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Job Description

TERMS OF REFERENCE  |  SHORT-TERM CONSULTANCY

Safeguarding and Accountability Policy Review Consultant

A focused assignment to strengthen policy use, safe reporting and internal accountability across SSWC operations.

ITEM	ARRANGEMENT
Contracting organisation	Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC)
Funding / programme	Start Network Organisational Strengthening Microgrant Pool Fund
Assignment	Review and contextualise four core safeguarding and accountability policies; support their practical roll-out
Indicative level of effort	Up to 15 working days over approximately four to five calendar weeks
Location and modality	Somalia-based, Mogadishu, with consultations facilitated by SSWC; no field travel.
Reporting	Executive Director, through Head of Programmes and the HR, M&E and Compliance focal points
Delivery window	Within the grant implementation period of 1 June to 31 December 2026

1. Background and rationale

SSWC is implementing a modest organisational strengthening grant approved under the Start Network Microgrant Pool Fund. The funding is intended to turn needs identified through organisational reflection and compliance reviews into workable changes in how the organisation manages safeguarding, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), complaints, whistleblowing and routine compliance.

SSWC works in settings where humanitarian teams operate under pressure, communities have uneven access to formal reporting channels and women, children and other people at risk may face practical barriers to raising concerns safely. A policy that is filed but poorly understood cannot provide reliable protection. The review must therefore consider who receives a concern, how it is handled, who can access records, when a matter is escalated and how action is checked without exposing a complainant or survivor to further risk.

This is a targeted assignment. The consultant is expected to improve the usability and consistency of SSWC’s existing arrangements, not undertake a new organisation-wide assessment or produce an additional suite of unrelated policies. The consultancy will feed directly into the approved activities for practical tools, Somali-language guidance, staff orientation and organisational learning, which have separate budget lines.

2. Purpose and specific objectives

The purpose of the consultancy is to produce a coherent, context-appropriate set of safeguarding and accountability policies that SSWC can approve, communicate, monitor and apply in its programme and field operations.

• Review and update the Safeguarding, PSEA, Whistleblowing and Complaints and Feedback policies or mechanisms, identifying inconsistencies, omissions and operational barriers.
• Set out clear responsibilities, confidential reporting options, escalation routes, decision-making authority and basic evidence requirements for the four policy areas.
• Provide technical direction and quality checks for five simple accountability and compliance tools funded separately under the approved grant.
• Support plain-language policy summaries, Somali-language accuracy checking and case-based staff orientation so that policies can be understood and used in practice.
• Transfer the reviewed materials and practical guidance to SSWC focal points so the organisation can sustain implementation without continued consultant support.

3. Scope of services

3.1 Inception and focused document review

At the outset, the consultant will receive SSWC’s current policies, relevant complaints and incident-reporting templates, organisational structure, approval arrangements and available findings from internal reviews or due diligence follow-up. The consultant will hold brief, purposeful consultations with leadership and a small cross-section of programme, M&E, finance and operations staff. Consultations should test procedures, not seek disclosures about identifiable safeguarding cases.

The consultant will prepare a short policy gap and action matrix showing: existing provision, practical issue, proposed wording or procedure, responsible SSWC office and level of urgency. The matrix should identify which changes require management or board endorsement.

3.2 Review and contextualisation of four core policies

POLICY	MINIMUM ISSUES TO ADDRESS
Safeguarding Policy	Scope and definitions; responsibilities of staff, volunteers, contractors and leadership; prevention and safe conduct; reporting choices; first response and referral; confidentiality; protection from retaliation; oversight and periodic review.
PSEA Policy	Prohibited conduct and expected behaviour; safe, accessible and confidential reporting; treatment of allegations involving staff or partners; survivor-centred response; non-retaliation; informed choice and referral; management escalation and accountability.
Whistleblowing Policy	What may be reported; channels outside normal line management; confidential and anonymous concerns where feasible; handling conflicts of interest; protection against retaliation; basic investigation/referral decision-making; response and closure responsibilities.
Complaints and Feedback Mechanism	Available channels for programme and community feedback; accessibility, including language and gender barriers; registration and categorisation; sensitive complaint referral; acknowledgement and follow-up; closure, feedback to complainant and analysis of trends without exposing personal data.

For each policy, the consultant will provide a tracked-changes version, a clean version for internal approval and a short note explaining important amendments. Policies must use one consistent set of roles and terms and avoid contradictory reporting or decision-making routes. The final wording should reflect SSWC’s actual staffing and available channels; no new hotline, investigation unit or referral service should be presented as operational unless SSWC confirms it.

3.3 Technical support to implementation tools

Under this consultancy, the expert will define minimum information fields, handling rules and quality standards, and review the draft tools prepared through that activity. Technical input will cover:

• Safeguarding incident reporting form: restricted access, minimum necessary information, immediate safety action and onward referral or escalation decision.
• Complaints handling tracker: unique reference, complaint category, reporting channel, responsible person, follow-up date and closure status. Identifying details of PSEA or safeguarding survivors must not be entered into a general complaints log.
• Compliance monitoring checklist: policy requirement, responsible person, review frequency, evidence and corrective action.
• Basic organisational risk register: risk, likelihood and impact, existing controls, owner, treatment action and review date.
• Policy implementation tracker: approval, communication, orientation, assigned owner, field roll-out, review date and evidence of use.

The consultant will check consistency between these tools and the revised policies and identify controls for secure storage, access and retention. Tool formatting, wider deployment and any separately procured services remain with SSWC under the applicable approved budget line.

