Call for Proposals :
Arabic Translation Services – Framework Agreement
Submission Deadline: November 30, 2026
About Equitas
Since 1967, Equitas – International Center for Human Rights Education has been a leading Canadian organization working with individuals, communities, institutions, and organizations in Canada and around the world to address growing threats to human rights and democratic values. Through education, Equitas empowers people to understand, claim, and exercise their rights.
Equitas has been working for over 20 years with civil society organizations and human rights defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA). With the launch of its first Regional human rights training session in Arabic, its need for high-quality Arabic-language content is growing across all of its programs.
Purpose of the Call
Equitas is seeking one or multiple qualified translation service providers, whether agencies or freelance translators, to meet its Arabic translation needs on an as-needed basis. Selected providers will enter into a two-year, renewable framework agreement with Equitas.
Selection under this call for proposals does not guarantee a minimum volume of work. Assignments will be awarded based on Equitas’s needs during the term of the agreement.
Scope of Services
The services will primarily involve translation from English and/or French into Modern Standard Arabic, and occasionally from Arabic into English or French. Examples of documents include:
- Training materials: participant handbooks, facilitator guides, session outlines, activity sheets, and documents provided to participants as part of participatory human rights education programs.
- Program documents: calls for applications, application forms, selection criteria, participant guides, and information kits.
- Monitoring and evaluation tools: questionnaires, evaluation forms, and follow-up surveys, as well as the translation of participants’ responses into English or French.
- Institutional and partnership documents: reports, agreements, correspondence, and terms of reference.
Related services may include proofreading, reviewing, and editing texts in Arabic, as well as developing and updating a human rights terminology glossary to ensure consistency across Equitas’s documents.
Quality Standards
The service provider must:
- Produce accurate and culturally appropriate translations that are accessible to audiences throughout the Arabic-speaking region, avoiding dialectal expressions unless otherwise requested.
- Use inclusive and gender-sensitive language, in accordance with Equitas’ commitment to gender equality.
- Ensure consistency in human rights terminology, drawing on official United Nations Arabic terminology where relevant or the terminology specified by the Equitas team.
- Adapt the tone to the target audience (human rights defenders in the field, institutional partners, the general public)
- Meet agreed-upon deadlines
- Ensure strict confidentiality of all documents and personal information
Required Qualifications
- Fluency in Arabic as a native or near-native language, and professional proficiency in English and/or French
- At least 5 years of professional experience in translation
- Demonstrated experience translating content related to human rights, gender equality, development, or civil society
- Experience translating educational or training materials is a significant asset
- Professional certification or membership in a recognized translators’ association or professional body is an asset
Documents to submit
Interested service providers are invited to submit:
- A technical proposal (3 pages maximum): profile, relevant experience, languages and services offered, quality assurance processes, tools used, typical turnaround times, and availability
- Resumes of the translators and proofreaders who would work on Equitas’s projects
- Translation samples: two examples of previous work (source text and target text) in a related field
- A financial proposal in Canadian dollars (CAD), including:
a. the rate per word (or per 1,000-word increment) for translation, by language pair
b. the rate per word or per hour for editing and proofreading
c. the rate for urgent assignments, if applicable
d. applicable taxes - References: at least three clients for whom similar services have been provided over the past two years, along with their contact information
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Quality of the translation test and samples: 40%
- Relevant experience and qualifications: 25%
- Methodology, quality assurance, and capacity: 15%
- Financial proposal: 20%
Shortlisted contractors may be invited to an interview. Equitas reserves the right to select more than one contractor or to make no selection at all in response to this call for proposals.
Terms and Conditions
- Each assignment will be confirmed by a written request specifying the volume, deadline, and agreed-upon cost.
- Payments will be made upon delivery and acceptance of each assignment, upon presentation of an invoice
- All translated documents will remain property of Equitas.
- The contractor will sign a confidentiality agreement
Submission
Please submit your proposal no later than November 30, 2026, to: zzellag@equitas.org
Email subject line: Proposal – Arabic Translation Services
Questions may be directed to: zzellag@equitas.org