TERM OF REFERENCE FOR CONSULTANCY TO CONDUCT A RAPID GENDER ANALYSIS (RGA)

Introduction

SOS Children’s Villages International (SOS CVI) is an independent, non-governmental social development organization that has been working to meet the needs and protect the interests and rights of children since 1949. Children without parental care and children at risk of losing the care of their parents are the focus of our work. The SOS CV organizations provided services in alternative care, prevention, education, health and humanitarian programs and projects. In 2024, SOS CVI reached 1,385,800 beneficiaries with humanitarian response in 38 countries, Ethiopia being one of the largest humanitarian programs.

SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia (SOS Ethiopia) is a national member association of the global SOS Children’s Villages International. Since its establishment in 1974, beginning with its first village in Mekelle, the organization has expanded its operations to several regions across Ethiopia, including Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Harari, Sidama, Southern and South-Central Ethiopia, as well as Addis Ababa. Its work focuses on delivering family-based alternative care for children without parental support, empowering youth for independent adulthood, and strengthening families and communities to prevent child-family separation. SOS Ethiopia collaborates closely with government entities, civil society organizations, and local communities to protect children’s rights and ensure access to essential services such as education, health care, and psychosocial support. In addition to long-term development programming, the organization responds to humanitarian emergencies to ensure continuity of care and support for vulnerable families.

Specific to its humanitarian action programs, SOS CVE is delivering Education in Emergencies (EiE), protection (CP and GBV), nutrition, food and non-food items, cash support, WASH, food security and other humanitarian and long-term development services. In addition to the seven coordination offices (Mekele, Bahir Dar, Jimma, Harar, Hawasa, Gode, Addis Ababa) mentioned above, SOS CVE also operates through specific humanitarian project offices in lalibela, Arba Minch, Axum, Borena, Midhega Tola, Mi’esso and others, with expansions planned in Dese and Semera. Guided by humanitarian principles, it engages in coordination clusters (Education, Cash, Nutrition, Protection, Logistics, food) and working to enforce its 5W reporting. Its 2023-2027 National Strategic Plan aims to reach 3.28 million children in crises, prioritizing mainly EiE and child rights. The organization employs close to 1000 skilled staff nationwide. It partners with 16+ international donors including the EU, Helmsley Trust, NORAD, Dutch Relief Alliance. Globally, SOS operates in 138 countries (€1.6B revenue in 2024).

Humanitarian Situation in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in 2025, with over 30 million people urgently needing assistance due to a devastating mix of conflict, climate shocks, and economic collapse. The aftermath of the Tigray War continues to cause suffering, while new fighting in Amhara between federal forces and Fano militias has displaced 50,000 people in northern Ethiopia. Across the country, 4.5 million are now internally displaced—one of the highest numbers globally.

Ethiopia’s Amhara region, particularly North Wollo and Waghimira zones, faces a devastating humanitarian crisis fueled by conflict (Since 2020), climate shocks, and systemic collapse. Escalating violence between federal forces and armed groups has displaced thousand, destroyed infrastructure, and crippled essential services. Concurrent droughts have decimated crops and livestock, leaving million people in acute food insecurity (IPC 3)2. Schools lie in ruins, with 4.2 million children3 deprived of education, while non-functional health facilities4 force communities to travel over long distances for care. Protection risks have surged, with gender-based violence and displaced women and children facing exploitation, separation, and recruitment by armed groups.5

Crises like these impact women, girls, men and boys differently due to their differing status and roles in society and limit their access to the resources and services they need to be resilient and to recover. As integrating gender equality into all humanitarian action ensures inclusive, effective, efficient and empowering responses, a Rapid Gender Analysis shall be conducted for the sake of a newly planned humanitarian response project by SOS ET in cooperation with SOS AT.

The present TORs set the basic parameters for this RGA to be conducted by an external consultancy team in the following regions/Oblasts:

• Guba Lafto (North Wollo Zone, Amhara region)
• Angot (North Wollo Zone, Amhara region)
• Dehana (Amhara region)
• Tsagibiji (Amhara region)

The aim of the planned RGA is to assess the different needs, capacities and coping strategies of women, men, boys and girls[1], who are affected by the humanitarian crisis in the northern regions of Ethiopia. This shall be done by comparing the state of gender issues prior to the crisis with how gender issues have changed since the initiation of the crisis. Based on that, the RGA shall provide practical recommendations for a humanitarian response project, that meets the different needs of women, men, boys, and girls and ensures that the interventions minimize risks and maximize intended outcomes for the most vulnerable populations.

 

Objectives of the RGA:

Reflecting on the programmatic priorities of the Gender Handbook for Humanitarian Action, the RGA shall cover the identified thematic areas and generate findings to respond to the key research questions below.

