Developing a Gender Strategy for SOS Children's Village Guinea Bissau
Terms of reference
- Context
SOS Children's Villages International is a worldwide organization established in 1949 that works to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of children who have lost parental care and those who are at risk of losing that care. SOS Children's Villages International works through member associations in 135 countries around the world. SOS Children's Villages Guinea-Bissau is a national non-governmental development association and a member of the International Federation of SOS Children's Villages which has been working since 1994 to respond to the needs and concerns of children. SOS Guinea-Bissau develops and manages a wide range of programs and projects in Bissau, Gabú and Canchungo, including family strengthening programs, youth programs, primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, vocational training centers and various community projects.
Gender mainstreaming in Guinea-Bissau is done on an ad hoc basis ad hoc and there are no coordinated efforts. In addition, attempts to promote gender equity are observed in a very small number of ministries and sector organizations. Gender mainstreaming remains a problem in many organizations, both public and private, and various reasons have been given for the marginalization of gender/women's issues.
A "gender audit" is one aspect of what is called "mainstreaming" analysismainstreaming’The aim is to integrate the gender dimension into public policies, including legislation, the regulations of various organizations, credits, taxation and social projects, from the point of view of their effect on the situation of women in society in general. The basic assumption of gender audits is that policies have different impacts on men and women. This difference results from the different roles of women and men in the family, and from the level of women's economic situation. The aim of gender audits is to lead to changes in policies and practices that contribute to greater equality between men and women.
Although SOS Children's Villages Guinea-Bissau is making efforts to ensure gender mainstreaming and female empowerment initiatives at all levels of its programs in Bissau, Gabú and Canchungo, it does not yet have a national strategic plan on gender equality at each workplace. However, in recent years, several initiatives have been launched to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment in Guinea-Bissau. To further strengthen this aspect, as well as SOS Children's Villages' programs at all levels, the national coordinating office of SOS Children's Villages in Guinea-Bissau is attempting to carry out a gender audit. These TRs are designed to guide their development. Thus, the TRs are designed to outline the purpose/objective, scope and methodology for carrying out the organizational gender audit and the development of a gender strategy.
- Mission objective
2.1 General objective
The overall objective of the assignment is to analyze gender considerations in the care provided to children/young people in our target group in relation to the implementation of SOS Children's Villages International policies and strategic guidance documents.
2.2 Specific objectives :
- Evaluate the understanding of gender with employees, children and young people in the target groups in the SOS children's village (both in alternative care and in family strengthening)
- Evaluate how gender is taken into account in the implementation of policies and strategic guidance documents within the AN National Association (SOS Children's Villages International Gender Policy, Child Protection Policy, Gender Guidelines, etc.). GatekeepingService Description Guideline, Youth Development Guideline, SOS Parents Guideline, etc. ).
- Analyze gender considerations and practices in NA programs and more broadly in the intervention areas of SOS Children's Village in Guinea Bissau
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of gender mainstreaming in all SOS Children's Village Guinea Bissau operations
- Developing a gender equality strategy to serve as a reference and frame future gender practices in all areas of SOS CV Guinea Bissau's work.
Methodology
Primary and secondary data will be collected on various gender indicators, using quantitative and qualitative tools. It is suggested that focus group discussions, key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews and questionnaires be used to assess key issues related to gender mainstreaming; SOS Children's Village Guinea Bissau's practices and come up with key recommendations for future programming.
The mission will focus on two main phases:
-The first stage will focus on the gender audit, which will use various research tools. Before the audit begins, the methodology and all the tools proposed by the consultant must be discussed and validated at the end of a restricted methodological framework workshop.
The audit report, after integrating the various contributions from the NA and the regional office, will be validated at the end of a national workshop attended by the main stakeholders of SOS Children's Village Guinea Bissau (employees, young people, partners, communities, etc.).
-The second phase will focus on developing the gender strategy, which the consultant will be tasked with facilitating. Based on the audit report, the consultant will work with key people to develop a gender strategy that addresses the recommendations and areas for improvement raised by the audit.
The draft strategy, after integrating the various contributions from the NA and the regional office, will be validated at the end of a national workshop attended by the main stakeholders of SOS Children's Village Guinea Bissau (employees, young people, partners, communities, etc.).
