International Consultant to develop the conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Hiring Office:

UNFPA Ukraine

Title:

International Consultant to develop the conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response

Purpose of consultancy:

UNFPA Ukraine is implementing the project EMBRACE (Enhancing National and Regional Mechanisms to Build Responsive, Accountable and Cost-Effective System of Gender-Based Violence Response and Prevention) with financial support of the Government of UK. In 2021, the project, inter alia, focuses on a new priority strand Accountability to Beneficiaries (GBV survivors) aiming at building the foundation for an accountable to GBV survivors national GBV response system.

Gender-Based Violence as a fundamental violation of the basic inalienable human rights and freedoms remains prevalent in Ukraine and represents a significant challenge for the country’s sustainable democratic development. In Ukraine, GBV is pervasive – 67% of women experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 (OSCE 2019). Annually, 1.1 million Ukrainian women suffer from domestic and gender-based violence (UNFPA 2017). In the complex humanitarian context GBV remains a considerable protection issue that threatens security, well-being and full exercise of human rights of the most vulnerable people. With the purposes to enhance the GBV response system in Ukraine and to help the survivors become more active agents of building a future with zero GBV there is an actual need for the Accountability to Beneficiaries nationwide system.

Accountability to Beneficiaries aims to put the needs and interests of GBV survivors at the centre of decision-making at the local and national levels, ensuring the most appropriate and relevant outcomes for them, while preserving the human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable women, men, girls and boys. At its core is the possibility of survivors to participate and raise their voices in decisions that affect their lives and receive information to make such decisions, have access to high quality services and assistance that align with international standards, appropriate to their needs and preferences, and provided by qualified personnel, have a confidence that each case will be duly considered through a proper and effective GBV case management, and have access to responsive mechanisms to provide feedback and complaints. In practice, the Accountability to Beneficiaries system also ensures and strengthens transparency and good governance at all levels of public life and builds a better trust between state authorities and people they serve.

GBV case management is an integral part of GBV response in development and humanitarian settings and most often is the primary entry point for survivors to receive crisis and longer-term psychosocial support, health care, legal aid, security and protection. It shares the responsibility for ensuring that survivors are well informed about all options/services available to them and the issues facing a survivor are identified and followed up in a coordinated way. Thus, a survivor-centred Case Management is fundamental for a robust Accountability to Beneficiaries system.

International Consultant will develop the conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response, which will lay the foundation for building the national system of accountability to GBV survivors based on global best practices and approaches. The Consultant will also examine Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) notion, which is used in the humanitarian community and refers to the responsible and ethical use of power and resources by humanitarian actors along with effective and quality programming that recognises the rights, dignity, capacity, and ability to be independent of the community in concern. In practice the AAP notion also means that humanitarian actors behave ethically towards people they serve, fully engage with the affected communities, consider their views and feedback, and respond to their expressed needs. Due to a humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine and existent AAP global practices, AAP notion is relevant to the national context and may be helpful in developing a thorough conceptual framework.

Scope of work:

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)

The assignment aims at the preparing research and description of three core concepts: 1) Accountability to Beneficiaries; 2) Accountability to Affected Population; and 3) Case Management in the development of the conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response including:

1. Identification of the Accountability to Beneficiaries, Accountability to Affected Population, and Case Management roles for a comprehensive and coherent GBV response and prevention system.
2. Identification of interlinkage between Accountability to Beneficiaries, Accountability to Affected Population, and Case Management within GBV response inclusive of:

2.1. Minimum overlap and linkage between three concepts essential to the outset of developing a conceptual framework;

2.2. Complete (thorough) overlap and linkage between three concepts.

3. Identification of concrete and effective global practices of individual areas inclusive of:

3.1. Analysis and description of global practices with due consideration to what the practices prescribe, how they operate, evidence for their effectiveness and main factors for their success (e.g. enshrined in the legislation/policy frameworks);

3.2. Analysis and description of advantages of identified global practices for a comprehensive Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management conceptual framework and their role in GBV response and prevention system.

