Advertisement for Expression of Interest for Consultancy to Conduct Gender Analysis and Development of Gender Strategy

Organization

Centre for Peace and Democracy (CPD)

Project Title

Nabadoon Reconciliation Activity

Position Type

Short-term Consultancy

Study/assessment topic

Conduct Gender Analysis and Development of Gender Strategy

Position Location

Barawe, Afgooye, Warsheikh and Jowhar Districts

Duration

30 days

Reporting to

Nabadoon Project Manager

Submission Deadline Date

2nd June 2023

1. Introduction

Centre for Peace and Democracy (CPD), a local Non-Governmental Organization working in Somalia has received support to undertake the Nabadoon Reconciliation Activity (Nabadoon), a five-year reconciliation program. Nabadoon model embraces a People-2-People approach and focuses on cooperation and mutual interest as the most effective pathway to overcome social, economic, and political barriers in four program target districts of Jowhar, Warsheikh, Afgooye and Barawe. The aim ofNabadoon project is that Inter-communal conflict is transformed in Al-Shabaab recovered areas. To do this, the project will implement packages of activities driving toward three integrated objectives: 1) Strengthened social ties in 4 target Districts (i.e. Jowhar, Warsheikh, Afgooye and Barawe), 2) Conflict-affected communities work collaboratively to strengthen livelihoods, and 3) Consensus built on peaceful and inclusive resource-sharing and responsive service delivery. These will be supported and strengthened by a Cross-cutting objective: Agility and Flexibility to respond to changes in context and improve implementation based on ongoing learning and reflection. These efforts build on existing community structures and plans, and strengthen systems at the community level, ensuring sustainability, with a focus on inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups.

Nabadoon will implement highly localized activities to strengthen social cohesion horizontally by building healthy relationships within and across clans, inter-clans and intra-clan groups from different ethnicities and aims to reach 36,740 direct and 155,405 indirect individuals in four target districts. It further aims to respond to the multiple overlapping identities, livelihood and gender divides identified in the conflict analysis and stakeholders mapping in the above districts.

The project also seeks to address disjointed peace architecture, with a divide between formal and informal structures; peace structures with limited inclusion of marginalized voices; patriarchal gender norms and age hierarchies which limit acceptance of greater female and youth voice in peace decision making; distrust and trauma between conflicting identity groups; unresolved grievances around clan/sub-clan resource and power sharing; limited livelihood opportunities, collective plans for post-conflict climate and conflict sensitive livelihood resurrection; limited district government capacity on community engagement/participatory approaches to improve equitable service delivery and trust.

Going by the aforementioned, the project seeks to undertake a Gender Analysis to identify priority adjustments to ensure gender-responsive program implementation as well as provide key recommendations for future engagement. To achieve reconciliation between the diverse groups, it is important to address trauma and feelings of distrust and fear by working towards mutual understanding and respect, across diverse identity groups including between men and women and diverse age groups. The gender analysis findings will inform the design and implementation of gender responsive and transformative activities. This gender analysis will focus on addressing the following research objectives and questions. The analysis findings and recommendations will further inform and shape programming decisions and adaptive strategies to address gender-based power dynamics, harmful hegemonic masculine norms and guide effective inclusion, participation, accommodation and empowerment of women, female and male youth, and persons with disabilities.

The analysis will further inform the Nabadoon gender strategy development and will be used to refine activities for district-specific gender participation constraints such as meeting times and location distance, conflict-sensitivity, Do No Harm (DNH) strategy and integration throughout the project life.

1. Problem Statement

Gender equality is fundamental to lasting peace, security, and development. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) underscored this message through the adoption of the landmark Resolution 1325 in 2000 and all subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). Equal access of women and men to opportunities, resources, rights, choices, protection, participation, and decision making is vital to secure inclusive peace and politics, sustainable growth and development and a fair and just society, (UN Somalia Gender Equality Strategy 2018-2020).

Somalia is a patriarchal and clan-based society, thus contributing to the exclusion of women in the political realm and decision-making structures that favor (male) clan elders. SSWC’s Gender Gap Assessment established a gender gap index of 0.56, indicating women have essentially half the opportunities men do across four domains of economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, and education attainment. Education influences the types of employment opportunities available and women with little to no formal education are more likely to be self-employed and working in sectors more vulnerable to shocks and emergencies.[1] Although it is estimated women may represent 70% of household income earners,[2] they face many barriers to employment, such as exclusion from economic participation and access to capital,[3] as well as weaker social networks, and more restrictive social norms when compared to men. In addition to gender barriers, pervasive clannism is a main barrier women face in accessing the job market.[4] Clan structures maintain traditional social norms, placing final decision-making power with tribal leaders and male elders, which limit inclusion and leadership of marginalized groups, youths, women and girls in decision making and conflict resolution

Conflict in Somalia has had a profound impact on gender norms. With male migration, recruitment and death during the conflict, women’s roles have shifted. Whereas women previously were expected to occupy the domestic sphere and men were considered the primary breadwinners for households, these dynamics have disrupted traditional patterns and roles. Women are now more likely to work outside the home and have become breadwinners in many households. This shift could contribute to new livelihoods opportunities for women; however, it has also been associated with negative consequences. UNFPA noted that the disruption in traditional roles may contribute to the high rate of intimate partner violence.[5] Further, changes in roles have increased women’s work burden, as they seek income earning opportunities outside of the home in addition to caring for children, livestock and other reproductive roles and responsibilities, leading to further constraints on their time. While shifts in gender norms have created new economic opportunities in Somalia for females, insecurity and the risks associated with the conflict have simultaneously created constraints for women and girls to move freely and safely, particularly given GBV risks. 

