The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ethiopia has opened a Call for Proposals for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and NGOs under the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0 to End Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG).
The opportunity invites eligible civil society organizations to submit proposals for work connected to a major regional programme focused on addressing violence against women and girls. The assignment is structured as a CSO contract and is expected to run from November 2026 to December 2028, with implementation described as home-based.
The procurement notice, published by UNDP Ethiopia under reference UNDP-ETH-00793, has an application deadline of 2 October 2026 at 04:00 AM New York time.
Organizations interested in participating must use the UNDP Quantum supplier portal to access and submit their bids. Organizations that already have supplier profiles are instructed not to create duplicate accounts.
Opportunity Overview
The UNDP opportunity is connected to the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0, whose overarching focus is ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG).
The procurement notice identifies the following key details:
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Organization | United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) |
| Office | UNDP Ethiopia |
| Opportunity | Call for Proposals – Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) or NGOs |
| Programme | Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0 to End Violence Against Women and Girls |
| Reference Number | UNDP-ETH-00793 |
| Contract Type | Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) |
| Duty Station | Home-based |
| Expected Duration | November 2026 – December 2028 |
| Expected Start | Upon signing of the agreement |
| Application Deadline | 2 October 2026 at 04:00 AM New York time |
| Contact | EK or EW – info.procurementet@undp.org |
The notice was published on 18 September 2026.
What Is the Spotlight Initiative?
The Spotlight Initiative is a global partnership involving the United Nations and the European Union that focuses on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls.
The initiative takes a broad approach to violence against women and girls, recognizing that meaningful progress requires action across areas such as policies, institutions, prevention, data, services, women’s movements, and wider social systems.
The Africa regional programme is designed to support regional commitments and address barriers that limit progress toward ending violence against women and girls.
Previous Spotlight Initiative programming has been connected to issues including gender-based violence, harmful practices, sexual and reproductive health and rights, legislation, policies, data, and strengthening women’s movements.
The regional programme therefore provides a broader framework within which civil society organizations can contribute to efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.
What Is SIARP 2.0?
The Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0 represents the second phase of the Africa regional programme.
The opportunity described in the UNDP procurement notice specifically identifies “Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0 to End Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG)” as the service/work description.
The programme’s regional character is important because the initiative is not presented as a conventional local project limited to one community. It is connected to broader African efforts addressing violence against women and girls.
For participating CSOs and NGOs, this creates an opportunity to contribute to a regional development agenda while working within the programme’s specified objectives, requirements, and implementation framework.
Why Civil Society Organizations Are Important
Civil society organizations play an important role in addressing violence against women and girls because they often work directly with affected communities and can provide perspectives that complement government and international institutions.
Depending on the specific requirements contained in the solicitation documents, CSOs may contribute through activities such as:
- Community engagement
- Advocacy
- Awareness and prevention
- Women’s rights programming
- Gender equality initiatives
- Evidence generation
- Capacity strengthening
- Coalition building
- Policy engagement
- Community-based interventions
- Support for women and girls
- Partnerships with regional and national stakeholders
However, organizations should not assume that all of these activities are automatically eligible under this specific call. The final scope of work, deliverables, eligibility requirements, and evaluation criteria must be taken from the complete UNDP solicitation documents.
Who Can Apply?
The procurement notice specifically identifies Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and NGOs as the intended applicant/contracting category.
This means the opportunity is designed for organizations rather than individuals seeking employment, scholarships, fellowships, or internships.
Potential applicants should therefore have an organizational structure capable of entering into an agreement with UNDP and delivering the services or activities required by the solicitation.
Organizations should carefully examine the full procurement documents to determine whether they meet all applicable requirements concerning:
- Legal registration
- Organizational status
- Technical capacity
- Relevant experience
- Financial capacity
- Staffing
- Governance
- Previous project implementation
- Safeguarding
- Reporting
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Geographic coverage
- Compliance with UNDP requirements
The excerpt provided in the procurement notice does not contain the complete eligibility criteria, so organizations should not rely solely on the summary information when determining their eligibility.
