Save the Children International (SCI) is an organisation that champions the rights and interests of children worldwide, putting the most vulnerable children first. Guided by their Theory of and Gender Equality Policy, Save the Children is committed to the promotion and advancement of gender equality throughout all our programming, advocacy, partnerships, and organization. The plan being to work with all partners to identify and implement best-practice solutions for overcoming inequalities that affect the rights of girls and boys. SCI has reached out to Sonke Gender Justice as a partner to implement one of their programmes named, Sida Civil Society Strengthening 2022-2026.
The Sida Civil Society Strengthening program, 2022-2026, is aimed at supporting civil society partner organisations through regional and country programmes, with the overall goal of contributing to a strong civil society that demands and supports the fulfilment of children’s rights – holding states to account and mobilizing and empowering children and their communities.
The activities that Sonke will engage in with SC country offices within this program will include:
- Capacitating the SC staff on gender transformation at organizational level, to ensure that the operations, policies and structure is gender transformative.
- Capacitate the master trainers (training of trainers) on gender transformative programming. The expectation being that the master trainers will cascade the training to the facilitators on the ground who work directly with families. The main aim is to ensure that the programmes facilitated by SC promote gender equal parenting within families and gender equality across the board.
Therefore, the main aim is to develop a curriculum on GTA and positive parenting, focusing on the following themes:
- Childrens’ rights, child participation
- Violence against women & children
- Female genital mutilation & child marriages
- Gender digital divide and online sexual harassment
- Care inequalities
- Sexual reproductive health and rights
- Education
- Gender and migration.
Introduction
Save the Children International (SCI) is an organisation that champions the rights and interests of children worldwide, putting the most vulnerable children first. The organisation responds to emergencies, deliver innovative development programmes and ensure that children’s voices are heard through campaigns to build a better future for and with the children. The SCI brings communities, civil society, governments, businesses and donors together to achieve lasting change for children.
It is Save the Children’s belief that by shifting greater capacity, means and ownership to national and local actors, it will result in more timely, appropriate and effective outcomes for the most deprived, vulnerable and marginalized children and their communities and better fulfil the rights of children. Guided by their Theory of and Gender Equality Policy, Save the Children is committed to the promotion and advancement of gender equality throughout all our programming, advocacy, partnerships, and organization. The plan being to work with all partners to identify and implement best-practice solutions for overcoming inequalities that affect the rights of girls and boys. SCI has reached out to Sonke Gender Justice as a partner to implement one of their programmes named, Sida Civil Society Strengthening 2022-2026.
Sonke Gender Justice (SGJ) is a women’s rights organisation that is committed to feminist principles, using a rights-based and gender-transformative approach to achieve human rights and gender justice. Sonke Gender Justice’s mission is to strengthen the capacity of governments, civil society, and citizens to advance gender justice and women’s rights, prevent gender-based violence and reduce the spread of HIV and the impact of AIDS, and in this way contribute to social justice and the elimination of poverty.
The Sida Civil Society Strengthening program, 2022-2026, is aimed at supporting civil society partner organisations through regional and country programmes, with the overall goal of contributing to a strong civil society that demands and supports the fulfilment of children’s rights – holding states to account and mobilizing and empowering children and their communities. Towards this goal, the programme will work in the four areas:
- Civil Society Capacity: CSOs will have improved the quality of their programming, increased organisational efficiency and effectiveness and have increased voice and influence as child rights actors in their own right.
- Children’s agency: children gain increased understanding of their rights, and skills related to advocacy and campaigning. Partnerships are established, formal and informal, with child-led organisations. Children have opportunities/spaces to hold duty-bearers to account and inform decision-making. Child participation initiatives are supported to apply internationally recognized standards for safe, ethical and meaningful participation.
- Child rights: CSOs increase their capacity to monitor and report and hold the state to account for their commitments on children’s rights. CSOs gain capacity to advocate for inclusive policies, practices, systems, budgets and services for children’s rights, on all levels, based on their own organisational focus. Lastly, CSOs equip duty bearers with skills and tools to strengthen children’s services within the national system.
- Civic space: Capacity to assess, analyse and adapt to changes in civic space is jointly strengthened in Save the Children and partner CSOs, and action is taken against repressive CSO laws and regulations (by Save the Children and partner CSOs). CSO’s get improved access to policy dialogue and public debate where they can influence decision making. Lastly, CSOs become better positioned to mitigate risks relating to their protection and safety against attacks or/and threats from state and non-state actors.
This program will be implemented in five countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia and Malawi. Sonke Gender Justice (Sonke) has partnered with Save the Children East and Southern Africa Regional Office (Regional Programming Unit), to implement the Sida Civil Society Strengthening program 2022-2026. The overall goal of the program is “A strong civil society that demands and supports the fulfilment of children’s rights-holding states to account and mobilizing and empowering children and their communities”. Sonke’s programme goal, in response to the SCI goal, is to strengthen the capacity of Save the Children Country Offices and CSO’s on implementing Gender Transformative Approaches (GTA’s) for children’s rights and parenting by 2026.
Sonke believes that working on parenting can influence gender equality and contribute to preventing violence against children. Girls in households are often expected to carry the bulk of domestic and care work and are removed from educational institutions to do this work. The projects facilitated by Sonke promote positive parenting across the board, including all vulnerable children. The key is to ensure that all children are protected and cared for in whatever space they find themselves in.
