TERMS OF REFERENCE
SUPPORT MATERIALS AND TOOLS FOR PSEA FACILITATION
- Background
SOS Children’s Villages is an organization dedicated to caring for children, adolescents, and young people who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it. We recognize that this situation of vulnerability can have long-term—and in some cases permanent—effects on their socio-emotional, physical, and intellectual development.
As set out in the Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy (2023), the purpose of our work is to “ensure a safe and enabling environment for children, adolescents and young people without family care or at risk of losing it, where they can build relationships based on trust and receive support to be strong and resilient.”
This policy, together with its regulations, constitutes a binding regulatory framework that defines the minimum standards required of all individuals and entities working for or on behalf of SOS Children’s Villages. Its objective is to ensure that the safety and well-being of children, adolescents, and young people guide all our actions.
Child and Youth Safeguarding is understood as the organizational responsibility to take all necessary measures to ensure that SOS Children’s Villages staff, representatives, operations, and programs do not cause harm or expose children, adolescents, and young people to risk. This also includes responding appropriately to any situation of harm, even when caused by peers within the care setting.
As of June 18, 2025, the scope of safeguarding work was officially expanded to include adult participants from the community. This decision responds to the need to consolidate a culture of safeguarding, in which all participants are informed of our commitment to promoting safe and protective environments, regardless of age, religion, ethnicity, or gender.
The concept of harm encompasses abuse, neglect, and exploitation, and can manifest itself in a variety of ways:
- As a deliberate act, an accident, or an omission (for example, failure to provide adequate supervision).
- It can be perpetrated by an adult or a peer.
- It can cause actual harm or have a high probability of causing it.
For the purposes of this consultancy, the following terms are understood as:
- Child or adolescent participant: a person under 18 years of age, regardless of the legal age of majority according to local legislation, who participates in any type of SOS Children’s Villages service.
- Young person participant: an individual between 18 and 24 years of age who participates in some of the SOS Children’s Villages services.
- Adult Participant: A person over 18 years of age who receives some of the possible support from SOS Children’s Villages in community, humanitarian and other services, without being under the legal responsibility of SOS Children’s Villages.
In line with the organizational commitment to safeguarding, a toolkit was developed in late 2024 and early 2025 to facilitate participants’ understanding of the child and youth safeguarding policy. This toolkit includes materials and activities aimed at school-aged children, organized by age group: 8–10 years, 11–13 years, and 14–16 years.
Similarly, between September and October, work was done to expand this toolbox by broadening the scope of materials to integrate workshop methodologies for the following groups:
- Early childhood (4-7 years)
- Adult participants in services (people over 18 years of age leaving alternative care and people participating in family strengthening services or humanitarian action projects).
Seeking to develop more tools for preventive work with adult community participants, the LAAM Regional Office plans to create content (materials and mini-workshops) related to our commitment to care contained in the Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse (PSHEA) Policy, as well as elements of the Code of Conduct Regulations.
The general and specific objectives of this consultancy are shared below, and they are specified in more detail in the “EXPECTED PRODUCTS” section.
2. Objectives
General:
Design and produce complementary materials for the Safeguard Policy Toolkit, aimed at adult participants, ensuring conceptual, methodological, and graphic consistency with existing materials.
Specific:
- Design products and materials to support awareness-raising processes for adult participants regarding the organizational commitment to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse (PSHEA), as well as elements of the Code of Conduct Regulations.
- Create four 45-minute mini-workshops for adults participating in SOS Children’s Villages services.
- Ensure that these products maintain a unified and coherent graphic line with the base material.
3. Methodology
Please note that the consultancy is 100% virtual. The proposal methodology should consider the following factors:
- Framed within a human rights approach, with a gender perspective, an intergenerational, intersectional, and intercultural approach, a youth approach, and a focus on functional diversity, it must also be developed from the principles of an evolutionary perspective, complex understanding, and situated understanding.
- The product(s) must be friendly, appropriate and attractive to the aforementioned participating groups.
- Consider language that is accessible and as neutral as possible so that it can be shared across the countries that make up the LAAM region.
- Deliver the materials and their contents in the format required for digital use, printing (if applicable), and potential editing and/or translation/subtitling.
- The products to be produced must allow the promotion of the following elements:
- SOS Children’s Villages’ duty to prevent and respond to situations of violence and/or abuse;
- Activities to identify what abusive behavior is;
- Promotion of healthy behaviors and protective factors in the target population;
- Explain in a friendly manner what to do if you learn of or experience abuse by an employee of the organization;
Expected activities for this consultancy include:
- Freely accept the Organization’s Code of Conduct and the Regulations on Inappropriate Sexual Conduct, Prevention and Protection against Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse by signing them.
- Constant communication between the consulting team and the project leaders at SOS Children’s Villages: coordination meetings and review of the consulting products with the regional project team assigned to the project and any other individuals the SOS Children’s Villages team deems relevant. For this contract, contacts will be Román López Lara (roman.lopez@sos-kd.org) and Lucía Miranda (lucia.miranda@sos-kd.org).
- All products must be aligned with the SOS Children’s Villages International brand.
- Delivery of editable materials to the SOS Children’s Villages International team.
The consulting methodology should include several techniques and the execution of tasks, which will be divided into three key moments:
First moment:
- Participate in an induction process facilitated by SOS Children’s Villages International to understand the organizational functioning and policy frameworks of the organization.
- Virtual meetings with regional Child and Youth Safeguarding and Child and Youth Participation representatives to identify key elements of the organizational context that contribute to the development of the expected outcomes.