4. Preparation of recommendations for the establishment of the national system on Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management based on global best practices inclusive of:

4.1. Recommendation on the overall approach how the national system shall be designed;

4.2. Recommendation on the minimum and most necessary elements to be included within the national system;

4.3. Recommendation on the sequence of the development of the national system, steps/requirements essential to its outset.

For the purposes of the developing the conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response International Consultant is recommended and encouraged to consider the following guiding aspects:

 1. Accountability to Beneficiaries concept may (not limited to) include such elements as:

• Participation and decision making (e.g. participation in design of initiatives and programs, assessments, needs identification, consultations, prioritization of intervention areas, etc.);
• Needs assessment of GBV survivors (incl. needs identified with the participation of beneficiaries, specific needs of marginalised people such as women, girls and boys, older people, and people with disabilities, etc.);
• Service delivery (incl. delivery of specialized protection, psychosocial, medical, legal aid services that respond to the situation and needs of GBV survivors);
• Service standards (e.g. access, inclusion, accessibility, security, privacy, simplicity, choice of language, etc.);
• Strengthening capacity of staff (e.g. periodical training of staff on survivor-centred case management, feedback, confidential complaints handling and their roles/ levels of responsibility, etc.);
• Case management (e.g. unified electronic system of GBV cases, case managers, etc.);
• Feedback and satisfaction collection mechanisms (e.g. formal and informal feedback; may include clear and accessible procedures/guidelines for handling complaints, requirement of corrective actions to be taken, referrals, etc.);
• Information sharing and communication (incl. access to timely, accurate, relevant information on GBV survivors rights, entitlements, services, processes and procedures, assessments, feedback and satisfaction collection mechanisms, expectation on staff conduct, etc.);
• Appropriate budget allocation (e.g. budget allocation for case management, service delivery, operation of feedback and satisfaction collection mechanisms, etc.).

For the purposes of the researching and describing Accountability to Beneficiaries concept International Consultant is recommended to consider experience of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom as global practices.

2. Accountability to Affected Population concept (humanitarian notion, applicable in humanitarian settings) may (not limited to) include such elements as:

• Feedback and complaints mechanism;
• Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA);
• Strengthening capacity of local actors;
• Evidence-based advocacy and decision making;
• Coordination and partnership;
• Participation;
• Information and communication.

 2.1. Accountability to Affected Population concept may be guided by global Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability such as:

• Humanitarian response is appropriate and relevant;
• Humanitarian response is effective and timely;
• Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects;
• Humanitarian response is based on communication, participation and feedback;
• Complaints are welcomed and addressed;
• Humanitarian response is coordinated and complementary;
• Humanitarian actors continuously learn and improve;
• Staff are supported to do their job effectively, and are treated fairly and equitably;
• Resources are managed and used responsibly for their intended purpose.

3. Case management concept may (not limited to) include such elements as:

• Unified electronic system of GBV cases covering:

• unified database of GBV cases;
• referral pathways to ensure that each case is duly reported enabling a proper analysis of GBV response;
• mechanisms to collect feedback on the effectiveness of services (e.g. client feedback surveys, case file audits, ongoing supervision of caseworkers, etc.);
• possibility to properly analyse the multisectoral response (MSR) and response.

• Case managers as entry focal points to guide and support GBV survivors, ensure timely referral of individual cases and follow-up of the cases for effective case closure.

For the purposes of the researching and describing Case Management concept International Consultant is recommended to consider the experience of Spain as a global practice.

4. The conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management shall align with human rights and GBV survivors centred approaches, be gender and age sensitive, and adhere to the principles of inclusivity, diversity and non-discrimination.

5. The conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management shall prescribe sustainable solutions for a comprehensive and coherent GBV response that can be considered for the adoption and incorporation into the national policy and legislative framework.

The services should be provided in July – September 2021 and in close coordination with UNFPA.

