The IPU is the global organization of parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 181 national Member Parliaments and 15 regional parliamentary bodies. It facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world. Its mission is to promote democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people. It works for peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment, climate action and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world. Twice a year, the IPU convenes over 1,500 parliamentary delegates and partners in a world assembly, bringing a parliamentary dimension to global governance, including the work of the United Nations and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

2025 will be a year of several milestones for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. It will mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the 25th anniversary of the Women, Peace and security agenda (2000), and the ten-year milestone of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As a leading organization for the advancement of gender equality, the IPU has an important role to play in mobilizing the parliamentary community and facilitating the identification of its course of action towards the realization of all such crucial commitments. In 2025, it will contribute a parliamentary perspective to the different milestones and mobilize the parliamentary community to action. Internally too, the IPU will have its own milestones as it will mark the 40th anniversary of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and celebrate women’s leadership and solidarity.

Meanwhile, 2024 is already being a pivotal year for gender equality. By the time it is over, about 70 elections will have taken place, including in the world’s most populous countries; roughly half the world’s population will have gone to the polls; and thousands of parliamentary seats will have been up for grabs. Are the new parliaments more equal than before? As the last quarter of the year unfolds, nothing is less sure. On contrary, the potential of the super election year is looking like a missed opportunity for equality in parliament. By 1 September 2024, the share of women MPs inched up to 27% globally, only a mere 0.1 percentage points higher compared to the beginning of the year. At this rate, the already slow progress witnessed so far will be even lower in 2025 than in previous years.

Pushbacks are also amplifying on women and girls’ rights, freedoms and empowerment. The disproportionate effects of unrest, conflict and war on them are felt strong. Women are suffering a range of harms, from sexual and gender-based violence, to losses of their spouses, families, livelihoods and personal autonomy. Even during transitional and peacebuilding periods, women continue to be marginalised. The rollback on reproductive health, rights and justice is intensifying in too many countries with bans or limitations on abortion and reduced penalties for marital rape. Attempts to reinstate banned harmful practices such as female gentil mutilations or early marriages are mushrooming in several countries. In different parts of the world, proposals are popping up to narrow down the strength of laws protecting women and girls from gender-based violence.

The IPU has never been shy in affirming that, gender equality is essential in confronting crises and that gender equality in politics allows us to respond better to adversity by taking into account the diverse and intersectional needs of all, thereby delivering more effective results. In 2022, at the 145th IPU Assembly, the global parliamentary community adopted the Kigali Declaration as a commitment to advance gender equality and gender-sensitive parliaments as drivers of change for a more resilient and peaceful world.

Objectives of the campaign

Today, realising the commitment made in Kigali can help parliaments lead the vital pushback on the pushbacks, by:

1. Promoting parity in parliament and politics

2. Being gender-sensitive institutions, embodying gender equality in their organization, functioning and ways of working

3. Combatting gender-based violence and discrimination

3 action areas that are central in 2025 as hard-won gains for women and girls are challenged and the perils of pushbacks are threatening and as it is the right time to put the IPU’s collective power at the service of protecting gender equality and continuing to make it a priority and advance it.

3 action areas that all IPU Policy focus and Strategic Objectives will all contribute to while pulling together resources and efforts steered towards great impact for the good of women and girls, and through them, the entire society.

3 action areas that need to be implemented through both individual and collective resolve and action and that the IPU will help parliaments advancing, including through a new IPU Campaign for gender equality targeting member parliaments, other stakeholders and actors in the parliamentary ecosystem.

The campaign will be launched in the first quarter of 2025 and geared towards achieving results until 2030.

Scope of work

In this context, the IPU is requesting proposals for a public relations/communications company or freelance consultant to support the strategic orientation, design, branding (in line with the IPU Visual identity guidelines – available upon request to prospective suppliers), production (including web-development), and roll-out of the campaign.

Key deliverables

• Following a discovery exercise, a presentation with proposals on the strategic orientation, title, design (including graphic), branding, production, and roll-out of the campaign. The international (including multilingual and multicultural) nature of the organization shall be taken into consideration.

• Following consultation with the IPU, implementation of design, branding and production of the campaign and its key tools, including a promotional package to be sent to parliaments.

• Support for the roll-out of the campaign, including strategic guidance on its launch, evolution, and sustainability.

• Provide a M & E strategy and tools to measure the impact of the campaign, including key performance indicators.

• All final files must be transferred to the IPU upon completion and in formats that allow for modification and/or reuse.

Timeline

It is expected that the supplier will be chosen by 10 January and start work by 20 January 2025.

Although subject to modification based on the evolution of the work, the following timeline is foreseen:

• Phase 1: From 20 to 31January: Discovery and strategic proposal

• Phase 2: From 1 to 28 February: Implementation of design, branding and production of the campaign and its key tools and testing

• Phase 3: From 5 to 15 March: Launch of the campaign, including on social media and IPU website

• Phase 4: From 15 to 30 March: Updates for the webpage, submission of recommendations and handover

Remuneration

The IPU shall pay the selected company/consultant in instalments according to the above timeline phases following the satisfactory completion of the respective deliverables.

The proportions would be as follows:

• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 1 – 15%

• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 2 – 50%

• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 3 – 20%

• Upon satisfactory completion of Phase 4 – 15%

An overall budget of 30 000 to 35 000 CHF is sought.

Criteria for selection

The IPU will evaluate each proposal and may contact the top proposals for follow-up questions or meeting.

The IPU will choose the supplier based on the following criteria:

• Experience of the company/consultant

• Technical expertise and flexibility to accommodate the proposed timeline

• Quality of portfolio/past work

• Cost proposal

Bidders with strong experience in similar international political campaigns are strongly desired.

Submissions that do not demonstrate strong professional experience in public relations, communications and marketing will not be considered.

Proposals

Proposals should contain:

• The company/consultant’s qualifications, credentials, and bios/cvs of core team

• Brief narrative to describe how you would approach the project

• 2-3 case studies demonstrating similar experience/products

• Outline of proposed process with schedule

• Detailed cost proposal

• Any additional new creative ideas (optional)

Annex

Audience

The campaign’s primary audience will be parliaments and their members. Other governmental and non-governmental institutions and leaders would also be strategically targeted. The following groups will be approached:

Political decision-makers

This group is believed to be the most influential in pushing for change, or to have the potential to be very influential and includes the following:

• The IPU President

• Speakers of parliament

• Head of states and governments

• Members of the IPU Forum of Women Parliamentarians

• Chairs and members of parliamentary gender committees and women’s caucuses

• Chairs and members of parliamentary committees

• Young parliamentarians, in particular caucuses of young parliamentarians

• Political party leaders

• Whips and chairpersons of political groups in parliaments

• Ministers of gender, Ministers of interior, Ministers of human rights, Ministers of health, and other portfolios related to women’s rights, empowerment, and gender equality

• Human rights institutions

• Women’s machineries such as Women’s governmental councils and institutes

• International partners that work to promote women’s rights and gender equality

Supporters

This group can support the campaign in more indirect ways and includes the following:

• Members of parliament (in general)

• Women’s movements and civil society organizations that work to promote women’s rights and gender equality

• A group of academics and researchers specialized in women’s rights, democracy, representation, gender equality

• A group of selected journalists interested in women’s rights, democracy, representation, gender equality

• Influencers, media

How to apply

Interested bidders are requested to send their applications to press@ipu.org no later than 8 January 2025 at 23:59 CET (Central European Time - Geneva). Applicants will only be contacted if they are under serious consideration. Incomplete applications or those received after the deadline will not be accepted.

Deadline: Wednesday, 8 January 2025