Consultancy Gender Equality, Violence Prevention and Beneficiary Accountability

Gender Equality, Violence Prevention and Beneficiary Accountability technical support

SUMMARY

The Capacity Building for Emergency Response in the Americas (CERA), is a five year Initiative aimed at strengthening the capacities of five Red Cross National Societies (NS) in the Americas - Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica and Nicaragua - in preparing for and responding to local, regional and national emergencies in order to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. This initiative is co-financed by the Canadian Red Cross and the Government of Canada through the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development (DFATD) and is being implemented with support from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The project has three cross cutting themes - Gender Equality (GE), Violence Prevention (VP) and Beneficiary Accountability (BA) - and the National Societies are planning to integrate these into their Disaster Management (DM). This will be achieved primarily through:

• Promoting the commitment of NS leadership and decision makers to achieve GE/VP/BA at the national, regional and branch levels
• Integrating GE/VP/BA perspectives into their DM strategies, policies, systems, mechanisms and tools, including Response Plans, Contingency Plans and Standard Operating Procedures. Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Regional Representative, Americas for the Canadian Red Cross (CRC), and in close consultation with the Project’s Violence Prevention Coordinator, Disaster Risk Management Coordinators, CRC’s global advisors on VP and GE, and the IFRC’s Strategic Partnership Coordinator, the Gender Consultant will be responsible for planning, organizing and conducting a review of the status of GE, VP and BA in each NS and assisting NSs in the development of interventions to integrate these themes into their DM systems.

Scope of the CONSULTANCY

a) Undertake a review of the status of Gender Equality, Violence Prevention and Beneficiary Accountability in each of the five NSs to determine strengths, and weaknesses and gaps, focusing on the areas of political will, technical capacity, organizational culture and accountability, in order to leverage improved access to the under-represented gender; promote child protection, prevent violence inside/outside of the NS and be accountable to beneficiaries. This will include a review of National Societies’ strategies, policies, plans, procedures, mechanisms, and tools to identify gaps in GE, VP and BA.

b) Assist the NSs in planning project activities to integrate GE, VP and BA into their DM systems. This will include a review of current workplans, establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and process indicators to measure the impact and progress of project efforts to mainstream GE, VP and BA and establishing a baseline.

WORK APPROACH

The consultant is expected to:

• develop an overall action plan to complete the consultancy and provide monthly updates on progress;
• coordinate with each NS to conduct visits to complete the consultancy;
• coordinate with the CRC’s CERA Project Violence Prevention Coordinator and Disaster Risk Management Coordinators and CRC’s global advisors on VP and GE for support, guidance, direction and inputs; and
• participate in the meetings required and agreed by the National Societies and CRC.

DELIVERABLES

• Action plan for carrying out consultancy
• A GE/VP/BA Review report for each of the five NSs
• KPIs and process indicators for to measure the impact and progress of project efforts to mainstream GE, VP and BA
• Baseline established with KPIs and process indicators
• Activities developed for each country to be included in their country level plans for integrating GE/VP/BA

SCHEDULE

The technical support to be provided by the consultant should be for a period of four (4) months starting January 4^th 2016. The consultant should provide a financial proposal with the estimated amount to be charged on a monthly basis for their services.

EVALUATION CONSULTANT AND QUALIFICATIONS

• University Degree, preferably master degree, in the field of women’s studies, gender and development, social sciences or related studies.
• Proven experience producing high quality research on gender issues and ability to absorb, analyse and synthesize large amounts of complex information.
• Substantial experience in design, monitoring and evaluation of gender projects.
• 3 year experience of working for a humanitarian aid organisation in developing countries (RCRC experience will be treated as an added value)
• Strong technical knowledge of and experience in the field of gender issues.
• Experience with project planning, Results Based Management and project management;
• Experience in beneficiary accountability (desired);
• Proven leadership, mentoring, team building, relationship building, negotiating and influencing skills;
• Working knowledge of computer software applications (Windows, Excel, Power Point)
• Knowledge of the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement.
• Fluently spoken and written English and Spanish. French (desired) APPLICATION PROCESS

Consultant can be based out of anywhere en the Americas region. Priority will be given to those based in one of the 5 target countries (Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Dominican Republic Jamaica)

Recommended Presentation of Proposal:

a) Curriculum Vitae

c) Brief description of approach to work and financial proposal (max 1 page each)

PAYMENT MODALITIES AND SPECIFICATIONS

Monthly payment upon submission and validation of Progress Report and submission of invoice.

Send Curriculum Vitae, technical and financial proposal to Nazira.Lacayo@ifrc.org by December 11th.