UN-Women
Development of Innovative Solutions on Preventing Gender Based Violence in Institutions of Higher Education in South Africa Request for quotation

Reference: SAMCO/RFQ/ADM2016/003
Beneficiary countries: South Africa
Registration level: Basic
Published on: 07-Dec-2016
Deadline on: 16-Dec-2016 23:59 (GMT 2.00)

Description

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women South Africa (UN Women SAMCO) is seeking quotations for the development of of innovative solutions on preventing gender based violence in Institutions of Higher Education in South Africa.

This assignment is open to South African Firms.

Objectives

In order to speed up the response to and prevention of SGBV in institutions of higher learning in South Africa, UNWOMEN SAMCO will develop an innovation process that will begin with a rapid review of the use of technology and innovation and engagement of males in the response to SGBV in universities – its success, failures and opportunity. This response will inform an Innovation Design Process that will convene representatives and students of HEIs from South Africa along with organisations that work on SGBV, technology and innovation and gender content on what it will take to prevent and respond to SGBV within universities and colleges across the country.

 

This design process will be structured initially in the form of a curated design thinking dialogue to establish the needs and priorities of the stakeholders, particularly students some of whom are survivors of SGBV and possible perpetrators or university units that work with perpetrators to develop prototypes for piloting. The innovation design dialogues will facilitate the process of identification of possible solutions which can be prototyped and piloted in second half of 2017. Recent developments in South Africa’s tertiary institutions have revealed both the leadership potential of young women in defining policy directives and action, as well as a growing rift between students and authorities. By engaging young women and especially those who have been directly affected and males who have been the majority of perpetrators in this dialogue, UNWOMEN hopes to change the usual approach to programme design which has focussed on a prescribed model of response that focusses on the victims. Engaging young women in this solution will capitalize on their leadership potential and turn young women from being perceived as victims of rape to transformative leaders. This design process will also begin rebuilding trust between students and authorities, a requirement for effective implementation of the innovation. Further, in order to ensure a diversity of voices and perspectives and allow for the sharing of emerging best practices, the process will bring together well-resourced universities as well as institutions based in low-resource settings, where the response to GBV has often been weakest.

 

The process will allow stakeholders to co-identify two potential prototypes to be tested in two of the participating institutions – one a well-resourced metropolitan university and one based in a low-resource setting in a peri-urban or rural area for a period of three to six months, starting in July 2017. Prototypes are expected to be around the use of technology as well as engagement of males within institutions. These prototypes will be monitored and if successful, can be rolled out in other HEIs in the country. The innovation design process will explore how technology can be used to facilitate urgent responses to females who find themselves in danger of an attack and those who would want to report and be linked to services while maintaining anonymity of their identity. It will also explore how men can hold each other accountable for responsible and respectful behaviour towards women. This will be linked to the HeForShe Campaign within tertiary institutions. Experimental sites will be selected based on the interest and energy of stakeholders within the institution to collaborate on the HeForShe campaign.

 

The results and recommendations to emerge from the piloting will be used to inform the national response to SGBV in HEIs and UNWOMEN’s programme of support. The project will be officially launched during the first week of February 2017, during the university calendar’s orientation week.  By the end of the project, a how-to manual on the innovation with promising results will be developed to facilitate replication and scaling up in other institutions.

Scope of Work

 
  • To develop and facilitate an innovation design process up to identification of possible solutions for prototyping
  • To build capacity of UNWOMEN staff and partners on innovative thinking and design processes
  • Prepare and manage all activities related to the design process, including invitations, booking of venues for proposed activities, manage the travel and accommodation of all participants in close consultation with UNWOMEN
  • Procure venues and travel for all meetings and workshops
  • To produce a report on the process, with clear justification of what should be considered for prototyping.