alinea’s whistleblower policy

1.1 Purpose

The following Whistleblower Policy has been established to provide guidance to Alinea International employees and sub-contractors on how to deal with known or suspected improper conduct within the organization. The objectives of this Policy are to:

Create awareness of the Policy and available whistleblower protections
Act as a reference guide to potential whistleblowers wishing to make a disclosure
Define the structure of the whistleblower system, including reporting and investigation procedures, whistleblower protections, and confidentiality, among others
Improve the communication and transparency in the processes associated with whistleblowing and assure protection against derogatory consequences, namely reprisals and detrimental action
Complement the current communication channels between employees, sub-contractors and immediate managers, and hierarchical channels flowing to the President and Senior Management team
Provide guidance to all parties involved in either whistleblowing or whistleblower protection.

1.2 Scope

Alinea requires all employees and sub-contractors to observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. All employees and sub-contractors of Alinea are required to comply with applicable laws and regulations of Canada and the countries where we operate. Any allegations of known or suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources will be dealt with in accordance with this Policy, and reasonable steps will be taken to protect those who come forward with allegations. Alinea’s Whistleblower Policy covers both internal and external whistleblowing, and establishes the controls and procedures for dealing with allegations of malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. This Policy is intended to encourage employees and sub-contractors to report known or suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources and to enable Alinea’s Senior Management team to address and correct inappropriate action. It is the responsibility of all Board of Directors’ members, the Senior Management team, employees and sub-contractors to report concerns about known or suspected malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. This Policy is applicable to all employees and sub-contractors of Alinea International.

1.3 Reporting Procedures

Alinea recognizes the value of transparency and accountability in its administrative and management practices and supports the making of disclosures that reveal improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources. Our internal controls and operating procedures are intended to detect and prevent malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. As detailed in Alinea’s Employee Policy and Onboarding manuals, employees and sub-contractors are encouraged to share complaints and/or concerns regarding ethical or legal violations with their immediate managers. If the employee or sub-contractor is not comfortable speaking with their immediate manager or is not satisfied with the response, they are encouraged to speak with the Gatineau or Calgary Office Managers, the Vice Presidents or, as required, the Chief Financial Officer. All members of the Senior Management team are required to report complaints and/or concerns about suspected ethical or legal violations in writing to Alinea’s Ethics Committee who has the responsibility to investigate all reported complaints and/or concerns. In the event that the complaint and/or concern is about the President, it should be raised by the employee or sub-contractor to their immediate manager or the Ethics Committee who will determine how the investigation will proceed. All reports will be promptly investigated and appropriate corrective measures will be taken if warranted by the investigation. Alinea’s Ethics Committee is responsible for acknowledging receipt of the suspected violation and notifying the whistleblower of the outcome of the investigation. Anyone filing a written complaint concerning suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources must be acting in good faith and have reasonable grounds for believing the information disclosed indicates a violation. Personal grievances or complaints related to employment are not covered under Alinea’s Whistleblowing Policy. For cases such as this, employees and sub-contractors are advised to first refer to Alineas Employee Policy and Onboarding manuals when considering a disclosure under the Whistleblowing Policy. Any allegations that prove not to be substantiated and which prove to have been made maliciously or knowingly to be false will be viewed as a serious disciplinary offense.

1.4 Confidentiality

Maintaining confidentiality is crucial to ensure reprisals are not made against the whistleblower. Alinea is committed to safeguarding the identity of the whistleblower and to protecting the whistleblower against detrimental action taken in reprisal for allegations of suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources. The Ethics Committee is responsible for ensuring whistleblowers are protected from direct and indirect detrimental action, and that the culture of the workplace is supportive of suspected allegations being made. Any employee who retaliates against someone who has reported a violation in good faith is subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment.

1.5 Review

Alinea is committed to implementing ‘best practice’ policies and procedures for dealing with allegations of suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources (as defined by this Policy) and the management and protection of whistleblowers making allegation(s). This Policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure it meets the objectives of relevant legislation and remains effective for Alinea, and may be changed at the discretion of the Board of Directors at any time. For allegations of fraud, securities law, or human rights concerns, or when you are not satisfied or uncomfortable with following the Company’s open door policy, individuals should contact the Company’s Ethics Committee directly.

