EOI for PARTNER INSTITUTION OR CONSORTIUM FOR MEASURMENT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

UNFPA Asia and the Pacific Regional Office (APRO) is in the process of identifying potential implementing partners for the implementation of a project to strengthen regional and national capacities to measure violence against women in Asia and the Pacific (2016 – 2019).  

Acknowledging the emerging and increasing demand for violence against women (VAW) data and the lack of technical knowledge to properly measure it, UNFPA APRO, with support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), aims to invest in developing sustained capacity in the area of VAW measurement at national and regional level in alignment with existing global methodological, ethical and safety standards. In particular, this project hopes to develop sustained capacity through partnership with an institution or a consortium of institutions for the development of a sound training curriculum and, as in turn, supporting the establishment of a committed pool of trained professional and researchers.

Key Objective:

In order to create a sustainable and innovative hub that can nurture and host the expertise needed in Asia and the Pacific for the measurement of VAW, UNFPA APRO is seeking to partner with an institution or consortium to create a Knowledge Centre for the measurement of VAW.

Scope of Work:

In line with UNFPA’s long term vision to contribute to knowledge, evidence and sustained capacity development in the area of measurement of VAW, UNFPA APRO intends to engage in a partnership with a suitable institution or consortium of organisations to:

i.          Develop a high quality technical training curriculum and facilitators’ guidebook on measuring VAW:

The envisioned curriculum will build on existing materials and experience and will be uniquely different from existing initiatives in that - (a) it will be embedded in a sustainable way in an institution’s ongoing course work, (b) it will focus on developing skills to measure internationally accepted VAW indicators using survey methodologies that are international accepted best practices, (c) training activities will be supplemented by mentoring, and (d) capacity development will be linked with technical support to planned and ongoing data collection activities in countries.

ii.         Deliver a pilot training on the curriculum and revise the training materials with feedback from participants and the project Technical Advisory Committee.

iii.        Establish the training curriculum as a part of regular course delivered at the institution:

Once the curriculum is developed, tested through pilot training and revised with inputs from UNFPA APRO and the Technical Advisory Committee, it is expected that the institution would be able to house the curriculum as part of graduate training course and/or a recurrent (yearly) stand-alone module (e.g. a summer course). Possible initiatives could also include establishing funds for fellowships for emerging researchers through course work, field experience and mentoring. It is anticipated that the curriculum will be co-owned by key partner organisations

iv.        Provide technical assistance to VAW data collection initiatives by countries in Asia and Pacific region through mentorship by the course faculty of the institute and/or mobilization of a trained pool of national and international researchers:

The network of course graduates - a pool of national and international researchers- are expected to be able to support country initiatives to conduct VAW prevalence surveys. The partner institution or consortium itself also has a role to play by mentoring the graduates and by collaborating with governments and local institutes as (research) partners in data collection activities. This could include the provision of commissioned/tailored training, e.g. for NSOs and ministries, prior to a country starting data collection, and/or afterwards to ‘workshop’ and explain the results and translate them for use.

v.         Initiate/nurture a network of VAW researchers to support future VAW data collection initiatives both in the region and globally and to promote and advocate for quality in VAW prevalence studies:

In order to ensure that the capacity built through the training and technical assistance, including mentoring, is put to full use and a sustainable network is developed, the partner institution or consortium is expected to set up a network of course graduates and VAW researchers/practitioners to ensure continuation of exchange of knowledge and sustained capacity building. It is expected that the institution or the VAW researchers trained through the curriculum would also engage in utilizing the data generated from the VAW studies for academic papers and secondary data analysis.

A detailed TOR is attached for further details of the project and expected deliverables.

Institutions interested in participating in the process should forward their expression of interest to UNFPA APRO, email: apro.office@unfpa.org, Subject: Response to EOI (VAW), by 11 February 2017  at 15:00 hours Bangkok time, enclosing the information listed below.

• Full legal name and address of applying institution
• Copy of valid legal registration
• Mandate or mission statement of organization
• Statement of expertise in  the areas of VAW data collection, including demonstrated experience in conducting participatory, multi-stakeholder training on VAW data collection and previous experience in developing and delivering training curriculum in accordance with the required description in the TOR.
• Short description of the organization’s existing operations in VAW data collection, including how long the operations have been carried out, 
• CVs of proposed team of relevant experts engaged in quantitative and qualitative research methods on VAW, knowledge translation and communication, training facilitation etc,
• A proposed outline and methodology for the planned training curriculum on VAW data.

Upon receipt of the above information, UNFPA will review applicants for placement on a short-list of potential implementing partners. Those short-listed candidates may be invited to submit formal proposals to become an implementing partner.  The Invitation for Proposal will provide a more detailed description of the scope of work.

Note:

• Due to the high volume of communications, UNFPA is not in a position to confirm receipt of the expression of interests.