Terms of Reference Development of Global Guidance on Addressing School-Related Gender-Based Violence

Transcription

1 4 th February 2015 Terms of Reference Development of Global Guidance on Addressing School-Related Gender-Based Violence Introduction Gender-based violence (GBV) is one of the most systematic, pervasive human rights violations in the world. GBV is a global phenomenon that knows no geographical, cultural, social, economic, ethnic, or other boundaries: it occurs across all societies. GBV is a major obstacle to the achievement of gender equality, a serious contributor to the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, un-intended pregnancy, and acts as a barrier to fulfilling the right to education by limiting girl s and boys access to school and precipitating school leaving. Furthermore, it has immense economic and social costs, affecting national public budgets and perpetuating cycles of abuse. Fortunately, after decades of mobilization by the women s movement and other human rights based organizations, the issue is now high on global development, security and human rights agendas. As we approach the post-2015 period with a new framework, the international community is witnessing an historic moment and opportunity for addressing violence in all settings, with an unprecedented juncture of political will and potential for mobilizing the necessary human and financial resources to eradicate this fundamental human rights violation. The major challenge worldwide, however, has been translating policy commitments into practice, by implementing and enforcing existing policies and laws in order that people benefit from this increasingly large-scale mobilization. Traditionally, there have been limited gender-based violence programming capacities and expertise available, coupled with a limited knowledge-base of proven strategies on which to build optimally effective policies and programmes. To meet the challenge, the United Nations, governments and civil society have each been working to advance the global knowledge base on what works and to develop relevant guidance and tools to strengthen capacities for evidence-based programming and evaluation across sectors and approaches. The education sector is critical within a multi-sectoral approach. It is key in responding to abuse that occurs within and around school settings, in addition to its key role as socializing mechanism that can contribute to broader prevention of GBV. While efforts related to the education sector have progressed, including improved data and research; a strengthened normative framework; better documentation of promising approaches and resources; and knowledge sharing, responses remain largely fragmented, of varying quality and are often of small scale and not comprehensive. In 2014, a new global partners working group was established under the leadership of UNGEI and UNESCO bringing together a wide range of partners committed to ending gender based violence in and around schools. The group has identified a series of priority actions that would help to shift the local, national, and global response to SRGBV and the development of international standards, guidance or strategic orientations in one key recommendation.

2 The field would greatly benefit from a comprehensive, one-stop resource providing clear, knowledge-based operational guidance, diverse promising practice case studies and recommended tools for the education sector and its complementary actors working to eliminate gender-based violence. Despite a paucity of empirical evidence to demonstrate what works, there are significant lessons and good practices being drawn from action in countries in all regions of the world which form the basis of a set of strategic orientations for expanded efforts. In addition, existing tools and materials for specific audiences on violence against women and girls, or violence in schools have been developed and will form a reference base for this guidance aimed specifically at ministries of education and education stakeholders. As such, under the leadership of UNESCO, the UNAIDS IATT on Education (IATT) and UN Women, together with an advisory group of key stakeholders drawn from the global partners group, global guidance for the education sector and other partners will be developed in English, French and Spanish. This guidance will be made available in hard copy and as an electronic resource through the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls ( It will also be made available through other web locations including and Hard copies will also be produced and printed for particular benefit of those in situations with slower or limited internet connectivity. The guidance will benefit from a targeting dissemination campaign linked to policy and technical training workshops in different regions. Scope of Work The contractor will develop global guidance for school-related gender-based violence under the overall direction of UNESCO, IATT and UN Women. The guidance will comprehensively cover both 1) how-to address violence in and around schools, with emphasis on, though not limited to, sexual assault and harassment targeted at girls and 2) how-to engage the education sector and community to address harmful social norms and gender inequality. The guidance will address various audiences (policy-makers, education ministries, school administrations, educators and other school staff) and will address wide-scale programmes eg national-level, in addition to school and community level interventions. The emphasis of the guidance will be to deliver distilled programming knowledge that is based on existing global literature, promising practices, expert recommendations and practitioner consensus that will be identified initially through the materials provided by UNESCO, the IATT, UN Women and the wider global partners working group. Promising practice case studies and recommended tools will be embedded within the relevant sub-sections of guidance to provide audiences with illustrative examples of implementation in real contexts and to provide resources that have been successfully used and can be adapted for application in their own context. The guidance is intended primarily for use in low and middle income settings based on norms and principles that are universally applicable. The guidance will include an introductory section describing the scope and depth of what will be covered; a synopsis of the evidence-base to date;

