Consultant for WOW CCs Project Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Analysis Study

Introduction

With financial support from the US Department of State, Save the Children (Thailand) Foundation and Save the Children, Lao PDR launched the WOW CCs project in October 2022. Overall, the project aims to contribute to addressing gender inequality in climate change impacts and response efforts by strengthening networks of women-led CSOs working on climate change in Thailand and providing tailored financial and technical support to their leaders and innovators.

Objective 1 Build and strengthen cross-sectoral networks: Develop and strengthen two networks of women-led CSOs and MSMEs working on STEM-based climate change solutions in Thailand and Laos.

Objective 2 Support innovative climate change adaptation or mitigation solutions: At least 30 women-led CSOs increase their development and implementation of innovative, gender-responsive and locally designed climate change resilience, mitigation, and adaptation solutions. 

Objective 3 Support women climate innovators: At least 30 women climate innovators achieve increased capacity, investments, and an enabling policy environment for leading innovations in developing blue and green economies.    

Purpose and Key Questions

Save the Children (Thailand) Foundation is seeking an individual consultant, an academic research team, or a company who is/are specialized in gender empowerment and climate change adaptation in Thailand to develop a study namely, “Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Analysis”. Gender and social inclusion analysis helps to identify and promote entry points, policies and opportunities for enhancing gender equality and social inclusion in WOW CC, including multiple causes of vulnerability, including gender inequality and other determinants of social exclusion such as age, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status, marital status, religion. The objectives of the Analysis are in three folds, which are to

1. Identify and examine forms of gender and social inequality that affect the roles and capacity of women and poor/marginalized communities in managing natural resources, developing women’s networks, and accessing information and STEM-based training for climate solutions in Thailand (considering power differentials, e.g., sex, gender, age, disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status), and identify current efforts to challenge these inequalities at individual, interpersonal, community, and society levels.
2. Develop evidence-based and context-specific recommendations to adapt project activities/approach to increase women’s leadership and positive impacts on women’s economic security, as well as identify information gaps, and
3. Inform a baseline study for the project’s monitoring and evaluation – particularly on assessing the change of attitude and knowledge of target population around gender equality.

Primary Research Questions:

• How are gender and/or social inequalities (including those based on other determinants of social exclusion such as age, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status, marital status, religion) exacerbated by climate change? What are the impacts of increased inequality on women and other historically marginalized groups? What are the gender and/or social inequalities in STEM and climate change response efforts?
• What are the key barriers and opportunities for women leaders and women-led CSOs in improving the effectiveness of their climate solutions including STEM-based solutions?
• What are the technical assistance and capacity building needs and opportunities for women leaders and women-led CSOs working on climate justice (i.e. change impacts and response efforts)?

Domains of Analysis:

Research questions will be examined through the following domains of analysis.

1. Laws, Policies, Regulations, and Institutional Practices
2. Cultural Norms and Beliefs
3. Gender Roles, Responsibilities and Time Use
4. Access to and Control over Assets and Resources
5. Patterns of Power and Decision-making
6. Safety, Dignity and Wellbeing

Scope

The report will include recommendations to adapt project activities and will constitute the project baseline study. With this in mind, the key contents of the study will require to be constructed into the following four integral parts, which are

1. Overview of Thailand’s national policies and governance settings, demographic data, and analysis related to gender equity, access to education, and STEM-based training.
2. Overview of the roles of women and poor/marginalized communities in the sectors of natural resources and water management, climate change adaptation, disaster preparedness and management, energy development, land use and agriculture, transboundary air pollution, and labor migration.
3. A field study through individual and focus group interviews in the fields of at least three sampling sites in Thailand, presumably through the existing climate change network,  around the perception of women’s empowerment and the factors which restrict women to become empowered - in the context of natural resources management, climate change adaptation, disaster preparedness, and management, access to information, education and STEM-based training, and women networking development, to name but a few. The design of the tools for the interviews and the focus group discussions will be guided by Gender and Power Analysis Guidance and done together with SCT TEs and project staff
4. Analysis and recommendations for further actions needed,  how to address identify information gaps, and areas to 1) increase males and females’ equal access to social, economic, and political resources and opportunities, including those in STEM and climate actions 2) improve women’s leadership and positive impacts on climate actions and economic security.

