CONSULTANCY - TERMS OF REFERENCE

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle East with more than 30,000 staff. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions.

CONSULTANT

FOR GENDER BASED VIOLENCE (GBV) EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE, Headquarters Amman, Jordan

(re-advertised)

Note: Applicants who previously applied need not re-apply

BACKGROUND

GBV continues to be a growing concern where acute humanitarian pressures and violent conflict constitute aggravating factors for GBV, particularly violence against women and girls. In recent years, increased knowledge of and attention to GBV in emergencies has brought to light the prevalence and effects of GBV, further highlighting the global community’s responsibility. In accordance with international standards, UNRWA has progressively engaged in addressing GBV in emergencies both in the sphere of prevention and response across its five fields of operation through the establishment of a cross-sectoral referral system.While these efforts have been instrumental in improving access to services for survivors of GBV, greater efforts are needed to ensure the wider emergency response sustain and facilitate GBV responses in emergencies and that UNRWA’s emergency responders build a stronger foundation for understanding gendered impacts of emergency operations as a means to ensure GBV risks are addressed and risks mitigation mainstreamed across all sectors of operations.

In this perspective, UNRWA developed the project Building Safety: Mainstreaming GBV Interventions into Emergency Preparedness, Prevention and Response within the context of the Safe from the Start Initiative. This project offers an important opportunity to strengthen UNRWA’s preparedness capacity to mainstream GBV interventions in emergency operations and to incorporate a gender sensitive approach to emergency response. The first level of action, which mainly concerns the scope of this consultancy,involves the development and the establishment of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to address GBV in emergencies. These will draw on international guidelines, such as IASC, GBV AoR, IRC’s GBV emergency toolkit, and PSEA and will be tailored to define minimum common standards among all fields of operation, building on existing emergency resources and structures. This approach will be also mindful of the current Agency’s plans to develop an agency-wide emergency response framework.

Developing GBV SOPs will be an inclusive and collaborative process that will involve a series of consultations within and outside the Agency including UNRWA’s emergency and protection programmes across the fields. The overall process will include the following stages:

  • Areference group comprising representatives of key programmes/departments within the Agency, both from the HQ and the fields, such as Health/Psychosocial, Protection, Relief and Social Service, ICIP, Safety and Security and Planning sectors in addition to the gender unit will be formed throughout the initial phase of the project. The reference group will have a consultative and advisory role over the implementation of the project and will be particularly involved in the progress stages of the GBV SOPs, including the roll-out phase.
  • An initial situational analysis, which will take from available information and documents, will be carried out in order to determine: (i) current main areas of concern/gaps related to GBV; (ii) feasible and sustainable ways through which GBV SOPs can be integrated and embedded into the current UNRWA’ organizational structure. The wealth of knowledge gained from the initial situational analysis will enable all following steps in the development of GBV SOPs to be based on informed decisions.
  • The outcomes of the initial situational analysis will inform the development of the first draft of the document, which will mainly provide an outline of the main content.Inputs to the draft plans will be sought through a series of meetings, workshops and exchanges (held at different levels) that will progressively lead to the advanced and final draft plan. The final plan will be presented in a conclusive event and circulated on the basis of a dissemination plan.
  • The SOPs will describe the roles, guiding principle and minimum procedures for preparedness and response to GBV affecting target communities as well as mitigation of GBV risks. They will include guiding tools for assessing GBV related aspects in key emergency operations, including safety audit tools, shelter checklists, multi-sectoral needs assessment checklists etc. as well as timeline for implementation. Importantly along with the establishment of the GBV SOPs a plan delineating roles and responsibilities for the SOPs implementation will be defined. Focal points in each field of operations will be designated within the current emergency structures.

In addition to this level of action the project focuses on: (i) Strengthening the capacity of UNRWA emergency responders on gender and GBV, both in terms of understanding and practice; (ii) Developing evidence-based assessments on GBV prevention processes in emergencies, including the identification of best practices; (iii) Enhancing understanding of GBV among individuals and communities and enabling active participation of target communities in the framing of prevention and mitigation efforts, seeking active participation of women, men, boys and girls through dedicated activities.