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Job Title: Market Mapping of Time-Saving Technologies, Products & Services
Project Name: UCARE
Job type: Consultancy
Location of Position: Northern Ghana
Reporting to: UCARE Field Project Manager
Remuneration: In line with market rates
Indicative LOE/Time Frame: 20 days over Jun-July period
Citizenship: Ghanaian
Language Requirements: Fluency in English; proficiency in Dagbani, Gonja, or Mampruli an asset
Application Deadline: June 20, 2025

Application Instructions:

A cover letter is mandatory to be considered. Cover letters should effectively align your skills and experiences with the specific job responsibilities outlined in the position’s description, demonstrating your aptitude and enthusiasm for the role, your daily fee and current availability.
Click the “Apply now” link to upload your cover letter and CV (Curriculum Vitae).
Interested consultants should submit their full proposal (see below) to mariama@alineainternational.com.
Only successful candidates will be contacted. No phone calls please.

Alinea is an international development consultancy providing technical and management expertise that helps people improve their lives. We work with governments, investors, companies, and communities to create lasting change. Over 38 years, Alinea has successfully delivered more than 1000 projects worldwide. alineainternational.com

Alinea International does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment and hiring process. All offers of employment or job opportunities with Alinea International that include any form of a request for payment of fees or collect information on bank accounts are fraudulent. Any requests for such payment or information should be refused and reported to your local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action and to Alinea International.

At Alinea International we value diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility and belonging in everything we do. We are an equal opportunity employer opposed to all forms of discrimination. We actively seek and encourage applications from people of diverse backgrounds recognizing that an inclusive workforce enriches our organization and achieves smarter, more innovative results.

Alinea is committed to the protection of children and vulnerable adults. Due to the nature of our work, all candidates will be subject to due diligence checks and extensive background checks where appropriate.

Project Description:
The United for Care-sensitive Approaches to Rights and Empowerment (UCARE) Project is a five-year project (2024-2029) funded by Global Affairs Canada that seeks to enhance the realization of women and adolescent girls’ rights to equal distribution of domestic work and reduced burden of unpaid care work in Northern Ghana.

UCARE will work collaboratively with national partners, regional and local governments to create an evidence-based, gender-responsive and care-sensitive policy and programming environment, and with families in northern Ghana to improve the agency and decision making of women and adolescent girls to exercise their rights related to recognized and valued unpaid care work.

The UCARE project will partner with local organizations SEND, NETRIGHT and women’s rights organizations using the Gender Model Families approach to recognize, reduce and redistribute the burden of UCW more equitably within households. UCARE will be implemented in 10 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in the Northern, Northeast and Savannah regions, covering both urban and rural communities, reaching 225,000 women and men, and adolescent girls and boys.

About the work
To inform evidence-based advocacy and investment, UCARE is seeking a consultant to map existing labor and time-saving technologies, products and services and assess community demand in its 10 operational districts. The mapping will directly inform the design and launch of the UCARE Special Fund, a small grant mechanism that will channel resources to local civil-society groups, women-led enterprises, cooperatives and grassroots innovators (not to government agencies) so they can meet the growing, community-identified demand for labour and time-saving care solutions.

The assignment will:

Locate demand hotspots, communities where women and girls spend the most time on unpaid care work i.e. water collection, fuel gathering, childcare or food processing.
Profile high-potential local actors, organizations already piloting, or able to pivot to, care-responsive products and services (e.g., community childcare centers, women-owned clean-cookstove businesses, women groups offering laundry services), with priority being give to women owned or led businesses.
Analyze gaps and opportunities, where demand is unmet and what catalytic small grants could unlock rapid uptake.
Generate practical design inputs, grant window options, eligibility criteria, optimal grant sizes, support services, and MEL touchpoints, so the Special Fund can be operationalized quickly and reach the right local change-makers.

Objectives:

Catalogue existing suppliers and solutions (product specs, pricing, channels).
Quantify household, enterprise and institutional demand and willingness-to-pay (sex, income, education disaggregated).
Analyze market dynamics (value chains, policies, financing, barriers).
Recommend practical, cost-cutting, gender-responsive actions to expand access, including how to address existing gaps and barriers in the current context.

