Advocacy Officer

1. BACKGROUND  

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) are among the most marginalized and disadvantaged social segments in the world, where they suffer from social isolation and deprivation of active participation in their communities.  Most of PWDs are denied their basic rights; employment; freedom of movement; voting; participating in sports and cultural activities; enjoying social protection; accessing justice; choosing medical treatment; and entering freely into legal commitments. Impediments may include, but are not limited to, the lack of awareness about disability needs and disability rights to education, employment, and legal representation, both among the disabled persons themselves and among their caretakers and the general public. In Palestine, many (PWDs) are denied their basic economic, social, and cultural rights by default; they are frequently severely marginalized and commonly live in extreme poverty, a situation that creates a fertile environment for abuse, ill treatment, and violations, and renders PWDs extremely vulnerable. According to the latest survey conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) in 2011, PWDs constitute 7 % of the Palestinian population. There is a general lack of specialized healthcare services, financial resources, sufficient and/or accurate data on disability, and efficient and effective policies and legislations to protect them.  

Moreover, family life in Palestine continues to be influenced, by a centuries-old patriarchal kinship system. A system that is institutionalized in law and organizational procedures, and social attitudes which all increase women marginalization and vulnerability. Up to now, Palestinian women still face many challenges in the field of gender equality, where they face challenges resulting from discriminatory laws, regulations, and policies in force, including a lack of effective representation in the community structure and fragile participation to the process of the state building following the semi- disconnection from the occupation. In such male-dominated societies, women and girls with disabilities (WGWDs) face double discrimination based on gender and disability where men with disabilities and non-disabled women have a greater chance to be educated, protected, employed or even socialize.   

On the other hand, violence against women and girls with disabilities is a significant issue that is related to both gender and disability-based discrimination and exclusion. Although women and girls with disabilities experience many of the same forms of violence that all women experience, when gender and disability intersect, violence has unique forms and causes, and results in unique consequences which can be magnified by the social exclusion, limited mobility, a lack of support structures, communication barriers, negative social perceptions and dependence. WGWDs tend to have lower educational, financial, professional, and social success than both non-disabled females and their disabled male counterparts. Additionally, discrimination towards PWDs, coupled with attitudes towards women in patriarchal societies as Palestine put WGWDs at this increased risk for violence.  

In general, in Palestine, WGWDS are neglected and excluded to a great extent from the state/non-state anti-VAW programs including prevention, response. For example, the last Violence-Survey has completely overlooked disability issues; and the current national referral system -which aims at protecting women and girls from violence through providing health, social and police services- did not take into account the right of WWDs to protection from violence within its procedures and regulations. In the same context, the current draft law on the protection of family from violence did not address violence against WWDs; and the available safe-houses are not/or partially accessible and deprive WWDs from receiving protection knowing that they are among the most vulnerable to sexual, verbal, physical attacks and other forms of violations such as Hysterectomy 

Accordingly, Stars of Hope society in partnership with The Social and Economic Policies Monitor (Al Marsad) are implementing “HEMAYA” project, funded by UN TRUST FUND to have ‘Women and girls with disabilities (WGWDs) in West-Bank and Gaza-Strip safely access adequate and appropriate support services by end of the project”. 

1. THE CONSULTANCY  

The main objective of the long-term consultancy is to launch a national accessible media campaign to raise awareness & promote the available EVAW/G networks & services.

Main Duties:

Develop a communication- and advocacy strategy.

That identifies focus areas, defines the key advocacy messages, desired policy outcomes and a detailed plan (day-to-day, weekly and monthly targets; responsible parties, budget, media outreach) for the advocacy strategy to be rolled out at national level. The advocacy strategy shall include awareness-raising on EVAW.

Translate the communications- and advocacy strategy into a comprehensive and action-oriented advocacy campaign

• Networking and coordination with national and international institutions.
• Networking and coordination with different media.
• Coordination of various campaigns within the coalition, and the preparation of plans and follow-up implementation.
• Prepare monthly and final reports that document all aspects of campaign work.
• Monitoring, evaluating and documenting coalition activities / campaigns.
• Building and implementing communication plans with related parties (international and international organizations, parties and parliaments)
• Holding meetings with members of the General Assembly / Secretariat and other local and international institutions.
• Assisting the team with the tasks that may be required by the business interest.

Monitoring

During the campaign strategy development, the selected advocacy officer must determine which elements of the campaign and external factors will be monitored. This includes: 

• Monitoring activities
• Monitoring target audiences
• Monitoring relationships
• Monitoring connectedness

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III. QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Master's degree in one of the fields of social sciences / media / international relations with three years’ experience, or a bachelor's degree with experience of seven years in the work of campaigns.
• Certified experience in contributing to campaign management, and GBV.
• Ability to initiate, assume responsibilities significantly.
• Ability to work within a team and bear work pressure.
• Provide communication and negotiation skills, team management and interaction with diverse partners.
• Ability to institutional and public networking and build coalitions and alliances.
• Oral and written communication skills in large and in both languages.
• High ability to communicate, communicate ideas and persuade in meetings and meetings.
• Excellent preparation and writing of reports in Arabic and English is a prerequisite for the job.
• Ability to travel and travel within the limits required by the need for work.

Applicants must submit a technical proposal, clearly including the following; 

• A sample of a previous advocacy strategy /  media campaign plan including key methodologies, tools.

• Curriculum vitae with related experience. 

Deadline:  

• Quotations in response to this TOR must be received no later than 17-09-2019 in accordance to the requirements of the TOR. Please send your proposals to the following email address  [email protected] , no later than 15:00 pm 
• For any questions, please contact Al Marsad at Telephone: 02-2955065  

QUOTATIONS EVALUATION 

The evaluation of quotations will be based on the technical proposal qualifications and technical expertise.  Evaluation Criteria will be as follows: 

• Evaluation of technical proposals

The quality of each technical proposal will be evaluated in accordance with the award criteria and the associated weighting as follows: 

• Applicant’s education. (40%)
• Applicant’s relevant experience and qualifications in advocacy work. (40%) 
• Applicant’s previous experience with People with Disabilities. (20%)  

Al Marsad is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.