Specifically, the consultancy should result in deliverables as follows:

Deliverable 1. Draft Inception Report (Report contains research design, sources, suggested content of the conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response);

Deliverable 2. Draft conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response with a developed sound understanding of the Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management role in GBV response and prevention system;

Deliverable 3. Draft visualization of core mechanisms (incl. visualization of the integral elements of Accountability to Beneficiaries, Accountability to Affected Population, Case Management, interlinkage between these three concepts, etc.) to facilitate a strong understanding of the concepts in a clear and concise manner;

Deliverable 4. Final conceptual framework for Accountability to Beneficiaries and Case Management in GBV response with visualized core mechanisms.

Duration and working schedule:

Starting date: July 20, 2021 (tentatively)

Duration: till September 30, 2021 (tentatively)

Place where services are to be delivered:

Remote work

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Brief progress reports (up to 1 page) are to be delivered electronically every two weeks via email: turkovska@unfpa.org accompanied with draft documents developed/reviewed.

Final brief report on the assignment completion (up to 3 standard pages A4 in English) to be delivered electronically via email turkovska@unfpa.org by the end of the assignment before 30 September 2021 accompanied with the final conceptual framework and its visualized core mechanisms.

The reporting periods should be agreed with the international consultant additionally.

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

Daily work monitoring will be done by Ms. Roksolana Turkovska, UNFPA GBV Policy and Legal Assistant.

Supervisory arrangements:

This consultant will be directly supervised by UNFPA GBV Programme Manager Ms. Olesia Kompaniiets.

Expected travel:

Travel is not expected.

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

Job requirements:

• Minimum Master’s degree in social sciences, good governance, political sciences, gender studies, law or related areas;
• At least 7 years of rigorous analytical experience in social science including in social protection system, good governance or GBV response and prevention;
• Knowledge of GBV response and prevention will be an asset;
• Experience of working with international organizations is mandatory;
• Outstanding research skills, systematic qualitative approach to analysis of complex social phenomena and concepts;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills;
• Ability to visualize and describe complex concepts in clear and concise way;
• Time management skills, strong ability to meet deadlines.

Languages: Fluency (oral and written) in English.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

Additional services could be provided upon UNFPA request and authorisation.

UNFPA will provide the consultant with a set of documents related to the scope of work and results of the previous activities regarding the topic, including UNFPA documents on Accountability to Affected Population, preliminary research on best practices regarding Accountability to Beneficiaries and GBV Case Management, preliminary visualization of the integral elements of Accountability to Beneficiaries, Accountability to Affected Population, Case Management.

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:

Consultancy fee will be paid upon deliverables as stipulated below:

• the first instalment, 60% of the contract amount, after the contracting and upon submission of the Deliverable 1 and Deliverable 2;
• the second instalment, 40% of the contract amount, after the contracting and upon the submission of the Deliverable 3 and Deliverable 4;

Any remarks, proposals, complaints or claims to the consultant regarding services being provided in line with these terms of reference should be submitted to the consultant in writing within 10 days of submission of consultancy deliverables or reports by the consultant.

The scope of works to be performed by the consultant under these terms of reference, as well as other conditions of the consultancy, could be modified, if required, through a written agreement between the consultant and UNFPA.

Intellectual property

All information pertaining to this project (documentary, pictures, digital, cyber, project documents, etc.) belonging to UNFPA, which the consultant may come into contact with in the performance of his/her duties under the assignment shall remain the property of UNFPA, which shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the information shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever manner without written permission of UNFPA in line with the national and international Copyright Laws applicable.

Application Process

The consultant will be identified via open-call competitive selection process.

To be considered for the role, one needs to submit to ukraine.office@unfpa.org by 10 July an application comprised of the following documents:

• Professional CV;

• A list of successful completed research assignments in social domain (with brief description of the assignment and results);
• Links to summary or published reports if available;
• 1 page vision of Accountability to Beneficiaries, Accountability to Affected Population, Case Management interlinkage and their role in GBV response and prevention system;
• Technical proposal (cost estimation template and description of methodology)

Only complete applications received by the deadline will be evaluated.

In the subject of the letter, please state: Application for ICC on A2B and Case Management

Signature of Requesting Officer in Hiring Office:

Date:  June 2021