Consultancy: Women’s Inclusion in New Security: Landscape Analysis At Search for Common Ground

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Search for Common Ground (Search) is planning to conduct a rapid assessment of current and recently closed programs in Uzbekistan that sought to strengthen efforts related to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda or anti-Gender Based Violence (anti-GBV) at the national- or subnational-level, with a focus on the Ferghana valley. In addition to mapping key women-led organizations (WLOs) implementing such programming, the assessment should seek to identify female and male leaders involved in WPS and anti-GBV efforts. Consultant’s research proposal should include a plan to identify local women-led and women-issues focused organizations that serve diverse populations, including young women leaders, women living with disabilities and women from minority groups, among others.

Context

Search for Common Ground

Search is an international conflict transformation NGO that aims to transform the way individuals, groups, governments and companies deal with conflict, away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative solutions. Headquartered in Washington DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium, with 52 field offices in 29 countries, Search designs and implements multifaceted, culturally appropriate and conflict-sensitive programs using a diverse range of tools, including media and training, to promote dialogue, increase knowledge and determine a positive shift in behaviors.

The Project

The Women’s Inclusion in New Security (WINS) Program seeks to equip women-led organizations (WLOs) in conflict settings with the resources and tools they need to impact decision-making while ensuring their safety. The program is designed to leverage what works to build equitable and sustainable partnerships with women-led organizations in five priority countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Specifically, the WINS Program will grow and sustain the leadership of diverse women’s civil society organizations in advancing women’s safety and meaningful participation in processes related to peace and security decision-making institutions by achieving three specific objectives:

Objective 1: Partner equitably with a range of women-led organizations in priority conflict-affected countries to advance locally-designed Women Peace and Security (WPS) initiatives;

Objective 2: Equip women-led organizations to respond to high-impact opportunities and unanticipated challenges to advance WPS-related priorities;

Cross-Cutting Objective: Amplify and integrate local women-led organizations into the wider peacebuilding community beyond the life of the program.

As a foundation for the achievement of these objectives, the first activity in each priority country is a landscape analysis of women-led organizations working on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) and anti-Gender Based Violence (anti-GBV) initiatives. The landscape analysis will serve as the basis for further activities, including joint strategy workshops with women-led organizations and capacity-building activities.

Goals and Objectives of Study

The goal of the landscape analysis is two-fold:

• Avoid duplication of efforts by mapping current and recently closed programs to strengthen the WPS and anti-GBV efforts at the national- and target subnational-level(s); and
• Locate potential WINS participants by identifying key women-led organizations and other female and male leaders involved in those efforts, with a particular focus on leaders and WLOs working with under-served groups.

The landscape analysis should also:

• Assess ways in which WINS may complement and build upon existing efforts;
• Identify unmet needs related to advancing the WPS agenda and/or advancing anti-GBV efforts in Uzbekistan, with a particular focus on the needs of traditionally marginalized actors;
• Facilitate multi-stakeholder coordination by understanding the programs, activities, and geographic reach of women-led organizations. Key Questions of the Study

The following should be included as key focus areas of the landscape analysis:

WLOs/organizations serving women or girls:

• What programming does your organization implement related to advancing the WPS agenda? What programming does your organization implement related to preventing or responding to GBV?
• Where does your organization work (i.e. geographic locations)?
• Which communities does your organization serve?
• Is any of your programming intended specifically to engage vulnerable and/or marginalized populations? If so, which populations?
• Can you tell us what type of funding sources your organization has (own resources, international or national funders, individual contributions…)? If external funding, could you tell us who currently supports your programmes?
• What additional WPS or anti-GBV programming would you do if you had the funding for it? What existing needs would this programming respond to?
• Are you part of any WPS or anti-GBV networks/platforms in your country or internationally?
• Does your organization partner with national or local government officials (women or men) for your work on WPS or GBV prevention/response? If so, who are these allies?
• What other organizations are you aware of that are doing work to advance the WPS agenda or prevent or respond to GBV? (FOR INTERVIEWER: ask next questions if respondent knows about other organizations)
• What programs do they implement?
• Do any of these organizations specifically engage vulnerable and/or marginalized populations? If so, which populations?
• Where do these organizations work (i.e. geographic locations)?
• Which communities do they serve?