- Scope of the study
The gender audits will address the gender-related work of all departments and programs of SOS's 3 workplaces in Guinea-Bissau (Bissau, Gabú and Canchungo) to establish a baseline for the gender equality situation and contribute to the development of gender mainstreaming and the development of a gender strategy. The mission will cover the following points (but not limited to them):
- analyze whether internal practices and support systems related to gender mainstreaming are effective
- Analyze the main organizational policies and guidelines and identify how gender is taken into account in their implementation.
- Recommend how to address the gaps and develop a strategy for better gender mainstreaming; present the results at the validation workshop.
Note: the mission will cover three SOS Children's Villages Guinea-Bissau program sites: Bissau, Gabú and Canchungo. Using the participatory self-assessment methodology, the mission is expected to collect unbiased data from employees, children, youth and the community related to gender awareness and equality, policies and processes, program design and implementation, in order to gain a better understanding of the situation and recommendations for future action.
In more specific terms, the gender audit will be extended to the following areas:
- Integrating gender in the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of programs,
- Gender considerations in the design and implementation of policies and processes
- Work plan
The gender audit must be carried out and completed between January 2023 and March 2023.
The preliminary work plan is as follows:
- January 17, 2023: Publication of TRs in workplaces in Guinea-Bissau
- January 31, 2023: presentation of the detailed proposal (technical and financial) with the preliminary version of the methodology
- February 10, 2023: selection of consultant and request for work
- March 07, 2023: presentation of the initial report
- March 14, 2023: data collection, data analysis and drafting of the preliminary report
- March 14, 2023: data collection and analysis, drafting of preliminary report feedback and reflection
- March 29, 2023: presentation of the final report.
- Results
The consultancy office must produce the following results:
- Gender audit report with the following sections: executive summary with main findings and recommendations; introduction with objectives, scope, methodology, timeline, restrictions and limitations; main conclusions based on the aforementioned issues in section 4 and recommendations.
- A gender strategy with a structure that will be defined according to the conclusions.
- Qualifications and experience required
The consulting firm must be registered and have a renewed license for the current fiscal year of Guinea. Offices that can provide evidence of conducting gender audit studies will be given priority for this task. Specific requirements include the following:
- Master's degree in gender studies, development studies or any other relevant discipline in the social sciences.
- A minimum of 5 years' gradually responsible experience in the areas of gender analysis, auditing and related background studies.
- Excellent command of oral and written French (or English) and Portuguese
- Knowledge of the gender audit tool
- The consulting firm should assign staff with relevant professional experience to carry out the gender audit study. It would be advisable to recruit gender professionals with advanced university degrees as necessary.
To apply, send an e-mail to (recrutamento.nogw@sosbissau.org)
- A Curriculum Vitae
- A motivation letter
- Technical and financial proposal
- Copies of documents proving consulting experience.
- Application mechanism
A technical proposal with two financial proposals (one original and one copy) in Portuguese and French, separately, in a sealed envelope, clearly marked to be delivered in person within 7 days of the announcement.
- Suggested Draft Report
The gender audit study will be carried out using the following format, but this does not necessarily mean that the consultants' innovations are not welcome. The report should include approximately:
- Front cover with title page
- Acknowledgments (communities, advisors, team members, funding agencies)
- Abbreviations/acronyms
- Contents
- Executive summary
- Basic information
- Audit objective
- Evaluation and sampling methods
- Description of the process of conducting the rapid assessment
- Main audit results and discussions
- Conclusion and recommendations
- Conclusões e recomendações
- Standard procedures for making products
Should the consultant require specific assistance/materials from the SOS Children's Villages Guinea-Bissau office and/or national partners, they are requested to do so at least 5 days prior to implementation.
- Remuneration and payment method
The consultant will receive 50% of the total amount upon approval of the proposal; 25% upon completion and presentation of the first version of the study, with the final payment of 25% being made upon completion and presentation of the final report.
- Work monitoring and evaluation
The selected consultant will work under the direct supervision of SOS Guinea-Bissau and the Program's local staff. In the absence of the above, the consultant is expected to report directly to the Gender Focal Point.
The title of the work must be mentioned in the subject line. For further information, please send an email to recrutamento.nogw@sosbissau.org
Application deadline: January 31, 2023
PS: Any applicant who fails to submit a technical and financial proposal will be automatically excluded and disqualified.
Women's candidacies are strongly encourageduraged