The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) seeks a short-term Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Expert Consultant to support the Business and Social support for Female Entrepreneurs in Timor-Leste (BEST) Initiative under the ABA ROLI-led Women and Girls Empowered (WAGE) consortium. Managed by Grameen Foundation (one of WAGE’s core partners), BEST addresses the intertwined social, economic, and regulatory challenges faced by female micro entrepreneurs in starting, maintaining, and expanding businesses, including GBV. Launched in 2020, the program works to build the capacity of, and create formal linkages among, local microfinance institutions (MFIs) and women empowerment-focused CSOs (WE CSOs) in order to provide female entrepreneurs with increased access to improved financial, entrepreneurial and social support.
Scope of work: The GBV expert will help with Phase 1 of the project focusing on conducting a landscape and needs/barriers assessment and finalizing a gender and inclusion analysis, and with Phase 2 focusing on linkages and capacity building of MFI and CSO staff. The consultant is highly recommended to conduct additional key informant interviews with females and CSOs to gain first hand relevant information that would support the results of the landscape assessment.
During Phase 1, the GBV expert will: ● Review and provide input to the assessment developed to a) identify barriers faced by female entrepreneurs to accessing finance, business development services, and GBV and other social support, and to b) map existing services in each district. The expert will analyze and provide technical feedback on how the existing services address GBV risk (if and how GBV is a barrier to female entrepreneurship and if and how MFI services may put women at greater risk of GBV).
During Phase 2 of the project, the GBV expert will:
● Assist the implementation team in prioritizing services and products for potential linkages between MFIs and WE CSOs based on the assessment results and consultant’s individual analysis. The objective of program activities is to reach additional vulnerable female entrepreneurs, (including GBV survivors) to access start-up capital or business loans from the MFIs, business skills training and other forms of social support from the WE CSOs. Lead and complete the quality assessment of the proposed GBV linkage services and recommend improvements. ● The GBV expert will also provide input on developing technical assistance workshops for CSO staff and lead the content on quality enhancements to their GBV services and/or second- tier linkages. The latter will include advising partners on developing second-tier linkages with additional service providers including government services, and networks of legal aid providers. ● Develop guidelines and provide assistance for developing the MFIs and WE CSOs linkages workshop to ensure that the quality improvements for GBV services are applied. Participate in the design of business models to sustain the linkages.
Qualifications: • At least 6 - 8 years of experience working on GBV response, preferably at the community level; • Experience with analyzing data and identifying issues and recommendations addressing GBV; • Proven experience in designing and implementing GBV-oriented trainings and/or linkages for a variety of stakeholders; and demonstrated knowledge of GBV prevention, protection, and accountability mechanisms in Timor Leste (or, more broadly, in Southeast Asia); • Thorough understanding of trauma-informed and survivor-centered approaches to GBV, and familiarity with key concepts of adult learning; • Knowledge and experience in research, data collection and data analyses; • Experience working on women’s empowerment programs is highly desirable; • Masters degree in the field of social sciences especially in the field of gender studies will be a strong plus; • Experience working in global/multicultural organizations across multiple time zones a strong plus; • Fluent in English and Tetum
Length of contract and deliverables: The contract will run through March 31, 2021 and might be extended as needed. It is anticipated that the expert consultant will spend approximately 30 days working on the project.
How to apply:
Application: Please submit an updated resume and daily consultancy rate to Amelda Zotter, WAGE Program Manager, at Amelda.Zotter@Americanbar.org by August 14, 2020. WAGE will review applications on a rolling basis.