The Role
The consultant will deliver:
1.      Inception report (methodology, sampling frame, tools, workplan)
2.      Cleaned dataset & interview transcripts
3.      Market-mapping report (≤ 25 pages + annexes)
4.      Advocacy slide deck (≤ 15 slides)
5.      2-page policy brief summarizing key findings & recommendations
All deliverables must be in English, in editable Word/PDF (reports) and PPT (deck), and will be reviewed and finalized with the UCARE team.

4. Methodology, Activities and Timeline
Consultants must adopt a mixed-method, gender-responsive approach (desk review, Key Informant Interviews, enterprise surveys, gender segregated FGDs, rapid price scans). All data will be disaggregated by sex, age, income, education and location.
Alinea photography and FPIC policies must be adhered to.

Activity	Description	Purpose	LOE (days)
Project Briefing & Objective Alignment	Spend 1 full working day with the UCARE Field Team. Clarify UCARE’s logic model, Special Fund concept (grant ceilings, non-government focus) and how mapping evidence will inform Fund design.	Ensures a shared understanding from day one.	1
Desk Review & Tool Refinement	Analyze UCARE project documents, GSS time-use data. Finalize KII/FGD guides, sampling frame and consent protocols (EN/Dagbani/Mampruli/Gonja).	Grounds the assignment in existing evidence and tailors’ tools for gender-, disability- and poverty-responsive lens.	1
Stakeholder Mobilization	Determine sample size; Identify and schedule KIIs (CSOs, women-led SMEs, VSLAs, disability groups) and 10 gender-segregated FGDs across the ten MMDAs.	Secures a diverse, locally rooted voice set to inform Fund eligibility.	2
Field Mapping & Data Collection	Conduct geo-tagged KIIs/FGDs; visit demand hotspots; capture photos (with consent); run rapid price scans.	Generates the raw data on unmet care needs and grassroots capacity.	12
Data Synthesis & Gap Matrix	Clean and code data; produce a gap-and-opportunity matrix linking demand clusters to capable local actors; draft baseline table of current household uptake (sex-disaggregated).	Translates field insights into decision-ready intelligence for Fund design and MEL baseline indicator.	1
Draft Deliverables	Prepare the 25-page mapping report, 10-slide Fund Design Brief (grant windows, TA menu), and 2-page policy summary.	Provides the first cut of actionable recommendations and design options.	1
Validation & Dissemination	Facilitate in-person regional forums (Tamale, Damongo). Produce a 5-page community brief in En/Gonja/ Dagbani/ Mampruli; integrate stakeholder feedback.	Tests findings with real users and future grantees, ensuring practicality and buy-in.	1
Final Package Delivery	Submit final report, datasets, slide deck, policy brief and bilingual community brief; hand over all consent forms and raw data.	Gives UCARE evidence package to launch the Special Fund confidently.	1

5. Consultation Plan
Consultant will engage:

UCARE Field Project Manager
MMDA/RCC planners & budget officers
Gender-Model-Family members, WROs, enterprises, Chamber of Commerce
Community leaders & women’s groups

Objectives: refine methodology; validate initial findings; ensure local relevance.

6. Management and Reporting The consultant reports to the Field Project Manager. Weekly virtual check-ins will monitor progress; the consultant will incorporate UCARE feedback within three working days of receipt.

7. Intellectual Property and Confidentiality All deliverables and data are the property of UCARE/Alinea International. The consultant must maintain confidentiality, comply with data-protection standards, and disclose any potential conflicts of interest before contract signature.

8. Financial Proposal Submit a day-rate and any anticipated incidental costs (communications, software, internet). Total cost must be inclusive of taxes and not exceed 20 working days. Alinea will request fee substantiation of all daily fee requests. Payments will be disbursed against approved deliverables.

Interested consultants should submit the following documents by 20th June 2025 to mariama@alineainternational.com.

Required (two separate PDF files):

Technical Proposal (max 4 pages): understanding, methodology, detailed workplan, team CVs, past one work sample.
Financial Proposal: itemized daily rate + expenses, inclusive of all taxes.
Questions accepted until 18th June 2025; responses shared with all bidders.

Required Qualifications:

Master’s degree in Statistics, Economics, Business, Gender Studies, Development Studies or related field
≥ 5 years market research/value-chain analysis experience
Demonstrated gender-responsive research & analysis skills
Proven facilitation, report-writing & presentation abilities

Women-led or Ghanaian-owned firms encouraged to apply.