Desk Review And Analysis Of Guidance, Tools And Practices Related To The Engagement Of Men And Boys (With A Special Focus On Male Youth) Against Violence Against Women And Girls.

Consultancy fo Individuals      Background and Rational   Mitigating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment cannot be done in an efficient manner without the active involvement of men, male youth[1] and boys. Men often wield power over critical aspects of women’s lives, as heads of government, leaders of religious or faith based institutions, judges, militaries, community leaders or as husbands, fathers and brothers. They tend to be disproportionally in control of the access to information and services, finances, transportation and other resources. Too often men alone make decisions regarding the priority of the couple and/or the households, which perpetuates traditional gender roles and power imbalances. While some may impose their choice through coercion or violence. To address in depth these inequalities, the gender stereotypes and persisting discriminatory social norms, men, male youth and boys have a critical role to play. Their position as gatekeepers makes their engagement along with women and girls through Gender and SGBV programmes essential. Promoting with them gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors and women empowerment is key to mitigate gender-based discrimination and violence[2].   However, while this approach is now widely recognized and promoted, men’s resistances due to traditional roles and sensitivity of the issue combined with lack of experience and knowledge from the gender actors themselves make it often challenging to implement meaningfully[3].   In Lebanon, six years of conflict and protracted displacement, poor living conditions coupled with increasing inter-communities tensions triggered serious protection concerns, including Gender-Based Violence (GBV), with devastating consequences on survivor’s health including Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and emotional well-being, among others. As of 2017, it is estimated that a total of 3.3 million people (vulnerable Lebanese, Syrian refugees and Palestinians) are in critical need of protection and assistance[4]. The SGBV prevention and response is coordinated through the National SGBV Task Force chaired by UNHCR and co-led with UNFPA and the Ministry of Social Affairs[5]. Engaging men and boys in the fight against SGBV is part of the inter-agency SGBV strategy translated into the 2017-2020 Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP) under the Protection Chapter[6]. This approach is also in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence against Women (CEDAW) ratified by Lebanon and the 2011-2021 National Strategy for Women. A number of initiatives aiming at involving men, male youth and boys from Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian communities against Violence against Women and Girls (hereafter VAWG) - including early marriage - have been undertaken in Lebanon these past years by various partners. Some of the approaches and tools used have proven to be successful through impact assessments and documentation of good practices. However, these interventions remain so far small scale, pilot based and not sustainable. During the 2017 SGBV Task Force Retreat the need of carrying a comprehensive desk review of the existing resources and practices at global, regional and country levels has been raised as a priority, as well as the need to enhance coordination of the interventions carried out in Lebanon.   UNFPA and UNDP are aiming at contributing to address this need as part of a joint UNFPA-UNDP SGBV project funded by the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for UN Action against Sexual Violence. Purpose and Objectives   Under the supervision of UNFPA and UNDP, and with the support of the National SGBV Task Force partners, the purpose of the consultancy is twofold: 1. to take stock of the existing guidance, tools and practices aiming at engaging men and boys (with a special attention to male youth) on VAWG, including early marriage and; 2. to provide operational recommendations and ways forward to the SGBV actors.   The specific objectives of the consultancy are: To research and compile existing resources and practices at global, regional and country levels; To highlight documented successful approaches and good practices relevant for the Lebanon context, with a special attention to innovative initiatives; To highlight potential challenges and retrieve lessons learned; To provide operational recommendations towards creating a community of practice, implementing and/or scaling-up promising practices, filling identified gaps and meeting needs, including in terms of capacity and tools development, specific to the Lebanese context.   Tasks   Under the supervision of UNFPA and UNDP offices, a consultant will be contracted to carry out the following tasks:   Develop a detailed timeline for the 3-month consultancy in collaboration and as agreed with UNFPA and UNDP; Operate a comprehensive literature review in order to collect and compile related guidance, manual, tools and approaches existing at global, regional and country levels; Meet with SGBV Task Force and Child Protection Working Group partners, and other identified organizations who have been/are involved in engaging men, male youth and boys on SGBV to assess their experience in terms of relevance, approaches, effectiveness, impact, challenges, good practices, sustainability etc (estimation: 3 NNGOs, 3 INGOs; 4 grass-root organizations); Meet with relevant UN Agencies and Ministry (estimation: 4 UN Agencies and 1 Ministry) to assess their experience, priorities and recommendations for future initiatives. Meet with community members/leaders (estimation: 1 focus group discussion in each of the 5 regions) to assess their experience, priorities and recommendations for future initiatives; Draft a report summarizing and analysing findings (successful approaches, good practices, lessons learned etc) and providing recommendations towards implementing and/or scaling-up promising practices, filling identified gaps and meeting needs, including in terms of capacity and tools development, specific to the Lebanese context Adapt the report to take into account UNFPA and UNDP comments and recommendations. Present at the National SGBV Task Force and the Child Protection Working Group findings and recommendations. Finalize report based on the last inputs of UNFPA, UNDP and the coordination groups.   Expected Outcomes/Deliverables The consultant shall deliver the following:   An electronical folder containing all materials/tools collected. This folder will be included of the SGBV Task Force dropbox. An interview guide with key questions to address the organizations; A focus group discussion guide to support the interaction with the community members; A comprehensive analytical report and Annexes(s); A PPT presentation summarizing the content of the report that will be delivered in a technical meeting. A one-pager leaflet summarizing the main findings and recommendations to support the dissemination.   The report will be available in English and will consist mainly of the following substantive parts: Background and rational Methodology Findings at global, regional, country levels Recommendations (divided by targeted audience) On-line bibliography List of Annexes (among which the guides)   Duration of Assignment   The assignment should be concluded within 3 months from the signing of the contract.  Support to be provided by UNFPA and UNDP   The assignment will be carried out under supervision of UNFPA and UNDP, who shall provide the following support to the consultancy: Related documents, material, reports, etc Contact of relevant partners and stakeholders Facilitate meetings with relevant partners and stakeholders Provide meeting facilities Review and provide technical comment/inputs on guides, reports, etc   Role of the SGBV Task Force Members   The assignment will be carried out on behalf and with the support of the National SGBV Task Force members. On a voluntary basis, international and local partners will:   Contribute to the desk review through sharing with the Consultant tools and documents related past/current interventions engaging men, male youth and boys on VAWG. Contribute to the analysis through meeting with the consultant to share good practices, lessons learned, opportunities, needs/gaps, recommendations, etc. Advice on the stakeholders (i.e. grass-root organizations, community members) to be met and facilitate the contact. Provide inputs and comments to the findings and recommendations.   Qualifications    Advanced University degree in social/development sciences or other related areas with previous work experience and considerable skills in survey design, analysis and report writing;  Strong background in research and gender equality/SGBV in a displacement context, with a special focus on the MENA region;  Good knowledge in humanitarian contexts and familiarity with humanitarian related resources and material;  Excellent analytical and drafting skills;  Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish effective and working relations with other stakeholders;  Excellent written and spoken communication skills in Arabic and English.    HOW TO APPLY Interested candidates may apply online by providing: (1)   a most updated CV, and (3)   a cover letter mentioning the relevance of past/current experience with the requirements of the consultancy.   The above documents must be sent to the following email address: info-lebanon@unfpa.org by no later than May 05, 2017 Candidates who fail to submit the required documents above will not be considered for review. UNFPA Lebanon will only be responsible to respond to those applicants submitting the required documents above and in which there is further interest. ONLY individual consulatnts, not companies, are eligible to apply.