National Consultant on Men and Boys’ Engagement and Masculinity

I. Organizational Context

UN Women (the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of 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.

In Turkey, in line with its global Strategic Plan 2022-2025 and Country Strategic Note (2022-2025), and the overall UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for Turkey (UNSDCF) (2021-2025), UN Women works towards the overarching goal of “Women and girls including those at greatest risk of being left behind fully exercise their human rights, enjoy a life free from violence and discrimination, and lead, influence and benefit from sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development towards the advancement of gender equality in Turkey”[1]. UN Women works in four thematic areas: (i) governance and participation in public life; (ii) women’s economic empowerment; (iii) ending violence against women and girls (VAWG); and (iv) women, peace and security, humanitarian action and disaster risk reduction. UN Women contributes to three UNSDCF outcomes: 1) Women and girls have improved and equal access to resources, opportunities, and rights, and enjoy a life without violence and discrimination; 2) By 2025, Persons under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection are supported towards self-reliance. 3) By 2025, governance systems are more transparent, accountable, inclusive and rights-based with the participation of civil society, and quality of judicial services is improved.

In Turkey, UNICEF, IOM, UNFPA, UNHCR, and UN Women have been working together on the “UN Joint Programme for the Elimination of CEFM” (the Joint Programme) since 2018, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The First Phase of the Joint Programme, which ended in September 2021, has resulted in increased national synergies in CEFM prevention through: advocacy on the international and national normative framework; data generation and analysis; technical support to national and provincial coordination mechanisms and action plans on CEFM; and community mobilization with a focus on girls’ empowerment and male engagement.

The Second Phase of the Joint Programme, which will be implemented between October 2021 and September 2024 by UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women, with consultative support from IOM and UNHCR, will use the experience and the lessons learned from the First Phase (including adaptation of programme activities in the context of COVID-19) to continue to address the complex issue of CEFM in the Second Phase. The Joint Programme will continue to be a key platform to emphasize positive gender norms, investment in girls’ and women’s empowerment, and communication for gender equality which are now even more crucial for Turkey.

An intersectional approach is a key for the Second Phase of the Joint Programme. The intersectional approach is based on the idea that gender, race, class, and other forms of social stratification are closely intertwined and need to be studied in relation to each other; the approach provides a useful tool for putting the “leave no one behind”[2] principle into practice.

CEFM is a gendered phenomenon that affects girls and boys in different ways. Overall, the number of boys in child marriages around the world is significantly lower than girls[3]. Girl child spouses are also vulnerable to domestic violence and sexual abuse within relationships that are unequal. Upon marrying, both boys and girls often have to leave education to enter the workforce and/or take up domestic responsibilities at home. CEFM is both a consequence and a major contributor to gender inequality.

A key achievement of the First Phase of the Joint Programme has been to expand the knowledge and evidence base on the prevalence, drivers, and impacts of CEFM in Turkey, and to provide better access to available data. A nationwide study on men and boys’ perceptions on CEFM provided findings on how the attitudes and practices of men and boys relating to gender and hegemonic masculinity in Turkey are linked to support for CEFM[4]. The study results show that as authoritarian and hegemonic masculinity practices increase, positive attitudes and behaviour toward CEFM do so as well.

In the Second Phase, encouraging change in social norms around CEFM will place particular emphasis on working with men and boys as fathers, husbands, brothers, family, community decision makers and professionals. UN Women has been designated as a leader agency to achieve the related output “By 2024, men and boys in targeted areas are increasingly demonstrating gender-equitable attitudes to prevent CEFM” under the result-based framework of the Second Phase.

New activities delivered by UN Women will be conducted to strengthen the capacities of CSOs, public organizations and professional organizations to work with men and boys with a transformative approach for gender equality. The use of innovative methods – such as virtual reality tools – will be explored and tested, in the hope that these will play a role in nurturing attitude and behavior change. The work in this area will be led by UN Women and will draw significantly on the findings of the study on men’s perceptions relating to CEFM, conducted in the First Phase of the Joint Programme.

In scope of the Joint Programme, UN Women Turkey office has prepared a strategy document on men and boys’ engagement through a consultative process with the other project managers. During the first three months of the Second Phase which started in October 2021, UN Women started putting this strategy in use, with numerous workshops on men and boys’ engagement and masculinity. UN Women will continue to implement men and boys’ engagement capacity building activities targeting stakeholders in project provinces.

Following the announcement of the 2022 Activity Plan on Combatting VAW, which is based on the 4th National Action Plan, the MoFSS, jointly by MoI, MoJ, MoH and the Directorate of Religious Affairs; reportedly sent a circular to 81 governorates which includes the Activity Plan. One of the prioritized activities according to the circular is as follows: Trainings for men on combatting VAW, in coordination with other relevant institutions. The activity plan includes steps on training citizens under the coordination of provincial/district governors, in collaboration with MoFSS, MoJ, MoH, MoNE and “others”.

