Background

Working in tandem with an International Consultant, the Consultant will support the assessment of the quality, gaps and capacity development needs related to the provision of services in Women Protection Centers and Family Guidance Centers supported by UN Women in Afghanistan. The findings of the assessment will inform recommendations and a capacity development plan. The consultant will provide technical inputs and ensure that the methodology and data collection are culturally relevant to Afghanistan and to the specific context of each province. The consultant will be expected to support the desk review by bringing information and background on Afghanistan and to support data collection in the shelters with translation, and helping facilitate the exchange with the interviewees, following ethical principles of research on violence against women. The consultant will also support the organisation and facilitation of a workshop where the findings and recommendations of the assessment will be presented.

UN Women Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Assignment Background:

Violence Against Women (VAW) is one of the most widespread violation of human rights worldwide, globally affecting around one in three women in her lifetime. VAW is widespread in Afghanistan, where a staggering 87% of Afghan women experience violence, mostly at the hands of family members and husbands.The violence experienced by Afghanistan women at the hands of their husbands and partners is frequent, severe, and of multiple forms: physical, sexual, economic and psychological. Most women who experience violence in intimate relationships often experience multiple forms of violence and endure repeated acts of violence at the hands of their current and/or former partners and family. Other manifestations of VAW includes early and forced marriages – including baad (the exchange of girls for dispute resolution) and baadal (exchange marriages), so-called honor crimes, rapes and killings of women, sexual harassment in the workplace and in public spaces, and self-immolation and self-harm linked to experiences of violence. In Afghanistan, 35 % of girls are married by age 18.

Years of war and insecurity have deepened the culture of violence in Afghanistan, and it continues to be a source of deep concern, despite positive legislative and institutional developments. Women and girls are exposed to violence in public and private spaces, girls are prevented from going to school, and women have little access healthcare such as polio immunizations. Women remain mostly excluded from the peace process. Finally, human rights defenders and organizations providing support services to women survivors have become targets of violence and harassment.

Deeply engrained patriarchal and religious norms in society, institutions, policies and services support gender discrimination, place a lower value on women and girls and drive VAW. Gender hierarchies that favour men, tight control on women’s bodies and their sexuality, restriction on women’s mobility, harmful notions of masculinity, and rigid gender roles all encourage the perpetration of VAW. These harmful social norms and practices contribute to high levels of acceptance of VAW by both men and women. In Afghanistan, 72% of men and 80% of women think that a husband is justified to beat his wife.

Four main factors underlie women’s vulnerability and the perpetuation of violence against women in Afghanistan: the traditional gender order that values men above women in all areas; the erosion of protective social mechanisms; the weak rule of law; poverty and insecurity. Social taboos and sanctions for certain crimes of morality – such as suspected romantic or sexual relationships outside marriage (‘zina’) – have not only led to an overall culture of silence around violence against women, but also increased impunity for perpetrator. They have also led to secondary violence, such as virginity tests to rebut accusations of zina. Traditional justice systems often perpetuate the current social order and work against women’s rights, undermining formal legal reform. Instead of finding support from police, judicial institutions, and government officials, women who try to flee abusive situations often face indifference or criminal sanctions for committing moral crimes.

Key to maintaining women and girls’ safety is an understanding of the gendered nature of violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, and providing services within a culture of women’s empowerment. This includes ensuring that services are women-focused, age-appropriate, child-friendly, are non-blaming, and support women and children to consider the range of choices available to them and support their decisions.

UN Women is one of the leading agencies to provide safe spaces for women survivors of violence in Afghanistan. It supports 11 Women Protection Centers (WPCs) and 5 Family Guidance Centers (FGC) across Afghanistan.  Over 3500 VAW survivors through 11 WPCs and 5 FGCs. Through the support to WPCs and FGCs, UN Women aims to:

1. Improve the integration and delivery of the existing protection services, focusing on VAW survivors
2. Improve the quality of early intervention and essential services in line with the essential services package for women and girls subject to violence to support the empowerment of VAW survivors for safe reintegration into their families and/or communities, using a survivor-centered approach, and
3. Promote favourable social norms, attitudes and behaviours at the community level to prevent VAW and engage communities in protection and prevention.

