Millions of women and girls around the globe live and encounter daily the negative impact of harmful social norms and discriminatory practices. Social norms and discriminatory practices dictate cultural beliefs, attitudes, and practices, which collectively determine how a society treats and rewards men and women or boys and girls. In Africa, where the most severe norms are practiced, defying existing norms and practices attracts dire consequences, while observing them is applauded and rewarded.
Generally, African societies value boys and men more than girls and women, respectively. Close attention is paid to the behaviour and attitude of boys and girls from as young as 3 years, where observed signs of deviant behaviours and attitudes are punished. Social exposure prepares boys as men and girls as women and introduces a wide range of deeply rooted inequalities between boys and girls, and in later stages, between men and women. For instance, girls are expected to undergo harmful practices in preparation for their status in society; higher attention is given to the views and opinion of boys and men than girls and women; and better access to socio-economic opportunities are accorded to men and boys than women and girls.
Somalia is one of the African countries with some of the most severe norms and practices, and as such the country is listed in the top five on the gender inequality index[1] (0.777 out of 1). The index looks at three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment, and labour market participation, with Somalia scoring poorly on all three dimensions. In Somalia, gender inequality exists in economic, social, and political domains with a wide access gap between men and women in economic and social fields. For instance, male leaders are preferred and seen as better decision-makers than female leaders. This widespread preference for male political leaders over female political leaders has hindered the realization of the 30% reserve quota. According to the CHANGES 2.0 project annual reports[2], despite the increased number of women aspirants in the 2022 parliamentary elections, women managed to secure just 20.6% of the 315 seats in both houses.
Discriminatory practices are still common in Somalia and disproportionately affect girls and women more than boys and men. Existing norms expect women and girls to do most of the household chores such as cooking, washing utensils and clothes, or making beds, and give boys and men more free time to interact and socialize with their peers or concentrate on their personal goals and aspirations. According to CHOICES 2.0 project pre-post survey, girls spend about 4.8 hours on household activities compared to about 3 hours for boys.
Gender disparity in education and gender stereotypes are also common, negatively impacting girls and women. Most Somali girls, especially those from rural communities, hardly finish their primary or secondary education due to limited educational opportunities, household poverty and gender stereotypes that discourage girls from pursuing their dreams or limit their chances of achieving their goals. Adolescent boys also believe that they deserve more educational opportunities than girls or that they can outperform girls.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), classified into Pharonic (most severe) and Sunnah types, is the most common and widely supported discriminatory practice in Somalia. FGM has been challenging interventions due to its superior adaptive capacity. Whereas support for and prevalence of Pharonic FGM has declined over the years, support for and prevalence of Sunnah FGM has increased. Social and behaviour change experts have linked this unfortunate outcome to flaws in advocacy and campaign design which treated FGM and Pharonic FGM as the same, and focused on the negative consequences of Pharonic FGM to discourage its practice. This has indirectly validated Sunnah FGM and has motivated the medicalization of FGM.
Child Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) is another common discriminatory practice in Somalia. However, unlike FGM, the support for CEFM has been declining in past decades. An evaluation by the previous CHANGES 1.0 project in 2021 observed a significant reduction in CEFM prevalence. In addition, community perceptions on the ideal age of marriage for girls has also improved from 18 to 20 years in 2017 to 20-25 years in 2021[3].
Lack of, or poor decision-making skills among adolescent girls is a major challenge in the fight against discriminatory practices. According to CHANGES 2.0 baseline, 20-22% of adolescent girls reported decision-making power regarding marriage, but very few adolescent girls reported to have full influence on whether, who and when they will marry,[4] with men and women believing that girls should not be given strong influence over marriage decisions. Limited decision-making power in sexual and reproductive health was also observed among adolescents, with four out of ten adolescents reporting feeling confident that they would be able to visit a health facility to obtain information on ASRH, while close to three out of ten indicated that they did not feel confident, and another three out of ten indicating they were unsure. Insufficient knowledge on ASRH rights and life skills among adolescent boys and girls is another major limitation. According to CHANGES 2.0 baseline, only 14-16% of adolescent girls and boys demonstrated sufficient knowledge in critical life skills.
Discriminatory norms and practices in the labour market also affect Somali women and adolescent girls. According to 2020 Human Development Report, Somali men are three times more likely to be engaged in income generating activities than Somali women. Such inadequate access to economic opportunities and poverty are subjecting Somali women to a lower position in society than men, thus giving men grounds to override or overlook women’s contributions during decision-making.
CHANGES 2.0 is a four-year project (2021-2024) that is co-funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE), and implemented by the CHANGES consortium, comprised of Save the Children International, CARE International, and IRC. CHANGES 2.0 is a strategic intervention designed to challenge harmful social norms – FGM, CEFM, intimate partner violence – through interconnected community and national level interventions. At the community level, the project targets adolescent boys and girls and their caregivers, community influencers composed of religious and traditional leaders, and duty bearers. At the national level, the project targets Women Rights Organizations (WRO), media associations, and government officials composed of law enforcement officers, social security departments, and members of parliament and other government institutions engaged in law and policies.
