Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Production of a High-Impact Documentary Series: Documenting the Lived Experiences and Resilience of Conflict-Affected Women

Background and Context

The global landscape of human security has been fundamentally reshaped by the escalation of armed conflict, which by early 2025 reached a historic peak not seen since the aftermath of the Second World War. This proliferation of violence has placed women and girls increasingly at the center of modern war zones, moving the geography of risk into civilian spheres. Analysis from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) indicates that approximately 676 million women, representing nearly 17 percent of the total female population, lived within 50 kilometers of an active conflict event in 20241. This figure reflects a doubling of exposure levels since the end of the Cold War in 1990, driven by the increasing urbanization of warfare and the protraction of localized insurgencies.

Beyond immediate danger, modern conflict is characterized by the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, which has seen United Nations-verified cases increase by a staggering 87 percent between 2022 and 2024, with women and girls making up the overwhelming majority of survivors2. Despite the profound need, the humanitarian response is continually hampered by a severe “gender financing gap,” illustrating a systemic failure to adequately resource protection for those most vulnerable.

In East Africa, Ethiopia stands as a critical focal point for this intersection of conflict and human rights crises, grappling with the transition from a large-scale regional war to ongoing fragmented insurgencies that have maintained a volatile security situation through early 2026. The compounding effects of conflict and pre-existing gender inequalities have created a catastrophic environment for women and girls, characterized by systematic sexual and reproductive violence in regions like Tigray, Amhara, and Oromia. While women’s security is foundational to the state’s stability, they remain politically marginalized, evidenced by their noticeable absence from the formal 2022 Tigray peace process. This gap in participation means that post-conflict recovery and peacebuilding frameworks are often developed without incorporating the lived realities of those most affected.

 

Problem Statement and Need for Documentation

1Peace Research Institute Oslo. (2025, September 22). Record number of women living in conflict in 2024. https://www.prio.org/news/3635

2House of Commons International Development Committee. (2026). Peace under pressure: Protecting Women, Peace and Security (HC 782).

The Network of Ethiopian Women’s Associations (NEWA), a consortium of 55 local organizations, recognizes a critical gap that undermines the effective implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda in Ethiopia. While current policy and aid responses rely heavily on quantitative data to capture the scale of crises, this approach critically overlooks the nuanced, lived experiences and active agency of women and girls.

The core programmatic challenge is that national frameworks for post-conflict recovery and service response, particularly regarding Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), are frequently formulated from the top down. Because they are rarely grounded in the actual aspirations, strengths, and cultural contexts of survivors, these frameworks often fail to reflect the grassroots reality.

To bridge this gap and directly support the goal of making ongoing peace processes inclusive and sustainable, NEWA is launching a qualitative documentation initiative. By producing a compelling, human-interest documentary, this project will shift the narrative from “victimhood” to one of resilience and active agency. This initiative captures the authoritative voices of those most affected, ensuring that resulting post-conflict recovery frameworks are built upon their lived realities. Ultimately, this evidence-based advocacy reinforces the core mandate of the WPS framework: guaranteeing women’s central role and meaningful participation in Ethiopia’s peacebuilding and recovery efforts.

Project Objectives Primary Objective:

Primary Objective: To systematically collect, document, and elevate the stories and lived experiences of women affected by conflict in Ethiopia. These narratives will serve as foundational evidence to directly inform the development of a robust framework for women’s participation in transitional justice mechanisms and post-conflict recovery, thereby driving the localized implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda.

Specific Objectives:

• To Inform WPS Policy and Frameworks: To use the gathered visual narratives as foundational evidence to develop a robust, gender-responsive framework for women’s participation in transitional justice mechanisms and post-conflict recovery, directly advancing the national implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda.
• To Highlight Grassroots Agency and Representation: To substantiate the profound impact of the conflict on local women while explicitly showcasing their agency, resilience, and active roles in community rebuilding. This guarantees that formal transitional justice and post-conflict recovery mechanisms are shaped by their actual lived experiences rather than relying on top-down assumptions.
  • To Advance Inclusive Peacebuilding: To ensure that the unique needs, priorities, and perspectives of conflict-affected women are explicitly captured and addressed, serving as the core reference point for stakeholders drafting the post-conflict recovery mechanisms.
  • To serve as advocacy material in pushing for peace-building and women’s participation in such processes.

