International Consultant- Design research methodology for GBV services assessment Under EVAW

Contract

This is a International Consultant contract. More about International Consultant contracts.

Background

In 2020, as a result of the COVID crisis, the United Nation system embarked in the development of the Immediate Socio Economic Response Plan (ISERP). The UN Immediate Socio-Economic Response Plan was launched by the UN DSG in April 2020. It is one of three components of the UN effort to save lives, protect people, and rebuild better in the context of COVID-19, alongside the health response, led by the World Health Organization, and the humanitarian response as detailed in the UN-led COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

The ISERP aims to mitigate the multifaceted impacts of COVID-19 so that the country can make a solid recovery and continue its progress towards its development goals, including the 2030 Agenda. In support of the economic stimulus and social protection packages issued by the Government in response to the crisis, the interventions and policy recommendations in the strategy intend to help Bangladesh build back better and seize opportunities to promote more inclusive sustainable development in the post-COVID landscape.

Without urgent socio-economic responses that focus on addressing the needs of those most vulnerable, suffering will escalate, jeopardizing lives and livelihoods for years to come. The ISERP therefore is firmly anchored in a 'whole of the society' approach and the principle of 'leaving no one behind,’ with a central focus on advancing human rights and ensuring gender and conflict-sensitive considerations guide analysis, programming, and decision making. Under the ISERP Pillar 5, Promoting social cohesion and investing in community-led resilience and response systems one of the key priorities is strengthening prevention and response mechanisms to tackle Gender Based Violence, specifically on strengthening GBV response mechanisms that have been disrupted during COVID 19.

a. Gender Based Violence in Bangladesh

COVID-19 lockdown has disproportionately impacted women as existing gender inequalities are exacerbating gender-based disparities between women, men, girls and boys in terms of access to information, resources to cope with the pandemic, and its socio-economic impact. The concentration of women’s employment in the informal sector, on the one hand, and in Bangladesh’s health system, on the other – where more than 94 percent of nurses, 90 percent of community health workers and all midwives are female – has placed women on the front lines of both the consequences of and the response to the pandemic.

These trends illustrate the unequal social norms that view domestic violence and intimate partner violence as a private matter that leads to underreporting. The outbreak has heightened exposure of children to abuse and yet fewer venues to report violence, both due to school shutdowns, a lack of social support and household stresses. Furthermore, it has evoked increased risks of child marriage for adolescent girls, which traditionally increase during times of emergency.

Violence against women, boys and girls was already alarming before the COVID 19 crisis. The VAW survey (2015) estimates a more than two thirds (72.6%) lifetime prevalence rate among women, while 37.5 % of the adolescent girls aged 15-19 years’ experience partner physical violence. Further, before COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 45 million children (MICS 2019) in Bangladesh were experiencing violence. Cases of domestic violence are often not reported because it is widely tolerated and justified for breaking gender norms. Fear, stigma, and inadequate understanding of human rights might be contributing factors to under-reporting. Despite the high prevalence of violence against women, children, and girls, an alarming culture of silence and impunity is widespread across the country, where 72.6% of women who suffered violence never reported or told others. Among those who did, the majority reported cases of violence to their family members or neighbors, while only a minimal 1.1% reported to the police and 2.1 to local leaders. A general lack of information, scarcity of trust towards service providers, fear of re-victimization, stigma, inadequate governance structures, and obstruction by community leaders are among the reasons for low reporting. Amid this emergency period some CSOs observed to continue their GBV focused interventions through hotline services, legal advice and psychosocial counselling.

GBV is under-reported generally and it is difficult to obtain, due to insecurity, service gaps, lack of protection of survivors, fear of reprisals and impunity for perpetrators, social stigma, cultural norms, etc. Knowing just how much violence is occurring is already a challenge; it is an under-reported area in the first place, and all the more so under these circumstances of seclusion and inhibited communication. In Bangladesh, the Rapid Gender Analysis shows that 33% of women do not know where to call for help if they experience violence. Also, 49.2% of women, children and girls felt safety and security was an issue due to the lockdown and loss of livelihoods.

Safety, security and access to justice services may be disrupted as government institutions shift resources to the public health crisis. Outside of the home, gender-based violence and sexual exploitation are likely to increase alongside increased social vulnerability and poverty. Risks to sexual orientation and gender identity minorities will likely increase alongside increased reinforcement of gendered norms (that require women at home), compromising their health, safety and autonomy in public and private spaces. Physical violence and exploitation by law enforcement agencies being subjected on floating sex workers and transwomen for being on the streets during lockdown who need to make a living.

