Brief introduction of Plan International

Founded in 1937, Plan International is one of the oldest and largest children's development organizations in the world. Plan International is an independent organization, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations.We work in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas to promote child rights and lift millions of children out of poverty. In this region, Plan operates in Sudan, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. We are examining ways of working inside Syria as due to the sheer needs and the fact that the conflict is intrinsically linked to the issues in the region. While Syria has not yet been readmitted to the Arab League, it is highly likely that it will be in the future.

Plan International’s country offices adhere to its global Programme and Influence Quality Policy (P&IQ) which refers to our commitment to attain the highest standards of quality for our work across all technical areas and at all levels. This is achieved through rights-based, gender transformative and accountable programme and influence work, which builds upon evidence, partnerships, meaningful participation and efficient use of resources. Quality work must contribute to lasting change and positive impact for children.

Gender transformative programming in Plan International

Plan International works towards challenging the deeply-rooted behaviors that put girls and young women from both refugee and host communities at risk of harmful practices and different forms of gender based violence undermining the wellbeing, dignity and rights of girls.  As part of this, Plan support community-led actions that empower girls through providing them with access to alternative economic and social opportunities that help them learn, lead, decide, and thrive. Plan further work on enhancing communities’ understanding of gender equality though involvement of all community members including boys and men encouraging them to support the girls in their families and local communities.

In addition, we educate boys and girls on their sexual and reproductive health to empower them to make healthy decisions and take control over their lives. We also focus on laws and policies that ban female genital mutilation and child marriage in collaboration with civil society organizations and other partners.

Objectives and Scope of the Assignment

Girls and young women in the Arab world face numerous challenges in realising their full potential. Plan International would like to leverage its presence in these four key MENA countries toinitiate and collaborate on regional influencing initiatives towards promoting the status and position of girls and women’s rights in the Arab states. Towards this aim, Plan has initially identified the League of Arab states as a key entity to engage with as a major purpose of the League of Arab States is to foster cooperation between the Arab member countries in matters of economic and social affairs, communications, cultural affairs, personal status, social affairs, and health.

To be able to engage with the League of Arab States and other relevant regional institutions (to be mapped), we need to identify key opportunities, challenges and actors that Plan International can leverage on to be able to achieve a scaled impact at the MENA level in the areas of gender based violence and child and early marriage.

The consultant will workbe responsible of identifying key actors, potential partners and allies, for Plan to take its mission forward. The consultant will also map the key regional institutions with particular emphasis on the League of Arab nations & identify opportunities and challenges for Plan to engage with them in the area of GBV and child and early marriage.

The consultant will administratively report to Plan Egypt’s Head of Programs - Strategy and will be supported by an advisory group comprising key staff members from all four country offices.

Hired consultant is expected to do the following:

• Produce a detailed relevant mappingplan to be approved by Plan International. The plan should include at minimum:
  • Conduct interviews with relevant members of the League of Arab States working on the portfolio of girls’ and women’s rights, identify current interventions and map any challenges.
  • Provide comprehensive map identifying key actors, networks, coalitions, platformsworking on addressing these issues at the MENA region level including roles and responsibilities; strengths and challenges, and their linkages with the League of Arab states.
  • Review relevant policies, papers, action plans developed by the League of Arab States and the progress till date.
  • Conduct interviews with organizations with MENA regional scope working in the GBV and child/early marriage space.
  • Provide a detailed map of all the key areas of potential influencing opportunities for collaboration with the League of Arab States especially in the area of GBV and child/early marriage, including key potential partners, networks, and coalitions in the 4 countries for each opportunity.

The consultancy in hand might include input required across the collaborating countries. In case it will not be feasible to have this input remotely, travel expenses hasto be factored in the provided financial proposal. Note no travel to Syria is expected.

Key questions to be tackled:

• What  the main bodies of the League of Arab States? And what are their roles?
• How are the bodies of the Arab League tackling issues around GBV and CEFM? How much political will is there to tackle the issue? Who has power to do this, and is there any resistance?
• What are the key policy documents developed tackling the different forms of GBV and child/early marriage? And to what extent are these policies adopted by the countries? and what progress is in place?
• What are the available regional mechanisms for improving the coherence of girls’ and women’s rights protection at the MENA region level?
• What are the available linkages between the regional and international bodies working on the issues of GBV and child marriage?
• What are the similarities and differences in identifying gender-based violence in the legislations of the 4 countries?
• What are the key areas of focus in the work of the League of Arab States regarding the GBV and child marriage?
• What are the key partnerships (in/among government, private sector, religious groups, foundations, donors, CSOs and INGOs), channels of communications /platforms/networks for collaboration at the MENA region level? And how do they operate and what is the targeted outcome? And how can we access such platforms?
• What are the main areas of slow progress with regards to GBV and child/early marriage where more support is required from the governments in the 4 countries? and which the League of Arab States finds as a key driver towards eliminating GBV and child marriage?
• Identify gaps of existing initiatives and space for initiatives at the MENA region level.  
• Identify successful initiatives conducted by the League of Arab states and space of follow up and building on achievements?
• What kind of studies are undertaken by the League of Arab States? And what kind of data is available and accessible?
• How are bodies / members of the Arab League and governments in the 4 countries viewing girls’ rights?
• How are international and regional accountability frameworks perceived by Member States? Do mechanisms like the CRC and CEDAW reporting, SDG accountability processes like HLPF, or the Bejing Platform for Action much recognised? If not, why?

• Advanced degree in Social Sciences.
• 5-10 years of experience working in GBV research, implementation, or policy work, preferably at MENA level.
• Experience with or knowledge of the League of Arab States structure, initiatives, work and areas of impact.
• Recognized actor in the development space with ability to have access to, request and hold meetings with key influential and NGO stakeholders at the MENA level.
• Excellent writing and speaking skills in both English and Arabic.

DELIVERABLES

• Reports

The Consultant will produce a report (maximum 30 pages) outlining findings, recommendations, potential partners, and potential influencing initiatives.

Contacts/Key Relationships

The Consultant will report directly to Head of Programs – Strategy in Plan international Egypt.

• Payment terms

Payment will be made through several instalments:

• The first installment is 25% upon signing of contract.
• The second instalment is 75% upon the submission of final report

• Timeline:

The assignment should be completed with a maximum LOE of 20 days. Additional days may be added based upon mutual agreement between both parties.

• Submission of Proposals

The technical proposal and financial offer should be submitted as hard and soft copies (CD or USB flash drive) in separate sealed envelopes and delivered to Plan’s address: Building 71 Street 105, Hadayek el Maadi - Cairo, Egypt. And Plan International Sudan Office , the Nile Tower, 4th Floor, Block10, Building 20,Street 63. Box: 528, East Khartoum-email: Sudan.hr@plan-international.org. For more information and questions please contact this number 00249900931393, 00249900914232

Interested consultants or agencies should submit their proposal in English on the basis of the TOR. The proposal should include:

• Technical offer including research methodology, action plan, Consultant CV and team members CVs (If any) with their respective roles.
• A separate financial offer that includes all fees or expenditures including tax fees in a table such as the one below. Extra rows can be added if needed.

• Profile of the organization (in the case of an institution) including experience with similar research in the past.

• Deadline of submission is 15 December,2019.