Background
UNDP has launched a new initiative to support the achievement of the SDGs by helping countries make progress on the specific gender-based violence and related targets. UNDP’s GBV and SDGs project will test the integration of GBV prevention and response components into sectorial programmes and measure the results. It will use the findings of what works and what did not to advocate for better policies and programmes to address and prevent GBV across sectors such as livelihoods, health, environmental programming and good governance. The initiative is also focused on improving specific strategies to address GBV in locales with high prevalence of violence against women and low levels of resources dedicated to prevention and response in adherence to the SDG principle to leave no one behind. Some of the pilots will be costed to estimate the cost of possible scale up to reach a greater number of people.
Significant interventions have occurred in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq to support the enhancement of economic livelihoods for refugees, internally displaced people and returnees. But while livelihoods programming has increased, livelihood programming in humanitarian contexts tends to be hindered by several challenges. Programmes developed in crisis and post crisis settings are often launched without a thorough mapping of the local political, economic, and social landscape, and therefore are not designed with context-specific barriers or opportunities in mind. Also, livelihood initiatives are often not subject to sufficient evaluation. To date, monitoring efforts have focused on how well programmes meet targets (such as the number of beneficiaries served) rather than their impact on the quality of the lives of refugees. These shortcomings apply particularly to any programming designed to support displaced and refugee women; little analysis has been done on the social impact of such programming and whether it can help reduce levels of GBV and/or mitigate risks of GBV as well as whether it can provide a platform for both behavioral and institutional transformation. We know that evidence is mixed in terms of livelihoods/economic autonomy interventions for women as a GBV prevention approach. Research shows that increased access to credits and assets can either increase or decrease the woman’s risk of intimate partner violence depending on the context in which women live. But the evidence that exists is from “stable” development settings and premised on household dynamics in these settings. The dynamics may be very different in humanitarian settings where options for economic autonomy for women and men are limited and the dynamic for broader attitudinal transformations will be very different.
UNDP is seeking to analyze available data on GBV in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq amongst refugee and displaced women and to carry out a review of existing livelihoods programming to seek to establish what impact such programming is having in the lives of women as well as what might be done to improve such programming to mitigate violence in future. The findings will help inform the development of future livelihood programmes aimed at enhancing capacities of vulnerable populations to secure sustainable livelihoods whilst influencing change which can address drivers of GBV. Specifically, the findings of the study will help define a design for a pilot project to test GBV responsive livelihoods programming. Types of violence will include, among others, intimate partner violence, non-partner rape, child marriage and trafficking. Based on these assessments the consultant will recommend designs for livelihoods programming, responding to the needs of women and helping to prevent GBV. In Iraq, the study will include livelihoods programming approaches for returnee populations.
Duties and Responsibilities
SCOPE OF WORK, RESPONSIBILITIES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPOSED ANALYTICAL WORK
The consultant for this research will work under the supervision of the Gender Team Leader, Regional Bureau of Arab States, and the GBV and SDGs Project Manager, UNDP and will submit drafts and reports directly to them.
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
1) Review of livelihoods programming for displaced and refugee women in humanitarian settings
The consultant will undertake an overview of livelihoods/stabilization programming in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. This will include a desk review of project documents and evaluation reports.
Questions for the review will include:
- Who is carrying out such programming, where? What proportion of this livelihoods programming specifically targeting women?
- What are the primary change objectives for these interventions?
- How have they been evaluated and what are their results? What measures of success have been used? What has not worked, and what are key gaps and shortcomings?
- Given the global evidence on economic interventions and reducing GBV, how does the livelihoods programming in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq compare to the promising models?
- Are the projects in these settings responsive to GBV? Do they contain components to increase women’s economic autonomy as well as their social and political empowerment?
- How do they involve men in their changes that are targeting women?
Tasks to complete the review include:
- Collect programming materials from UNDP and other sources, including programme documents, evaluations, qualitative feedback from programme managers, and other related materials
- Present a review plan for comments from UNDP
- Undertake programming review
- Present draft review synthesis, collect feedback from local and UNDP partners and finalize the document
2) Literature review summarizing GBV in humanitarian settings in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq
The consultant will also undertake a literature review on GBV and displaced and refugee women and girls in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. Questions for the review include:
Generally:
- What data exists on different types of GBV for women and girls in humanitarian settings? What are the sources and how is this data collected?
- What are the unique risks and protective factors for women experiencing violence in these settings? What are the specificities of violence in these settings? What are at greatest risk?
- What are the trends over time in cases of displacement?
- Are there any significant differences in trends in violence between cases of internal displacement and those who seek refuge outside their country of origin?
- What services exist for women who experience violence in these settings? What data exists on how often these services are used? What trends are there in this service use?
Specifically:
- What is the existing GBV data for displaced or refugee women including prevalence of different types, patterns of violence, risk and protective factors, and service use for different groups of women?
- What specific data is available on levels of GBV amongst refugee women in Jordan and Lebanon and displaced women in Iraq?
What data is available for women receiving livelihoods/stabilization support in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq?
- Are there any preliminary findings related to women participating in livelihoods programming and their experience of violence? Including anecdotal reports or project generated data? Any visible trends?
