Terms of Reference
UNRWA, the UN Agency for Palestine refugees, assists a population of some 5 million refugees in the
Middle East. UNRWA’s mission is to create opportunities for refugees to become self-reliant and
productive members of their communities. UNRWA’s services are designed to help Palestine refugees
acquire knowledge and skills, live healthy lives, achieve a decent standard of living, and enjoy their
human rights to the fullest. The Agency’s human development work is about alleviating and reversing the
deprivations that refugees face. Operating in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian
territory including East Jerusalem, UNRWA’s range of services covers education, health care, relief and
social services, community support, rehabilitation of camp infrastructure, microfinance programmes, and
emergency assistance, including in times of armed conflict.
CONSULTANCY
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND ROLL-OUT OF THE E-LEARNING COURSE ON GENDER
AND GBV IN EMERGENCIES
BACKGROUND
GBV continues to be a growing concern where acute humanitarian pressures and violent conflict
constitute aggravating factors for GBV, particularly violence against women and girls. In recent years,
increased knowledge of and attention to GBV in emergencies has brought to light the prevalence and
effects of GBV, further highlighting the global community’s responsibility. In accordance with international
standards, UNRWA has progressively engaged in addressing GBV in emergencies both in the sphere of
prevention and response across its five fields of operation through the establishment of a cross-sectoral
referral system. While these efforts have been instrumental in improving access to services for survivors
of GBV, greater efforts are needed to ensure the wider emergency response sustain and facilitate GBV
responses in emergencies and that UNRWA’s emergency responders build a stronger foundation for
understanding gendered impacts of emergency operations as a means to ensure GBV risks are
addressed and risks mitigation mainstreamed across all sectors of operations.
In this perspective, UNRWA developed the project Building Safety: Mainstreaming GBV Interventions into
Emergency Preparedness, Prevention and Response within the context of the Safe from the Start
Initiative. This project offers an important opportunity to strengthen UNRWA’s preparedness capacity to
mainstream GBV interventions in emergency operations and to incorporate a gender sensitive approach
to emergency response. Specifically, the project focuses on: (i) Developing minimum Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) for agency wide and multi-sectoral preparedness and response to GBV in emergency
settings (ii) Strengthening the capacity of UNRWA emergency responders on gender and GBV, both in
terms of understanding and practice; (iii) Developing evidence-based assessments on GBV prevention
processes in emergencies, including the identification of best practices; (iv) Enhancing understanding of
GBV among individuals and communities and enabling active participation of target communities in the
framing of prevention and mitigation efforts, seeking active participation of women, men, boys and girls
through dedicated activities.
As part of the capacity development level of action, the project will develop training resources that will be
of reference for all fields of operation in relation to GBV in emergencies. Specifically, the level of action
that falls under the scope of this consultancy is about developing a training course, in the form of an elearning tool, which will support understanding of gender and GBV among UNRWA staff. The rationale of
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this training component is to promote common understanding of GBV amongst key staff both at the HQ
and field levels and introduce the SOPs for GBV risks mitigation and preparedness in emergencies
developed as part of this project. The training will target UNRWA emergency responders, including
frontline staff, programme staff and area managers who make up the area emergency and core
emergency teams across all fields.
The development of the e-learning modules will be pursued in a participatory manner, relying on internal
and external assets and adapt existing models to match UNRWA needs. UNRWA programme areas will
be actively engaged in the elaboration of the e-learning modules on the basis of their specific needs.
Further, UNRWA will draw on existing capacity-building tools that have already been tested in emergency
settings. In order to ensure acceptance and impact of the e-learning modules it is essential that these
learning resources are tailored to UNRWA’s unique context as a direct service provider for affected
communities across a wide range of sectors, being culturally sensitive and appropriate.
A brief overview of the methodological basis for the development of the e-learning process, based on
international standards, is provided as follows:
 Analysis - A context analysis will be conducted at the start of any development effort to
determine the identification of high-level course goals and the course content and map existing
resources. The design and delivery of e-learning will take into account key characteristics of the
learners (e.g. their previous knowledge and skills, geographical provenience, learning context and
access to technology).
 Design - The design stage encompasses the following activities: formulating a set of learning
objectives required to achieve the general, high-level course objective; defining the order in which
the objectives should be achieved; selecting instructional, media, evaluation and delivery
strategies. The outcome of the design stage is a scheme that will be used as a reference to
develop the course.
 Development - In this stage, the e-learning content is actually produced. The e-learning content
may consist of simpler materials, which can be combined with other materials (e.g. audio or video
files), assignments and tests. The final product will be validated through a testing process.
 Implementation - At this stage the course is delivered to learners. The courseware is installed on
a server and made accessible for learners.
 Testing, monitoring and review - The e-learning will be monitored in order to assess learners’
reactions, the achievement of learning objectives, the transfer of knowledge and skills, and the
effect of the learning approach at the individual level.
1. Objective of the contract
The services offered by the consultants are expected to cover the following objectives:

Promote better understanding of GBV among the field staff who are engaged in emergency
response through the development of an E-learning training course.

Ensure that gender and GBV are taken into account in UNRWA's emergency preparedness (and
response in the medium term) within their different contexts through the development of an Elearning training course.
2. Scope of Work
The Consultants shall perform tasks related to the following areas:

Conduct an initial context assessment to determine the learning content related to gender and
GBV in emergencies based on the review of already existing and tested tools and the input
provided through consultations and feedback.
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





Prepare a detailed work plan for developing and finalizing the e-training course, including the
implementation and testing phase;
Coordinate design and development of the e-learning course throughout all different stages until
completion and finalization of the product.
Conduct testing and follow up of the e-learning tool among a sample of UNRWA staff.
Refine and adjust the final product based on the input from the testing phase.
Prepare a brief final report encompassing lessons learned and recommendations based on the
testing of the e-learning course.
Contribute to overall learning and capacity development in line with the key objectives of the
project.
3. Expected Deliverables/Outputs
The expected outputs and their due dates are as follows:
Tasks
1)
Define
a
detailed
methodological and technical plan
for the consultancy
Deliverables/ Outputs
A detailed work plan
Target Due Dates
To be determined
2) Conduct an initial context
assessment to determine the
learning content
An outline of the e-learning
course’s structure, including
different modules.
To be determined
3) Work on developing the content
of the e-training course, based on
the initial assessment and in
coordination with UNRWA staff
4) Conduct testing and follow-up of
the e-learning tool among a
sample of UNRWA staff, and refine
and adjust the final product based
on the input from the testing phase
An advanced version of the elearning course
To be determined
A finalised e-learning training
course incorporating input from
staff
To be determined
5) Prepare a brief final report
encompassing lessons learned
and recommendations based on
the testing of the e-learning
course.
Report submitted
To be determined
4. Institutional Arrangement

The Consultants will come under the direct supervision of and reporting to the Gender Advisor
and the Gender Unit at HQ Amman. Due to the nature of the tasks and funding, there are multiple
reviewers for some outputs/deliverables.

UNRWA will try to assist with logistics of travel directly linked to the work. Otherwise, the
Consultants are expected to be self-sufficient in terms of transport.

The Consultants are expected to bring own laptops for the consultancy.
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5. Duration of the Work

The work is a long-term task that will be framed into different phases according to the proposed
methodology and within the project timeframe (2015-2016).
6. Duty Station

The consultancy will be a combination of home-based and official travels to UNRWA Field Offices
in West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. As and when official travels is authorized by
UNRWA occurs, applicable UNRWA Travel Subsistence Allowance (TSA) and return ticket/s will
be issued/paid a per the Agency's rules and regulations. As of the time of this tender, the official
UNRWA TSA rates are:
Area
Lebanon
Beirut
Elsewhere Lebanon
Rate per night
$
$
268.00
180.00
Syria
Damascus (Four
Season)
$
274.00
Jordan
Amman
Elsewhere Jordan
$
$
253.00
261.00
West Bank
Jerusalem
Jericho
Elsewhere West Bank
$
$
$
311.00
174.00
160.00
Gaza
$
180.00
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