Geographic Eligibility
The opportunity is issued through UNDP Ethiopia, while the programme itself is identified as the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme.
The notice therefore clearly connects the opportunity to an Africa-focused regional programme.
However, the supplied procurement notice does not explicitly provide a complete list of eligible countries for CSO applicants. It would therefore be inappropriate to assume that every African organization automatically qualifies or that the opportunity is restricted exclusively to Ethiopian organizations.
Organizations should review the complete solicitation documents available through the UNDP procurement system for the definitive geographic eligibility requirements.
Contract Duration
The expected implementation period is relatively long compared with many short-term NGO opportunities.
The procurement notice states that the contract is expected to run from:
November 2026 to December 2028
The expected start date is:
Upon signing of the agreement.
This means the successful organization should be prepared for a substantial period of engagement rather than a short-term activity.
The actual commencement will depend on the completion of the procurement process and signing of the agreement.
Duty Station and Working Arrangement
The procurement notice identifies the duty station as:
Home-based
This indicates that the opportunity is not presented as a conventional office-based position at a UNDP location.
Nevertheless, organizations should carefully examine the full solicitation documents because “home-based” does not necessarily mean that every activity can be undertaken remotely without any travel, meetings, field activities, consultations, or other forms of engagement.
Any specific travel, geographical implementation, reporting, or coordination requirements should be confirmed from the complete solicitation documents.
Application Deadline
The deadline for this UNDP Call for Proposals is:
2 October 2026 at 04:00 AM New York time.
Applicants should pay close attention to the time zone because the deadline is expressed in New York time, rather than Ethiopian local time or the applicant’s own local time.
Organizations should avoid waiting until the final hours to submit their proposal.
Online procurement systems can require account verification, document uploads, technical checks, and other steps that may take time to complete.
How the UNDP Supplier Portal Works
One of the most important aspects of this opportunity is that applications are not submitted through an ordinary email application.
The procurement notice states that the tender is managed through the new UNDP Quantum supplier portal system.
Organizations interested in submitting a bid must therefore use the appropriate supplier portal process.
UNDP provides specific instructions for both new and existing suppliers.
Organizations Without a Supplier Profile
Organizations that have never registered with the UNDP supplier system need to create a supplier profile through the designated registration process.
Applicants should provide the required organizational information accurately and ensure that the organization’s legal details correspond with its official registration and banking documentation.
Organizations With an Existing Supplier Profile
Organizations that already have a supplier profile should not create a new profile.
Instead, they should log into the existing account and access the relevant procurement opportunity.
The procurement notice specifically instructs existing suppliers to use the appropriate access route and search for the negotiation using reference number:
UNDP-ETH-00793
This reference number is important because it allows applicants to identify the correct procurement opportunity within the supplier system.
Important Supplier Registration Requirement
The procurement notice contains an important instruction concerning the supplier name.
When registering in the supplier portal, organizations should use their full legal name, matching the name used on their:
- Legal registration documents
- Bank account
- Official organizational records
This is an important administrative requirement because inconsistencies between the supplier profile, legal identity, and banking information can create complications during procurement and contracting.
Organizations should therefore ensure that their information is accurate before submitting their bid.
What Applicants Should Do Before Submitting
Organizations should begin by reviewing the full solicitation package rather than preparing a proposal based only on the summary procurement notice.
The complete documents should be examined for information such as:
- Detailed scope of work
- Eligibility requirements
- Technical specifications
- Expected outputs
- Deliverables
- Evaluation criteria
- Financial requirements
- Proposal format
- Organizational documentation
- Submission instructions
- Contract conditions
- Monitoring and reporting requirements
- Safeguarding and compliance requirements
- Any geographic restrictions
This is particularly important because the procurement notice itself provides only an overview of the opportunity.
