Terms of reference for the technical assistance to conduct the policy analysis and assessment on school-related gender-based violence (Consultant).

1. Background

• Introduction of YWCA

Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA – Rwanda) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that works at the grassroots level established in Rwanda in February 1995. YWCA Rwanda was legally recognized by the Rwandan Government in September 2005 as Non-Governmental organization and has the vision of seeing the world where all women live free from poverty and where their rights are respected.    

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Its mission is to develop the leadership and collective power of women and girls in Rwanda to receive high quality education, healthcare and socio-economic conditions for themselves, their families, and their communities. Currently YWCA Rwanda is operating in 15 districts of Rwanda.

The organization has over twenty years of experience working at the grass roots level for the empowerment of young women and girls. Since its establishment, YWCA has implemented three programmes: The Peace Building programme to fight against Gender based violence, Girls’ Program and Secure Livelihoods Program.

In 2020, YWCA Rwanda shifted to the one single programme: Protection and empowerment program.

The new program targets girls, in particular adolescents and young women aged 0-30. The programme also targets elderly women and orphans and other vulnerable children for social protection and rights promotion.  YWCA Rwanda works with men and boys not only to tackle their gender issues, but more importantly to engage them in supporting the empowerment and protection of girls and young women.  

More information is available on www.ywca.rw;

• Program description

Under the leadership of Never Again Rwanda (NAR), with the financial support from the Swiss Development Cooperation, YWCA Rwanda is implementing a project entitled “Advocacy for the elimination of sexual violence, exploitation and abuse against adolescent girls and young women in Rwanda”. The project falls under the program “Reducing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Schools and Universities in Rwanda” which is a five-year initiative with the aim of “reducing sexual exploitation abuse against girls and young women in high school and institutions of higher learning.” 

• Project objectives

The project has an overall objective of contributing to the reduction of sexual exploitation and abuse against adolescent girls and young women in Rwanda, particularly the school related-gender based violence and sexual harassment and exploitation in Higher Learning Institutions. 

The project has the following specific objectives:

Objective 1: Building evidence for policy engagement in the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse in schools and universities.

Objective 2: Increasing awareness of students on their rights, existing mechanisms to protect them against sexual exploitation and abuse and how to access them.

Objective 3: Reinforcing capacity of schools and universities leaders in the establishment and/or enforcement of safeguarding policies.

• Theory of change

The project aims to reduce sexual exploitation and abuse within educational institutions in Rwanda through a multi-pronged approach that targets students, teachers, administrators, and the wider community. The underlying theory of change is that by fostering a safe and respectful learning environment, raising awareness about the importance of consent and gender equality, providing support to survivors, and strengthening institutional policies, the prevalence of sexual exploitation and abuse can be significantly decreased.

The theory of change for the project is as follows:

• If schools and higher learning institutions have safeguarding policy;
• If students in institutions of education are empowered to be involved in the implementation of the safeguarding policy and;
• If relevant Government Institutions hold accountable schools and Higher Learning Institutions on the implementation of the safeguarding policy;

Then, sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse will be reduced in schools and Higher Learning Institutions in Rwanda.

• Key Project Activities

Under objective one the following activities will be implemented:

• Conduct policy analysis so as to identify any gaps in policy formulation.
• Collect data in target schools and universities on issues of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse and document identified issues as evidence for advocacy on policy review and more importantly on policy enforcement in regard to safeguarding and protection against sexual harassment and exploitation.
• Do policy advocacy
• Documentation of the advocacy outcomes

The activities to be implemented under Objective two are as follows: 

• Conduct awareness raising campaigns in schools and Universities.
• Support existing relevant forums of students in schools and universities to be active in the fight against sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse in their institutions.

Objective three will be achieved by implementing the following activities:

• Support schools and universities/colleges to implement safeguarding policies.
• Monitor the implementation of safeguarding policies in schools and universities.

• Target beneficiaries

Project primary beneficiaries are girls and young women in secondary schools and Higher learning institutions in six secondary schools in three Districts of Rwanda: Muhanga, Kicukiro and Bugesera, and three higher learning institutions: UR Huye campus, UTB and UNILAK-Kicukiro.

The project will benefit a wider range of stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, Gender Monitoring Office, Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, teachers, and lecturers, among others.

2. Policy analysis and assessment on school related-GBV
   • Rationale

School Related Gender Based Violence is an issue affecting countries in Africa including Rwanda. The Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with  UNICEF, CDC and IDEC, confirms that ten per cent of first incidents of sexual violence reported by young women had taken place in schools (MoH: 2017)[1].

A study conducted by Transparency International, indicated that female students go through difficulties in working with their teachers/supervisor’s male counter-part. Some reported that among female students were asked sex for grades, few were able to refuse. Though in their context was called “sexual corruption”, the report came to conform that it was sexual violence (TIR).  The former Minister of state in charge of primary and Secondary School Education, Dr. Isaac MUNYAKAZI, regretfully questioned the persistence of Gender based violence in different schools. He pointed out that GBV is a barrier to the quality of education. Gender-based corruption, including Sex for grades practices, is widespread in higher education institutions in Rwanda. Female students are asked for sexual favors in exchange for marks and they are often subjected to gender-based corruption when writing their dissertations (Mbonyinshuti J.D, 2022).