Men are generally considered to be the perpetrators of violent conflict, but also play essential roles in promoting peace. Male elders and religious leaders facilitate reconciliation processes and are represented on the local peace committees. Women and youth lack representation and lack direct involvement in deliberations and decision-making, but women’s role in peace promotion is still considered to be vital.

The impact of the conflict is aggravated by a protection environment characterized by impediments to access for humanitarian workers and for people in need of assistance, limited - as well as unequal service provision, weak or missing protection systems, low awareness of basic rights and discriminatory and harmful socio-cultural norms relating to gender and practices which disadvantage minority clans and marginalized groups such as persons with disabilities and impact most upon women, children and older person (Somalia Protection Cluster Strategy 2022-2023)

1. Objectives and Goal

The goal of this Gender analysis is to support gender integration across the project cycle, guided by CRS’ 2020-2030 Global Gender Strategy, including in MEAL. In response to the gendered conflict analysis findings and gendered questions within the baseline assessment, the analysis will fill knowledge gaps that are remaining.

Nabadoon aims to take a holistic approach to gender integration within the project, targeting WMBGs specific needs within every level of the socio-ecological model (individual, household, community and systems). The Activity will prioritize the prevention and mitigation of conflict related SGBV through the engagement of key stakeholders in communities including traditional and religious leaders and other men, including young men, in the community towards the adoption of gender-equitable masculinities. Women and girls will be intentionally targeted for participation in all activities, while unintended consequences will be monitored.

The gender analysis will inform the development of a gender strategy which will clearly outline how the holistic approach will be planned. The gender strategy will be incorporated into the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP) that will demonstrate a gender assessment of each intervention and how it has the potential to affect men, women, and youth differently, address gender equality and women empowerment. Nabadoon’s outputs and outcomes will be refined and linked to the performance indicators, including gender indicators, set forth in the AMELP already approved by the donor.

The gender analysis process is used to collect, identify, examine, and analyze information on gender dynamics within emergency or development programming. Specifically, the gender analysis will use CRS’ gender domains[6] as its research framework to examine the following:

• Roles, responsibilities, time use​
• Access and control of assets and resources​
• Power relations  and decision making​
• Participation and leadership​
• Knowledge, beliefs, and perception (culture)  ​
• Legal environment

The objectives of the analysis are:

• Identify root causes of existing gender inequalities or obstacles to women empowerment in the context of the Nabadoon activity.
• Identify potential unintended and harmful consequences and risks and how to apply "do no harm" approaches in the context to enhance positive impacts on local peace and conflict dynamics (including SGBV, protection, child protection and safeguarding risks) could result from project inventions.
• Propose opportunities to promote women’s and youth’s leadership and participation in project activities and community structures, especially for NRM and peacebuilding.
• Highlight mitigation measures and opportunities to address underlying and structural norms of gender inequality and to enhance protective capacities of individuals and communities.
• Inform the development of a gender strategy to address gender-based power dynamics, masculine gender identity and guide effective inclusion, participation, accommodation and empowerment of women and female and male youth and persons with disabilities.
• Identify participant’s perception of gender and protection, safety and security issues associated with distribution/supports.

The specific research objectives informed by the gender domains are:

1. Identify relationships between women, men, girls’ and boys’ gender roles/ responsibilities, access and decision making in conflict management, reconciliation, peacebuilding, and natural resource management in the 4 project target districts of Jowhar, Warsheikh, Afgooye and Barawe.
2. Identify gender- and age-based related limitations that could affect the participation and leadership of women and men of diverse ages, and the implementation and outcomes of the project.
3. Identify what gender-related protection risks or other negative unintended consequences could occur because of Nabadoon Activity.
4. Identity current and changing gender relations, notions of masculinity/femininity, and the impact within Activity locations on peace and conflict.
5. Identify opportunities for challenging gender norms that contribute to violence.

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1. Required Expertise and Qualification

The consultant should have the following qualifications, skills and experience:

• University degree in Gender and or Development Studies, Social Sciences or equivalent qualification. Ideally, the persons will have experience in conducting Gender Analysis and peacebuilding background, at least Bachelor /Masters degree in gender studies or equivalent is desired.
• Extensive experience in qualitative data collection and analysis and knowledgeable in sampling methodologies.
• Experience in community-based development approaches / participatory methods.
• Excellent communication and reporting skills
• Team Leader experience.
• Computer literate with skills on data analysis software Atlas or Nvivo or other qualitative data collection tools. .
• Good command of both written and spoken English.
• Familiarity with the Somalia context and peacebuilding sector in particular.
• Familiarity, ability and willingness to travel within Somalia under organizational security protocol.
• Experience with similar assignments (samples to be submitted).

1. Selection criteria

The selection for the suitable consultant will be based on scoring on awarding set marks for experience in undertaking similar assignments in Gender analyses especially in conflict and peacebuilding, development and humanitarian situations in Somalia, production of past consultancy assignment and references, and ability to interpret the consultancy assignment and add value to the methodology proposed and required final outcomes among other parameters. The consultant shall be selected on the basis of meeting the requirements provided for the assignments as indicated in sections above. 

Your electronic offer comprising of a technical proposal and a financial proposal, shall be sent to the following email address not later than 2nd June 2023, Mid-Night:  [email protected] For any requests for clarification, please write to CPD through [email protected]. The application should indicate as subject; “Application for Consultancy to Conduct Gender Analysis and Development of Gender Strategy.”

§  A technical and financial proposal (in USD) with clear breakdown including VAT in USD

§  Updated CVs with 3 referees at least.

§  A Sample of 2-3 similar assignments undertaken.