Broader Themes	Key research questions
Demographic profile	Who is affected (women, men, boys, girls, older people, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups)? What was the demographic profile of the population disaggregated by sex and age before the crisis? What has changed about the demographic profile of the affected population or group targeted by a specific program?
Gender Roles and Responsibilities	What are the relationship dynamics amongst women, girls, men and boys? How have the roles of women, girls, men and boys changed since the onset of the crisis or the program began? What are the new roles of women, girls, men and boys and how do they interact? How much time do these roles require?
Capacity and Coping Mechanisms	What are the coping capacities of women, girls, men and boys from different backgrounds?
Access	What were the opportunities that were available and accessible such as access to education, employment, livelihoods, health services, legal rights and ownership/control of assets? How have the opportunities that are available and accessible changed, such as access to education, employment, livelihoods, health services, legal rights and ownership/control of assets?
Participation	What structures does the community use to make decisions and how do women and men participate in these? Who participates in decision-making spaces? How are dynamics around decision-making within the public and private sphere impacted?
Protection	What protection risks did different groups of women, girls, men and boys face before the crisis? What are the protection and GBV risks facing women, girls, men and boys now? How do legal frameworks affect gender and protection needs?

Scope of the RGA:

• The Rapid Gender Analysis is planned to be conducted in the following regions/woredas: Guba Lafto, Angot, Dehana, Tsagibiji and shall assess key gender dynamics to guarantee that the needs of vulnerable populations are adequately considered and protection risks are identified and therefor can be mitigated.
• The Rapid Gender Analysis should provide several clear and tangible recommendations for the inclusion of its results in the formulation of the planned humanitarian response project.
• For basic info about the population and characteristics for each location, please refer to below , which is to be used as an orientation for defining target groups and methods.

Specific locations and sample

Sample – diversity categories for all locations

• At a minimum: women and men
• Adults 18 yrs and above
• Men and women with disability
• Men and Women Heading Households
• Elderly men and women (65 yrs & above)
• Male and female children 12-17 yrs
• Male & Female Children with Disability (12-17 yrs)

Sample size (per group) for all woredas (each group consisiting of 10-12 members)

• Adult Men and women (18 yrs and above)
• Men and women with disability
• Single parent headed Men and Women Heading Households
• Elderly men and women (65 yrs & above)
• Children Male and female 12-17 yrs (15 male, 15 Female)
• Male and female children with disability 12-17 yrs (10M, 10F)

# of sessions/ tools (FGDs, KIIs, community mapping, observations, etc.)

• #6 FGDs in each of the Woredas- #1 for each of the above listed groups (2)
• 9KIIs for each woreda (#2 women and children affairs office, #1justice office, #1health office, #1police office, #1Women development army, #1health extension worker, #1CBO representative, #1 religious leader)
• 5KIIs per zone ((#2 women and children affairs office, #1justice office, #1health office, #1police office)
• Household surveys (in two sample kebeles per woreda)

Population Size:

• Guba Lafto (North Wollo, Amhara): ~250,000.
• Angot (North Wollo, Amhara): ~150,000.
• Dehana (Wag Hemra): 120,000.
• Tsagibiji (Wag Hemra): 130,000.

For this purpose, the Rapid Gender Analysis must, at a minimum, meet the following criteria:

• Use Sex- and age-disaggregated data (SADD) for at-risk populations including people with disabilities, orphans and victims of violence to ensure that their gender-specific needs are being addressed.
• Use a balanced mix of primary and secondary background information and qualitative and quantitative data on what gender relations were like before the emergency and how they may have changed because of the emergency.
• Adhere to the Do No Harm (DNH) Principle: In preparing for the RGA the priority should be the safety and security of staff, volunteers and partners conducting the RGA as well as the communities, that are invited to participate in the information and data gathering process. In cases where there is an active conflict, potential subsequent disasters or insecure environments, it is important to assess the methods and whether other methods could be a safer and more effective at that moment in time.

Methodology and Approach

Rapid Gender Analysis provides information about the different needs, capacities and coping strategies of women, men, boys and girls in a crisis. Rapid Gender Analysis is built up progressively: using a range of primary and secondary information to understand gender roles and relations and how they may change during a crisis. The RGA shall be conducted using participatory methods obtaining qualitative information, as well as quantitative data disaggregated by sex, and age (and other relevant diversity factors).

Key pre-identified documents for the Desk Review:

• SOS Gender Equality Policy
• National statistics: census data, demographic and health surveys, labour market participation data etc. => Ethiopian National Statistics Agency (ENSA);
• Gender and/or diversity analysis reports;
• Academic publications;
• ‘Grey’ reports published by national institutions, UN agencies, national/international NGOs;
• State party and civil society shadow => Child Rights Convention (CRC), Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Suggested tools for primary data collection:

• Focus Group Discussions divided by sex, ethnic group, age (FGD)
• Community mapping with women and men
• Key Informant Interviews with women and men (KII)
• Individual Stories
• Observations of critical infrastructure (IDP camps, schools, health institutions, etc.)
• Household surveys (in two sample kebeles per woreda)

Deliverables

The consultant’s main task and deliverables include the following:

• Submit a comprehensive assessment tool and collect feedback from SOS technical team both at national and SOS Austria offices.
• Submit an inception report, which clearly identifies the target groups and methodologies of the RGA
• Undertake RGA, strictly adhering to the ethical and safeguarding principles of SOS Children’s Villages, and in line with a gender-responsive approach.
• Submit draft RGA report and collect feedback from SOS technical team both at national and SOS Austria offices.
• Conduct validation workshop to collect feedback from stakeholders
• Finalize and submit the final RGA report with recommendations and collected primary data

Analysis and report requirements

The final RGA Analysis report shall be written in English and shall not have more than 15 pages (excluding annexes) and be accompanied by a two-page brief. It shall include:

• Abbreviations
• Executive Summary with key findings and recommendations
• Introduction with background information about the conflict and the Rapid Gender Analysis objectives
• Methodology
• Demographic profile:
  • Sex and Age Disaggregated Data
  • Demographic analysis
• Findings and analysis
  • Gender Roles and Responsibilities
  • Capacity and Coping Mechanisms
  • Access
  • Participation
  • Protection
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

Work plan

The task is expected to be finalized within 30 calendar days after the contractual agreement is signed. The consultant is expected to develop a detailed work plan based on the draft workplan in the following manner

Date	Milestone	Estimated working days	Responsible part

Child safeguarding and ethical issues.

SOS Children’s Villages is committed to ensuring that all research, evaluation and data collection processes (i.e. evidence-generating activities) undertaken by SOS Children’s Villages and its partners are ethical and respect child safeguarding policy and procedure.

The consultant must respect the rights, dignity and protection of children and other vulnerable population groups and should ensure special protection for children and other vulnerable groups during any data-generating activities to minimize any potential risks. Any research, evaluation and data collection SOS Children’s Villages is directly carried out or is involved in as a partner.

Obtaining consent from research participants is central to the research relationship and signals respect for the research participant’s dignity, their capability to express their views and their right to have these heard in matters that affect them. Informed consent is an explicit agreement which requires participants to be informed about and understand the research/assessment. This must be given voluntarily and be renegotiable, so that participants may withdraw at any stage of the assessment process.

Logistical arrangements:

The awarded consultant shall show feasible logistical arrangements for the assignment as part of the technical proposal. The cost should be included as part of the financial proposal.

Duration of the contract and terms of payment

Payment will be made only upon SOS Children’s Villages’ acceptance of the work performed in accordance with the above-described deliverables. Payment will be affected by bank transfer in the currency of birr.

The consultancy firm will be paid by SOS Children’s Villages as follows:

• 30% on the submission and approval of the inception report.
• 30% on completion of the draft report.
• 40% on completion of the final report.

Duration of contract: the contract is effective from the moment it was signed until the acceptance of work by the SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia management team.

Notice of delay

Shall the successful bidder encounter a delay in the performance of the contract which may be excusable under unavoidable circumstances; the contractor shall notify SOS Children’s Villages in writing about the causes of any such delays within 2 working days from the beginning of the delay.

After receipt of the Contractor’s notice of delay, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia shall analyze the facts and extent of the delay and extend the time for performance when in its judgment the facts justify such an extension.

Copyright and other proprietary rights:

SOS Children’s Villages shall be entitled to all intellectual property and other proprietary rights including, but not limited to, copyrights, and trademarks, with regard to products, processes, inventions, ideas, know-how, or documents and other materials which the Contractor has developed for SOS Children’s Villages under the Contract and which bear a direct relation to or are produced or prepared or collected in consequence of, or during the course of, the performance of the Contract. The Contractor acknowledges and agrees that such products, documents, and other materials constitute works made for hire for SOS Children’s Villages.

All materials: interviews, reports, recommendations, and all other data compiled by or received by the Contractor under the Contract shall be the property of SOS Children’s Villages and shall be treated as confidential and shall be delivered only to SOS Children’s Villages authorized officials on completion of work under the Contract. The external consultant is obliged to hand over all raw data collected during the assessment to SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia.

Termination:

The termination of the service agreement for the assignment will be in accordance with the contractual agreement to be included at the formal agreement’s actual signing.

 

Required Competency

• The applicant consultancy firm/ the lead consultant should have at least master’s degree in development study, Gender and Development, Human rights, international cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Public administration, project management, social work, social policy, and sociology
• The consultant should have strong demonstrated experience related to conducting gender assessments in general and more specifically on Rapid Gender Assessments in humanitarian settings.
• 5 – 10 years of practical hand-on experience in conducting gender and gender-based analysis, protection analysis in the humanitarian development peace nexus in the country
• Legally registered firm with renewed license, VAT registration and TIN number and Sound access to the Amhara region
• Time is the essence. The consultant must be able to deliver the task within the allocated time
• Practical experience in operating in humanitarian settings.
• Demonstrated experience in conducting assessments on gender-based violence, gender rapid assessment, protection risk assessment, multi-sectoral initial rapid assessment, gender needs or other related fields.
• Proven experience in participatory processes and data collection methods
• A good understanding of child/youth rights/safeguarding & other issues affecting vulnerable groups in the Ethiopian context.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English.