Consultant at Finn Church Aid (FCA)

Baseline Survey for promoting Participation and Representation of Women in Political Decision Making in Hudur, Berdale, and Baidoa’”

Procurement Process :

RFP - Request for proposal

Office :

FCA – Mogadishu Office

Deadline :

18th Aug, 2018

Posted on :

Development Area :

SERVICES

Overview :

Background:

Prior to project implementation, a thorough needs assessment, baseline survey and gender audit in the target districts will be carried out to acutely understand the status, challenges, and context of women’s participation within the electoral and decision-making processes. The need assessment will specifically look at the capacity gaps and needs of the key target groups of women that the project intends to support through a comprehensive capacity building and mentorship programme. These will include the elected women in parliament, cabinet ministers, elected district councilors, female leaders and activists, and MWHRD. A specific survey will also be undertaken to identify the needs and interests of women, youth and marginalised groups from the rural and remote communities of the target districts, who have not specifically involved in the political and decision making process and may have different needs from female leaders/activists and other elected women with better knowledge, experience and education. Different training packages and mentoring programmes for each of the target groups will be developed. The baseline survey will assess gender status, knowledge, and perception of the target communities and relevant stakeholders and necessary data and information needed to enable the evaluation of impact of the project. Gender audit of the target district councils and administrations will also be carried out to facilitate the profound understanding of the existing capacity of the councils and staff on gender issues and how gender equality aspect is mainstreamed in its current structure, policy, decision making process and operation. Direct and indirect beneficiaries will also be identified. Inclusive participation, non-discrimination, empowerment and ownership of target beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders will be ensured throughout these processes. The results of these exercises will be used to adjust the project’s activities and approach, and to further develop project baselines and targets. The project launch will also be organised to share key results from the exercises and to build consensus and gather support from various stakeholders.

Objective

The overall objective of the baseline survey is to acutely understand the status, challenges, and context of women’s participation within the electoral and decision-making processes in those targeted districts. The need assessment will specifically look at the capacity gaps and needs of the key target groups of women that the project intends to support through a comprehensive capacity building and mentorship programme. These will include the elected women in parliament, cabinet ministers, elected district councilors, female leaders and activists, and MWHRD. The analysis of the survey should  identify the needs and interests of women, youth and marginalised groups from the rural and remote communities of the target districts, who have not specifically involved in the political and decision making process and may have different needs from female leaders/activists and other elected women with better knowledge, experience and education.

Methodology

The baseline survey will be conducted by an external consulting firm and will work under the supervision and support of FCA M&E and Gender project team and Ministry of women of southwest state. The firm is expected to come with a detailed methodology for conducting the survey, taking into consideration the nature of outputs and outcomes in a given context. Appropriate sampling technique with respective tools will be developed in consultation with FCA team before commencement of the survey. The consultant is required to conduct the baseline survey on women’s political participation study in a participatory manner using various study methodologies (described below) that will involve diverse stakeholders, including women politicians, policy makers, women’s organizations, religious and traditional leaders, youth, academics,local councils, MPs, and electoral institutions, international development organizations; and women and men in elected bodies.

In order to conduct the baseline survey on the key parameters, the following methodologies can be utilized, but should not be limited to:

• Desk review of the project documents,other relevant , policies
• Quantitative and qualititative  data collection and analysis of the existing data
• Key informant interviews (KIIs), stakeholder consultations and other participatory methods
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with different Government and non‐government institutions and selected areas of the project locations for providing practical experiences in formulating the programme.

Project Description

Name of the project

promoting Participation and Representation of Women in Political Decision Making in Hudur, Berdale, and Baidoa’

Project Duration

20 Months (Aug 2018-March 2020)

Implementing Organization:

FCA and CRD

Project Results

Outcome: Within the current political, social, and gender contexts of Somalia and in response to the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy of the Somalia Stability Fund II, FCA in partnership with the Centre for Research and Dialogue (CRD) is proposing a 21-month project aimed at improving the status and role of women through the advancement of their political empowerment and participation in political decision making processes in Southwest State of Somalia.

Outcome indicator

Indicator 1: Percentage of women elected as district councilors in local government elections

Indicator 2: Total number of women and youth supported by the project to improve their voice and participation in governance

Collect baseline data for the project Outputs and component Indicators below:

Output 1: Improved capacity, confidence and skills for women to effectively participate in the decision-making and political processes.

Indicator 1.1:Percentage of trained women and young women who are aware of their rights and the social and civic responsibility of elected leaders, and can raise and debate their concerns on local issues with local government actors.

Indicator 1.2: Number of trained aspiring female candidates running for district council elections who can effectively communicate their election platforms and key development issues, and who are able to interact with a wide range of stakeholders and audiences, including the media.

