Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Analysis - Consultant
The International Rescue Committee is a global humanitarian aid, relief and development nongovernmental organization
Background
IRC is one of the world’s leading humanitarian and post-conflict development agencies, working with communities in over 40 developing states. IRC’s core mandate is to support and empower people who have been affected by conflict and disaster. IRC’s portfolio is made up of governmental, multilateral and foundation funding, covering short and long-term humanitarian response through long-term development initiatives.
Consultancy work
IRC began working in the Central African Republic in 2006, responding to various humanitarian crises. To this day, the CAR continues to face a complex humanitarian crisis resulting from the inequalities and conjunctural and structural factors that characterize its political, security, socio-economic and environmental context. This crisis mainly affects certain provinces, making the most vulnerable populations (primarily children and women) and minority groups even more vulnerable, exposing them to new protection risks and violations of fundamental human rights.
Due to this unstable environment on the borders (Lim-Pende00A0: Paoua) with Chad, there are massive displacements of people facing high levels of vulnerability and risk. The recent crisis in Sudan has also led to the arrival of refugees on Central African territory, with women in particular, and children in the front line, at heightened risk due to patriarchy, structural inequalities, social, cultural and traditional norms, and harmful practices. In response to these disparities, IRC’s Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) action plan aims to advance gender, equality, diversity and inclusion by focusing on (3) pillars: who we are, what we do and what we say.
IRC aims to ensure that GEDI is integrated into program design, as well as to provide programs rooted in intersectional analysis, and have external engagement focused on the needs of our customers, staff and partners. To achieve this, we aim to ensure an evidence-based approach to our work. This GEDI analysis will provide an in-depth understanding of the different levels of marginalization among the clients we serve in the Great Lakes: Specifically, in CAR among internally displaced populations (IDPs) and refugees.
The comprehensive GEDI analysis will target health and protection sectors and programs in different contexts (urban/rural and sites) in CAR. The focus will be on health, women’s protection and empowerment, and ERD (Economic Recovery and Development), specifically in the sub-prefectures of Zemio, Ndele, Bocaranga, Kaga-Bandoro , Boali, Bangui and surrounding areas. The results of the full GEDI analysis will be used to inform existing and future program activities; to enable IRC to design and implement programs that address the needs of the most marginalized groups based on gender, ethnicity, age, ability and other categories to ensure sensitive and transformative program approaches.
Thus:
The comprehensive GEDI analysis will enable country programs to fully understand the causes and context-specific factors that lead to and perpetuate inequalities, their impacts on different social groups, and the social and cultural norms/practices that have enabled and/or restricted different social groups in the enjoyment of their rights and full potential. Any such analysis conducted in this way will provide first-hand information to enable the country program to design, implement, monitor and evaluate gender-sensitive and transformative programs. Through this analysis, we would like to ensure not only that interventions do not exacerbate pre-existing inequalities, but also reduce harm, inequality and the risk of unintended consequences for women, girls, people with disabilities (visible and non-visible) and other marginalized groups, including ethnic/religious minorities, Muslims known as “Bengues” - a derogatory term used by the majority to disparage the Muslim community (this phenomenon is widespread throughout most of the Central African Republic), orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), transactional sex workers (TSW) and other vulnerable groups.
By acknowledging the social and cultural norms that create inequalities, IRC programs can understand how specific activities targeting women, men, girls, boys, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups could transform power relations.
Presenting gender dynamics by locality:
ZONE 1:
- Presence of displaced people, returnees and other Central African refugees who are in Congo but on the move between CAR and Congo.
- LRA-occupied zone with impact on children and women.
ZONE 2 :
- Presence of Christian and Muslim groups, potential conflicts between two different cultures and customs.
- Presence of minority groups (Eg. Peulhs)
- Presence of Sudanese refugees
ZONE 3 :
- The Chadian crisis, with the displacement of Chadians and Central Africans in the area.
- Movement of armed groups committing atrocities against the population
ZONE 4 :
- The presence of minorities (Muslims) The “Bengues” (a pejorative term used by the majority to denigrate the Muslim community). This phenomenon is widespread throughout most of the Central African Republic.
ZONE 5 :
- Armed group retreat and supply zones, creating panic, fear and intimidation within communities, etc.
ZONE 6 :
- Reception areas for displaced persons and refugees
- The presence of minorities (Muslims) concentrated in PK5;
- Areas where armed groups have retreated (outskirts) and carried out atrocities against communities
Mission scope:
IRC aims through this mission to:
- Conduct a contextual analysis of key gender issues and gendered power dynamics across CAR, as well as a need assessment;
- Map the intersectional identities of the most marginalized displaced people and refugees, understand their unique challenges.
- Explore the gendered needs of women, girls, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups, including ethnic/religious minorities, survivors of gender-based violence, and other vulnerable groups.
- Identify and understand the social and cultural norms that fuel current inequalities.
- Identify activities carried out by IRC that address the needs of the most vulnerable populations and identify where there are challenges/gaps in our programs, especially when cross-cultural identities are taken into account.
- Identify catalysts that can help increase the power, access to and control over resources and decision-making of women, girls, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups, including ethnic/religious minorities, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), OVC, PLHIV, TSW, PWD and other vulnerable groups.
- Gather information to better understand the impact of gender inequalities on people’s actions, their relationships and the way they interact with the systems around them.
- Assess and determine whether existing IRC interventions and strategies meet the needs identified.
