Individual Consultant / Consultancy Firm

Background

About ELiDA

Empathy for Life Integrated Development Association (ELiDA) is a women-led civil society organization established in 2008 and licensed by the Authority for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO) under Certificate No. 1143. The Association envisions a society in which socially responsible, conscious, and productive women and girls are meaningfully empowered to participate in leadership and decision-making processes across Ethiopia's major societal spheres. ELiDA strives to promote and contribute to women-centered poverty reduction efforts undertaken in the country.

ELiDA is actively engaged in girls' education, women's participation in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), promotion of human rights, child protection, women's economic empowerment, and climate change and environmental protection.

The organization currently operates in Addis Ababa, Amhara, Afar, Tigray, and Oromia regions. Its key funding partners include UK Aid, UN Women, the UN Trust Fund, USAID/IRI, the African Women's Development und, UNDP, UNOHCHR, the Malala Fund, FCDO, the German Embassy, PACT, CARE/AFD, and Ethiopian Aid.

Through financial and technical partnerships with these agencies, ELiDA pursues evidence-based efforts to address priority issues affecting key populations, including vulnerable and conflict-affected groups.

About the Project SAFE_YOUTH

SAFE_YOUTH is an integrated initiative designed to improve access to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and GBV prevention and response services for adolescents and young people living in conflict- affected communities of Gazo Woreda (North Wollo Zone) and Antsokiya Gemza Woreda (North Shewa Zone) in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. The project is implemented through a consortium led by DEC in partnership with Duka Youth Led Organization, AWSAD, and ELiDA. By bringing together the complementary strengths of consortium members, the project delivers integrated, youth-centered, survivor-focused, and conflict-sensitive interventions that address both the immediate humanitarian needs of adolescents and the longer-term strengthening of local systems. DEC is the lead agency, responsible for overall project coordination, financial management, technical leadership, planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (PMEAL), and donor compliance. DEC brings extensive experience in designing and implementing community development, health, and humanitarian programmes, with particular expertise in strengthening SRHR, institutional capacity, and ELiDA — Terms of Reference SAFE_YOUTH Project multisectoral coordination, and has built strong partnerships with government institutions, civil society organizations, and local communities to improve access to essential services for vulnerable populations.

Context and Rationale

The target woredas are affected by conflict and humanitarian pressures that have disrupted health, education, protection, and community support systems. Adolescents and young people especially girls and young women face heightened barriers to accessing accurate SRHR information, youth-friendly services, protection mechanisms, and GBV response services. The SAFE_YOUTH project has identified several interconnected challenges, including limited capacity of health facilities, shortages of trained personnel, weak referral mechanisms, disrupted education and community protection structures, stigma and harmful social norms, and fragmented coordination among health, education, justice, and protection actors. To respond to these challenges, the project will commission a comprehensive assessment in the target woredas to identify specific safety risks, existing service gaps, and the capacities of local actors. The assessment will draw on field surveys, focus group discussions with adolescent girls, and key informant interviews with community leaders and other relevant stakeholders. This baseline evidence will enable the project team to tailor interventions to the unique cultural and geographic context of each woreda, ensuring that prevention strategies address the most prevalent forms of violence and effectively reach the most vulnerable populations.

The assessment will provide the project with a current understanding of:

• Key safety and protection risks affecting adolescent girls and other vulnerable groups;
• Existing gaps in GBV prevention, response, and referral services;
• The capacity of local government institutions, service providers, and community actors;
• Community knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to violence and harmful social norms; and
• Priority areas for strengthening prevention, protection, and response interventions.

Objectives

The purpose of this assessment is to generate a comprehensive, data-driven, and ethically grounded evidence base to guide the implementation of the SAFE_YOUTH project and to contribute to a more informed humanitarian response in the region. The assessment will serve as the operational foundation for all subsequent project activities from the establishment of safe spaces to context-specific evidence on protection risks in the target woredas guiding effective prevention, response, advocacy, and training for local actors.

Specific Objectives

• Identify and analyze key protection risks with an emphasis on GBV (e.g., early marriage, sexual violence, FGM, abduction, exploitation).
• Map the vulnerabilities of specific groups, including women, girls, persons with disabilities, IDPs, and host communities.
• Evaluate community capacities and service gaps assessing existing community-based coping mechanisms and local capacities for addressing protection risks, while mapping critical service gaps in GBV case management, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), legal aid, and safe spaces, and assessing existing protection mechanisms and referral pathways.
• Identify community coping strategies, resilience factors, and local protection actors.
• Provide practical recommendations for risk mitigation, targeted interventions, and advocacy.