SRGBV has very real consequences in learners’ lives, ranging from low self-esteem and depression, to early and unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. This violence also has a serious impact on educational outcomes, with many students avoiding school, achieving below their potential, or dropping out completely.

• Objectives of the policy analysis and assessment on SRGBV

The main goal of the policy analysis and assessment on SRGBV is to generate evidence for policy engagement on any gaps in policy formulation and implementation regarding prevention and protection against SRGBV in Rwanda.

Specifically, the project will:

• Analyze National policies and regulations that pertain with Gender equality, women’s rights and Gender-based violence and;
• Assess SRGBV issues in target schools and higher learning institutions and gaps in preventing and protecting students, especially women and girls against SRGBV.

YWCA Rwanda and its partners are cognizant of the intersection between Sexual violence, disability, and other social aspects of life. In the policy analysis and assessment, we envisage to understand specific issues and needs of girls and young women with disabilities regarding sexual exploitation and abuse.

The analysis/assessment will also try to understand if there are other categories of adolescent girls and young women who are most affected by sexual exploitation and abuse and their different needs for prevention and protection.  

The assessment will try to understand if there is an intersection between climate change and environmental degradation and School-related GBV. 

• Methodology

The policy analysis will use the desk review to understand how the national policy and legal framework addresses school-related Gender Based violence and identify gaps that might put students, especially females at risk of gender-based violence in school environment.

The assessment of SRGBV in target schools and Higher Learning institutions will use mixed methods for data collection and analysis including quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as desk review. The assessment in target institutions will attempt to understand the magnitude of SRGBV, the existing prevention and protection mechanisms, as well as the level of awareness of students on existing protective mechanisms and their participation in prevention and protection of SRGBV.  A range of stakeholders will be surveyed during the assessment on SRGBV, including female students, teachers, lecturers, school administrators, male students, education officers at sector and district levels, officials in national-level government institutions among others.

• Tasks

The consultant will be expected to:

• Take responsibility for all preparation works: identify key secondary resources; develop an appropriate methodology and tools for primary data collection; determine the sample size, and identify research participants; and develop a detailed data collection plan.
• Document issues in policies and policies enforcement.
• Collect and duly document primary data, ensuring data quality, completeness, and protection.
• Analyze and triangulate primary data and contrast it against secondary data.
• Develop the policy analysis and SRGBV assessment report of a max. of 40 pages, including detailed recommendations for the program.
• Develop policy briefs.
• Present key findings and recommendations to program stakeholders.

• Deliverables of the assignment

The consultant will produce the following documents:

• Inception report of max. 5 pages;
• Draft policy analysis and SRGBV assessment report of max. 40 pages, including a 1-page executive summary, conclusions, and recommendations; as well as data collection tools as annexes (not counting against the 40-page limit);
• Final policy analysis and SRGBV assessment report, with feedback from the project team incorporated.
• Policy briefs.

• Experiences, Competencies and Skills

Required:

• Master’s degree in gender studies, social sciences, humanities, development or equivalent.
• Proven knowledge and experience in the areas of gender and development.
• Evidence of previous experience in conducting policy analysis and assessment on Gender equality and GBV.
• Strong social research skills and experience, regarding qualitative, participatory, and mixed methods for primary data collection and analysis.
• Solid understanding of the Rwandan legal and policy frameworks (national and relevant continental frameworks, e.g., the Maputo Protocol) and socio-cultural context in Rwanda relevant to gender equality and Gender-Based violence.
• Strong command of English (speaking, reading, and writing) and strong command of Kinyarwanda.
• Experience in engaging various stakeholders, including government officials, NGOs, community members, survivors, and relevant experts

Desired:

• Knowledge of internationally recognized documents and guidelines on the promotion of gender equality, Girls and Women’s rights, as well as GBV prevention and response.
• Experience in conducting assessments on School related-GBV

• Timeline

The assignment will be implemented in 40 working days between September and mid-November 2023, distributed as follows:

• Study design: 3 workdays.
• Desk research: 3 workdays.
• Primary data collection and policy analysis: 23 workdays.
• Data analysis and report drafting: 8 workdays.
• Report presentation: 1 day
• Revision of the report: 2 workdays.

• Submission procedure

The interested candidates will submit their technical and financial offers by September 11^th, 2023 to: procurement@ywca.rw.

The application should include:

• Technical offer including
  • CV of the consultant(s)
  • Cover letter specifying qualification for the assignment
  • Understanding of the assignment including a description of potential data collection methods to be used/suggested by the applicant.
  • Financial offer including budget with detailed breakup of unit costs in Rwandan francs

The narrative offer will make up 75% of the evaluation points, while the financial offer will make up 25% of the evaluation points for the selection. Narrative and financial proposals should be submitted in separate emails and files.  

YWCA Rwanda has a zero tolerance to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of beneficiaries. Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) is everyone’s responsibility and all staff, volunteers and contractors are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct, that enshrines principles of PSEA, at all times (both during work hours and outside work hours). Any form of discrimination and human trafficking is strongly prohibited and punishable.