Line ministries’ commitments on men and boys’ engagement related activities are also fully in line with UN Women’s committed targets under the Second Phase of the Joint Programme, such as “Training private sector, bar associations, professional associations on engagement of men and boys” and “Training government institutions, including SONIMs, SCCs, MoJ and local authorities on engagement of men and boys”.

Against this background, Under the Joint Programme on Elimination of CEFM, UN Women Turkey office intends to contract a consultant to support the Joint Programme team in designing and implementing activities intended for engaging men and boys in promoting transformative masculinity and contributing to the eradication of gender stereotypes that will help create more equal gender relations, as well as institutionalizing men and boys’ engagement within the  key stakeholders of UN Women Turkey office. The expected result of this action is to contribute to gender equality through raising awareness on men and boys’ engagement and masculinity and effectively responding to ending VAW including CEFM in Turkey. The selected national consultant will be responsible for provision of technical support, including but not limited to desk review of available literature in the area, capacity building, trainings, etc. to UN Women Turkey office team as well as to designated community partners and stakeholders on how to most effectively engage men and boys to work towards Ending Violence Against Women (EVAW) including CEFM and promoting GE. 

UN Women Turkey office is committed to explore, conceptualize, and expand the work in the EVAW including CEFM focusing on the Engagement of Men and Boys especially with regards to how concepts of patriarchal and transformative masculinities.  

II. Functions

Under the direct supervision of Project Coordinator of the Joint Programme and overall guidance of UN Women Programmes Manager and in close collaboration with UN Women Project Managers, the National Consultant will be responsible for:

• Providing technical support to UN Women Turkey Office to implement the male engagement strategy
• Providing analysis and reports on emerging issues, holding consultations with stakeholders, attending related meetings and workshops as per UN Office’s request
• Developing community-based outreach initiatives, local awareness raising and advocacy activities on men and boys’ engagement
• Delivering trainings and workshops specifically for men and boys, targeting governmental and non-governmental institutions, private sector, professional associations, local authorities, universities and bar associations
• Providing technical support to innovative approaches to encourage behavioral change among men

III. Deliverables and Payment Schedule

Duration of the assignment is 1 June 2022 – 1 June 2023. The Consultant is expected to spend up to 85 working days on a non - consecutive basis throughout the assignment.  During assignment’s related missions, the Consultant may use the facilities of the office (i.e., internet access, printing, copying, local phone calls, etc.). However, s/he is expected to use his/her own personal computer.

Expected Deliverables and Payment Schedule:

The following table summarizes main activities and expected deliverables against targeted delivery deadlines and indicative working days to be invested by the Consultant. The consultant will get payment from JP on Elimination of CEFM project budget. The deliverables are clearly dedicated in line with the expected functions as it can be seen in following table.

The mentioned number of working days has been estimated as being sufficient/feasible for the envisaged volume of work to be completed successfully and is proposed as a guideline for the duration of assignment. It cannot and shall not be used as criteria for completion of work/assignment. The Consultant will be supervised by the Project Coordinator of the Joint Programme. The provision of envisaged deliverables approved by the UN Women Project Coordinator of the Joint Programme shall be the only criteria for Consultant’s work being completed and eligible for payment(s).

Payment Schedule:

The amount paid to the Consultant shall be gross and inclusive of all associated costs such as travel, social security, pension, and income tax etc. Payment will be done in separate installments upon delivery of services and monthly timesheets by respective Project Coordinator of the Joint Programme no later than at the end of each month as per the above table. The payment shall be affected only if all the deliverables in this TOR and timesheets are submitted to UN Women Project Coordinator of the Joint Programme within the timeframes stipulated in the TOR and they are approved by UN Women Project Coordinatorof the Joint Programme. Without submission and approval of the deliverables and timesheets, the Consultant shall not receive any payment even if they invest time for this assignment.

Travel:

This is a home-based assignment with frequent visits to the project provinces (Adana, Izmir, Gaziantep, Edirne, Kocaeli). However, there may be missions to other provinces during the course of time. The Consultant will be responsible for all travel arrangements, expenses and daily subsistence allowances associated with undertaking this assignment. All travels shall be coordinated with UN Women Turkey Office and shall be included in the total contract amount of the Consultants.

The taxi fees for attending the meetings are also under the responsibility of the Consultant.