- Better understand where IRC’s existing program falls on the gender continuum (gender exploitative, gender neutral/blind, gender sensitive, gender transformative), and how our interventions might affect men, women, girls, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups, including ethnic/religious groups, minorities, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), orphans and unaccompanied/vulnerable children, people living with HIV, sex workers and other vulnerable and displaced groups.
- Provide recommendations on how IRC program activities should adapt to improve accessibility, safety and relevance for women, girls, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups, including ethnic/religious minorities, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), orphans and unaccompanied/vulnerable children, people living with HIV, gender workers from other vulnerable and displaced groups.
- Suggest concrete recommendations for future programs on how to design, plan, implement and evaluate IRC programs to change the social and cultural norms that shape the inequalities identified.
- Based on the results of the study, develop a gender strategy including gender markers for each sector for IRC in CAR.
Methodology
IRC’s programs in CAR aim to gain a detailed understanding of gender gaps and inequalities and gender power dynamics within host communities and refugees, and to examine all projects in relevant sectors with a view to designing and implementing gender-sensitive or gender transformative programs. The toolkit is designed to collect qualitative information through focus group discussions (FGD) and in-depth key informant interviews (KII), building on existing program data and an initial literature review. This age and sex-disaggregated data is used to conduct a comprehensive gender analysis using the socio-ecological model and participatory, client-centered methods (participatory action research), to then facilitate a dialogue on how the analysis informs and impacts IRC’s interventions in CAR.
The consultant will use participatory methods that are inclusive (in the context of the community) and appropriate for data collection and analysis:
Phase 1: Literature review
- Briefly review laws, regulations and government policies with reference to women, men, girls, boys, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups, including ethnic/religious minorities, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), orphans and unaccompanied/vulnerable children, people living with HIV, sex workers and other vulnerable and displaced groups.
- Review of existing active programs from a gender-inclusive perspective.
- Review of existing data relevant to the study
- Review of existing research and gender-specific information on refugees, displaced populations and host communities (some potential sources - community organizations, NGOs, UN agencies, other humanitarian organizations, research organizations, etc.)
Phase 2: Data collection
- Mixed approaches/methods; quantitative and qualitative (a questionnaire, and interviews: focus group discussions among target populations, individual interviews with key persons-FGD and KII with community members and IRC beneficiaries at the following locations on behalf of lRC in the project’s strategic zones: Zemio, Ndele, Paoua, Kaga-Bandoro, Boali and in Bangui and its environs.
Deliverables:
The consultant will be responsible for the following:
- Initial report (initial summary to cover the consultant’s understanding of the assignment, sampling methodology detailed work plan, contextualization of data collection tools (developed by IRC), analysis model, final report).
- Draft mission report
- Recommendations (to be appended to the report)
- Presentation of results (PowerPoint format with raw data collected in the field).
- Final report (containing summary, findings and interpretation of findings, conclusions and recommendations).
- Organize 1 virtual analysis workshop with IRC’s Quality Assurance Committee to review data and identify data trends.
IRC’s role:
- IRC will be responsible for the following:
- Providing feedback on methodology (which includes: data collection tools, research design in the inception phase, summary report, final report)
- Provide information on programs and activities to support document review.
- Organization and participation in the analysis workshop
- Support data collection logistics
- Ensure quality of work
- Inform authorities that the survey is taking place.
- Support, if necessary, the recruitment of interviewers
The consultant/consulting firm will be responsible for organizing the logistics for conducting interviews with IRC and non-IRC clients in the field. The consultant/firm will be independent (without IRC presence) during data collection to ensure data quality and viability.
Data and information processing
All data and information received in the course of this assignment shall be treated as confidential and shall only be used in the execution of these terms of reference. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these terms of reference are assigned to IRC. The content of written documents obtained and used in the course of this assignment may not be disclosed to third parties without the express prior written authorization of IRC.
KEY PERSONNEL
Head(s) of consultancy: Director GEDI based in the Region; Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Director / CAR Committee-IRC team.
Qualifications
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS of the Consultant/Firm
- PhD/Master’s degree in relevant gender or women’s studies, human rights, sociology and other relevant social sciences, or development studies.
- Proven in-depth understanding of gender-sensitive and gender transformative approaches.
- 5 years relevant experience in gender-sensitive and ethical qualitative research and analysis on gender issues (essential).
- Proven experience in conducting in-depth training on gender and gender analysis.
- Experience in conducting similar studies in CAR (cultural context, social norms, local languages) (preference for candidates based in the Central African region).
- Proven experience in working with refugees and the most marginalized populations.
- In-depth understanding of humanitarian architecture and humanitarian programming in the CAR context.
- Fluency in written and spoken French and English (with advanced skills in Sango, Arabic and Fulfulde),
- Significant experience in leading group discussions and KIIs on sensitive topics, particularly GBV with diverse populations.
- Familiarity with the Washington questionnaire in terms of identifying and collecting data on people with disabilities.
- Experience in analyzing and coding qualitative data for diverse audiences.
- Excellent writing skills and ability to articulate the link between findings, analysis and program recommendations.
- Proven experience and track record in delivering assignments on time and to a high standard.
- Strong communication and presentation skills.
- Open-minded attitude towards feedback.
PERSONAL SKILLS REQUIRED
- Ability to listen to and understand the needs of others and contextualize them.
- Ability to immerse oneself in detail without getting lost in it.
- Proactive and self-motivated approach to work.
- High level of organization and time management, as well as the ability to learn quickly and produce high-quality work under tight deadlines.
- Ability to differentiate between confidential and public information, and to anonymize sensitive information.
