Call for Consultancy - Masculinities in Conflict Expert - Repost

Strengthening Civil Courage (SCC) Program

CONSULTANCY OPPORTUNITY: MASCULINITIES IN CONFLICT EXPERT

Location: In country or Remote

About ABAAD

ABAAD– Resource Center for Gender Equality is a UN ECOSOC accredited organization that aims to achieve gender equality as an essential condition to sustainable social and economic development in the MENA region. ABAAD advocates for the development and implementation of policies and laws that enhance women’s effective participation, through a rights-based approach that would bring about tangible change to gender justice. With the purpose of ending gender-based violence, ABAAD adopts a holistic care approach to provide protection and support services to GBV survivors/right holders during times of peace, war and disasters since 2011.

About the Strengthening Civil Courage Program

“Strengthening Civil Courage” (SCC) is a five-year program led by a four-member consortium funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is comprised of organizations which focus on the promotion and advancement of human rights. These include, Netherlands-based PAX and Amnesty International, ABAAD as well as Defend Defenders which works in the East African and Horn sub-regions. SCC’s primary aim is to integrate civilians in peacemaking and peacekeeping processes and support them in countering human rights violations.

Research clearly shows that when women, youth, and other traditionally marginalized groups are involved in broader peacebuilding processes, the probability for sustainable peace increases. In addition, the level of gender equality across a society more generally is an important indicator of sustainable peace. In the 8 countries where ABAAD is the Gender Focal Point, there are enormous challenges in achieving social inclusion and gender equality. This includes shifting the narrative from the idea of men as inevitable perpetrators of violence to an understanding that masculinities are socially constructed and can be shaped around peace. It is also important to highlight how positive men’s engagement can also be beneficial for women’s empowerment and political participation. In many contexts, women are excluded in politics and from places of power while being pushed into subordinate positions within private spaces. A pattern can be observed between these exclusionary practices and harmful masculine norms, as men are often encouraged and expected to dominate and control these spaces.

Overall Objective of This Assignment

The objective of the consultancy is to develop a curriculum for a training addressing violent and militarized masculinities, and promoting peaceful (or non-violent) masculinities. The curriculum should include a series of modules that can be practically used by trainers to implement virtual or in-person trainings. The modules should be easy-to-understanding and developed with a gender-transformative approach (challenging unequal power relations and the structures and norms that hinder gender equality.) The consultant will need to:

Ground the modules in a deep understanding of fragile and conflict-affected environments;

Link together concepts of militarization, violence, and masculinities, particularly in conflict settings;

Include activities which promote reflection on alternative, peaceful ideals of what it means to be a man; and

Integrate clear strategies / approaches to promote gender-transformation and prevention of conflict in programs, policies (e.g. WPS Agenda), and advocacy from a masculinities perspective.

The consultant will also draw on ABAAD’s existing resources and materials on men and masculinities and provide a short proposal on how to integrate these new modules into ABAAD’s existing masculinities manual before drafting the modules themselves.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work closely with ABAAD’s Gender Advisor on the SCC Program and the SCC Project Coordinator throughout all phases of this assignment.

• Phase 1: Review and Draft Proposal

Conduct a desk review of ABAAD’s existing masculinities resources (e.g. toolkits, manuals, briefs, previously recorded events).

Interview relevant ABAAD staff for background on the SCC Program, expectations for this assignment, and to receive additional guidance.

Deliverable: Submit short 2-3 pages proposal based on findings for what modules will be developed and how they will be integrated into existing resources.

• Phase 2: Module Development and Refinement

Draft the curriculum that is easy-to-use and practical, focused on topics that will generate a deep reflection and understanding of masculinities in conflict.

Liaise closely with ABAAD’s Gender Advisor and SCC Project Coordinator to review outlines, full drafts, revise and incorporate feedback.

Participate in meetings with these key staff, as necessary.

Deliverable: Finalized curriculum with full modules.

• Phase 3: Online Training of ABAAD staff

Conduct 1 training (in-person or online) with ABAAD staff that provides them with an overview of the modules, how they should be facilitated, overview of materials, key considerations, etc.

Deliverable: 1 training

Skills Required

• Strong background in masculinities and conflict / peacebuilding / security work.
• Strong knowledge of gender-transformative programs and approaches.
• Experience developing capacity-building strengthening methodologies and tools such as manuals, curricula, trainings, workshops, online and self-paced learning, etc.
• Adept at distilling complex concepts and topics into simple, practical language.
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English;
• Consistently approaches work with a positive and constructive attitude and demonstrates an openness to manage complexity and multiple demands.
• Working knowledge of Arabic is a plus.