summary WFD is looking for a service provider to develop AI fact-checking chatbot that supports debunking disinformation, therefore addressing the impact of information operations. Overview Westminster Foundation for Democracy ("WFD") is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. Operating internationally, WFD works with parliaments, political parties, and civil society groups as well as on elections to help make political systems fairer, more inclusive and more accountable. We are a problem-solving, practitioner-led organisation that offers: • Specialist analysis, research, and advice to inform policy makers on a range of democratic governance issues; • High quality and impactful programmes that directly support the full spectrum of institutions in political systems to develop inclusive political processes, more accountable political systems, protection of rights and freedoms, and more pluralistic societies; and • International elections observation on behalf of the UK. Aim of this Invitation to Tender WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender ("ITT") to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation. In order to strengthen the democratic resilience, there is an urgent need to address the impact that information operations and disinformation have on democratic society and its electoral integrity. The authoritarian information tactics used across regions share similarities and aim to inhibit people's right to form independent opinions that are free of manipulative interference, as well as to make free choices during elections. WFD therefore seeks to strengthen partnerships among stakeholders to facilitate knowledge exchanges about these information operation tactics, to enhance best practices countering electoral disinformation, and to build capacities in order to strengthen democratic actors' abilities to investigate information and counter them effectively. For full details of how to apply, please see the attached tender document.

WFD is looking for an external evaluator to evaluate the Global Equality Project Phase II, implemented by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and Kaleidoscope Trust (KT), which seeks to enhance the efforts of civil society actors and duty bearers to advance gender equality and LGBT+ inclusion. The programme is funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and builds on WFD's and KT's Global Equality Project Phase I (2021-2022) and Commonwealth Equality project (2020-2021). The programme implementation period of GEP II is between August 2022 and March 2023, with the total budget of GBP 869,795. GEP II works with decision-makers and civic actors across 12 countries and territories1 to make progress towards advancing gender equality and LGBT+ inclusion. Programme interventions are based on: 1) Creating greater evidence, capacities, and incentives among government actors and parliamentarians on the social and economic costs of discriminatory regulations and practices 2) Strengthening collaborative relationships between CSOs and political decision-makers and support the flow of reliable information and evidence between them; 3) Deepening civil society policy development and policy advocacy capacities with a view to creating a more conducive environment for positive change in laws, policies, and implementation of social norms. GEP II reports to a Programme Steering Group comprised of WFD and KT representatives as well as to the FCDO via formal reporting mechanisms. Countries across Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific were selected with multiple factors in mind, including acknowledging the limited timescale of the project. Programme interventions have been designed to factor and capitalise upon existing relationships that WFD and KT already had established in targeted countries, and with already existing movements, to progress towards greater equality. Where these factors did not exist, programme interventions have prioritised developing the evidence base to be used by decision-makers and civic actors to make the case for greater equality, targeting countries where ongoing advocacy and legislative reform has been identified or is currently underway. GEP II has also invested in global products to advance the objectives of the programme and with a view for usage beyond the life cycle of the programme. These include: • An online e-course, adapting WFD's Post-Legislative Scrutiny (PLS) methodology for CSOs • Workshops on the application of Post-Legislative Scrutiny (PLS) by civil society organisations in selected countries • Research on the healthcare accessibility for LGBT+ individuals during the Covid 19 pandemic • The development of a SOGIE-inclusive CEDAW tracker • Animations on intersectionality • Workshops on identifying and working with decision-makers who champion inclusion For further information, please refer to the Invitation to Tender document.