PURPOSE

The Gender Based Violence in Emergencies Consultant will assist in strengthening the organizational capacity to addressing GBV in the context of emergency preparedness and response. In doing that, the consultant will develop effective GBV Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which will provide guidance for all relevant UNRWA staff concerned with emergency operations on how to address GBV in emergency settings. The consultant is also expected to contribute to learning, evidence generation and capacity development in line with the key objectives of the project.

EXPECTED OUTCOME

The outcome of this consultancy is to establish minimum operating standards to address GBV in emergencies ensuring that these build on thorough review of the existing emergency resources in all fields of operations and that are aligned with current Agency’s efforts to define an emergency response framework. The development of the GBV SOPs will bring together the HQ and FOs in a participatory manner and this approach is expected to enhance ownership and buy-in of the parties involved in the process.

DELIVERABLES

  • A detailed work plan, includingstep by step process of SOP development, methodology, timelines, and all actors and stakeholders to be consulted throughout the process;
  • A report of the situational analysis;
  • An SOP outline, including of all key SOP components and guiding tools and an implementation plan.
  • Finalized SOPs for GBV in emergencies, encompassing inputs and comments.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The consultant will report to the Senior Gender Advisor in HQ Amman and work closely with the Project Coordinator. The consultant will be actively engaged in all different stages described above, with a focus on the following tasks:

  • Work with all relevant stakeholders engaged in emergency prevention and response within and outside UNRWA towards the development of the SOPs for GBV in emergencies, in coordination with the gender unit;
  • Work towards the establishment and coordination of the UNRWA reference group that will be involved in the development of the SOPs and facilitate the consultation process in relation to that, in coordination with the gender unit.
  • Conduct a situational analysis to identify gaps and points of intervention in existing programmes and procedures;
  • Align work with ongoing preparedness efforts and other efforts to standardize humanitarian response across sectors.
  • Develop comprehensive SOPs on GBV in emergencies based on the outcomes of the situational analysis and the consultation inputs of all relevant counterparts involved in the project.
  • Conduct/Facilitate meetings and workshops, and present the finalized SOPs as well as the processes used for their development at the final workshop.
  • Ensure that feedback provided through the follow up on the roll-out of SOPs is appropriately incorporated and taken into account in the guidelines.
  • Contribute to learning, evidence generation and capacity development in line with the key objectives of the project.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

  • Advanced university degreefrom an accredited educational institution in gender studies, human rights, international development, development management, orother related field;
  • Minimum 5 years of extensive experience in research and analytical work in gender and women's advancement fields in the context of GBV programming in emergencies and/or conflict-affected countries;
  • Fluency in spoken and written English;

COMPETENCIES

  • Solid experience in actively engaging in preparedness and response programming to address GBV in emergencies;
  • Excellent analytical, communication, and writing skills including experience in drafting reports and technical guidelines such as SOPs;
  • Experience in liaising with different counterparts, facilitating consultations, meetings and workshops.
  • Knowledge of international standards for gender and GBV in emergencies;
  • Excellent Computer skills: MS Word, Excel, Power Point, and database software;

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

  • A PhD degree from an accredited educational institution in gender studies, human rights, political science, development management or other related fields;
  • Understanding the political context situation of Palestine refugees and Palestinian women in UNRWA’s fields of operation;
  • Previous work experience in the Middle East;
  • Previous work with a UN Agency;
  • Fluency in spoken and written Arabic.

Additional Information

Willingness and ability to travel to all UNRWA fields of operations as needed during the assignment.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

  • The overall duration of the assignment is 22 months based on a twice 11 month contract.
  • Remuneration for this consultancy will depend on the qualifications and experience of the candidate.
  • The consultant will be based at UNRWAHeadquarters in Amman and will be carrying out travel missions to the fields of operation (West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan).

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants should submit the below via clearly indicating the title of this consultancy “Consultant for GBV Emergency Preparedness and Response” in the subject line of the message:

-Cover letter;

-CV or UN Personal History Form demonstrating clearly the knowledge and experience required to meet the consultancy requirements;

-Brief outline of methodological proposal, which includes the proposed methodology, proposed work plan with tasks, timeframe and budget.

The deadline for the submission of applications is11 July2015.

UNRWA is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from both women and men. UNRWA encourages applications from qualified and experienced female candidates. Due to a large number of applications, only qualified applicants under serious consideration will be contacted. UNRWA is a non-smoking environment.

1 July 2015

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