Call for proposal to providefor Gender Action Learning System (GALS) Methodology & Roll Out

Link to Atlas Project

00147926 – SPACE project

Documents

TOR
CFP Template
ICE

Overview

 

1.0. BACKGROUND 

Decades of conflict have impacted negatively on progress towards gender equality, and poverty reduction, gender inequality, has risen sharply over the past few years. Violence, including gender-based violence, is widespread and affects almost every state in the country. A positive effect of concerted GEWE programming by UNDP and its partners has increased acceptance within communities of the importance of gender equality in South Sudan’s development.

Although women provide 80% of agricultural labor, traditional systems limit women’s land ownership. Economic participation of women and girls in South Sudan is further hampered by several factors including: i) high illiteracy (84% for women and 53% for youth); ii) lack of adequate and quality skills especially vocational, entrepreneurship, and business and financial management skills; and iii) poor access to productive resources including land, production inputs, technology, and financing. Consequently, promoting women’s and youth’s access to credit and other financial services along with access to business and financial management skills are effective strategies to consolidate sustainable peace in South Sudan.

South Sudan Gender Development Index (GII) indicates 0.839[1], GII rating index shows disparity in favor of girls/women against boys/male counterparts, due to gender norms and roles that prevail in the country, and that undermines the promotion of equal rights and the ability of women to participate actively in development. Women account for over 60 percent of the population in South Sudan and makeup 60 percent of the agricultural workforce, and so women-headed households subsequently play a major role in agricultural production, yet, with limited access to productive assets. Women have control over crops and small livestock mainly for household consumption while men control large livestock and crops for sale. Even though the Land Act enshrines women’s land rights, access to land is permitted only by their husbands and male family member. 

South Sudan transitional constitution of 2011 aims to guarantee equality between women and men and promote women’s participation in public life and their representation in the legislative and executive organs by at least 25 percent to redress imbalances created by history, customs, and traditions. However, women’s voice and leadership in decision-making bodies is still limited. Even though a comprehensive draft of a National Gender Policy (2013) provides a framework to mainstream gender equity across national development initiatives, including the Comprehensive Agriculture Master Plan (CAMP) of the MAFS which addresses gender issues, gender-related policies and strategies in South Sudan are yet to be operationalized. 

The humanitarian and development landscape has seen several investments of donor funding towards strengthening the agriculture sector and contributing towards the overall national development agenda through food security howeverlatest IPC shows 7.7M 57% of the population People facing high levels of acute food insecurity, This could be linked to some of the already identified missing links in addressing critical gaps while addressing rural development programs especially through agriculture, where so many socio-economic and cultural constraints are not being fully embedded into the interventions, and that are at the heart of rural psychology when developing such projects.

 

3.0. Project information

The Rural Enterprises for Agricultural Development programme is a 7-year investment led by the South Sudan Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and supported by IFAD and GAFSP. The overall goal of READ is to ‘improve food security and nutrition, income and resilience among the targeted rural households. The Programme Development Objective is to empower Rural Producers’ Organizations (RPOs) as sustainable and resilient value chain players. 

The primary target groups of the project are poor smallholder producers, organized through various economic and social structures such as RPOs (including APGs, marketing cooperatives), VSLAs, SACCOs, and MSEs. The project will reach approximately 27,511 households, equivalent to 162,315 direct beneficiaries, through an established network of 36 cooperatives, 300 APGs, 300 VSLAs, and 24 SACCOs. Emphasis is placed on promoting inclusion, with targets of 50% women, 70% youth, and vulnerable groups prioritized in project outreach.

3.1. Project Goal and Objective – The overall goal of the Rural Enterprises for Agricultural Development (READ) project is to ‘improve food security and nutrition, income and resilience among the targeted rural households.’ The Project Development Objective is to ‘empower Rural Producers’ Organizations (RPOs) as sustainable and resilient food value chain players through following 3 interlinked components:

 01.Rural Producer Organization Development: Strengthen Rural Producer Organizations and Cooperative, formalize Agriculture Producer Groups and graduate them into viable entities, promoting inclusive cooperative business models with strong women and youth participation and supporting nutrient rich and climate resilient value chains.

02. Inclusive Rural Finance Services: Enhance the capacity of SACCOs and VSLAs, expand access to finance through Cooperative Bank of South Sudan and establish a credit guarantee fund to de-risk agricultural lending alongside financial literacy and business training.

03. Policy and Regulatory Framework Development: Supporting cooperative development and inclusive finance policies, strengthening MAFS capacity at national and state levels and improving the enabling environment for rural enterprise development.

3.2. Project Area

The project will work in six (6) Counties (Aweil Centre, Magwi, Maridi, Nzara, Yambio, and Renk) in the four (4) states of Northern Bahr El Ghazel, Eastern Equatoria, Western Equatoria, and Upper Nile respectively.

4.2. Overall and Specific Objectives

The general objective of the assignment is to adapt GALS methodology to the context of South Sudan project target counties and train local leaders (champions) and the implementing partner staff on the GALS Methodology and conduct 9 days Training of Trainers, and the eventual follow up the roll out plan. 

Specific Objectives 

1.         Develop and contextualize GALS manual to the South Sudanese context and aligned to READ mandate, and to include modules on nutrition and climate change adaptation. 

2.         Conduct orientation training for 300 ToTs and UNDP implementing partners to equip them with knowledge and skills to facilitate target communities and households to develop gender action learning plans through the village champions.

3.         Train GALS champions to equip them with knowledge and skills to map gender and power issues in rural/migrant households, livelihoods and power relations and to sustainably integrate GALS into rural livelihoods and community development processes to mobilize communities for critical thinking and gender transformative interventions.

4.         Provide regular hands-on mentorship support to ensure that the trainees and champions will be able to understand all the tools and the process and are ready to change other group members and their community.

5.         Develop a clear roll out plan for GALS among 7,500 selected beneficiaries, service providers and village champions, in collaboration with the trained cohort of 300ToTs. 

4.3. Expected outcomes

Trained ToT trainers after receiving the training are expected to in turn go and mentor others, trainees, also known as women champions and leaders and are expected to gain understanding of GALS context, principles, its key features and the methodology to undertake the GALS activities within targeted communities. 

They are also expected to be able to apply the GALS tools and participatory processes that will be adapted for life improvement, including planning, economic and livelihoods development, asset ownership, climate and environmental management and improved health and nutrition status of each targeted household, while also working in their respective groups.

Trainees will also provide sessions to targeted communities to promote gender equality, fight stereotypes, community empowerment to enable rural women and men to have equal opportunity to participate in and have equal voice and influence in rural institutions and organizations.

Given READ’s ambition to strengthen Rural Producer Organizations (RPOs) as resilient, inclusive drivers of agri-food value chains, and to expand access to financial services and policy reforms in fragile and underserved counties, GALS will address the negative norms and practices that are prevalent and thus triggering change and will ensure that interventions are tailored to local realities, and sensitive to power dynamics and consequently cause the positive outcomes envisioned through the project since all project participants in their respective groups will contribute their respective energies through a lense of understanding and mindset of change for development