Westminster Foundation for Democracy ("WFD") is the UK public body dedicated to supporting democracy around the world. Operating internationally, WFD works with parliaments, political parties, and civil society groups as well as on elections to help make political systems fairer, more inclusive and more accountable. We are a problem-solving, practitioner-led organisation that offers: • Specialist analysis, research, and advice to inform policy makers on a range of democratic governance issues; • High quality and impactful programmes that directly support the full spectrum of institutions in political systems to develop inclusive political processes, more accountable political systems, protection of rights and freedoms, and more pluralistic societies; and • International elections observation on behalf of the UK. Scope of work WFD is recruiting an individual consultant to act as the international project manager for its 'cost of politics' research under WYDE for up to 80 days over the next three years. This post will be responsible for coordinating and quality assuring the implementation of 15 country studies, writing, with WFD's Director of Quality and Innovation, a cross-national synthesis paper, and managing engagement and dissemination of 'cost of politics' research to a global audience. Deliverables • Coordination of 15 country studies produced by local experts and/or local research organisations, ensuring research design and products are of high quality and aligned with WFD's cost of politics methodology and objectives. • Co-author, with WFD's Director of Quality and Innovation, a cross-national synthesis of the 15 country studies, identifying key trends and themes and drawing out recommendations and next steps. • Manage the dissemination of the country studies through existing platforms, representing the project at meetings and conferences as required. Timeline 15 July 2023 to 31 August 2026 Reporting The International Project Manager will report to WFD's Director of Quality and Innovation, reporting at least monthly on progress of country studies. Weekly meetings will be arranged during the drafting of the synthesis paper. Working arrangements Consultant can be based remotely. There is an expectation of occasional international travel, to be covered by the project. Payments Payment will be made on the basis of timesheets and invoices submitted on a monthly basis throughout the duration of the project. Minimum experience and expertise Eligible candidates for this call are interested individuals (consultants, or individuals from think-tanks, CSOs, faculties, institutes, etc) with relevant experience in political finance research and research project management/delivery. Please refer to the invitation to tender document for further details on scope of work and how to apply.

WFD is looking for an IT systems analyst to evaluate the architecture of our core systems and provide recommendations aimed at simplifying and improving the overall user experience, including the inputting of data, processing of information, and generating useful and accurate reporting outputs. For details of how to apply, please visit the website via the link below for the full Request for Quotes.

WFD is looking for an IT systems analyst to evaluate the architecture of our core systems and provide recommendations aimed at simplifying and improving the overall user experience, including the inputting of data, processing of information, and generating useful and accurate reporting outputs. For details of how to apply, please visit the website via the link below for the full Request for Quotes.

WFD wishes to retain the services of experienced and expert professional security risk advisers to support the organisation to ensure that its safety and security policies, procedures, and practice meet WFD's legal duty of care to staff and stakeholders and standards of good practice standards. WFD invites bids from suppliers that can offer both the benefits of an ongoing partnership as a trusted adviser with a responsive and flexible approach that can deliver specific assignments as and when required. The selected supplier will be contracted on a framework agreement. Scope of work 1. Organisational security risk management advice •Provision of threat intelligence and threat/vulnerability analysis and strategic advice on safety and security risk management •Reviewing WFD's policies and guidance from time to time against good practice benchmarks •Development of self-service tools to support security risk management •Attending and advising quarterly meetings of the WFD Duty of Care Group 2. Safety and security training •Provision of access to relevant standard e-learning products to travellers •Provision of places on standard hostile and/or fragile environment training courses (e.g. HET, SAFE) •Delivery of tailored, specific training opportunities designed for WFD officials or VIPs who are planning to travel to high and very high risk locations 3. Targeted security risk management advice •Providing operational advice, as required, on the management of safety and security related to specific scenarios or personal risk factors for WFD staff, experts and/or stakeholders, including women, persons with disabilities, LGBT+ personnel, etc. •Reviewing, from time to time, the security-related policies and practice of downstream partners and providing advice or capacity-strenghtening on behalf of WFD. 4. Drafting or improving standard security documentation •Drafting or reviewing and providing comments on Local Security Plans and Welcome Packs related to WFD's regional and country programmes upon request as part of the periodic refresh process •Providing analysis or advice to WFD offices on security matters 5. Travel-related advice and assistance •Drafting or reviewing and providing comments on Travel Risk Assessments •Delivering pre-departure security briefings relating to international travel of staff or experts deployed as part of a Centre of Expertise mission, global/regional programming activity, or stakeholder engagement. •Delivering pre-departure briefings tailored to VIP travellers •Advice and assistance relating to crisis management or security incident response 6. Election observation missions •Drafting risk assessments •Delivering pre-departure security briefing, monitoring and check-ins, and mission-specific advice and assistance for election observation missions •Designing and delivering security training for election observers Deliverables Please visit the invitation to tender document for further details on how to apply.