UN Women is currently supporting 11 WPCs through partnerships with 7 NGOs and CSOs. The WPCs and FGCs offer a range of services including protection, legal, health, vocational, and rehabilitation services to survivors in those centers. Based on the experience and lessons learned from working with WPCs and FGCs, the programme will focus on institutional support and capacity development to local partners operating WPCs and FGCs. The findings of this assessment will inform the capacity development needs in relation to standardization of services, case management, data collection, risk managements, psychosocial service delivery, and self-care for staff.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

In order to ensure the highest standards of rights and services to survivors who seek support, UN Women Afghanistan is seeking the services of a National Consultant to work in tandem with an International Consultant to undertake a thorough quality and needs assessment of the services provided by the 11 WPCs and 5 FGCs UN Women supports. The assessment will provide practical recommendations to upgrade the quality of services provided in those centers, including a capacity development plan for the 7 NGOs and CSOs providing services, partners and stakeholders. The Essential Services Package for Women and Girls subject to Violence is as a key reference for quality coordinated services.

The Consultant will work with the International Consultant to develop an appropriate methodology for this assessment, in line with ethical rules for researching VAW and working with VAW survivors. The assessment will likely include desk review of reports provided by the partners, structured surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with key informants, service users and service providers (including women who have left the WPCs). The consultant will work to provide technical inputs and ensure that the Afghanistan context is well considered and the methodology is culturally relevant. The consultant will support with translation, including during interviews and data collection. The consultant shall conduct the interviews following all the ethical rules of research on violence against women, to create a safe and empowering way for interviewees and survivors. Ethical and safety guidelines include WHO, Researching Violence Against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists and WHO, Putting Women First: Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Research on Domestic Violence Against Women.

The work will entail to support the quality, gaps and needs assessment of the services provided in the WPCs and FGCs and to provide inputs into actionable recommendations for the improvement of the services as well as into the capacity development plan for partners and stakeholders. The consultant will also be tasked to support the organization and the facilitation of a workshop where the findings and recommendations of the assessment will be presented to partners and stakeholders. This workshop will inform the finalization of the assessment, recommendations and capacity development plan.

Assessment of the quality of the services provided, based on international best practice guidance and standards:

• Provide inputs to the desk review, particularly on the situation analysis and information about shelters in Afghanistan and the Afghanistan context related to violence against women, services for survivors and gender equality. The desk review report will consider partners reports to UN Women, available policies, programmes, procedures, regulations, reports, and other documents related to WPCs, FGDs and shelters in Afghanistan, including international best practices and the Essential Services Package. The desk review should highlight preliminary findings and international best practices that could be applied to the Afghanistan context.
• Provide inputs to the workplan for the whole assignment and methodology for the collection of data for the assessment, particularly in terms of feasibility and cultural relevance to the Afghan context, and in line with international standards for ethical research with women and girls subject to violence (confidentiality, informed consent, voluntary participation, referrals and other ethical considerations), in line with WHO guidance referred above.
• Support data collection with the facilitation and translation of semi-structured  interviews, survivor surveys and focus group discussions with key informants, stakeholders, service users and service providers (including women who have left the WPCs and have used FGCs), in line with WHO ethics and safety guidance referred above. The data collection aims to assess the quality of the range of services provided in the centers supported by UN Women, identify gaps and capacity development needs and assess survivors’ satisfaction (views of survivors in what constitutes quality service provision, their needs and how they was or was no met). The assessment will consider the quality of services provided, as well as referrals, case management, data collection on VAW cases. It includes but not limited to awareness/ information sessions for residents; opportunities for education or vocational training; recreational activities; medical and psychological counselling support; legal aid; age-appropriateness; support for residents’ children; mechanisms for the residents to express their needs and concerns as well as take part in the planning and oversight of the shelter. Some criteria include but are not limited to:
  • Assessment of the physical facilities and its infrastructure (appropriateness, conditions, safety, comfort, accessibility, privacy and confidentiality, spaces for children)
  • Availability
  • Accessibility (in line with the leaving no one behind principle, for women living with disability, women with children, etc)
  • Adaptability
  • Appropriateness (including trained staff and workforce development)
  • Culturally and age appropriate (including ensuring that the accommodation addresses the needs of adolescents, children and is child friendly)
  • Sensitivity
  • Victim/survivor centered approach
  • Prioritization of safety and security
  • Informed consent
  • Privacy and confidentiality
  • Data collection, protection and information management
  • Referral pathway - Linking with other sectors and agencies through coordination (including CSOs, as well as professional services such as doctors, lawyers, psychologists/ counselors etc.)
  • Case management
• Support the assessment of staff capacity and capacity development needs (including knowledge and attitudes)
• Support the assessment the effectiveness and efficiency of existing referral systems/ partnership arrangements between the centers and other stakeholders e.g police, women affairs, hospitals… etc.
• Support the documentation of current good practices and major challenges
• Support the assessment of the case follow up mechanism of survivors who left the WPC.
• Using the findings of the assessment, provide inputs in the list of practical and actionable recommendations to upgrade services and service provision.
• Using the findings of the assessment, provide inputs in the capacity development plan for partners, stakeholder and the centers’ staff for the provision of quality survivor-centered services, case-management and referrals.
• Based on the outcomes of the workshop where findings and recommendations will be presented, provide inputs to the final assessment, recommendations and capacity development plan, including feedbacks from key stakeholders and UN Women personnel engaged in the process.