Tasks to complete the review include:
- Collect existing literature on GBV in humanitarian settings, in particular Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq
- Present a list of sources and the review plan for comments from UNDP
- Undertake review
- Present draft review synthesis, collect feedback from local and UNDP partners and finalize the document
3) A final report, synthesizing reviews and qualitative inputs, and containing recommendations for a pilot GBV responsive livelihoods project
Qualitative data collection for this project will be undertaken by local researchers. The consultant for this assignment will support and supervise the data collection and analysis of this research to supplement and build on the review findings. The tasks related to the qualitative research include
- With local researchers, draft and finalize a research protocol
- Draft and finalize key research questions and interview guides
- Through conference calls, etc., remotely supervise data collection including adherence to ethical and safety standards
- Support and undertake data analysis in partnership with local researchers
- Synthesize the findings, and draft report
- Present draft synthesis report, collect feedback from local and UNDP partners and finalize the document. There will be up to two rounds of commenting and revision for the final report.
Competencies
- Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills;
- Keeps abreast of new developments in area of professional discipline and job knowledge and seeks to develop herself or himself professionally;
- Demonstrates comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these regularly in work assignments;
- Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture among colleagues
Required Skills and Experience
Academic qualifications:
- Master’s Degree or equivalent required in Economics, Social Sciences, Gender Studies, Refugee studies, or related field, required.
Experience:
- At least 10 years of experience required at national or international level working on research on GBV and/or with livelihood programming, preferably in humanitarian settings
- Experience in ethical and safe research required, including the ability to design research tools, manage data collection and analyze data.
- Experience in synthesizing research findings and drafting recommendations in language accessible to local partners, required.
- Proven experience of working remotely, including the ability to build constructive relationships with a wide variety of colleagues and local partners, required.
- Knowledge of issues around GBV in Middle East region and humanitarian settings, an asset
Language:
Excellent written and oral English. Oral and written skills in Arabic a strong asset.
Application Procedure
The application package containing the following (to be uploaded as one file):
- Online application/cover letter with brief description of why the Offer considers her/himself the most suitable for the assignment; and
- Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects and specifying the relevant assignment period (from/to), as well as the email and telephone contacts of at least three (3) professional references.
- Writing sample of research including findings and recommendations.
Note: The above documents need to be scanned in one file and uploaded to the online application as one document.
Shortlisted candidates (ONLY) will be requested to submit a Financial Proposal.
- The financial proposal should specify an all-inclusive daily fee (based on a 7 hour working day - lunch time is not included - and estimated 21.75 days per month).
- The financial proposal must be all-inclusive and take into account various expenses that will be incurred during the contract, including: the daily professional fee; cost of travel from the home base to the duty station and vice versa, where required; living allowances at the duty station; communications, utilities and consumables; life, health and any other insurance; risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship and hazardous conditions (e.g., personal security needs, etc.), when applicable; and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract.
- This consultancy is a home-based assignment, therefore, there is no envisaged travel cost to join duty station/repatriation travel.
- In the case of unforeseeable travel requested by UNDP, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between UNDP and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.
- If the Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP.
The Financial Proposal is to be emailed as per the instruction in the separate email that will be sent to shortlisted candidates.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.
Qualified women are encouraged to apply.
Due to the large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidate(s) about the outcome or status of the selection process.
Evaluation process
Applicants are reviewed based on Required Skills and Experience stated above and based on the technical evaluation criteria outlined below. Applicants will be evaluated based on cumulative scoring. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
- Being responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation where technical criteria weighs 70% and Financial criteria/ Proposal weighs 30%.
Technical evaluation - Total 70% (700 points):
- Criteria 1. Minimum Master’s degree level in Political Science, Law, International Relations, International Development studies, or other relevant area. Weight = 5%; Maximum Points: 50.
- Criteria 2. Minimum ten years of relevant professional experience required related to violence against women and/or livelihoods programming in humanitarian settings. Weight = 10%; Maximum Points: 100.
- Criteria 3. Experience synthesizing research findings and drafting recommendations in language accessible to local partners Weight 15%; Maximum Points: 150.
- Criteria 4: Relevant experience working with local communities in humanitarian settings. Weight: 10% Maximum points: 100.
- Criteria 5 = Interview Weight: 30 Points Maximum Points: 300
Having reviewed the applications received, UNDP will invite the top 3-4 shortlisted candidates for interview. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (490 points) of the maximum obtainable points for the technical criteria (70 points) shall be considered for the financial evaluation.
Financial evaluation - Total 30% (300 points)
The following formula will be used to evaluate financial proposal:
p = y (µ/z), where
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated
Contract Award
Candidate obtaining the highest combined scores in the combined score of Technical and Financial evaluation will be considered technically qualified and will be offered to enter into contract with UNDP.
Institutional arrangement
- The consultant will work under the guidance and direct supervision of Project Manager, GBV and SDGs project and will be responsible for the fulfilment of the deliverables as specified above.
- The Consultant will be responsible for providing her/his own laptop.
Payment modality
- Payment to the Individual Contractor will be made based on the actual number of days worked, deliverables accepted and upon certification of satisfactory completion by the manager.
- The work week will be based on 35 hours, i.e. on a 7 hour working day, with core hours being between 9h00 and 18h00 daily.
Annexes (click on the hyperlink to access the documents):
Annex 1 - UNDP P-11 Form for ICs
Annex 2 - IC Contract Template
Annex 3 – IC General Terms and Conditions
Annex 4 – RLA Template
Any request for clarification must be sent by email to cpu.bids@undp.org
The UNDP Central Procurement Unit will respond by email and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.