3 an overview of international agreements and standards; and guiding principles for engaging the education sector. Following the introductory section, more specific how-to guidance will be provided in the following broad areas 1 (indicative contents, to be agreed): Reviewing, drafting, reforming and implementing laws and policies Conducting research and data collection for programme design (monitoring and evaluation) Undertaking institutional reform and capacity development Developing educational content and delivery mechanisms Engaging key stakeholders and partners, including parents and community leaders Monitoring and evaluation Methodology The contractor will undertake the following in developing the global guidance: - Participate in an induction meeting with UNESCO, IATT and UN Women and members of the global advisory group, to discuss the content and process for the assignment. - Review the existing literature, case studies and tools provided by UNESCO, IATT and UN Women to determine quantity and quality of material available for the various content areas outlined above and to indicate content gap areas where further research may be required or where modifications in the outline might have to be made. - Undertake research to identify additional materials (literature, evaluations, tools, manuals, guides, handbooks, promising practice case studies, reports with recommendations, etc.) to fill content gaps, including: o internet-based research o engaging personal networks and contacts o writing to the advisory group to solicit inputs - Engage with lead organizations (on an ongoing and as needed basis) and the advisory group to facilitate draft reviews and incorporate feedback. Timeframe and Payment The contract will cover a period of six months from the date of contract initiation. The final deliverable will be received no later than 5 th September For additional detail, see Appendix A: Draft Outline for Global Guidance on SRGBV

4 Payments will be made upon submission of specified deliverables as outlined in Appendix B: Payment Deliverables Schedule. Logistics The contractor will be contracted by UNESCO, Paris. Communication with the UNESCO, IATT and UN Women focal points will be ongoing and on an as needed basis through phone, s and skype. Additional inputs from the advisory group will be facilitated through the three lead partners. The contractor will be home based. Access to UN premises will be accommodated on an as needed basis. The contractor will be required to travel twice during the contract period in March 2015 to New York and June 2015 to Washington, DC (dates and locations to be confirmed). Expected Services/Outputs/Products The contractor will be responsible for the deliverables delineated below: Presentation of outline and overview of available resources and process for global guidance development at an in-person advisory group meeting Submission of a finalized outline detailing the contents and structure, including the sub-issues and contexts to be covered in the global guidance (based on review of available material and advisory group feedback) A preliminary draft* of distilled step-by-step programming guidance based on the finalized outline, together with recommended tools for implementation (noting all language versions) and promising practice case studies that are summarized in a box and include links to fuller publications or websites. Review and incorporation of reviewer feedback to preliminary draft and continued development of additional content. Submission of second draft. Review and incorporation of reviewer feedback to second draft and continued development of additional content. Submission of third and pre-final draft. Review and incorporation of reviewer feedback to pre-final draft. Submission of the final draft. Submission of an excel spreadsheet with all compiled resources logged by the identified criteria (as provided by UNESCO, IATT and UN Women) *All global guidance drafts must contain parenthetical references citing (author, year) of resources used within the text accompanied by the full reference at the end of the document in a bibliographical format. Submission

5 To apply to this request for services, please submit the following: 1. Short technical proposal, including: organization background and qualifications; references to and examples of relevant work; and/or CVs of lead consultant(s) 2. Financial proposal Proposals must be received no later than 15 February 2015 submitted to Joanna Herat with the heading: SRGBV Global Guidance consultant proposal Contact Joanna Herat Senior Programme Specialist UNESCO

6 Appendix A: Draft Outline for Global Guidance on SRGBV Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in schools requires multiple actors within the education sector as well as its partners. Recognising that these audiences have different scopes of work and mandates the Global Guidance will feature chapters, or sub sections, that speak directly to these different audiences with specific action steps and resources for implementation. This includes donors, national government, district-level management, school and classroom level management, civil society, and academia. It is envisaged that the final product will touch upon all the ideas listed below while articulating the responsibilities of each actor and demonstrate these in relation to the responsibilities of others. Together these will provide a comprehensive view of the issue from the international level all the way to the classroom. I. Introduction and Key Concepts What is SRGBV and why does it matter? Who is this module for and how can it be used? What is covered in this module? What is school-related gender-based violence? What are its causes? What are the costs and consequences? Why is the education sector key in addressing gender-based violence? What is known about working with the education sector (the evidence-base)? What are some of the challenges? II. Guiding Principles Frameworks and conventions Professional ethics The purpose of education and the idea of schooling III. Developing actions to address SRGBV within the Educational Context Reviewing, reforming or revitalising Laws and Policies National Legislation National policy frameworks Data collection Institutional Reform in Education Settings Girl-friendly school infrastructure Codes of conduct School governing bodies and school management Staffing and training Reporting and data management Counselling and survivor support in educational settings Youth leadership and participation Referral to law enforcement and health care providers

7 Community and parental engagement IV. Educational Content and Delivery Pre-school (3 5 years) Primary (5 11 years) Lower secondary (11 14 years) Upper secondary years) College/university (18 years onwards) V. Synergies and actions with partners Youth leadership and participation Family Engagement and Community linkages Parenting programmes Awareness-raising Community protection measures Community based counselling Co-curricular activities Out-of-school programming VI. Monitoring and Evaluation Challenges Indicators Analysis and improvement

8 Appendix B Deliverables and Payment Schedule (bolded dates) Final outline of global guidance Mid March st Draft of distilled programming guidance Mid-May nd Draft of distilled programming guidance End June 2015 Pre-final draft Mid-August 2015 Final Draft (including excel spreadsheet) 5 th September 2015