Indicator 1.3: Number of position papers submitted to the President and Cabinet Ministers of SWS from women’s network across various levels of SWS to advocate for the application of the quota system for women’s representation in all levels of government.

Indicator 1.4:Number of small quick impact projects implemented that target livelihood and education programmes for women, youth and marginalised groups

Output 2: Developed and strengthened effective policies and mechanisms for the increased participation and representation of women in decision making in local government

Indicator 2.1: Draft Gender Policy for SWS that responds to the international standards, especially CEDAW, finalized and submitted to Cabinet Ministers of SWS for approval

Indicator 2.2: Number of target districts that developsGender Action Plans and number of gender action points implemented by each administration by the end of the project

Indicator 2.3: Percentage of development priorities identified by women addressed by district councils and administrations in target districts

Result 3: Strengthened advocacy and public awareness to promote inclusive institutions, and the participation and representation of women in decision-making

Indicator 3.1: Percentage of community members in target districts whose perception of women’s roles within decision-making and political processes increases positively.

Indicator 3.2: Quarterly number of key local media outlets featuring positive story (-ies) on key women activists/advocates; or stories that challenge the social, cultural, and traditional norms and stereotypes of women’s participation in decision-making and political processes.

Indicator 3.3: Number of live-calls recorded during radio programmes supported by the project that shows support and encouragement for the increased participation of women in politics and decision-making.

Study area

Geographically, the Action will be implemented in three locations. These were Hudur in (Bakool) and Baidabo and Bardale in (Bay) region of SWS.

The baseline shall use the OECD DAC standards for carrying out the activity. Guided by this criteria, the baseline will have the following characteristics:

• The use of the five evaluation criteria of Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability (see further elaboration below)
• Cross-cutting issues will include gender, youth, adherence to FCA’s Rights Based Approach and Do No Harm Principle
• The intervention logic (e.g. Log frame) is to be analyzed to ascertain if all the indicators and targets set for the project are achievable once. 

Expected Deliverables

• A brief inception report (maximum 5 pages) outlining the approach/methodology and execution programme/timetable. This report shall be submitted for review and approval by FCA within five (5) days after the signing of the contract before commencement of the work.
• Data collection tools which shall be submitted within 7-10 days after acceptance of the methodology for review and approval by FCA Management team.
• Draft survey report which shall be submitted within five days after completion of the field work and shall be accompanied with the raw data as collected by the data collection tools.
• The final report which shall be submitted within 5 days after receiving FCA’s inputs on the draft report.

Outline of the Baseline Report

The Baseline report should contain at MINIMUM different elements mentioned below. All parts should be clearly distinguished from each other and of sufficient quality.

• Cover page
• Acknowledgement
• Table of contents
• List of tables
• List of figures
• Executive summary comprehensive enough to highlight all the key aspects of the Baseline. The summary should present a highlight of the methodology, key findings, summary of conclusions and recommendations.
• Introduction section
• Literature review (should be precise and well linked to the Action’s focus
• Methodology that clearly outlines the sampling procedures and the sample size, how the data was collected, analyzed and presented with clear justification and limitations if any.
• Findings addressing all the Baseline questions and the unexpected outcomes.
• Conclusions presenting summary of the findings on the basis of the questions.Lessons learned and recommendations which should be clearly related to the conclusions.
• Case stories highlighting best practices.
• Report annexes that include the tools used in the Baseline and the list of respondents

Firm or a person competency

Advised to propose a team for conducting the baseline survey. The consulting firm/NGO will ensure that relevant members from the assignment execution team should possess the following experiences, skills and competencies:

• Master’s degree in relevant social science discipline (preferably gender studies, or political science) with minimum of 5 years’ experience in the field of gender and development with a focus on politics/governance;
•  Working experience from the public sector or governance programming in a post-conflict setting;
•  Extensive knowledge of political systems; and  Background in working towards increasing women’s political participation;
•  Proven ability in developing and implementing qualitative research methodology and identifying relevant stakeholders with solid understanding of and experience with carrying out multi-stakeholder studies.
• Knowledge of critical gender issues in the Somalia or South west state context;
•  Superior skills in gender mainstreaming, analysis and monitoring
• Good understanding of democratization process in South West State
• Strong analytical skills on gender analysis in overall aspects of survey designing and conducting
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills as well as fluency in English
• Ability to work collaboratively with multiple and groups
• Ability to produce high quality work under tight timeframes
• Evidence of having undertaken similar assignments
• Ability to develop high quality research reports in English 

Duration of the assignment:

The consultancy will take place starting from 25th August 2018 for 30 effective days. The final report is anticipated no later than 4 weeks after completion of fieldwork.