THE COLOMBO PLAN

For Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific

(Colombo Plan Gender Affairs Programme)

Terms of Reference

Expert in Trauma and Gender-Based Violence to Help Develop Survey Tools for Monitoring the Afghan Women’s Shelter Fund

1. Background

The Colombo Plan for Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and Pacific, which has its headquarters in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is an inter-governmental organization with a membership of 27 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Colombo Plan Gender Affairs Programme (CPGAP), which focuses on women and children’s rights, currently implements two projects in Afghanistan, including the “Afghan Women’s Shelter Fund” (AWSF) Project. The AWSF aims to increase access to justice for women and children who have survived or are at risk of experiencing gender-based violence and/or trafficking in persons. The AWSF provides grants to mostly Afghan-run shelters, Family Guidance Centers (FGC), and Legal Advice Centers(LAC) that provide protection, legal assistance, and social services, such as mediation, family counselling, psychosocial counselling, healthcare, education, and vocational training,to survivors and their families. The AWSF currently funds 14 Shelters, 13 FGCs, and 2LACs in Afghanistan. TheAWSFalso builds the institutional capacity of the implementing partners that operate these facilities and provides funding to train and deploy psychosocial counsellors to the shelters and FGCs.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) provides funding for the AWSF. As part of INL’s multi-tiered monitoring approach, INL uses a team of U.S. and Afghan third-party contractors, known as the Flexible Implementation and Assessment Team (FIAT), to perform oversight, verification, and other monitoring duties for INL grants, agreements, and contracts across Afghanistan, including the AWSF. INL is currently working with FIAT to develop tools to survey the beneficiaries who received services through AWSF-funded shelters, FGCs, and LACs in Afghanistan.

The consultant will report to and work under the overall guidance of the AWSF’s donor, INL, and in close cooperation with INL’s third-party monitor, FIAT, to support the development of tools for interviewing trauma-affected Afghans. The consultancy is for a maximum of25days.

2.Scope of Work

INL believes that its monitoring and evaluation practices should uphold the principle of “do no harm” and respect the customs, culture, and dignity of human subjects. Data collectors and those disseminating monitoring and evaluation (M&E) reports should be respectful that certain information can endanger or embarrass respondents.Cultural sensitivityis especially important when collecting data on sensitive topics, from vulnerable and marginalized groups, and following psychosocial trauma. All of these factors are at stake in interviewing AWSF beneficiaries.

Recognizing the potential for re-victimization when collecting data from AWSF beneficiaries, particularly on services provided in direct response to the trauma beneficiaries have suffered,INL and the Colombo Plan seek a consultant to assist INL’s third-party monitor, FIAT, to develop monitoring tools to collect data from survivors of gender-based violence and trafficking in persons about the services they received and/or are receiving from AWSF-funded shelters, FGCs, and LACs.

The consultant will provide expert advice on eliciting, in a trauma sensitive manner, useful qualitative and quantitative data from survivors of gender-based violence and/or trafficking in persons, many of whom are illiterate and innumerate. The consultant will either assist FIAT’s M&E expert and INL Program Officers to develop survey questions or review and comment onexisting draftsto ensure the tools are trauma sensitive. The surveys should be designed to elicit useful information while respecting the human dignity and avoiding the re-victimization of the interview subjects. The consultant shall suggest alternative lines of questioning or phrasings as needed to comply with these requirements. The consultant will also advise INL and FIAT on survey methodology to ensure that the monitoring team or teams, particularly the enumerators who will administer the surveys, act in a trauma sensitive way.

4. Tasksand Working Days

# / Task / Working Days – to be proposed by the consultant / Workplace
1 / Assist with development of survey tools and/or review and comment on existing survey tools / Home based
2 / Advise INL and FIAT on trauma-sensitive survey methodology for use with survivors of gender-based violence and/or trafficking in persons / Home based or Kabul, Afghanistan, depending upon whether meetings with or training for enumerators are needed

5. Expected Deliverables

  • Input, in the form of draft survey questions and/or comments and edits on questions drafted by others, on two monitoring tools, comprising up to five surveys each.
  • Written guidance to FIAT and INL on how best to structure and administer surveys to ensure that they are trauma-sensitive. This should include any specific instructions or training that should be provided to enumerators before they conduct surveys.

6. Consultant(s) Qualifications

  1. Advanced degree in psychology, sociology, or other clinical social science;
  2. Experience in and sound knowledge of psychosocial work in the field of violence against women and trafficking in persons. Experience in a conflict setting or Afghanistanis preferred;
  3. Proven knowledge and experience in providing technical support to GBV programs in emergency settings and/or Muslim majority countries;
  4. Understanding and experience in evaluation methodology and practice;
  5. Experience in mainly qualitative (such as storytelling, MSC, etc.) but also in quantitative sociological research methods and practice;
  6. Background and working experience in sexualized gender-based violence and in community based approaches as an evaluator;
  7. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Knowledge of Dari and/or Pashto would be an advantage;
  8. Significant experience working in teams;
  9. A clear commitment to work with a women centered and empowering approach;
  10. High cultural sensitivity; high degree of cross-cultural competence and diversity perspective.

Preference will be given to consultant(s) who are fluent in English and Dari or Pashto and with prior experience working in Afghanistan. Prior experience with shelters, protection centers, or safe houses, etc.for women or children is required.

7. Reporting and Administration

  • The Principal Consultant will report to and work under the overall guidance ofthe Colombo Plan’s donor,INL, and in cooperation with FIAT.
  • All deliverables should be submitted to INL.
  • Records of contracts and terms of reference given to research team members, such as translators, need to be maintained and provided to Colombo Plan upon request.
  • Bills and records of travel undertaken, stationery and supplies, administrative costs, and payments made toteam members need to be maintained and provided to Colombo Plan upon request.

8. Work Station

Homebased. Travel to Afghanistan may be required on an exceptional basis.

9. Time Frame

To complete this work, a schedule of 10person days is anticipated, but the assignment may be extended up to a maximum of 25 person days.

10. Mode of Payment

The Payment will be made in 3Installments:

Installment / % / Deliverable
FirstInstallment / 10% / Signing of contract
SecondInstallment / 20% / Submission of the consultant’s comments on the first survey tool
ThirdInstallment / 70% / Completion of the assignment

11. Applications

Interested consultants/consultancy firms must submit the following documents:

  1. A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy and skills explaining your suitability for the described Scope of Work;
  2. An all-inclusive budget for the assignment in US Dollars(with breakdown of payments for human resources, travel, accommodation, stationery and supplies, and other administrative costs);
  3. Curriculum Vitae; and
  4. Threenon-related referees (name, designation, institution, contact details includingofficial address, e-mail, and telephone number).

Applications consisting of all required documents should be emailed as one PDF document to efore 17:00:00 GMT+0530 (Sri Lanka Standard Time)till 7 of June ‘2018.

Only applications inclusive of all the required documents will be considered.Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview/request for supporting documents.

12. Criteriafor the Evaluation of Technical Proposals

Category / Score
Specific experience of the consultant(s)relevant to the assignment / 50
Key professional staff qualifications and competence for the assignment: / 50
Total / 100

The weights given to the Technical and Financial Proposals are:

Technical Proposal = 70% and

Financial Proposal = 30%

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