WFD wishes to retain the services of experienced and expert professional security risk advisers to support the organisation to ensure that its safety and security policies, procedures, and practice meet WFD's legal duty of care to staff and stakeholders and standards of good practice standards. WFD invites bids from suppliers that can offer both the benefits of an ongoing partnership as a trusted adviser with a responsive and flexible approach that can deliver specific assignments as and when required. The selected supplier will be contracted on a framework agreement. Scope of work 1. Organisational security risk management advice •Provision of threat intelligence and threat/vulnerability analysis and strategic advice on safety and security risk management •Reviewing WFD's policies and guidance from time to time against good practice benchmarks •Development of self-service tools to support security risk management •Attending and advising quarterly meetings of the WFD Duty of Care Group 2. Safety and security training •Provision of access to relevant standard e-learning products to travellers •Provision of places on standard hostile and/or fragile environment training courses (e.g. HET, SAFE) •Delivery of tailored, specific training opportunities designed for WFD officials or VIPs who are planning to travel to high and very high risk locations 3. Targeted security risk management advice •Providing operational advice, as required, on the management of safety and security related to specific scenarios or personal risk factors for WFD staff, experts and/or stakeholders, including women, persons with disabilities, LGBT+ personnel, etc. •Reviewing, from time to time, the security-related policies and practice of downstream partners and providing advice or capacity-strenghtening on behalf of WFD. 4. Drafting or improving standard security documentation •Drafting or reviewing and providing comments on Local Security Plans and Welcome Packs related to WFD's regional and country programmes upon request as part of the periodic refresh process •Providing analysis or advice to WFD offices on security matters 5. Travel-related advice and assistance •Drafting or reviewing and providing comments on Travel Risk Assessments •Delivering pre-departure security briefings relating to international travel of staff or experts deployed as part of a Centre of Expertise mission, global/regional programming activity, or stakeholder engagement. •Delivering pre-departure briefings tailored to VIP travellers •Advice and assistance relating to crisis management or security incident response 6. Election observation missions •Drafting risk assessments •Delivering pre-departure security briefing, monitoring and check-ins, and mission-specific advice and assistance for election observation missions •Designing and delivering security training for election observers Deliverables Please visit the invitation to tender document for further details on how to apply.

Due to the nature of the work WFD carries out, more than 50% of our staff and consultants travel on a regular basis both locally in and to the UK and overseas to a diverse range of countries. Our travel needs are often short-notice or subject to last-minute changes due to the changing needs of travellers. For the logistical arrangements of these business trips, WFD needs the services of a provider that can facilitate both an individual's travel arrangements, complex group trips, and VIP travel. The successful bidder will provide the following services: visas; air travel; rail travel (UK, Europe, and international); ground transportation (e.g. transfers); event venue/meeting space finding and booking; and hotel bookings with no guaranteed minimum annual expenditure on travel and accommodation. This will need to be reflected in a flexible cost and billing structure. In particular, WFD is looking for a provider that has an effective online booking tool that conforms with our Safe & Sustainable Travel Policy and Expenditure Authorisation requirements, to enable staff to book their own travel if they wish to, bookable from international and UK points of sale. Additionally, we require dedicated agents on hand to help with any queries or to fulfil offline travel bookings for staff and sponsored third party travellers. Supplier questions are published on our website, please refer to the link below. The deadline for supplier questions is 17:00 BST, 3 October. Please also refer to the same web page for the full Invitation to Tender and information on how to apply. Alternatively, the ITT can be downloaded below.

Due to the nature of its work and the importance of high touch engagement with stakeholders, WFD delivers most of its programme events and activities in-person through its country-based practioner staff and contracted experts. However, as and when appropriate, WFD programme teams often elect to organise an event or activity in a hybrid or fully online format. In addition, from time to time, WFD also commissions the creation of e-learning or digital knowledge products or the development of apps for the benefit of its stakeholders as part of regional or country programmes. WFD values "Excellence" across all its work. As such, WFD wishes to establish a panel of specialist suppliers to provide technical services from time to time to support WFD's capacity and capability for effective online engagement and delivery of digital products and services. The requirements for services may arise as part of WFD's regional or country democracy support programmes, under the auspices of its Centre of Expertise on Democratic Governance & Elections, and as part of its international or Parliamentary engagement work. Lot 1 - Designing and/or facilitating online/hybrid events using digital platforms and tools: • Provide effective facilitation of live online or hybrid events; • Deliver training and/or technical advice and support for WFD staff and experts on online facilitation and the use of digital platforms and tools for the purposes of collaboration, ideas development, problem identification and shared problem solving; and • Deliver training and/or technical advice and support for WFD staff and experts on the planning and delivery of live events and webinars, to include MS Teams, Zoom, and/or PowerPoint Live, and new or emerging tools available from online marketplaces. Lot 2 - Creating and deploying digital knowledge and learning products: • Provide instructional design for, and development of, engaging and impactful digital knowledge products or e-learning content, including creating bespoke new products or contextualising existing products. Lot 3 - Developing and deploying digital apps/platforms: • Provide digital web or mobile (Android and iOS compatible) application design, development, and support services, such as AI-powered mechanisms to track hate speech, support factchecking or disinformation debunking, track trends in democratic practices, monitor social media channels for mis/dis-information and hate speech, and/or apps to faciliate participation in democratic proceses. • Provide solutions to process, structure and analyse unstructured data such as programme closure reports, case studies and evaluations of WFD's historic programming. • Specialist technical advice and assistance on adopting and/or adapting existing digital public goods (i.e. open source, free-to-use, software, platforms or tools), or creating new digital public goods. Please read the ITT document for further details on how to apply.