Drafting a Strong Organizational Proposal
Organizations should ensure that their proposal responds directly to the requirements contained in the official solicitation documents.
A strong proposal should generally demonstrate a clear understanding of:
- The problem being addressed
- The programme objectives
- The organization’s proposed contribution
- The target groups or communities
- The implementation approach
- Expected results
- Organizational capacity
- Relevant previous experience
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Risk management
- Sustainability
- Financial requirements
Applicants should avoid submitting a generic organizational profile without clearly demonstrating how their experience and capabilities correspond to the specific requirements of the UNDP solicitation.
Demonstrating Relevant Experience
Relevant organizational experience can be particularly important in competitive procurement processes.
CSOs and NGOs should be prepared to demonstrate previous work related to areas relevant to the solicitation.
Depending on the final requirements, useful evidence may include previous projects involving:
- Violence against women and girls
- Gender equality
- Women’s rights
- Gender-based violence
- Protection and safeguarding
- Community mobilization
- Advocacy
- Policy engagement
- Research and evidence
- Capacity building
- Women’s movements
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Prevention of harmful practices
- Partnerships with governments or international organizations
Organizations should only claim experience that they can substantiate through appropriate documentation.
The Importance of Safeguarding
Because the programme concerns violence against women and girls, organizations should pay particular attention to safeguarding and protection requirements contained in the full solicitation.
Organizations working with vulnerable populations should have appropriate systems for:
- Preventing harm
- Protecting participants
- Managing sensitive information
- Handling complaints
- Responding to safeguarding concerns
- Maintaining confidentiality
- Ensuring staff accountability
- Protecting survivors and affected communities
Any safeguarding requirements specified by UNDP should be addressed directly in the proposal and implementation plan.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting
Organizations participating in a UNDP-supported programme should expect accountability for results.
Although the complete requirements must be taken from the solicitation documents, organizations should be prepared to demonstrate how they would:
- Track implementation
- Measure progress
- Document results
- Collect relevant data
- Report against agreed indicators
- Identify challenges
- Adapt implementation where appropriate
- Provide evidence of outputs and outcomes
A credible monitoring and evaluation approach can help demonstrate that an organization understands not only what activities it proposes to conduct but also how it will determine whether those activities are producing meaningful results.
UNDP Procurement Registration and Submission
The procurement notice provides several important routes for accessing the opportunity.
Applicants can use the UNDP Quantum supplier portal to search for the procurement opportunity.
Organizations should search using the reference:
UNDP-ETH-00793
Applicants should also subscribe to the tender within the procurement system.
Subscribing is important because the procurement notice states that it allows the system to send notifications concerning amendments to the tender requirements.
This is particularly important for organizations preparing their proposals over several days or weeks because procurement documents can potentially be amended before the deadline.
What If an Organization Needs Clarification?
The procurement notice provides a contact point for questions and clarification:
EK or EW
Email: info.procurementet@undp.org
The notice also instructs suppliers to use the messaging functionality in the procurement system when further clarification is required.
Organizations should use the official communication channels rather than relying on unofficial summaries or third-party information.
What If an Organization Experiences Technical Problems?
Organizations that encounter difficulties using the online procurement system should consult the relevant UNDP supplier guidance.
The procurement notice directs applicants to UNDP’s resources for bidders and indicates that organizations can seek support using the contact information associated with the tender.
Applicants should resolve technical problems well before the deadline rather than waiting until the final hours.
Key Documents
The procurement notice provides access to the relevant Negotiation Documents through the UNDP procurement system.
These documents are particularly important because they contain the detailed requirements that applicants need to understand before submitting a proposal.
Organizations should review the complete documentation rather than relying exclusively on the procurement notice’s summary fields.
Why This Opportunity Matters for African Civil Society Organizations
The Spotlight Initiative’s focus on ending violence against women and girls places the opportunity within a major development and gender-equality agenda.
Violence against women and girls intersects with numerous social, economic, legal, health, and human-rights issues.
