Terms of Reference for the Mentoring Expert

Published on August 1^st, 2019            

Project title: Social entrepreneurship as a tool for the economic empowerment of women and girls victims of trafficking

Project is carried out by NGO Atina – Citizens' Association for Combating Trafficking In Human Beings and All Forms of Gender-Based Violence with the support of UNWOMEN (United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women), in cooperation with the Coordination Body for Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and with the financial support of the European Union within the project "Key Steps toward Gender Equality".

Introduction

NGO Atina’s aim is to support the transition process in Serbia toward development of society which will fully respect the rights of women and children. It stands for the establishment of equal status of all members of society in public and private spheres, through identification of, and struggle against, gender-based marginalization, discrimination and violence, and provision of direct assistance and support in reintegration of victims of trafficking and sexual and labor exploitation.

More specifically, the aim of Atina's work is to create a sustainable system for the social inclusion of marginalized and multiple discriminated groups (above all - victims of trafficking and other forms of exploitation).

Core program of Atina is Comprehensive Social Inclusion Program with its three components - Transition house, Open club - Reintegration Center and Field support team - that provides direct assistance to women and girls survivors of human trafficking and other forms of violence against women, including safe accommodation, psychosocial, legal and medical assistance, family mediation and consultation service, school enrollment, and economic empowerment through professional trainings and practice.

Other programs are Prevention, Policy Development with two sub-programs – Research and Studies and Public Advocacy, then Capacity Building and Social Entrepreneurship.

Rationale

The Republic of Serbia’s Strategy for Employment 2014-2020 identifies women as the largest vulnerable group on labor market, which due to its heterogeneity is difficult to target with specific employment programs. However, the Strategy does identify the lack of adequate employment programs for women in general, and also lack of programs specifically designed for women facing multiple discrimination.

Besides women, strategy defines other specifically vulnerable groups on the labor market and victims of human trafficking among them (Roma population, refugees and internally displaced people, young women, uneducated people, rural population without land, etc.). What is important to emphasize is that these groups overlap, so many victims of human trafficking are young, uneducated, often Roma or from rural areas, victims of domestic violence, which in practice means several layers of multiple discrimination those persons are facing on daily basis.

In Serbia, the poverty incidence clearly decreased as the educational attainment of the household head rose: from 20.2% for individuals without complete primary education, to only 1.0% for those with university education. Those with complete or even incomplete primary education prevailed among the poor: they accounted for 61.5% of all poor, although their share in the total population was only 29.5%. Although those with secondary education had a poverty incidence below the national average, their number was, nevertheless, high – they accounted for 36.3% of all poor, which is certainly due to their high total number (as many as 54.2% of the population of Serbia). This strong relationship between educational attainment and poverty clearly indicates that raising the qualification levels of workers, in particular those lowest-positioned, is a direct and efficient path toward poverty reduction in Serbia.

These results resonate with experience of NGO Atina – despite the prevailing attitude of activists in the field of human trafficking that all citizens can become victims of human trafficking, practice obtained in this area indicates that victims of human trafficking in most cases (98%) are persons affected by multiple discrimination, and those from completely socially deprived backgrounds (the poorest, from families with the experience of long-term violence, incest, from families where the parents are illiterate or uneducated, refugees and displaced persons, returnees under readmission agreement, residents of social institutions, foster families, etc.). Thus, the causes of entering into the situation of trafficking, taking into account the existing practice in the Republic of Serbia, can be described through all the aspects of social exclusion - from material poverty, through unavailability of health and education system, to gender-based violence and discriminatory and oppressive practices of a society. Most beneficiaries of NGO Atina have never been enrolled in school, nor have they completed primary education. In addition to the trauma, and consequences of the situation of violence, all of the above makes them hard-to-employ population. The recovery program is difficult to achieve if these persons are not enabled to regain control over their lives, i.e. to become financially independent and regain their freedom. One of the consequences of economic crisis is dramatically reduced capacity of existing systems to, using their interventions, enable the process of integration of victims, and above all - their sustainable integration and empowerment through full inclusion into the education system and labor market. Their inclusion in those systems is one of the guarantees of integration of the victims of trafficking and exploitation.

Purpose and Objectives of the Mentoring:

NGO Atina is commissioning an expert to conduct mentoring sessions with all the beneficiaries who completed the two-day training followed by a two-week practice in Bagel Бејгл shop. The objective of the mentoring sessions is to provide follow up of all activities that were done at the trainings, for 20 women involved to gain a better understanding of the overall context possibilities for the employment, to have the opportunity to share information after the training (how it was, what they have been through, how successful was the whole process). The main idea is to once again guide beneficiaries through the most important stages of the training and practice, to identify all weaknesses and strengths, and work diligently and valuably in advancing their skills for future employment.

The specific objectives of the mentoring sessions are as follows:

1. To independently assess results and impact achieved in raising employment capacities against the objectives, so that NGO Atina can provide feedback internally as well as to the donor and beneficiaries.
2. To look back at range of personal development, plans and future direction, to share experiences in searching for and keeping employment, as well as experiences from the workplace
3. To highlight any lessons learnt and innovative aspects, and make recommendations as appropriate for future programming.

Scope of work

The mentoring will focus on the following:

Twenty women will be gathered and mentored – Two groups of 10 women will be gathered and mentored in two days; This process consist from the evaluation of the economic empowerment program, collecting of a key messages received during the training and practice. The ultimate goal of Atina's activities are beneficiaries capable to participate in society on equal grounds, empowered to deal with various challenges, including the ones within their work places. The economic empowerment program serves to provide them with knowledge and tools necessary for successful participation in the labor market, thus enabling them to become financially independent and regain full control over every aspect of their lives.

Mentoring process will include gathering information about personal development, plans and future direction, sharing experiences in searching for and keeping employment, as well as experiences from the workplace will consist of Influence to personal development, plans and future direction;

To collect key lessons participants received during the training and practice – Whether it is their personal idea of self-worth, or a knowledge they gained during the two-day training and two-week practice, the feedback serves to help NGO Atina’s staff further improve its program, and keep assisting its beneficiaries in the most effective manner possible. Participatory approach represents the very basis of Atina’s program. Thus, it is of utmost importance to continuously keep close attention and adapt the work in accordance with the beneficiaries’ recommendations regarding all the aspects of their engagement.

Timeline and Deliverables

Budget

NGO Atina will negotiate the number of days of engagement with the selected expert on the basis of the financial offer (gross amount) that will classify the following:

*Add columns as needed depending on the number of activities needed to perform the assignment

            Subtotal                                              RSD__________

            Other costs (specify)                            RSD__________

            TOTAL                                              RSD__________

The total cost should cover all preparatory work regarding the job description, communication costs between Project team, expert and organizations (e-mail, telephone, fax, mail).

Bidding procedure

Interested consultant should develop and submit the bidding proposal in English language to respond to above mentioned specific tasks no later than 7th August, 2019. The bidding proposal should include:

1. Description and contact details of the expert applying;

2. A Budget Proposal (in the required form);

3. CV of expert involved emphasizing experience;

Selection criteria

Project team will make a decision on the selection of the most successful bidder, subject to the available budget, on the following four criteria:

• University degree in the relevant field;
• A minimum of 3 years of relevant experience;
• Experience of the candidate in performing similar projects or programs;

Deadline for the submission of BID

All bids need to be submitted no later than 7th August 2019 at 5PM in electronic version, to the email marija.pantelic@atina.org.rs. A selection will be made no later than 12^th August 2019 and the selected consultant will be contracted no later than 15th August, 2019.

Only the selected candidate will be informed.