The activities that Sonke will engage in with SC country offices will include:
- Capacitating the SC staff on gender transformation at organizational level, to ensure that the operations, policies and structure is gender transformative.
- Capacitate the master trainers (training of trainers) on gender transformative programming. The expectation being that the master trainers will cascade the training to the facilitators on the ground who work directly with families. The main aim is to ensure that the programmes facilitated by SC promote gender equal parenting within families and gender equality across the board.
Therefore, the curriculum to be developed must be clear on the above activities, outlining how the activities can be inculcated into SC as an organization.
Objectives
The overall objective of the assignment will be the following:
The Consultant will develop a curriculum on gender transformative institutions and parenting. The Curriculum will include guidance on Advocacy and M&E tools utilising the following guiding tasks;
- The consultant will review all relevant documentation relating to parenting and gender transformative approaches (GTA) in programming, with specific focus on children’ s rights, positive parenting, Advocacy and M&E. – The content of review will be Sonke and Rutgers specific. The Consultant will also focus on equal sharing of unpaid care work and the active engagement of the youth.
- The Consultant will review documentation on gender transformative institutions/organisations and guide the complete transition of SCI country offices to comply to the GTA approach.
- Develop a curriculum on GTA and positive parenting, with inclusion of Advocacy and M&E for SCI country offices, for the purpose of capacity building of Master Trainers and facilitators through the following themes:
- Children’s’ rights,
- Children’s access to education
- Child participation
- Violence against women & children
- Female genital mutilation
- Child marriages
- Gender digital divide and online sexual harassment
- Care inequalities;
- Men as Equal partners in care work,
- Women’s economic empowerment
- Sexual reproductive health and rights
- Gender and migration.
- Meaningful engagement of youth
- Children’s’ rights,
- The curriculum should also capture best practices on the Gender transformative approach at organisational level
Expected Outputs and Deliverables
| No | Deliverables/Output |
| 1 | Review of project documents relating to parenting and gender transformative approach/intervention: Sonke/Rutgers specific, benchmarked to other extensive document reviews |
| 2 | The Consultant will draft a curriculum focusing on building capacity for facilitators on gender transformative programming, Advocacy and M&E |
| 3 | The Consultant will include curriculum on gender transformation at organisational level |
| 4 | The Consultant will periodically check in with the Regional Coordinator on the progress of this task |
| 5 | The Consultant will engage with the Sonke team to pre-test the draft curriculum |
| 6 | The Consultant will deliver the final curriculum to Sonke and engage for final sign-off |
Institutional Arrangement / Reporting Relationships
- The Regional Programme Coordinator will manage and oversee the consultancy contract in consultation with the Regional Programme Manager.
- The Regional Programme Coordinator will ensure that the consultant is provided with necessary content, support, and guidance to undertake this task.
- The Consultant will ensure periodic meetings with the Regional Programme Coordinator and Regional Programmes Manager to liaise on the development of this task.
- The Sonke Team will provide review support to ensure the quality of the final curriculum.
Duration of the Work
- This task will be undertaken over a period of 20 days between the period September and December 2022. The actual submission date will be established at point of engagement.
Qualifications Of The Successful Contractor
The Consultant is required to have the following professional and technical qualifications.
- Academic Qualifications:
- Advance degree qualifications in Social Sciences, Gender, Education, Monitoring and Evaluation, Advocacy, Organisational Management, or relevant fields.
- Years of experience:
- At least 5 years of relevant work experience developing curriculum or consulting within the scope of Gender Transformation
- Competencies:
- Track record on integrating or working on gender transformative approaches within parenting and child rights projects
- Expertise in masculinities and gender
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Advocacy
- Language and other skills:
- Excellent command of English, including writing skills.
- Computer skills: full command of Microsoft applications (word, excel, PowerPoint) and common internet applications will be required
- Access to relevant databases
Only applicants who can prove possession or association of the stipulated qualifications will be shortlisted and contacted.
Criteria For Selecting The Consultant
Qualified consultants are expected to submit a detailed proposal, work plan/schedule and budget of no more than six (06) pages in total. Resumes of the Consulting Team or the individual consultant will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis as per the following scenario:
- Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
- Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation. In this regard, the respective weight of the proposals is:
- Technical Criteria weight is 70%
- Financial Criteria weight is 30%
- The consultant shall prepare and submit the proposal by latest the 14 October 2022 including:
- detailed curriculum vitae with three references (two professional and one personal)
- a proposal, work plan and budget with a proposed timeframe
The proposal and other necessary documents should be submitted to Deliwe Menyuko Deliwe@genderjustice.org.za, with copy; Diana Macauley at Diana@genderjustice.org.za
The selected consultant needs to be available to start the work by October 2022 and complete by 15 December 2022. A service contract will be signed between the consultant and Sonke Gender Justice before engagement on this task.
Confidentiality and Proprietary Interests
The Consultant shall not either during the term or after termination of the assignment, disclose any proprietary or confidential information related to the consultancy service without prior written consent. Proprietary interests on all materials and documents prepared by the consultants under the assignment shall become and remain properties of Sonke and her partners.
Budget Structure
- The budget allocated for this project is: R100 000
- The budget will be broken down in line with the deliverables as follows:
- 40% at signing of the contract
- 30% on receipt of the first draft curriculum
- 30% on receipt of the final curriculum.