Civil society organizations can provide important community-level knowledge and implementation capacity while also contributing to advocacy, evidence generation, accountability, and policy engagement.
The regional nature of SIARP 2.0 also places the opportunity within a wider African context rather than limiting the programme’s ambitions to a single community-level intervention.
Important Distinction: This Is Not an Individual Job Opportunity
Although the notice contains terms such as “duty station” and “contract,” this opportunity should not be confused with an individual UNDP employment vacancy.
The procurement notice explicitly identifies the contract type as:
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
The intended applicants are therefore organizations capable of submitting institutional proposals and entering into an agreement with UNDP.
Individuals seeking jobs, internships, scholarships, or fellowships should not treat this procurement notice as an individual employment opportunity.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Organization: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Office: UNDP Ethiopia
- Reference: UNDP-ETH-00793
- Opportunity type: Call for Proposals for CSOs/NGOs
- Programme: Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0
- Focus: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls (EVAWG)
- Contract type: Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)
- Duty station: Home-based
- Expected duration: November 2026 to December 2028
- Expected start: Upon signing of the agreement
- Published: 18 September 2026
- Deadline: 2 October 2026 at 04:00 AM New York time
- Submission system: UNDP Quantum supplier portal
- Tender reference: UNDP-ETH-00793
How to Apply
Organizations interested in this opportunity should begin by accessing the UNDP procurement notice and reviewing the complete negotiation documents.
The application process involves the following broad steps:
- Confirm organizational eligibility against the complete solicitation documents.
- Register as a UNDP supplier if the organization does not already have a supplier profile.
- Use the existing profile if the organization has previously registered with UNDP.
- Search for reference UNDP-ETH-00793 within the supplier portal.
- Review the complete solicitation and negotiation documents.
- Subscribe to the tender to receive notifications about amendments.
- Prepare the required technical and financial documentation.
- Follow all formatting and submission requirements.
- Submit the bid through the UNDP Quantum supplier portal.
- Complete the submission before 2 October 2026 at 04:00 AM New York time.
Organizations should not create duplicate supplier accounts if they already have a registered UNDP profile.
Visit HERE to learn more and apply for the UNDP Ethiopia Call for Proposals 2026.
Pro Tip for Applicants
Start with the full solicitation documents, not the summary notice.
Before investing substantial time in proposal writing, verify that your organization satisfies the eligibility requirements and then map each proposal section directly against the evaluation criteria, scope of work, expected outputs, and submission instructions.
Also subscribe to the tender in the supplier portal so that you receive notifications if UNDP issues amendments or clarifications before the deadline.
Conclusion
The UNDP Ethiopia Call for Proposals for Civil Society Organizations and NGOs under the Spotlight Initiative Africa Regional Programme (SIARP) 2.0 provides an opportunity for eligible civil society organizations to contribute to regional efforts aimed at ending violence against women and girls.
The opportunity is structured as a CSO procurement/contracting opportunity, rather than an individual employment programme. Successful organizations are expected to work under an agreement beginning around November 2026 and continuing through December 2028, with the procurement notice identifying the duty station as home-based.
The most important immediate consideration for interested organizations is the 2 October 2026 deadline at 04:00 AM New York time. Because submissions must be made through the UNDP Quantum supplier portal, organizations should not wait until the deadline to resolve registration, account-access, document-upload, or technical issues.
Organizations should also remember that the information contained in the summary procurement notice is not a substitute for the full solicitation package. The complete documents should be used to confirm eligibility, geographic requirements, technical specifications, deliverables, evaluation criteria, financial requirements, and all other conditions of participation.
For organizations working in areas related to women’s rights, gender equality, violence prevention, protection, advocacy, community engagement, and related fields, careful review of the full solicitation documents will be essential before deciding whether to submit a proposal.
Application Deadline: 2 October 2026 at 04:00 AM New York time.
Reference Number: UNDP-ETH-00793
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