Request for Proposal For Tax Sponsor For The Odas Center

Request for proposals for Tax Sponsor for the Odas Center. Closing Date: 11 Aug 2026 Type: Consultancy The ODAS Centre is a strategic and innovative regional partnership mechanism, officially launched in 2021, that aims to catalyze and sustainably strengthen the safe abortion movement in Francophone Africa. It brings together an ecosystem of committed actorspolicymakers, healthcare providers, youth organizations, feminist networks, academic institutions, and civil society organizationsunited by a common goal: to eliminate the stigma surrounding abortion, reduce the use of unsafe practices, and fully promote sexual and reproductive health and rights. The centre also serves as a platform for collaboration and learning by creating dynamic networking spaces between advocacy actors in Francophone Africa and their counterparts worldwide. Institutionally, the centres governance model was designed using a progressive and strategic approach. At its launch, Ipas, as the host organization, provided technical, administrative, and logistical support to the ODAS Centre. Gradually, the center took over the technical direction of its strategic plan and established itself as a key regional player committed to transforming political, social and health realities in order to guarantee women and girls in Francophone Africa effective access to safe and rights-respecting abortion services. The center benefits from the support of a group of committed donors, almost all of whom have supported it since its inception. The centers team is composed of individuals with diverse backgrounds from across Francophone Africa. They form the coordination team and support the ODAS movement, which comprises 271 organizations spread across the 22 Francophone African countries. This call for proposals aims to select an organization to assume the functions of fiscal sponsor and service provider for the ODAS center (including, but not limited to, grant management, accounting, human resources, facilities, and information systems). Until now, these services were provided by the American NGO Ipas (with support from its Francophone regional office based in Côte dIvoire), which has agreed to gradually transfer these responsibilities during 2026, with the transfer to be completed no later than March 31, 2027. The context Between 2021 and 2025, the Centre established and consolidated the essential elements of its institutional, strategic, and programmatic development. This has equipped it with the necessary conditions to credibly embark on a structured transition process toward a new phase of organizational maturity. It has developed its five-year strategic plan, which is currently being implemented. Furthermore, it has 271 official members within the Movement, demonstrating the richness and dynamism of its ecosystem of stakeholders. In this context, we now wish to strengthen the ODAS Centres regional ties by entrusting its fiscal sponsorship and support services to a West African organization, similar to the role played by Ipas in recent years. This development will dispel any perception that the ODAS Centre is not a neutral entity, while simultaneously strengthening its credibility and autonomy among the Movements members, as well as the capacity of West African organizations to provide support services. West Africa has a strong pool of expertise in program design and implementation, as demonstrated by the ODAS Centre team. However, the region continues to face a structural deficit in philanthropic management support functions, particularly in administration, systems management, and operational coordination. These functions have traditionally been provided by international organizations, such as Ipas, which plays a central role in the case of the ODAS Centre. This long-standing organization has limited the emergence of genuine career opportunities for professionals wishing to specialize in philanthropic management and support functions. Consequently, these skills are less developed locally than those related to program design and implementation. Transferring these functions to an established West African structure is an important step toward strengthening the regional anchoring of operational responsibility and developing sustainable regional expertise in philanthropic management. In the long term, this development should strengthen the regions institutional capacities and reduce its dependence on external technical and administrative support. Given that Ipas currently performs these functions, successful candidates will need to be able to work closely with Ipas and the ODAS Centre from the second quarter of 2026 to agree on the terms and timetable of the transition, and then implement it in March 2027, in accordance with the arrangements agreed upon with Ipas and the ODAS Centre. The proposals must therefore specify all the necessary arrangements to ensure a smooth transfer of responsibilities. The criteria The proposals will be reviewed by a transition committee established for this purpose, and the successful organization will be selected through an evaluation process. The main evaluation criteria are as follows: An organization that adheres to feminist values and principles of reproductive justice, and that maintains no direct or indirect links with anti-rights organizations. An organization with proven capabilities in administration, financial management, security, information technology and human resources management, as well as strong financial leadership and reliable, sustainable and well-structured systems, enabling it to effectively fulfill the role of fiscal sponsor of the ODAS Centre. An organization with an annual budget of at least USD 1,000,000 and a proven track record in tax sponsorship and grant management from diverse funding sources. A regional Francophone African organization headquartered in West Africa. An organization that demonstrates transparency in its management, whose operating costs are in line with market practices, and which shows the flexibility necessary to meet the needs of the Movement. An organization that has a high-performing digital work environment as well as robust IT infrastructure and systems. An organization that has strong policies and practices regarding cybersecurity and the protection of sensitive data. An organization guaranteeing the operational autonomy of the ODAS Centre, the reversibility of systems and data, as well as the compatibility of its ecosystem of tools. The detailed criteria are listed here. We invite you to review them carefully. Each criterion specifies the verification methods that will be applied to assess the compliance of your application. The Transition Committee also recognizes that some applicant organizations can bring added value to the ODAS Centre, exceeding the requirements of the call for proposals, particularly through their strategic advisory capacity, their influence with key governments, their knowledge of philanthropic actors and civil society organizations, as well as their reputation and mobilization capabilities. These "value-added" services will be considered in the evaluation of proposals, but will not be a mandatory criterion, and will remain secondary to the essential criteria outlined above. Ultimately, the Director of the ODAS Centre will decide whether and when to utilize these value-added services. In the medium to long term, the ODAS Centre could consider becoming an independent entity. With this in mind, applicants are invited to describe their experience supporting organizations through institutional development processes, organizational transitions, or the creation of an autonomous entity, resulting in legal and operational autonomy. They are also asked to specify whether this potential evolution towards independence is likely to influence their interest in the proposed partnership, their level of commitment, or the approach they intend to adopt. The expected services As part of this collaboration, the sponsor will assume fiduciary responsibility for the grants. However, the ODAS Centre will define its own governance framework, which the sponsor must recognize and within which the parties will exercise their responsibilities. The ODAS Centre will retain strategic leadership, oversight of the technical aspects of the initiative, and the other responsibilities described above. The candidate will provide services in the following six key areas: General administration and fund management and transfer services: The applicant must have status equivalent to that of a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States, as well as comparable status in any other jurisdiction where tax requirements affect the channeling of philanthropic funds to local civil society organizations (CSOs). These services will also include legal assistance as needed. The applicant will be responsible for receiving the majority of six grants, totaling approximately USD 2,278,540 annually, from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Foundation for a Just Society, the Foundation for a Just Society International, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Packard Foundation, and Sida. The ODAS Centers finance team, in collaboration with the fiscal sponsors team, will establish a collaborative framework and a harmonized management system. The candidate may also be required to receive and remit additional funding from US or other country foundations, as well as from bilateral or multilateral aid programs. Grant Monitoring and Reporting Systems: - to enable the ODAS Centre to report to its funders professionally, on time, and efficiently; The Centre will manage narrative, programmatic, and outcome reports for funders through online monitoring meetings held every two months, as well as written mid-term and final grant reports. The candidate will participate in these meetings and contribute to the preparation of t Tender Link : https://reliefweb.int/job/4220735/appel-propositions-sponsor-fiscal-pour-le-centre-odas