UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA expands the possibilities for women and young girls to lead healthy and productive lives. Since UNFPA started working in 1969, the number and rate of women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth has been halved. Families are smaller and healthier. Young people are more connected and empowered than before.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a profound human rights violation with major social and development impacts for survivors of violence, as well as their families, communities, and society more broadly. Addressing GBV contributes to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, namely achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls, reducing poverty, improving health, and promoting peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, etc.…

UNFPA Lebanon promotes gender equality and women empowerment and prevention and protection against GBV. It supports service provision, evidence generation, and capacity development interventions for better GBV prevention, risk mitigation, and response. UNFPA Lebanon established, in collaboration with its implementing partners (namely national and international NGOs) women and girls’ safe spaces (WGSSs) where beneficiaries benefit from a range of comprehensive GBV services, including case management, psychosocial support, psychological assistance, and referrals to specialized services. In addition, awareness-raising, recreational, life skills, and skills-building activities are usually offered in the WGSSs.

The establishment of WGSSs emerged in Lebanon as a key strategy for the protection and empowerment of women and girls specially in the context of the Syrian humanitarian crisis facing the country since 2011 and subsequent crisis. WGSSs serve as a structured place where women and girls’ physical and emotional safety is respected and where women and girls are supported through processes of empowerment to seek, share, and obtain information, access services, express themselves, enhance psychosocial wellbeing, and more fully realize their rights. WGSSs are established following international guiding principles to ensure they are inclusive, accessible, and client/survivor centered as well as UNFPA experience in the region in running this model. It is worth noting that in the previous years, UNFPA has been conducting on a yearly basis an impact assessment of WGSSs and the consultant would need to build on the assessment findings to take stock of our experience and improve programming.

Based on the above, a consultant will be engaged to assess the implementation of WGSSs supported by UNFPA in terms of their functionalities, minimum standards[1] and structural requirements and ability to realize the intended objective[2]. Specifically, the assessment will a) provide an overview/mapping of the 9 UNFPA-supported WGSSs including assessment of essential criteria[3]; b) analyze the quality, relevance and impact of services and support provided in WGSSs, including psychosocial support, health care, legal assistance, and skills training; c) assess existing capacities; d) assess access, safety and fair treatment of beneficiaries when seeking services, as well as provision of services in a respectful and dignified way; e) determine the impact of the WGSSs in promoting the empowerment, protection, and participation of women and girls; f) assess the extent to which WGSSs are being inclusive and diverse through taking an intersectional approach; g) identify best practices, gaps, and challenges. Based on the findings, the consultant will develop concrete recommendations at various levels (normative, governance, services, etc) to improve the condition of the WGSSs (i.e., design, implementation, monitoring and feedback mechanisms, etc) with the aim to enhance the wellbeing of women and adolescent girls.

The consultant will work under UNFPA’s supervision to carry out the following tasks:

1. Prepare an action plan with a timeline of activities to be carried out under this assignment.
2. Conduct a literature review including relevant policies, guidelines, and standards related to safe spaces for women and girls.
3. Describe data collection methods to be used (e.g., interviews, surveys, focus groups, observation checklists, etc.) and develop relevant tools (i.e., Key informant interviews with WGSS stakeholders, focus group discussions with women and girls accessing safe spaces, checklist for site visits to safe spaces to assess the physical infrastructure and quality of services, etc.).
4. Collect data through UNFPA GBV implementing partners and conduct KII with UNFPA staff and other stakeholders and based on step 4 above.
5. Draft a report in English and present in a technical meeting (report template to be discussed with UNFPA)
6. Finalize the report based on UNFPA input and comments + a PPT summarizing the methodology and key findings + recommendations

Milestone

Deliverables

Timeline

Payment

• Conduct literature review and develop action plan.
• Develop and finalize data collection tools.

• Complete data collection process.
• Develop report and finalize it as per UNFPA inputs and comments.

• Action plan prepared and data collection tools finalized.
• Progress report submitted.

• Final assessment report submitted.
• Final consultancy report submitted.

June 20, 2023

July 20, 2023

30%

70%