The Consultant should foresee six domestic travels within Turkey.  In the case of an unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs should be agreed upon, between UN Women in Turkey and the Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed. For all travels under this assignment, the Consultant is required to provide the relevant project staff with the requested travel documentation in a timely manner, both before and after the travels. Please note that failure to do so may result in no entitlement.

Mandatory Courses:

Mandatory courses for this assignment are estimated to take approximately 1 working day to complete. The Consultant shall complete all the mandatory and further required UN courses, training, and modules on time. The certificates shall be submitted to the Hiring Manager.  

Please note that the required training courses could vary based on contract content and duration, the nature of the work and inclusion of travel. The Hiring Manager will provide the list of mandatory courses to the Consultant. Hence, the Consultant is obliged to follow the instructions of her/his Hiring Manager upon which training modules to complete and when to complete them.

IV. Key Performance Indicators

• Timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered.
• Adherence to UN Women standards and rules.
• Keeping up to date with the developments in Turkey on men and boys’ engagement and masculinity framework.

V. Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Functional Competencies

• Ability to consolidate information from multiple sources
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings
• Ability to work independently as well as in teams
• Excellent time management and ability to produce deliverables within agreed deadlines
• Knowledge of man and boy’s engagement and masculinity

•     Ability to communicate sensitively, effectively, and creatively across different constituencies

• Knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues
• Focuses on impact and results for client
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude
• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

UN Women does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

VI. Required Skills and Experience:

Education:

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Political Sciences, Human Rights, Literature or other related field.

Skills and Experience:

• Minimum 3 years of experience in provision of gender studies, masculinity studies, combating gender stereotypes.
• Minimum 2 years of knowledge and experience of developing advocacy documents such as technical reports, briefing notes, background papers and presentations in the field of critical masculinities and male engagement in gender equality.
• At least two 2 years of proven experience in raising awareness/delivering trainings on gender equality, masculinity, and men and boys’ engagement is a must.
•  At least two 2 years of experience in working on initiatives with engagement of men and boys and/or experience in working with CSOs on men and boy’s engagement is an asset.
• Previous professional experience with the UN and other international organisations is an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Turkish (written and oral)

Costs

TL

Daily Fee, all inclusive

Total Fee for the Assignment based on the Deliverables

Travel Fee 

Domestic Flight Tickets and Transfer Cost x 6

(This is in line with the maximum estimated number of travels for this assignment. The domestic flight ticket will be from the city where the mission originated to other mission provinces. The price should reflect the fee of a round travel for 6 times as well as the transfers within the city where the mission originated and the city of mission. For each travel the consultant will be paid for one item.)

Daily Substance Allowance (DSA) Cost x 12

(This is in line with the maximum estimated number of travels for this assignment. The missions may be for 2 days for each DSA based on the number of nights spent in the city of mission.

The DSA fee should indicate the lump sum fee for accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner and miscellaneous expenses. For each night away from the duty station, the consultant will be paid one day DSA.)

Total Travel Fee

Total Fee (Deliverables + Travel)

VII. Application Procedure:

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• Cover letter to include a brief overview about which of your previous experiences makes you the most suitable candidate for the advertised position.
• CV in English containing the relevant educational and professional experience.
• Signed UN Women Personal History (P11) Form including past experience in similar assignments which can be downloaded at http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment

• Financial proposal to be sent via e-mail to turkey.procurement@unwomen.org  indicating the name of the position applied in the subject line of the e-mail no later than the application deadline - Please see Annex I: Price Proposal Guideline and Template and Annex II: Price Proposal Submission Form.

When applying; the Cover Letter, CV and the signed P11 Form should be merged into one (1) single PDF document since the system will allow only to upload maximum one document. Therefore, please combine these forms and documents into one (1) single PDF document and upload them to the system.

As for Financial Proposal, please send them/it separately via e-mail to  turkey.procurement@unwomen.org indicating the name of the position applied in the subject line of the e-mail.  Since they will be sent separately via e-mail, Financial Proposals should not be uploaded to the system or be included in the merged PDF which shall consist of the applicant’s Cover Letter, CV, and Signed P11 Form. Please make sure to not include the Financial Offer in the merged PDF.

Should they be short-listed in consideration of the consultancy post, candidates should have the ability to quickly submit degree certificates, medical certifications, or any other requested document.

Incomplete applications such as applications without a financial proposal may not be considered. Applicants are responsible to make sure to have provided all the requested application materials before the deadline.

VIII. Evaluation of Applicants

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants’ qualifications and financial proposal. Contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer receives the highest score out of below defined technical and financial criteria. Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.

The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion. A suggested formula is as follows:

p = 30 (µ/z)

Using the following values:

p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated

µ = price of the lowest priced proposal

z = price of the proposal being evaluated

An interview/practical test may also be used for the selection of best candidates.