ToR Safer Work Environments in Egypt: Strengthening the capacities and internal policies of YPE partners and beneficiaries

Terms of Reference

National Capacity Building Trajectory

Strengthening the capacities and internal policies of YPE partners and beneficiaries in providing safer work environments in Egypt

Background and Context:

Safety at work is a very complex concept that requires working comprehensively at several levels. There are a number of different definitions to safety at work, however safety may be claimed when women and men are able to enjoy working in an environment free from all forms of violence; physical or psychosocial/psychological violence resulting from poor workplace conditions, bullying, discrimination, harassment and mobbing; sexual harassment, and sexual violence and abuse.

One of the main problems regarding Safety at Work is the widespread lack of attention and knowledge about safety at work for women, and which poses a fundamental challenge to their access to the labor market. Sexual harassment has been identified as one of the most damaging impediments to career success and satisfaction, especially for women, causing profound psychological and physical impacts as recently demonstrated by the #metoo movement.

Women feeling safe at work therefore becomes essential in order to improve women’s participation in the labor market. Various studies show that low participation of women in public life is linked to gender-based violence and gender justice. Violence against women in the workplace is rooted in gender inequality, the abuse of power and harmful norms. Gender-Based violence is a serious violation of human rights and a life-threatening health and protection issue.

About the Assignment: **

Oxfam’s approach to dignified work builds on the ILO’s definition of decent work and its main dimensions yet goes beyond this to fully embrace the notion of work as one of the valuable dimensions that enables such a dignified life. Building on the ILO’s agenda, Oxfam seeks to push further the boundaries of what is defined as work in order to ensure an individual and collective sense of dignity for women and men.

Within the framework of the Danish Arab Partnership Program, the Youth Participation and Employment (YPE) project is launching the Mainstreaming Workplace Safety component. This component lies in line with the SDGs, and focuses on improving workplace safety through promoting gender equality and supporting businesses to have an inclusive, diverse and safe environment for employees. Mainstreaming the concept of safe workplaces will promote private sector development, growth, stability, and a business-friendly regulatory environment.

In 2019, the YPE project launched a pilot phase in Egypt with the aim of promoting strong institutions (Goal 16) and gender equality (Goal 5) by assisting and supporting three YPE partners to embrace workplace safety and inclusion policies addressing physical and psychological safety against bullying, discrimination and harassment. The mission’s objectives were to a) assess partners’ safety policies and procedures for occupational health and safety as well as safety against bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment; b) determine priorities for creating policies and protocols to strengthen workplace safety and implement tailored training programs on the steps to improving their workplace safety; c) co-create tailored policies or update the existed policies; and c) monitor and evaluate effectiveness throughout implementation.

Objectives of the Assignment:

The overall objective of this mission is to provide tailor-made support to YPE partners and beneficiaries in Egypt in order to strengthen their capacities and internal policies in providing safer work environments.

Approaches:

Partners’ ownership and involvement at all stages will be a requirement to validate all deliverables. This will ensure impactful and sustainable trajectories. The trajectory will be informed by feminist principles[1] and will be done in close coordination and consultation with Oxfam and partners.

Assessment phase:

1- Conduct an in-depth needs and capacities assessment for the YPE partners and beneficiaries willing to engage in this trajectory. This should include two level of analysis:

• Individual level: Mapping possible forms of violations in the workplace, challenges faced by men and women in accessing reporting mechanisms and support services.
• Organizational level: Mapping the available strategies and preventive policies in place to protect staff from different violations, services available, accountability and reporting mechanisms, elements about the Organizational Culture (norms), best practices etc. As well as an assessment for occupational health and safety at the workplace guided by ILO’s[2] OSHE checklists.

Policy development and Capacity Building

2- Develop jointly with partners a tailor-made trajectory to address safety in the workplace. A detailed activity plan and clear deliverables will be determined after the assessment phase is finalized. All steps should be implemented in collaboration with Oxfam team and partners. The support provided includes but not limited to:

• Offer comprehensive and tailor-made trainings for management and employees on physical occupational health and safety, psychological safety against bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
• Upgrade existing gender and/or safety policies or Co-create new polices and follow up on implementation of the policies.
• Organize information and raising awareness sessions to promote workplace diversity and gender equality.

