Procurement Notices

1. Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women is working in Bangladesh to prevent violence against women and girls through addressing structural causes and social norm changes. The Combating Gender Based Violence in Bangladesh (CGBV) project- supported by the Government of Canada - recognizes that prevention of violence requires sustained and comprehensive action at individual, family, organizations and societal levels. Evidence-based interventions that challenge existing norms that confer an inferior status to women, enhance women’s and girls’ self-esteem and confidence, and compel a review of masculinities are needed. Individual and community level based activities need to be supported by an enabling environment where women’s rights are respected whether at home or in public. The project will focus on primary prevention, stopping violence before it occurs, as it is a strategic approach to ending violence against women and girls.

The CGBV initiative will create a holistic framework of integrated and mutually reinforcing interventions to address the underlying causes of violence against women and girls, improve their access to educational and economic opportunities, and promote their equal status in the society. CGBV will enhance the capacity of civil society to design, implement and sustain primary prevention of gendered violence, while also strengthening government mechanisms and strategies identified under Bangladesh’s 7th Five Year Plan and the National Women Development Policy. The project will generate knowledge and evidence to build evidence and knowledge on prevention of violence and inform evidence-based prevention interventions. CGBV results will accelerate the progress on Agenda 2030 and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which underscore the critical role of women’s empowerment and gender equity in sustainable development. The CGBV initiative is planned under the framework of the UN Women Bangladesh’s 2017-2020 Strategic plan, of which one of the pillars is on addressing the links between economic empowerment and preventing violence against women.

In this regard, UN Women will look for an appropriate service providing agency to do the scoping study and collect baseline information, develop M&E plan, undertake mid-term review, support documentation and analyze evidences generated through this intervention.

II. CGBV Project:

The CGBV project will be implemented in three districts in different parts of the country. The project is developed based on UN Women Bangladesh’s recent work on violence prevention in the country. The project will involve a holistic range of prevention strategies to intervene at family level, public space and work places. It will work with local government institution, education institutions and private sector workplaces such as factories on preventing sexual harassment at their premises. Advocacy at the policy level for enactment and implementation of favorable law, policies and strategies is another priority area for this proposed project. The project will also strengthen the knowledge base and evidences on effective strategies to prevent violence in Bangladesh and it will closely work with government, civil society, autonomous and private sector stakeholders.

Goal: Women and girls, including the most marginalized, are free of violence at home, at work and in public spaces.

Outcomes

1. National and local laws and policies to prevent violence against women are strengthened, if needed, and implemented. 
2. Favorable social norms, attitudes and behaviors are promoted to prevent violence against women and enhance women’s economic empowerment.
3. Policy and programming is increasingly informed by an expanded knowledge base on effective approaches to prevention of violence against women.

III. Objectives of the assignment

The key objectives of this assignment, through hiring an appropriate service providing agency, are as follows:

• To do the scoping study of the proposed activities in project areas including the collection of baseline information based on the key findings of the scoping study
• To develop a comprehensive M&E plan for the project; and to conduct mid-term review
• To develop plan for evidence collection on regular basis and to support the production of evidence based advocacy materials.

IV. Scope of Work

The scoping study will support and inform the development of a results-oriented and evidence-based Monitoring & Evaluation Plan (M&E Plan) for the CGBV project. It will focus on baseline data collection for the set of indicators as per the Results Framework of the project. It will enable a more detailed and data-driven understanding of the situation at the beginning of the project. It will also assist to identify effective tools and approaches to measure project indicators, for further expansion and development in the M&E plan.

The main task of the service providing agency includes the following activities but not limited to:

1. Conduct a scoping study to validate appropriateness of the proposed activities and suggest any changes. The study will also pin down exact project locations (specific geographic location, neighborhood/community, factories, education institutions), identify reference population and any marginalized segment (i.e. people with disabilities, indigenous population, Dalits, lower caste population, occupational minorities, persons with different sexual orientations, transgendered population, persons with HIV) along with chalking out specific strategies to address their needs connecting to this project to ensure the value of “living no one behind”.    Scoping study will examine and involve stakeholders at selected upazillas of Bogra, Comilla and Patuakhali districts and selected sectors at Dhaka.
2. Collect baseline information for the identified areas (selected upazillas of Bogra, Comilla and Patuakhali districts and selected sectors at Dhaka) as identified in the results framework of the project.
3. Examine proposed monitoring indicators and suggest any modification/addition.  Assist to identify effective tools and approaches to measure project indicators, for further expansion and development in the M&E plan.
4. Mid Term review of the project to capture emerging lessons, stories of change, and inform planning for year two
5. Facilitate the articulation of results, lessons learned, recommendations for future work and stories of change to inform future programming and for evidence based advocacy.

UN Women will not provide any capacity building support to the selected contractor. Providing aforementioned services are the sole responsibility of the contractor. The service providing agency, will be responsible for delivering high quality data and analysis according to the expectation, and agreement with UN Women, and within a timeframe defined by the ToR.

V. Duration of the work

The assignment will commence upon signing the contract and expected to be accomplished by 30 April 2021 with submission of final report.

VI. Expected Deliverables

VII. Fund transfer modality:

Respective deliverables and documents will be reviewed by UN Women before processing any payment. Payment schedule is as following:

• 50% of contract amount after receiving reports of baseline, scoping study, monitoring plan & tools
• 30% after receiving Report on Mid-term review and case studies
• 20% after receiving Report on learning dissemination workshop

VIII. Reporting Obligations:

1. Submission of reports mentioned under expected deliverables and quarterly report 
2. Case study documentations (during scoping study and baseline information gathering)
3. Submission of final programmatic and financial report