“International Consultancy Firm for Design and Delivery of a Gender-Responsive S

Request for Proposal (RFP)- “International Consultancy Firm for Design and Delivery of a Gender-Responsive Solar Technical Training for Rural Women - "Solar Sister Programme” 1. Background1.1 The Africa Minigrids Program (AMP)The Africa Minigrids Program (AMP) is a country-led regional technical assistance program for minigrids, active in an initial 21 African countries. It is led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding primarily from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented together with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). AMPs overall objective is to increase access to electricity by improving the financial viability and promoting scaled-up commercial investment in renewable energy minigrids.1.2 The AMP National Project in SudanThe AMP national project in Sudan, implemented by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP) with UNDP and GEF support, aims to scale up commercial investments in renewable energy minigrids to enhance rural electrification. The project focuses on hybridizing existing diesel-based minigrids with solar PV systems. The following pilot sites have been confirmed for the Solar Sister programme: Priority Site State Coordinates High Priority Hamashkoreeb Kassala 17.1222°N, 36.7441°E High Priority Owsif Red Sea 21.7708°N, 36.8619°E Combined Site Mohamed Qol + Dungunab Red Sea 20.906° N, 37.156° E Training will be structured in 3 Lots drawing participants from these confirmed sites and surrounding communities.Trained women are expected to integrate into three post-training pathways that position them as active participants in the mini-grid operation and maintenance (O&M) ecosystem, the productive use value chain, and the emerging local energy market around AMP Sudan pilot sites: (i) community solar technicians providing O&M services to the pilot mini-grid and household solar systems under service agreements with the Sudanese Thermal Generation Company (STGC) or community energy