The project is carried out in 16 targeted districts and 76 communities (34 SCI, 24 CARE, 16 IRC) from Somaliland, Puntland, Galmudug, HirShabelle, Banadir and Jubaland.
The CHANGES 2.0 project aims at:
The CHANGES 2.0 project is composed of four outcome chains designed to bring about the required behaviour, attitude, and perception changes, and improve skills and uplift the economic status of women. The project aims at decreasing discriminatory social norms and practices that perpetuate and validate sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls (Outcome 1100). To achieve this, the project trained adolescent boys and girls (10-19 years) and their caregivers to improve their attitude towards positive social norms. Specifically, adolescents were trained on CHOICES (+) curricula, while caregivers were socialized on gender equality and positive social norms using the SC VOICES videos. The project sensitized religious and traditional leaders on key messages and awareness raising activities to improve their commitment towards positive social norms. Community influencers developed and implemented action plans to prevent violence against women and girls in their communities.
Secondly, the project trained adolescent boys and girls on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) and life skills to improve their voice and agency to make and act on life decisions for themselves, including with regards to ASRH and SGBV (Outcome 1200). Under this outcome, the project used the Girl Shine curriculum with adolescent girls (10-19 years) and the Boys Wise curriculum (10-19 years). The project also engaged Women Rights Organizations (WRO) to support adolescent girls and boys to lead advocacy activities on gender equality and rights in their respective communities.
Thirdly, the project aimed to enhance the enabling environment in support of gender equality and women’s and girls’ rights, specifically working with WROs, media associations, and duty bearers at the Federal and regional government levels (Outcome 1300). Under this outcome, the consortium strengthened the capacity of WROs to influence and hold government officials accountable to their mandate and promises on gender equality, in addition to sensitizing law enforcement officers and gender desk staff officers on existing and upcoming gender equality laws and policies. Furthermore, the project trained media associations on existing and upcoming gender equality laws to increase their capacity and willingness to inform the public and hold government officials accountable on their mandate to protect the rights of women and girls through the adoption and implementation of gender equality laws at the federal and regional levels.
Finally, the project aimed to enhance the social and economic empowerment of women to improve their participation and involvement in household and community decision-making (Outcome 1400). The project trained women in setting up and managing Village and Savings Loan Association (VSLA) groups, and on business skills, savings practices, and accessing credit services. The project distributed tools and equipment to women to help them start and run their own businesses. The project also facilitated gender discussion sessions for VSLA women and their male household members to improve male attitude towards women’s decision-making power in the household.
Evaluation Criteria
The following key questions will guide the endline evaluation’s assessment of the project against the DAC Criteria for Evaluating Development Assistance. The consultant will be asked to review and update the existing data collection tools (from the baseline) to incorporate the questions needed to answer the following DAC criteria questions:
Effectiveness: The extent to which the project attained its outcomes.
Efficiency: The extent to which the project used the least costly resources possible in order to achieve desired results, considering inputs in relation to outputs.
The consortium will hire two external consultants herein referred to as qualitative consultant and evaluation consultant to undertake the endline evaluation.
The implementing partners (SCI, CARE, and IRC) will be responsible for the quantitative data collection (adolescent, caregiver, community leader surveys) in their respective locations with the Consortium MEAL manager overseeing the overall data collection exercise. The MEAL focal points from the implementing partners will be responsible for training the enumerators, supervising data collection and conducting data quality checks. Quantitative data will be collected using Kobo and the data collection account will be under the custody of the Consortium MEAL manager, with access limited to the MEAL team and the evaluation consultant.
At the consortium level, the evaluation will kick off with a three-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop for the 10 MEAL staff, consisting of the Consortium MEAL manager, the MEAL focal persons of the implementing partners and the local partners. In the workshop, the team will,
After the workshop, each implementing partner will hire and train their enumerators in their locations and will take lead in managing logistics and ensuring data quality of their respective working districts under the project. The implementing partners will cover the field costs in their locations. The implementing partners will hire an equal representation of male AND female enumerators, to ensure that women and adolescent girls are interviewed by female enumerators, and men and boys are interviewed by male enumerators. SCI will be responsible for the overall supervision of the field data collection.
Applications for the consultancy must include the following:
1. Detailed technical proposal clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR and including the following:
– Demonstrate previous experience in coordinating and administering studies of a similar nature,
– A proposed timeframe detailing schedule of work for writing the endline evaluation report.
2. A financial proposal with a detailed breakdown of all costs including consultancy fees/costs.
3. Curriculum Vitae(s) of the consultant team outlining relevant experience.
4. Names and contact information of three references who can be contacted regarding relevant experience.
5. A copy of a previous report of a similar nature undertaken on: a) baseline study; OR b) endline evaluation.
The proposal will be scored on both technical (methodology) and financial (budget) aspects.
Completed applications should be submitted electronically in English to the following address: [email protected] with the header: Changes 2.0 Endline Evaluation
Closing date for submission of the application package is end of business day on: Monday, August 12, 2024
Publié:
août 7, 2024
Date d’échéance:
août 12, 2024
Catégories:
Endroit:
Toronto, ON
Organisation:
Save the Children
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