Due to the nature of the work WFD carries out, our staff travel on a regular basis locally in the Nepal. For the logistical arrangements of these business trips, WFD needs the services of a provider that can facilitate both an individual's travel arrangements and group trips. The successful bidder will provide the following services: domestic travel; transfers and hotel bookings and hotel space for organising events with no guaranteed minimum annual expenditure on travel and accommodation. This will need to be reflected in a flexible cost and billing structure. In particular, WFD is looking for a provider that has an effective booking system with dedicated agents on hand to help with any queries or to book travel for staff. Scope of work and Deliverables The travel service provider is expected to assist WFD staff with all of their travel and accommodation requirements. The service provider will undertake the following responsibilities, but not limited to: 1. Services: • Quoted fares for domestic flights, road transfers and hotels. • Multiple fare types - including negotiated, charity and published rates. 2. Value for Money - travel 3. Value for Money - accommodation 4. Value for Money - event venues and event related needs 5. Travel alerts 6. Cancellation Policy 7. Duty of Care Please see the full invitation to tender document for full details on how to apply.

WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender ("ITT") to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation. With the appointment of the new members to the parliament in Maldives in May 2024, WFD aims to conduct a 3-day induction in partnership with the People's Majlis. WFD is seeking a supplier to provide a secure event space near Male' to conduct the induction training and travel from Male to the venue space. Further details are provided under the detailed specification heading of this tender. For further details on how to apply, please read through the detailed invitation to tender document.

WFD is issuing this Invitation to Tender ("ITT") to a range of potential suppliers of goods and/or services and would welcome a bid from your organisation. With the appointment of the new members to the parliament in Maldives in May 2024, WFD aims to conduct a 3-day induction in partnership with the People's Majlis. WFD is seeking a supplier to provide a secure event space near Male' to conduct the induction training and travel from Male to the venue space. Further details are provided under the detailed specification heading of this tender. For further details on how to apply, please read through the detailed invitation to tender document.

Kyrgyzstan is a young democracy. While there has been a recorded decline in openness and democratic space, the UK and other international partners have continued to encourage civic and political freedoms. Political leadership is interested in attracting international investment without compromising stability. It is important for Kyrgyzstan to demonstrate democratic successes and convince key internal stakeholders of the benefits of remaining open and internationally engaged. Prime Minister Japarov has requested UK support to improve economic governance, highlighted in his recent UK visit and a December Op-Ed calling for reforms. The UK has an opportunity to support key reforms in Kyrgyzstan through external expertise that can build rapport with the Kyrgyz leadership and promote an open society. This assignment aims to provide the Kyrgyz Government with experienced and senior advice on reform, including legal reform, that builds strong UK-Kyrgyz relations on democratic governance issues. Scope of work A senior and experienced UK expert, most likely a respected academic, professional or political, foundation or business equivalent, should have an expertise in a key area of interest to Kyrgyz counterparts, such as legal reform aimed at improving the economic and administrative environment, or economic reform. They will: - Familiarise themselves with Kyrgyz reform issues through reading and briefings (up to 2 days); - Undertake a scoping visit to establish strong Bishkek networks and identify areas of policy advice and support (up to 6 days); - Provide substantive advice and mentoring to Kyrgyz counterparts in consultation with the Embassy during and post visit (visit plus up to 4 days of follow-up engagement); - Develop an advisory note for the Embassy setting out recommendations on further UK engagement and support, with rationale (up to 2 days). Further visits may be agreed as needed. Deliverables • Strong UK-Kyrgyz policy relationship on reform and open societies; • Direct advice/mentoring to Kyrgyz counterparts; • Advisory note on further UK support of no more than 5 pages; • A summary of recommendations for Kyrgyz counterparts of no more than 4 pages; Timeline The initial scoping phase will require up to 14 days of support, with the visit taking place no later than September/beginning of October 2024. Please read through the invitation to tender document for full details on how to apply.

