CFP No. 01/2021: Strengthening the coordinated response of service providers from the police, health, education and local government sectors to manage cases related to all forms of VAW, in accordance with the standards of CEDAW and Istanbul Convention

Background:

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women's rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The programme “Ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey: Implementing norms, changing minds” is a UN Women Europe and Central Asia regional programme (2017-2023, Phase I & II) aiming to reduce gender-based discrimination and violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the Western Balkans - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia,  Montenegro and Serbia – and Turkey, anchored in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention. The programme is funded by the European Commission (EC) under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) III, and is aligned with the European Union accession standards to achieve equality between women and men. The programme supports the development of an enabling legislative and policy environment on eliminating VAWG and all forms of discrimination; promotes favourable social norms and attitudes to prevent gender-based discrimination and VAWG; and pursues empowering women and girls (including those from disadvantaged groups) who have experienced discrimination or violence to advocate for and use available, accessible, and quality services.

Phase II of the programme builds on the results achieved and the partnerships fostered during Phase I. During Phase I, platforms and networks of civil society organizations (CSOs)  were established at country and regional level to contribute to law making and amendments, policy development and implementation, and reporting to human right instruments mechanisms; a regional mechanism was put in place to convene key stakeholders from government, human rights institutions, justice and police, and CSOs to address issues pertaining to progress in implementation of the Istanbul Convention; and a theoretical framework and tools were put at the disposal of organizations representing minorities to have better service provision for survivors.

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UNWOMEN plans to engage an (Responsible Parties) as defined in accordance with these documents. UN-WOMEN now invites sealed proposals from qualified proponents for providing the requirements as defined in the UN-WOMEN Terms of Reference.

Proposals must be received by UNWOMEN at the address specified not later than 17:00 (CEST) on 15 April 2021

All details can be found in the attached document.

* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this document shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.