UN WOMEN Jobs - 16754- National Consultant: Helpline Referral Directory

National Consultant: Helpline Referral Directory

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

Nairobi, KENYA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

04-Jun-2010

Application Deadline :

27-May-10 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

10 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNIFEM is the United Nations Development Fund for Women with the objective of providing financial and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and economic security. Within the UN system, UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women's issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment strategies.

Violence is a reality for many women in Kenya. In the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 49% of women stated that they had experienced violence in their lifetime and one in four Kenyan women stated that they had experienced violence in the past 12 months (CBS (2003), Kenya Demographic and Health Survey). Despite these figures, only a few women report the abuse to the authorities or get assistance and support. Cultural beliefs, stigma, the threat of more abuse, or the perception that authorities do not take action, stop women from seeking assistance. But additional reasons are the lack of adequate services and women's lack of knowledge - of their rights and of where to find help.

In Kenya, access to public services can be scarce in many regions, and information about community initiatives might be limited. In order to address this issue, UNIFEM and the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Development initiated discussions in November 2009 on setting up a national helpline for survivors of gender based violence. Through the helpline persons who experience or know someone who is experiencing gender based violence will be able to get counselling and immediate up-to-date information on where the nearest relevant authority or service provider is located.

Referral Directory - A key feature of the helpline will be a national directory of organisations and institutions providing various services which can be of relevance for survivors of gender based violence. The directory will list the contact details and address (with the exception of shelters) of each organisation, listed with their geographical location as reference. By stating their own location, the callers will be given the relevant information with regards to the services closest to them. The directory will be available on an online database, and as a booklet.

Duties and Responsibilities

The referral directory will include government institutions such as police stations, health facilities, gender officers and social workers; civil society organizations and community initiatives, including service providers of medical assistance, paralegal support, shelters etc. The information should include:

Name of the organization (and old name if applicable)
Services provided
Contact details including physical and postal address, land line and mobile phone numbers, email address(es) and internet address (if applicable)
Contact person
District as per http://www.communication.go.ke/constituencies.asp

Various mappings of government and civil society organizations exist already in Kenya, including a Gender Directory produced by the Department of Gender and Social Services in 2007 and a UNIFEM mapping of national organizations working with GBV in 2009. As such, the assignment will entail:

Providing a set of criteria for entries of organizations and institutions into the referral directory. In order to ensure that the referrals given by the helpline have the appropriate capacity and provide relevant services for the callers, a working definition should be provided by the consultant. I.e. this will exclude actors which might work with gender based violence, but at a policy level. These criteria will also serve as search options once the directory is converted to an online database.
Identification of existing national mappings and directories which contain relevant information for the Helpline Referral Directory.
Systematic review of the existing mappings and directories to select the appropriate entries according to the defined criteria.
Cross-checking to ensure that duplications are deleted.
Verify that all the information for the relevant entries is correct and updated. This should be done through emails, telephone calls or visits to the organizations.
Organizing information in an excel sheet, enabling various filter categories according to the name of the organization, geographical location, services provided and contact persons.

The consultant will be expected to research similar initiatives in order to find out best practices on referral directories which can serve as guidance during the assignment. Although the online database will be developed at a later stage, it is also expected that the consultant contacts relevant resource persons/service providers which can provide technical advice on how the information best can be organized in order to facilitate the conversion to a software version searchable through a search engine.

Under the close guidance of the UNIFEM GBV programme analyst, and overall support from UNIFEM Kenya and Regional Office, the consultant will produce the referral directory. The consultant will identify key informants, conduct the research and desk review, and develop a directory in a suitable format. The following deliverables will be expected:

An inception report detailing the exact methodology, a road map and a time frame for delivery within the first day of the assignment;
A draft referral directory, within day 8 of the assignment, giving an opportunity of consultations with and review by UNIFEM counterparts;
A final referral directory by day 10 of the assignment to be submitted for review of the UNIFEM team;
Comments and feedback to be incorporated into the directory as required.

Competencies

Thorough insight into the Kenyan national response to gender-based violence, including a comprehensive knowledge of government and civil society organizations and stakeholders operating in response to gender based violence;
Prior work experience with various stakeholders including civil society, government institutions, and international organizations;
Experience in researching information, consolidating information from various sources, and preparing reports in line with stated guidelines;
Demonstrated ability and excellent communication skills to facilitate access to information; and
Proven knowledge women's of situation in Kenya.

Required Skills and Experience

Master Degree in Gender/women's studies, social science, development, or a relevant field;
At least 3 years experience working with GBV issues and within the women's movement in the Kenyan context;
Previous experience working with GBV referral services, including preparing a referral directory highly desirable;
Fluency in English. Knowledge of Kiswahili is an advantage;
Full computer literacy is expected.