Stakeholders/Audiences

The main stakeholders/targeted audiences for this evaluation are:

The Research team will be required to:

1. Conduct a data validation workshop with implementing partners and relevant stakeholders to crosscheck the quality and correctness of the data collection.
2. Identify how the research findings will be shared with each of the different stakeholders in the table above, particularly outlining how reporting back to communities, beneficiaries and children will be conducted in an accessible and child friendly manner.

Ethical Considerations

It is expected that this study will be:

• Child participatory. Where appropriate and safe, children should be supported to participate in the evaluation process beyond simply being respondents. Opportunities for collaborative participation could include involving children in determining success criteria against which the project could be evaluated, supporting children to collect some of the data required for the evaluation themselves, or involving children in the validation of findings. Any child participation, whether consultative, collaborative or child-led, must abide by the 9 Basic Requirements for meaningful and ethical child participation.
• Inclusive. Ensure that children from different ethnic, social and religious backgrounds have the chance to participate, as well as children with disabilities and children who may be excluded or discriminated against in their community.
• Ethical: The study must be guided by the following ethical considerations:
  • Safeguarding – demonstrating the highest standards of behavior towards children and adults.
  • Sensitive – to child rights, gender, inclusion and cultural contexts.
  • Openness - of information given, to the highest possible degree to all involved parties.
  • Confidentiality and data protection - measures will be put in place to protect the identity of all participants and any other information that may put them or others at risk.[1]
  • Public access - to the results when there are not special considerations against this
  • Broad participation - the relevant parties should be involved where possible.
  • Reliability and independence - the study should be conducted so that findings and conclusions are correct and trustworthy.

It is expected that:

• Data collection methods will be age and gender appropriate.
• Study activities will provide a safe, creative space where children feel that their thoughts and ideas are important.
• A risk assessment will be conducted that includes any risks related to children, young people’s, or adult’s participation.
• A referral mechanism will be in place in case any child safeguarding or protection issues arise.
• Informed consent will be used where possible.

Expected Deliverables

The study deliverables and tentative timeline (subject to the commencement date of the study) are outlined below. The consultant team and Save the Children will agree on final milestones and deadlines at the inception phase.

Deliverables and Tentative Timeline

*All reports are to use the Save the Children Final Study Report template [unless another format is required by the project donor or used by partner who did the research/assessment/evaluation].  Please also refer to Save the Children technical writing guide.

** The Evidence to Action Brief is a 2-4 pages summary of the full report and will be created using the Save the Children Management Response template.

All documents are to be produced in MS Word format and provided electronically by email to the SC Evaluation Project Manager. Copies of all PowerPoint presentations used to facilitate briefings for the project should also be provided to Save the Children in editable digital format.

Study Team and Selection Criteria

To be considered, the Evaluation team members together must have demonstrated skills, expertise and experience in:

• Individual consultant or a Team of consultant
• National citizens or residents living in Thailand in which this assignment will be operated
• Masters’ degree in Social sciences, education, environmental management, water resources management, economics or relevant area to the project is desirable
• Proven experience in data collection and reporting high quality project evaluations and assessment
• Experience in leading gender equality and social inclusion analysis, at least five years of professional experience in one or more of these relevant assignments; Research and/or gender empowerment, climate change adaptation, social and/or economic survey and analysis, database development, and water resources management
• Understand policies and governance structure, key stakeholders, and challenges in gender equality and women’s empowerment, climate change management, and socio-economic development in Thailand with an intersectionality approach
• Proven ability and track record conducting ethical and inclusive research with vulnerable populations while ensuring rigorous ethics, integrity, and safeguarding especially in migrant setting
• Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines
• Language proficiencies required include: English, Thai
• Experience in using online application to conduct data collection and can troubleshooting any issue that may occur using online application.

There is a high expectation that:

• Members (or a proportion) of the research team have a track record of working together.
• The team has the ability to commit to the terms of the project, and have adequate and available skilled resources to dedicate to this research over the period.
• The team has the ability to commit to the terms of the project, and have adequate and available skilled resources to dedicate to this research over the period.
• The team has a strong track record of working flexibly to accommodate changes as the project is implemented.

Applications for the consultancy should include:

• Consultant/organization name
• Expression of interest: stating candidate skill and experience suitable for the consultancy (max 1 page)
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