In this context, UN Women, UNICEF, and UNFPA is working jointly towards strengthen prevention and response mechanisms to tackle Gender Based Violence, specifically on strengthening GBV response mechanisms that have been disrupted during COVID 19, and is planning to conduct an analysis of how COVID has disrupted the GBV services to gain a more in-depth understanding of availability of essential services. To achieve this, UN Women is seeking an international consultant to design the methodology for this analysis. The international consultant will be soley responsible to design the research methodology and chalk out the scope of a rapid assessment of governmental and non-governmental GBV Services. The research methodology should be aligned with the Essential Service Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (ESP) components and include research protocol, detailing out the scope of the analysis, cost and timeline for each of the sectors that will be assessed. The international consultant will be accompanied by a national consultant who will responsible for conducting a desk review of the existing research and analysis and a mapping of the current services. The national consultant will be responsible to provide insights from the national perspective and liaising with stakeholders for consultation and validation, when needed.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Programme Specialist - Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW), and a task force composed of UN Women, UNFPA and UNICEF, the International Consultant will work in partnership with a national consultant to undertake the following tasks:

Objectives:

Design a research methodology to assess the functionality of governmental and non-governmental GBV Services, following the ESP components, such as health services, including mental health, shelter homes/ temporary accommodations, social service / social safety net programmes, coordination and governance of coordination particularly within the Government at national and sub national level, and assessing the justice and policing sector quality of services to women and children subject to GBV. The consultant will be in charge only of designing the research methodology.

On the basis of this methodology, UN Women, UNFPA and UNICEF will then recruit selected researchers that will be actually conducting the assessment of GBV services by complying with international and quality standards in 2021.

Scope of work:

• Provide overall guidance to national consultant to conduct a desk review, mapping of the existing studies, assessment and research on GBV services;
• Design a research methodology for a GBV service assessment, in line with the components of the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, identifying the specific scope and components for the assessment;
• Draft a work plan to conduct the GBV service assessment, including of timelines and cost for each components of the assessment;
• Develop research protocol, including of research objectives and questionnaires for each research component;
• Develop guidelines and checklist to ensure compliance with ethical standards and GBV data collections methods;

III. Duration of Work and Travel:

Home based 20 days spread across approx. 2 months, between November and December. If unforeseen travel is occurs during the contractual period, UN travel and DSA policy will applied.

IV. Supervision and performance evaluation:

The consultant will be directly supervised by UN Women Programme Specialist, Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW).

V. Expected deliverables

Deliverables

Target Dates

1. Develop an inception plan and skeleton of research methodology

   Week 1

2. Design a research methodology for a GBV service assessment, in line with the components of the Essential Services Package

   Week 3

3. Draft a work plan to conduct the GBV service assessment, including of timelines and cost for each components of the assessment

   Week 4

4. Develop research protocol, including of research objectives and questionnaires for each research component

   Week 5

5. Develop guidelines and checklist to ensure compliance with ethical standards and GBV data collections methods

   Week 6

6. Provide overall technical assistance to national consultant

   Week 8

VI. Payment Milestone Linked with deliverables: :

Respective deliverables and documents will be reviewed by UN Women before processing any payment.

Payment schedule is as followings:

Deliverables

Deadline of payment

Conditions of Release of Payment

1. Develop an inception plan and skeleton of research methodology

15 December 2020

100 % of the total contract amount shall be paid upon submission of deliverables from 01 to 06 and all acceptance and certified by the UN Women Bangladesh contract administrator

2. Design a research methodology for a GBV service assessment, in line with the components of the Essential Services Package

3. Draft a work plan to conduct the GBV service assessment, including of timelines and cost for each components of the assessment

4. Develop research protocol, including of research objectives and questionnaires for each research component

5. Develop guidelines and checklist to ensure compliance with ethical standards and GBV data collections methods

6. Provide overall technical assistance to national consultant

Competencies

Functional Competencies

• Proven experience in developing research methodologies and protocols in the field of EVAW;
• Experience in planning and facilitating high- level consultations, training and participatory design;
• Experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative research related to EVAW;
• Familiarity and knowledge of the Essential Service Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence;
• Previous professional experience with the United Nations, especially UN Women;
• Familiarity with the WHO Ethical standards;
• Previous experience in Bangladesh would be an asset.

Core Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, public policy/administration, governance, gender studies or similar.

Technical Competencies:

• At least 8 years’ experience in issues related to gender equality and ending violence against women, and research

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, only and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the SSA in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages

Evaluation Method and Criteria: Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Cumulative analysis-

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant up on Cumulative Analysis/evaluation and determined as: 1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and 2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation; Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70 mark in technical evaluation will be considered eligible for financial evaluation. Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points out of 100)

Criteria-01; Academic Qualification - Max Point 15 Criteria-02; Experience in the field of gender equality and violence against women-Max Point 20 Criteria-03; Proven experience in developing research methodologies and protocols in the field of EVAW- Max Point 25

Criteria-04; Previous professional experience with the United Nations, especially UN Women- Max Point 15

Criteria-05; Familiarity and knowledge of the Essential Service Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence- Max Point 25

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points (70) will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.

Interested candidates will submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

To be included as part of the proposal:

• A brief expression of interest: a brief narrative presenting your suitability for this assignment ·
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from: http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment
• Sample work
• Financial proposal: Propose the daily fees ( per date rate * 20 days).

Only applications including all items mentioned above will be considered.

NOTE: Documents required before contract signing:

UN Personal History Form; Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel for consultants with travel involved. (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts); Security Certificate BSAFE: EN: https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=17891 Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Director prior to taking up their assignment; Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official. Only applications will all items mentioned above will be considered

Note: The individual consultant who does not meet the above eligibility criteria shall not be considered for further evaluation. Necessary documentation must be submitted to substantiate the above eligibility criteria