- Document review: Child and Youth Safeguarding Policy (CYSP), Child and Youth Safeguarding Regulations, pre-developed products for children and youth and adult participants, Regulations on Inappropriate Sexual Conduct, and Code of Conduct Regulations.
- The consulting team must review materials and products already developed to ensure content alignment, follow-up on work already completed, and avoid duplication of inputs.
Second moment :
- Adaptation of content and pedagogical mediation by the consulting team.
- Sending products to the regional team for feedback.
- Possible virtual presentation to the regional team with the adjustments noted in the possible feedback.
- Possible virtual product validation sessions with the regional team and representatives of Member Associations according to the provisions contained in the Products and Duration sections.
Third moment:
- Delivery of the final product validated by the regional team and representatives of the Regional Child and Youth Safeguarding Network.
- PowerPoint (PPT) presentation of the products for sharing with collaborators from the Regional Office and the teams from the countries that are part of SOS Children’s Villages (LAAM).
- This presentation must contain recommendations for use and important observations before using the product.
4. Expected products
- User-friendly version (paperback) of the Regulations on Sexual Misconduct and Prevention of and Protection from Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse (PSHEA)
- An interactive game (cards/questions and answers) to facilitate understanding of the topic in adult participants
- Design of a methodology for four in-person mini-workshops (45 minutes each) aimed at raising awareness among participating adults about safeguarding and AISOS’s responsibility to ensure safe and protective environments in the services the organization provides. The methodology is expected to include the necessary activities and materials.
- Short 2D videos explaining the topic (estimated duration 1 minute 30 seconds)
- At least two infographics and two images to share via social media (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.)
5. Duration
Dates (2025)
Publication of the terms of reference: October 17
Reception of proposals: October 20 – November 2
Proposal evaluation, interviews and selection: November 4-10
Contract signing, organizational model training, and document signing: Child and Young Persons Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct, Sexual Misconduct Regulations (PSHEA), Anti-Fraud and Anti-Corruption Guide: November 11
Session with the Regional Child and Youth Safeguarding Team to define expectations for the products from the consulting team and final agreed-upon timeline for product delivery. SOS Children’s Villages materials sharing: November 12
Work by the consulting team to develop defined products according to the agreed schedule: November 13 to December 11
Deadline for submission of final products reviewed and validated by the Regional IJ Safeguarding Team and National Child and Youth Safeguarding Coordinators: December 12
6. Profile of the consulting team
The consulting team must include people who meet the following requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Pedagogy, Social Work, Psychology or related fields.
- Experience in the design and development of manuals, guides, and/or protocols for the prevention of abuse against adults belonging to at-risk communities who participate in social and/or humanitarian projects.
- Experience in the design and development of graphic products aimed at young people and adults in the community who participate in social and/or humanitarian projects.
- Essential training and handling of editing, design and layout tools.
- Personnel trained in the Human Rights Approach.
- Experience in capacity building on issues of violence aimed at young people and adults at the national and/or international level.
- Experience in developing recreational methodologies and recreational-pedagogical materials on the prevention of harassment, exploitation, and sexual abuse.
- Experience promoting preventative work for young people and adults in at-risk communities is desirable.
- Essential knowledge of the work of institutions or humanitarian organizations that work with the target population of SOS Children’s Villages.
7. Intellectual property
The consultant must deliver the final products to the regional project team at SOS Children’s Villages International once the contract expires. The consultant will not have any patent, title, or other ownership rights to any documents produced with SOS Children’s Villages International funding. These rights are the property of SOS Children’s Villages International, which may use and modify them as it sees fit.
8. Selection procedure:
After evaluating the bids (technical and financial) submitted by the bidders that meet the requirements defined in these terms of reference, the selected team will be selected. All bidding teams will be notified of the decision.
For your information, the evaluation criteria will be as follows:
Evaluation criteria
Total possible score
Work schedule adjusted to the TDR and times defined in section I Duration
10ptos
Clear proposal of products and methodology according to the scope of the objectives to be achieved
10ptos
Technical experience (content and design) in the development of manuals, guides and/or protocols for the prevention of abuse of young people and adults in communities and other target audiences of humanitarian organizations, focusing on capacity development.
20ptos
Experience in developing and implementing awareness-raising spaces for young people and adults from communities at social risk at the national and/or international level on topics such as prevention of sexual abuse, awareness of sexual harassment, gender violence and other topics related to the consulting field.
20ptos
Assessment of the work portfolio
20ptos
Added value of the proposal (methodology, design and/or tools)
20ptos
TOTAL
100ptos
9. Fees
Fee proposals from interested consultants will be reviewed. It is requested that the materials to be produced be budgeted separately in the financial offer. Costs must be expressed in local currency and finally, in US dollars, which will be the currency in which payments will be made.
10. Evaluation of offers
The bid must include a presentation of the methodology to be used, the program of activities, and the work schedule, along with the resume(s) of each member of the consulting team and a portfolio of work. It must also include a financial proposal specifying the cost of each of the byproducts or materials to be created.
If applicable, taxes must be included as part of the economic proposal.
Creativity in proposing attractive products will be valued.
11. Supplier Requirements
The consulting provider, whether individual or part of a professional team, must have proper tax registration in their country and must be free of any outstanding tax obligations.
The consultancy is responsible for determining its tax obligations and paying any taxes and/or fees, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
How to apply
Interested individuals and/or teams are asked to send their CVs, as well as their technical and financial offer, to the following email address: Programas.LAAM@sos-kd.org with the title “MATERIALS AND SUPPORT PRODUCTS FOR PSHEA FACILITATION”
Deadline for receiving resumes, portfolios, and offers: November 2, 2025.