Scope of Work and Methodology

The consultant/production firm will manage the end-to-end process of producing high-impact documentary materials utilizing an intersectional approach.

• Format and Duration: Two 12-minute TV-ready documentaries (one for each region) and four 2-minute social media cut-downs (two versions per region).
• Locations: Targeted accessible areas within Amhara Region and Tigray Region.

Language:

• Amhara Video (Spoken Amharic): Needs English subtitles (for international stakeholders and donors).
  • Tigray Video (Spoken Tigrigna): Needs Amharic subtitles (for the national Ethiopian audience) and English subtitles (for international stakeholders).

Pre-Production:

• Translate NEWA’s provided script into a detailed visual storyboard.
• Implement rigorous, trauma-informed consent processes, offering options for visual or vocal anonymization (e.g., silhouetted lighting, altered voices) to protect identities.

Production:

• Conduct interviews with a total of 10 primary storytellers (5 per region), alongside context from community influencers like traditional leaders or health workers.
• Filming must be conducted by highly sensitized production teams.
• Capture the realities of the post-conflict landscape (e.g., collapsed services) while actively highlighting resilience, community rebuilding, and geographic authenticity.

Post-Production:

• Edit the footage to ensure subjects are portrayed as active agents of peace rather than mere victims.
• Include narration, music, graphics, and subtitles to create a coherent and engaging story.
• Review and revise the documentary based on feedback from validation workshops with NEWA and key stakeholders.

Key Stakeholders and Participants

• Primary Storytellers: 10 women (5 in Tigray, 5 in Amhara), plus local community influencers.
• Operational Partners: Ethiopian Women Peace Builders (EWPB) and member associations like the Ethiopian Women with Disabilities National Association (EWDNA) and other regional associations.
• Institutional Stakeholders: Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA), Ministry of Peace, Regional Women and Social Affairs Bureaus, Regional Peace and Security Offices, and UK FCDO.

Ethical and Security Grounding

• Informed Consent: Written and verbal consent must be obtained in the participant’s local language.
  • Confidentiality: The consultant must use silhouettes, voice alteration, or pseudonyms if identifying a participant poses a security risk.
  • Do No Harm: Interview locations must be private and secure.
• Data Protection: All raw footage must be backed up immediately after filming and stored on encrypted, secure drives.

Duties and Responsibilities of NEWA

• Arrange necessary permissions and local authority clearances.
• Facilitate with EWPB and local member associations to identify willing participants safely.
• Screen participants for current trauma levels and provide a designated psychosocial support person during field interviews.
• Provide ground-level security intelligence and a dedicated Security Focal Point to monitor dynamic risk assessments.
• Develop and provide the finalized documentary script (including voiceover narration and the guided interview questions) to ensure strict alignment with the WPS framework.

Expected Deliverables

The following high-utility advocacy assets must be submitted to NEWA:

1. Two 12-minute TV-ready Documentaries (one for Tigray, one for Amhara).
2. Four 2-minute Social Media Cut-downs (two high-impact versions per region).
3. Comprehensive Narrative Assessment Report (a 10-15 page document synthesizing qualitative findings).
4. Supporting Materials: Approved storyboard, digital archive of all raw footage/photography, and verbatim transcriptions with English translations.

Duration and Timeline

The assignment will be undertaken over an approximate 8-to-9 weeks period, aligning with the project’s inception in late-April through final delivery in mid-June.

Terms of Payment

The proposed payment schedule linked to deliverables is as follows:

• 30% – Upon submission and approval of the detailed storyboard (based on NEWA’s script), work plan, and ethical protocols.
• 30% – Upon submission of the first rough cut of the documentary production.
• 40% – Upon submission of the final documentary videos, social media cuts, and narrative report, integrating all comments from NEWA.