Learning and Sustainability

3- Develop a learning document summarizing the main lessons learned from the trajectory. The report should include :

• An analysis of the commonalities and differences in challenges, strategies and approaches to prevent and respond to the needs at the individual and organizational level.
• Key recommendations for Oxfam and partners for future programming.

Mission Deliverables:

• 300 youth- with at least 40% young females- are provided training on safeguarding and mechanisms for reporting discrimination and harassment violations in workplace.

• 5 workplaces sensitized about Zero Tolerance policies and practices with regard to discrimination and harassment; including but not limited to sexual and gender-sensitive approaches as well as enhancing workplace conditions.

Required Outputs:

The selected consultant(s) will submit :

1. A detailed methodological note with the following components: Methodology and tools, timeframe and a detailed workplan. This document will be developed after the scoping meeting with Oxfam team.

2. Inception report following the data collection phase, which should be approved by Oxfam and partners.

3. Organizing workshops with project staff to present and debrief about the trajectory and gather feedback;

4. A detailed activity plan based on the agreed trajectory. This plan will be updated on a monthly basis.

5. A detailed report on outputs on the training and the internal policies co-created with the target audience

6. Monthly reports with clear indications on the advancement of implementation.

7. Draft Report that includes the description of the process, results from the needs and capacity assessment report, FGDs and interview, and recommendations for interventions for Oxfam and partners

8. Final Report, taking into consideration Oxfam and partner’s feedback on the Draft Report.

Qualifications and Experience

• At least 5-9 years of relevant experience working on strengthening organizational capacities of CSOs and enterprises;

• Strong knowledge of research methods; extensive background in participatory design, monitoring and evaluation methodologies;

• Expertise in gender justice, women rights, and GBV in sensitive contexts;

• Expertise in assessments and implementation of occupational health and safety standards;

• Ability to communicate fluently in English and Arabic and write reports in English;

• Knowledge of participatory data collection and analysis;

• Capacity to develop innovative tools to collect data despite the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic;

• Demonstrate awareness of context in Egypt;

• Ability to work with a diverse team and under pressure to produce agreed deliverables in a timely manner;

• Commitment to and understanding of Oxfam values and principles, especially Oxfam feminist principles;

• The consultant must be collaborative, willing to share thoughts and ideas and open to incorporate partners views throughout the process;

Duration and timeframe of the Assignment

The assignment is expected to be completed over a period of 6 months including an estimated 20 working days, subject to change upon approval of proposal. Applicants are kindly requested to indicate in their offers the required number of days broken down by deliverable and cost, in addition to the size of the team involved.

[1] https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/feminist-principles-621064/

[2] https://www.ilo.org/caribbean/projects/WCMS_250143/lang--en/index.htm

How to apply:

Application Process

Interested candidates, with the experience and skills described above, are invited to submit Expression of Interest (EoI). The EoI must include the following:

a. A cover letter of no more than 2 pages introducing the consultant/ organization and how the skills and competencies described above are met, with concrete examples (organization profile outlining similar experience including type of task, employer, project title, location, achieved outputs). The cover letter should also reflect the number of days proposed to complete the assignment, daily rate and total financial offer (cost). The cover letter should also indicate consultants’ availability for the proposed period.

b. An outline of no more than 6 pages of the proposed process and key considerations including:

1) Proposed outline methodology

2) Proposed actual number of days, timeframe and team size

3) Detailed financial offer/ costs and registration and a valid deduction at source certificate. It is expected that the financial offer includes a budget breakdown costs including the daily rate and related costs to the mission. The offer should be submitted in Euro and including VAT.

c. Team composition, CVs and detailed work plan of the proposed team members.

d. Example of produced reports similar to the topics of this consultancy

All documents should be submitted in English.

Period of validity: the technical and financial offers shall be valid for a period of maximum 60 days, starting from the submission date.

Please submit the technical and financial offer with all requested documents by 12th of August 2021 email by to the email address: Jobs.Recruitments@oxfamnovib.nl quoting in the subject line of your email: “YPE Partners Safety at the workplace”