A national consultant for manual development and capacity building on counseling on access to justice for victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Terms of Reference
Position Title:  A national consultant for manual development and capacity building on counseling on access to justice for victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Place of Assignment: Vientiane capital with traveling to the project area in Phongsaly province, Lao PDR.

Reporting to: Project Manager and Director of Gender Development Association

Duration:  May 2024

Organization

Gender Development Association (GDA) is a leading Gender Rights Non-Profit Association, working throughout Lao PDR since 1991. GDA works to empower particular women, gender diversity, and disabled people to achieve gender equity through joint action, knowledge sharing and ending gender-based violence and discrimination.

About the Project:

GDA is implementing the project “Combating violence against women and girls and enhancing their access to justice” in Yod Ou and Boun Tai district, Phongsaly Province, supported by Bread for the World (BftW). The project aims to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAWG) and improve access to justice for women and girls in remote rural and mountainous areas of Laos. On the one hand, it strengthens women and girls’ self-efficacy to stand up to their rights and justice; on the other hand, it conducts gender education already in schools in an effort to lower future VAWG cases and improve gender equality. It contributes to the Goals No. 3 and 5 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. At the national level, it is in line with the National Plan of Action on Gender Equality (2021-2025) and the National Plan of Action on Violence against Women and Children (2021-2025).

The overall goal of this project is to promote and protect the rights of Lao women and girls. Two sub-objectives of the project are as follows:

• The community’s behavior toward VAWG is improved.
• Women and girls have better access to legal aid and counseling services.

Purpose:

GDA is looking for a consultant expected to develop a standardized working manual/handbook on counseling and case management for victims of violence against women and girls to access justice. This objective is to enhance the quality of the counseling and case management system by strengthening the capacity of Lao Women Union’s counselors at the local level and village mediation units to be able to facilitate and provide professional support for victims in access to justice.

The Scope of Work:

• Present and design a detailed methodology containing how the consultant will conduct the assignment to align with national regulations and standard operating procedures in different sectors on protection and support for women and girls subject to violence in Laos.
• Conduct a desk study and need assessment for manual development and capacity building on providing counseling and case management for supporting victims of violence.
• Develop an appropriate and easy-to-use training manual and supporting tools in selected areas.
• Train and orient project staff and government partners in understanding the technical content of the manual. The training should be both theoretical and practical.

Deliverables:

The following deliverables are expected from the consultant:

• Inception report containing a detailed methodology for conducting the assignment, which should be formulated for how capacity could be built in such a way as to contribute to the achievement of project outcomes. The training needs should be linked to the project’s approach objectives and outputs (that can be directly used for the training).
• The first draft of a training manual for review. A training manual shall be composed of various modules as per agreement and indication from the project team. The consultant will revise the manual by taking into consideration input from the project team before the training sessions.
• Provide comprehensive training sessions and submit training reports. The consultant shall conduct training sessions for the project team and its partners. A report describing the training sessions undertaken. The report shall include an evaluation of the training sessions by the participants.
• Revise the training manual and submit the final manual developed. The consultant shall submit a revised training manual based on peer review from the project team and comments from participants during the training sessions. The revised training manual shall be submitted to the project team after the training session.

Timeline

The assignment is expected to be carried out in May 2024. Actual dates will be agreed with the selected consultant(s) and based on the consultant proposal and budget plan.

Qualifications and Key Competencies:

• Master’s degree in psychology, Counselling, Sociology, politics or any other related advanced degree in social sciences
• At least 5 years of direct psychosocial/counseling experience with a reputable organization; experience working with survivors of violence preferred.
• Must have experience in facilitating/coaching and training personnel dealing with GBV/VAWG survivors in their respective tasks in a professional, respectful, and supportive manner.
• Strong commitment to gender equality, human rights, and respect for sexual gender diversity.
• Excellent written and verbal English language skills and demonstrated ability to represent an organization at local and national government levels.
• Computer skills: full command of Microsoft applications (word, excel, PowerPoint) and data encoding software.
• Capacity to deliver high-quality outputs promptly, be self-directed and efficient, accountable, and responsive to GDA’s brief and oversight.

 Application Submission:

Interested and qualified consultants are invited to apply. Applicants should submit technical and financial proposals describing fully how the TORs will be achieved, the methodologies and approaches to be used, detailed work plan and activities, duration, and detailed budgets based on activities to be conducted. Also, attach your profile and proof of experience with relevant references of similar assignments (If any).

Applications with detailed CVs may be submitted with the following documents electronically as PDF files to email Submit your complete application by no later than 1 April 2024 to email: info@gdalaos.org, cc:nphonthida@gmail.com, in title: Application – Consultant for Counselling for VAWG victims.  The only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

For any questions regarding this advertisement, please contact:

Phonethida Phimmaly, Project Manager of VAWG project.

Email: nphonthida@gmail.com

Tel: +85620 99399933.