Kyrgyzstan is a young democracy. While there has been a recorded decline in openness and democratic space, the UK and other international partners have continued to encourage civic and political freedoms. Political leadership is interested in attracting international investment without compromising stability. It is important for Kyrgyzstan to demonstrate democratic successes and convince key internal stakeholders of the benefits of remaining open and internationally engaged. Prime Minister Japarov has requested UK support to improve economic governance, highlighted in his recent UK visit and a December Op-Ed calling for reforms. The UK has an opportunity to support key reforms in Kyrgyzstan through external expertise that can build rapport with the Kyrgyz leadership and promote an open society. This assignment aims to provide the Kyrgyz Government with experienced and senior advice on reform, including legal reform, that builds strong UK-Kyrgyz relations on democratic governance issues. Scope of work A senior and experienced UK expert, most likely a respected academic, professional or political, foundation or business equivalent, should have an expertise in a key area of interest to Kyrgyz counterparts, such as legal reform aimed at improving the economic and administrative environment, or economic reform. They will: - Familiarise themselves with Kyrgyz reform issues through reading and briefings (up to 2 days); - Undertake a scoping visit to establish strong Bishkek networks and identify areas of policy advice and support (up to 6 days); - Provide substantive advice and mentoring to Kyrgyz counterparts in consultation with the Embassy during and post visit (visit plus up to 4 days of follow-up engagement); - Develop an advisory note for the Embassy setting out recommendations on further UK engagement and support, with rationale (up to 2 days). Further visits may be agreed as needed. Deliverables • Strong UK-Kyrgyz policy relationship on reform and open societies; • Direct advice/mentoring to Kyrgyz counterparts; • Advisory note on further UK support of no more than 5 pages; • A summary of recommendations for Kyrgyz counterparts of no more than 4 pages; Timeline The initial scoping phase will require up to 14 days of support, with the visit taking place no later than September/beginning of October 2024. Please read through the invitation to tender document for full details on how to apply.

WFD is seeking an organisation or a team of researchers to submit technical and financial proposals for conducting research on the 'cost of politics on inclusive political participation and socio-economic development in Nepal'. WFD has supported a growing body of research into the "cost of politics." WFD's approach focuses on the spending of individuals running for political office, rather than that of political parties. It is comprehensive and aims to cover expenditure incurred throughout the election cycle, tracking the money spent from a candidate's decision to stand for office at the party primary phase to the end of their elected tenure. These costs can be both monetary and 'in-kind'. The approach seeks to develop a better understanding of the factors driving individual spending on politics. This can help explain discrepancies between stated rules and their implementation, and provide clearer insights into the challenges of regulating, curbing, or better monitoring spending on political campaigns. WFD collaborates with country experts to conduct cost of politics research that explores the context and unique drivers of parliamentary politics costs in specific countries. The study involves collecting and analysing indicative costs through a nationally representative quantitative survey and qualitative discussions for different phases of seeking and maintaining political office. The research aims to outline potential solutions to reduce the costs of politics, which increasingly obstruct ordinary, well-qualified citizens from contesting for political office and contribute significantly to the under-representation of women in politics. Generally, female candidates, with less access to financial and political capital than their male counterparts, find themselves at a disadvantage when financial resources are a deciding factor. WFD's evidence, gathered over nearly a decade of study, highlights the systemic nature of the growing monetisation of politics. In many countries studied , women are self-selecting out of politics due to insufficient resources to run a credible campaign. Additionally, factors such as misogyny and violence deter women candidates, leading those who do run to come from a small, elite group, often referred to as 'networkers' in WFD's research into women's political careers in Asia. This exclusion results in a legislature that lacks diversity and fails to represent a broad cross-section of the population, leading to the alienation of under-represented groups. Recommendations from a cost of politics study in Nepal will focus on identifying opportunities for key actors-such as political parties, the electoral management body, and Parliament-to address these systemic issues and create a more supportive environment for candidates from disadvantaged groups. Please read the invitation to tender document for details on how to apply.