International partners/donors/INGOs:

• What organizations/WLOs do you work with to advance the WPS agenda or prevent or respond to GBV? What programs do they implement?
• Where do your partner organizations work (i.e. geographic locations)?
• Which communities do your partners serve?
• Do any of your partners specifically engage vulnerable and/or marginalized populations? If so, which populations?
• Does your partner organization engage with national or local government officials (women or men) for your work on WPS or GBV prevention/response? If so, who are these allies?

Geographic Location

• Tashkent – for WLOs working at national level
• Ferghana valley (the three oblasts of Andijan, Namangan and Ferghana

Methodology and Data Collection Tools

• Desk review
• KIIs
• Consultants should outline in their proposal the approach they will take to reach marginalized WLOs

Deliverables

• Search expects the following deliverables from the external consultant(s) as they correspond to the timeline and budget:
• A short inception report detailing the methodology, data collection tools and timeline;
• Data collection;
• All original data submitted to Search;
• A draft landscape analysis report, for review by Search staff and partners;
• A final landscape analysis report (20 pages max in length, excluding appendices) consistent with Search branding and standards. The report should:
• Explain the objectives and research questions of the study, limitations and methods chosen for analysis,
• Respect Search’s conflict research standards, be structured around the main objectives of the study, and presented in relation to the intended target groups.
• Appendices should include detailed research instruments, list of interviewees, terms of references and evaluator(s) brief biography.

The report can be written in Uzbek or Russian (for use and dissemination within Uzbekistan), or English (for sharing with the donor and external audiences) as per the consultant’s preference. Search will manage the translation of the final report from Uzbek or Russian into English or the other way around.

Logistical Support

Consultant(s) will be responsible for organizing their own logistics for data collection (vehicles, fuel, and drivers), and this must be budgeted into the study. Search can provide support in arranging logistics as agreed upon based on the consultant’s proposal. At least one Search staff member may be available to support data collection and logistics.

In addition, Search and partners will share the following elements with the external consultant(s): Background materials including the project proposal, existing Search program descriptions for Uzbekistan, etc.

Data Quality Assurance and Management

• All studies will be reviewed and approved by the WINS global project team and regional Gender Advisor prior to acceptance of the final product.

Timeline

• Data collection in April 2022
• Data analysis and report writing in April / May 2022
• Final report available by end of May, translated version in June

Budget
The total budget available for this study is 8,000 USD. A detailed budget should be provided, including daily rates for personnel, and costs related to data collection (per total number of people sampled, sites for collection, etc.), analysis, and production of deliverables.

Requirements of Consultant

The following skills and experience are expected by Search for our evaluator for this project:

• Proficiency in Uzbek or Russian (written and spoken) required, working knowledge of English preferred;
• More than 5 years of experience in research, including collecting data through desk research and interviews;
• Experience in conflict analysis and working on WPS/GBV
• Experience working with local civil society sectors and WLOs;
• Familiarity and experience with contextual challenges in the geographic location(s) where the study will take place.

In addition, the consultant is required to respect the following Ethical Principles:

• Comprehensive and systematic inquiry: Consultant should make the most of the existing information and full range of stakeholders available at the time of the review. Consultant should conduct systematic, data-based inquiries. He or she should communicate his or her methods and approaches accurately and in sufficient detail to allow others to understand, interpret and critique his or her work. He or she should make clear the limitations of the review and its results.
• Competence: Consultant should possess the abilities and skills and experience appropriate to undertake the tasks proposed and should practice within the limits of his or her professional training and competence.
• Honesty and integrity: Consultant should be transparent with the contractor/constituent about: any conflict of interest, any change made in the negotiated project plan and the reasons why those changes were made, any risk that certain procedures or activities produce misleading review information.
• Respect for people: Consultant respect the security, dignity and self-worth of respondents, programme participants. Consultant has the responsibility to be sensitive to and respect differences amongst participants in culture, religion, gender, disability, age and ethnicity.

Selection Criteria

Consultant proposals will be selected for:

• Relevance of proposed methodology to the goal, objectives, and research questions for the project.
• Quality of proposed methods, conflict sensitivity approaches, and quality control measures.
• Qualifications and prior experience of the candidate(s).
• Proposed budget in relation to proposed methodology, deliverables and team.
• Timeline for proposed activities.**