Consultancy - Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility External Review

Contract

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Job Title: Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility External Review Consultant

Closing date: 29 August 2022

Duration: 3,5 months

Duty Station: Remote-based assignment, supporting the Humanitarian Office in Geneva.

Purpose of consultancy: In 2005 the IASC cluster approach was introduced as a means of more effectively coordinating humanitarian response. The Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR), established in 2006, is the global level forum for coordination and collaboration under the cluster approach on GBV prevention and response in humanitarian settings. UNFPA was designated as the lead Agency of the GBV AoR that is part of the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) along with UNICEF and assumed sole leadership as of 2017. The GBV AoR works collectively to improve the effectiveness and accountability of the humanitarian response to prevent and mitigate the risk and respond to all forms of gender-based violence and to ensure that the agency of survivors is recognised and reinforced. There is increasing effort, particularly in protracted crises, to work with development actors (nexus) and to work on preparedness especially in regions that are affected by natural disasters.

The evaluation of UNFPA’s humanitarian capacity conducted in 2019 found that the GBV AoR at the global level has progressed positively since UNFPA assumed sole leadership in 2017. In 2019, it has been adequately resourced for the first time but this has not been wholly based on core resource commitment from UNFPA. At the country level, coordination by GBV sub-clusters has improved but there remain GBV sub-clusters which are under-resourced, with double-hatting coordinators, an absence of information management functions and an over-reliance on the surge mechanism.

The GBV AoR has a unique structure for advocacy and field support, with a global coordination team, supported by regional experts in Nairobi, Panama, Cairo, Bangkok and Dakar; creating a community of GBV responders that spans global, regional and field coordination.

Some key milestones achieved by the GBV AoR under the leadership of UNFPA since 2016, include the development of a new AoR vision, mission and two strategies; the engagement in facilitating the direction for the 2019 Oslo Global GBV meeting; active engagement with the GPC and Child Protection in particular, active engagement with the Call to Action and the Roadmaps, full implementation of objectives with related activities of the 2015-2020 GBV AoR Capacity Development strategy, notably the development of revised GBV coordination handbook; the development of global minimum standards for GBV in collaboration with UNFPA GBV staff; support for a community of practice and a GBV AoR helpdesk; support to improving GBV data and information management from the previous narrow focus on GBVIMS to a broader understanding of data required for humanitarian needs assessments, response plans, dashboards and reporting, academic partnerships (Nairobi Diploma Course, Nigeria two week intensive, the San Remo GPC and AoR Training) and the GBViE Management course. These achievements have all been positive, and accomplished with some core resource support from UNFPA.

The evaluation also recommended that UNFPA develop a resource plan for ensuring that gender-based violence sub-clusters are resourced equivalently to other clusters with well-capacitated coordinators and technical support. This includes ensuring that the UNFPA minimum standards regarding gender-based violence are adhered to, including appointment of a sub cluster coordinator and addressing key coordination challenges, such as high turnover of coordination staff, excessive coordination workloads (double/triple-hatting) and lack of information management functions within sub clusters.

The GBV AoR team is currently coordinating responses in 32 countries that are clusters or cluster-like but a total of 42 if preparedness contexts are included, and the GBV sub-clusters have a total membership of more than 2000 organizations, including local actors and government counterparts in addition to UN and INGOs. The GBV AoR team is hosted in UNFPA’s humanitarian office.

NorCap will be conducting a review of the GBV AoR Regional Experts (REGA) in a similar timeframe, so the sharing of relevant information between the two reviews and enabling synergies will be beneficial to both.

UNFPA is seeking a consultant/ or team of consultants to conduct a review dedicated to the GBV AoR going beyond the scope of the 2019 evaluation where aspects of the GBV AOR were addressed in the context of an overall evaluation of humanitarian capacity.

The review will cover : 1) How UNFPA is fulfilling its mandate as lead agency for the GBV Area of Responsibility and reviewing how it has acted on the recommendations made in the humanitarian capacity evaluation of 2019:

• The extent to which it has leveraged the AoR lead Agency Role within the IASC system to ensure GBV responses are effectively coordinated at the field level.
• The extent to which the engagement of UNFPA leadership (UNFPA representatives and inter-agency GBV coordinators) is resulting in systematic, strengthened inter-agency field response.
• Institutionalization of IASC GBV leadership role throughout the organization.

2) Identify key areas of added value of the AoR and areas for improvement and development of the GBV AoR

3) identify additional areas of inquiry which could be the object of future evaluations.

Scope of work: Under the supervision of the Global Coordinator, GBV AoR, Deputy Director, Humanitarian Office, the consultant (s) will provide the following deliverables:

1. Produce an inception report – that provides overview of methodology and tools of research. It is expected that consultations will be held at global, regional levels. Up to 4 countries where GBV sub clusters are established should be selected by the Consultant(s) in consultation with the review manager at the inception stage. Key informant interviews and FGDs with GBV AoR Core Members and GBV Sub cluster/Sector members are expected, as well as consultations with key stakeholders such as UNFPA Country Representatives, UNFPA Humanitarian Coordinators, HCs, OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF, the Protection Cluster, Child Protection AoR, Call to Action stakeholders, etc. Analysis of guiding documents, analytical frameworks, secondary data analysis and a review of previous evaluations should also be included in the methodology.
2. Conduct all data collection including secondary data review.
3. Hold two debrief workshops to present and discuss preliminary findings; one with UNFPA and one with the GBV AoR Core Members and REGAs
4. Produce a draft review report including findings and recommendations for review by the UNFPA Humanitarian Office and steering committee that will be established to guide the process (The steering committee will be composed of relevant HO units, UNFPA’s evaluation office and RHCs and Representatives from the 4 focus countries). (An outline of the report should be agreed upon with the HO, with initial recommendations for feedback; taking into consideration at least 2 rounds of feedback).
5. Final Report

Required Expertise and Qualifications:

Education: Advanced Degree in social science, gender, health, international relations and related fields

Knowledge and Experience:

• Minimum 15 years’ experience in the field of gender based violence (this expertise is expected as the lead or within the team);
• Experience in GBV assessment and analysis, GBV AoR, IASC cluster system is a must;
• Experience in gathering and analyzing qualitative data;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills;
• Proactive attitude to identify and propose practical steps and recommendations;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a multicultural and changing environment, communication skills, teamwork, analytic thinking, planning and organizing, time management, creativity and innovation and client orientation.

Languages: Excellent written and spoken English. An additional UN language is desirable

How to Apply: Please send your application and a short letter of motivation with "Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility External Review Consultancy" in the subject line to ho-recruitment@unfpa.org by 29 August 2022.

A proposed daily and/or monthly rate should be included in the application. Female candidates are encouraged to apply. Late applications will not be accepted. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advanced to the next stage of the selection process.