Support the organisation and facilitation of a 2-day workshop to present the findings and recommendations of the assessment to get feedback and provide an opportunity for stakeholders to inform the assessment and foster ownership.

• Provide inputs to concept note, agenda and presentations of the findings of the assessment
• In-person facilitation of the workshop.
• Provide inputs to a short meeting report.  

Deliverables and timeframe:

Duration of Assignment and Duty Station

The assignment can be home-based with 2 missions within Afghanistan to conduct interviews and collect data in shelters in April 2020, and for 1 workshop in June.

Supervision

The consultant will be supervised by the EVAW Programme Specialist.

Competencies

• Strong proven ability to work with senior officials
• Strong training and facilitation skills.
• Excellent inter-personal and general communication skills, written and oral;
• Must be self-starter with excellent demonstrated teamwork skills;
• Demonstrated sensitivity, discretion, tact and courtesy in relation to gender equality and women’s rights, development principles and projects.
• Commitment to upholding the organizational values and principles of UN Women Afghanistan.
• Essential computer skills – familiarity with Microsoft Word programs, internet, e-mail.
• Ability to work under pressure, to follow deadlines and handle numerous tasks simultaneously.
• Proven ability to liaise with myriad stakeholders and partners, including government, civil society, international organizations and grassroots organizations.
• Commitment to upholding the organizational values and principles of UN Women.
• Demonstrated sensitivity, discretion, tact and courtesy in relation to gender equality and women’s rights, development principles and projects. 

Required Skills and Experience

• Master’s degree in the field of international development, gender studies, social science, social work or other related area.
• A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in working on gender equality and violence against women.
• Proven experience working on service provision for survivors of violence and with shelters is a distinctive advantage.
• Ability to carry out gender focused research and analysis that are able to contribute to the formulation of policies, procedures and guidelines on gender equality and the empowerment of women, in line with ethical principles.
• Good understanding of VAWG data collection and management. 
• Strong facilitation, writing, analytical and presentation skills.
• Fluency in English and Dari. 

Submission of application

The Submission package includes:

• Updated CV
• Cover letter
• Personal History Form (P11 which can be downloaded from http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs)
• Financial proposal: the financial proposal shall specify a lump sum amount breaking down the professional fee for each deliverable on daily basis. All the travels costs will be covered by UN Women according to UN Women’s rules and regulation and should not be included in the financial proposal.

All requested documents of the submission package (CV, Cover Letter, P11 and financial proposal) should be combined in one document and uploaded when asked to upload the resume. Uncomplete submission may not be considered.