UNFPA gender study by sectors to contribute to the EU Country gender profile

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

RFQ Nº UNFPA/UKR/RFQ/21/20

Dear Sir/Madam,

UNFPA hereby solicits a quotation for the following service:

UNFPA gender study by sectors to contribute to the EU Country gender profile

This Request for Quotation is open to all legally-constituted companies that can provide the requested services and have legal capacity to perform in Ukraine, or through an authorized representative.

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Since April 2021, UNFPA is implementing the Programme ‘WE ACT: Women’s Empowerment Action’ supported by the EU. It was developed to provide gender-responsive emergency support to the COVID-19 crisis and strengthen gender equality in Ukraine in the long run.

The overall objective of the 18 month Programme is to strengthen women’s rights, opportunities, and resilience by mitigating the aftermath of COVID-19, identifying opportunities for addressing gender gaps and improving capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs) to promote gender equality, dismantling gender stereotypes and holding duty bearers accountable for the implementation of gender equality commitments (under Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area).

To ensure gender perspective and to provide input for better gender mainstreaming of the EU cooperation with Ukraine, the Programme will support the preparation of a Country gender profile with a focus on the state of implementation of the Association Agreement/DCFTA between Ukraine and the EU within Specific Programme Objective 2) To support the promotion of gender equality in Ukraine from a European integration perspective through increased opportunities for women’s participation in economic and public life. The Country gender profile is developed in cooperation with the EU4Gender Equality: Reform Help Desk.

The Country Gender profile will provide an analysis of Ukraine’s international and national commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment with a specific focus on the gender dimension of AA/DCFTA implementation and EU cooperation/assistance in Ukraine.

Ukrainian society remains far from achieving gender equality: according to the annual Global Gender Gap Report  Ukraine’s score on this tool was 0.721 in 2020 which corresponds to a rank of 74 of 156 countries. Gender Development Index (GDI) assesses gender differences in how people are faring in a particular country against a global measure comparing the Human Development Index calculated separately for women and men in three dimensions. The women’s HDI value for Ukraine (2020) is 0.746 in contrast to 0.751 for men, and this results in a GDI value of 0.993. Considering the three dimensions that constitute the GDI, women’s human development in Ukraine is hindered by their considerably more limited access to economic resources.

For Ukraine, obligations regarding gender equality stem from commitments to United Nations treaties and most notably the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, in particular, achieving gender equality as per SDG 5, while also adhering to human rights standards and directives of the Council of Europe (CoE), and the European Union, including under the Association Agreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (AA/DCFTA). 

Thus, UNFPA on request of the EU Delegation in Ukraine is launching a Request for Proposals (RfP) for conducting a gender study by sectors to contribute to the EU Country gender profile. The gender study will identify key gaps and provide recommendations for the policy development and assistance programming.  The results will also identify areas where engagement of CSOs with gender analysis expertise could enhance the process of formulating policies and interventions aimed at AA/DCFTA implementation through engendering development interventions.

II. Меthodology

Scope of Work/Duties and Responsibilities

The methodology of the study has to combine various types of methods to make the complex gender analysis for the identified by EU Delegation focus areas which require additional qualitative and quantitate data collection. Given that the scope of assessment encompasses all aspects of gender equality in the country focusing on certain sectors, the methods to be employed for the study aim for holistic overview of all possible gender implications of the following sectors:

1. Healthcare sector and gender implication by rural/urban settings:

1. Do women and men enjoy equal access to healthcare services?
2. Do men use reproductive health services; frequency?
3. Are female and male patients treated equally?
4. While visiting doctors, do female and male patients receive enough information to make informed decisions regarding their health and treatment?
5. What is the overall level of satisfaction with primary health care services reported by women and men?
6. Whether female or male healthcare professionals are considered more trustworthy?
7. Who brings children to healthcare providers and what are the reasons for this choice?
8. How popular are healthy lifestyle practices among women and men including adherence to vaccination, regular health check-ups and physical exercises and healthy eating habits?
1. What factors can motivate women and men to practice healthy lifestyles?

2.  Gender in green transition (gender-environment nexus data collection) by rural/urban settings:

1. What is women’s representation in environmental decision-making at the national and local levels?
2. To what extent women and men engage in civic activism about environment protection and addressing climate change?
3. To what extent women and men as customers pay attention to environment friendly technologies of production of food, clothes and other items?
4. To what extent women and men practice environment friendly activities on a daily basis and whether there is an eco-gender gap?
5. Do women and men have equal access to clean water? How access to clean water limitations influence women and men?

The selected contractor is expected to suggest the survey methodology that may use desk reviews, online surveys/polls and focus-groups but not limited to them as well as research questions to be asked with experts and representatives of the sectors for which sex- disaggregated statistics and data on gender equality is lacking. It is important to provide an overview of specific conflict-related and pandemic-related gender issues per sector. 

Under overall guidance of the UNFPA Programme Analyst, Gender and Women’s Empowerment, the selected organization/think-tank/research organization will work closely with the UNFPA WE ACT Programme Coordinator to implement the following set of tasks:

1. Desk review. During the desk review, the available surveys, statistical data, legislation, assessments and reports on gender aspects of sectors listed in the outline will be reviewed and analyzed. These sources will cover the period of 2018-2021. Wherever possible, priority will be given to the most up-to-date data and information.

Where gender statistics or sex-disaggregated data will not be available, it should be inter alia considered as part of intervention and planning to support the development of such data.

2. Focus groups with experts and representatives of the  aforementioned sectors will be used to amplify data collected through desk review.

At the focus groups, the discussion will be structured by the moderator to collect insights on stereotypes around women and men in specific sectors, barriers and obstacles that men and women face, patterns of gender differences in these sectors, reasons for inequality, etc. To guide the interviews and focus groups, the team of analysts will draft the respective questionnaires/guides.

3. Online-survey of experts and representatives of the aforementioned sectors to identify stereotypes, barriers and obstacles men and women face, patterns of gender differences in these sectors, reasons for inequality etc.

The questionnaires for the surveys will be developed by the team of analysts based on the findings of desk review and interviews and focus groups. They will contain both closed- and open-ended questions.

4. Public opinion poll that should include questions the answers to which will enable analysis of men’s and women’s perception of the healthcare services and green economy. The sample for public opinion poll should be representative in terms of sex, age groups, size of settlement and macro-regions of Ukraine (from 1,800 to 2,000 respondents).

Deliverables:

All the deliverables (questionnaires, reports, summaries, findings, recommendations, etc.) should be provided in Ukrainian and English language. The intermediate deliverables (draft questionnaire, survey design, draft analytical report, etc.) to be provided in Ukrainian.

Inputs  

• UNFPA will provide the Contractor with key background materials, studies, publications etc.;
• The contractor will be expected to use own computers and other necessary equipment.

USE OF STUDY FINDINGS

The gender study will identify key gaps and provide recommendations for the policy development and assistance programming.  The results will also identify areas where engagement of CSOs with gender analysis expertise could enhance the process of formulating policies and interventions aimed at AA/DCFTA implementation through engendering development interventions.   

Questions

Questions or requests for further clarifications should be submitted in writing to the contact person below: 

The deadline for submission of questions Friday, August 27, 2021, 17:00 Kyiv time.

Instructions for submission

Proposals should be prepared based on the guidelines set forth in Section IV and III, along with a properly filled out and signed price quotation form, are to be sent by e-mail to the secured e-mail and contact person indicated below no later than: Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 17:00 Kyiv time. Proposals sent to any other address will not be considered.

More in attached file!