Scope of Work

• Conduct a desk review of existing assessments, reports, and referral pathways.
• Collect primary data through Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), community mapping, and surveys with survivors, community members, and service providers.
• Ensure data is disaggregated by sex, age, and disability (SADD).ELiDA — Terms of Reference SAFE_YOUTH Project
• Analyze findings to highlight the most pressing risks, underlying drivers, and service gaps.
• Produce a comprehensive report with actionable recommendations for project design, advocacy, and coordination.

Methodology

The assessment will employ a mixed-methods approach to develop a holistic view of the protection landscape, combining quantitative methods (rapid survey, service mapping) with qualitative methods (KIIs, FGDs).

Desk Review

A comprehensive review of existing secondary data will be conducted during the first week of the assignment.

This will include all available ELiDA needs assessments, project documents, and recent reports from the Protection Cluster and the GBV Area of Responsibility (AoR). This phase establishes a foundational

understanding of the context prior to primary data collection, ensuring that field research is targeted and efficient.

Primary Data Collection

Primary data collection will be conducted at the community level using a combination of the following techniques:

• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs): in-depth interviews with a diverse range of stakeholders, including local government officials (Women and Social Affairs, Health, and Justice), health professionals, community leaders, and representatives of other humanitarian organizations, designed to capture a professional and institutional understanding of the protection environment.
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): organized with balanced representation across community groups including women and girls, men and boys, youth, older persons, and persons with disabilities disaggregated by age and gender to capture a wide spectrum of lived experience and to identify community-led solutions and priorities.

Ethical Considerations and Coordination

• Adherence to GBV guiding principles, Do No Harm, informed consent, confidentiality, and referral protocols.
• Active coordination with the Protection Cluster, the GBV AoR, and local government authorities.

Expected Deliverables

• Inception report detailing methodology, data collection tools (KII and FGD guides), sampling approach, finalized analytical framework, and work plan, submitted within the first week.
• Data collection tools survey instruments and FGD/KII guides.
• Draft report presenting preliminary findings, to be reviewed through a validation workshop.
• Final report including:
• Analysis of protection risks and trends;
• Mapping of services, referral pathways, and gaps;
• Risk mitigation and advocacy recommendations;
• Validation workshop proceedings; and
• Annexes with tools, data tables, and a list of stakeholders consulted.

Duration and Timeline

The Rapid Protection Risk Assessment (RPRA) will be conducted over four weeks (within one month ), encompassing desk review, fieldwork, analysis, and reporting, with dissemination of findings to follow.

Thekey milestones are summarized below.

Timeframe Milestone

ELiDA — Terms of Reference SAFE_YOUTH Projection

Week 1 -Preparation and desk review

Weeks 1–2 Primary data collection (KIIs and FGDs)

Week 3 Data analysis and report writing

Week 4 Review and finalization of the report

Week 6 Dissemination of findings

Management and Coordination

• The consultant/team will report to the GBV Project Officer (ELiDA) and coordinate closely with zonal- and woreda-level Women&;s Affairs offices.
• ELiDA will facilitate access to communities, stakeholders, and existing data.
• Ethical Considerations

Given the sensitive nature of GBV, the assessment will adhere to strict ethical and safety protocols to safeguard the well-being, dignity, and safety of all participants. All members of the assessment team will be trained on Do No Harm principles as well as survivor-centered and trauma-informed approaches. Informed consent will be obtained from all participants, and the confidentiality of sensitive information and the anonymity of respondents will be strictly maintained.

The team will be prepared to provide immediate and safe referrals to appropriate services for any GBV survivors identified or encountered during data collection, leveraging the project's existing GBV referral pathways.

The assessment will apply a Do No Harm, survivor-centered, human rights-based, gender-sensitive, youth-sensitive, disability-inclusive, and conflict-sensitive approach throughout data collection,

Required Expertise and Qualifications

• Advanced degree in social sciences, educational, humanitarian protection, or a related field.
• Minimum of 7 years of experience conducting GBV/protection assessments in the NGO sector.
• Proven track record in participatory research and analysis.
• Strong contextual knowledge of Ethiopia, particularly the Amhara Region and North Wollo.
• Fluency in English and Amharic (local language skills required).
• Familiarity with IASC Protection and GBV guidelines.
• Understanding of, and demonstrated commitment to, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Harassment and

Abuse (PSEHA), Do No Harm, and Safeguarding principles in research processes. ELiDA maintains a

zero-tolerance policy and is committed to upholding Do No Harm, Safeguarding, and PSEHA principles

across all its operations; accordingly, ELiDA may conduct reference checks on a consultant background regarding these issues.

• Strong time-management skills and the ability to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated commitment to upholding ELiDA's organizational core values.