3.4 Policy accessibility, orientation and handover

The consultant will identify priority passages and technical terms for translation, review the substantive accuracy of selected translated procedures when Somali-language capacity is available, and prepare a concise staff briefing pack. The pack should include a reporting-pathway diagram, two practical Somalia-relevant scenarios and a short learning check.

The consultancy includes one focused technical validation and handover session with nominated SSWC focal points. The consultant will not be assumed to fund or deliver the full series of staff workshops, undertake all translation work, or cover related participant and venue costs from the consultancy fee. Any additional facilitation will be separately agreed and charged only once against the correct approved activity line.

4. Deliverables and acceptance requirements

The deliverables below form the basis for contract management and acceptance. Working drafts will be shared in editable Word format; final tools and briefing materials should also be supplied in editable formats rather than PDF only.

NO. / INPUT	DELIVERABLE	ACCEPTANCE EVIDENCE
D1 · 2 days	Inception note (maximum 4 pages), document inventory, meeting plan and policy gap/action matrix.	SSWC confirms the review priorities, sources, intended policy owners and feasible delivery schedule.
D2 · 6 days	Four policy review packages: tracked-changes draft, clean draft, change note and consolidated reporting/escalation map.	All four named policies covered; terminology consistent; procedures practicable and internally reviewable.
D3 · 3 days	Technical specification and quality review of the five accountability/compliance tools, including a brief data-protection and access-control note.	Each tool is traceable to the revised policies and usable without collecting unnecessary personal data.
D4 · 2 days	Plain-language guidance outline, Somali-language terminology/review notes, and compact staff orientation pack with two scenarios.	SSWC can use materials for separately budgeted translation and staff sessions.
D5 · 2 days	Final clean and annotated policy files, response-to-comments log, approval/handover checklist, one technical handover session and a concise final completion note.	All agreed SSWC comments addressed or explained; editable files handed over and accepted by the designated reviewer.

Estimated professional input: 15 working days. The day allocations are indicative and may be re-sequenced in the agreed inception workplan without increasing the fee or expanding the scope.

5. Methodology and quality standards

The assignment should be mainly desk-based and consultation-led. It should use SSWC’s own documents as the starting point, with relevant humanitarian practice and safeguarding standards applied proportionately. The consultant is expected to work with SSWC rather than replace its decision-making. Proposed changes should be checked against staff capacity, realistic reporting pathways, local language needs and the privacy risks associated with sensitive complaints.

In reviewing safeguarding and PSEA provisions, the consultant should draw on established humanitarian principles, including a survivor-centred approach, do-no-harm practice, confidentiality, informed consent or informed choice as appropriate, non-retaliation and clear accountability. These standards should be reflected in actual steps and assigned responsibilities, not only in policy statements.

A policy will be considered technically sound only if a staff member can readily establish what to do, whom to inform, the time-sensitive safety steps, what to record and which information must remain restricted. Complaints about routine services must be differentiated from safeguarding, SEA, fraud or other serious allegations that require protected handling or escalation.

6. Indicative work sequence

WEEK	KEY TASKS	CHECKPOINT
Week 1	Contract briefing; review existing documents; targeted consultations; gap and action matrix.	SSWC clears D1 and confirms reviewers.
Weeks 2–3	Draft and harmonise the four policies; hold one structured review discussion with management and policy owners.	SSWC provides one consolidated round of comments on D2.
Week 4	Check tool specifications and drafts; prepare translation guidance and orientation material.	SSWC clears D3 and D4 for integration with other funded activities.
Week 5	Final revisions, technical handover and close-out note.	SSWC accepts D5 and releases final payment.

Scheduling note: Completion by 15^th October 2026 is preferred to allow management adoption and documentation before grant closure.

7. Management, responsibilities and approvals

7.1 Consultant

• Deliver agreed outputs on time, maintain a clear change log, participate in scheduled review meetings and respond to one consolidated round of technical comments.
• Raise gaps that affect safety or feasibility without claiming that SSWC currently operates a process that has not been verified.
• Keep information confidential, follow SSWC safeguarding and conduct rules, and work only through authorised SSWC points of contact.

7.2 SSWC

• Executive Director: executive oversight, resolution of major issues and referral of policies for approval under SSWC governance arrangements.
• Head of Programmes: ensures the proposals work in programme and field conditions and supports practical testing.
• HR, M&E and Compliance functions: day-to-day liaison, quality review, consolidation of comments and deliverable acceptance coordination.
• Finance and Operations: procurement and fee documentation, document security, filing and support to separate tool and training activities.
• Selected board representatives and staff: focused feedback on governance, confidential reporting, accessibility and usability.

SSWC will make available existing documentation, staff time, online meeting arrangements and standard working space as its in-kind contribution. Final adoption of policies, approval of complaint channels and assignment of safeguarding case-management authority remain SSWC decisions.

8. Payment

Payments will be made against SSWC’s written acceptance of outputs and an appropriate invoice, in line with the signed consultancy contract, applicable tax rules and SSWC financial procedures. Any variation in scope or fee requires prior written agreement and must remain consistent with the approved grant.

9. Safeguarding, confidentiality and handling of information

This review concerns systems that may be used for highly sensitive information. The consultant will sign SSWC’s confidentiality and conduct undertakings and disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest. Access to real complaint or case files is not required for this assignment. If SSWC considers a case example useful, it should provide an anonymised or fictionalised scenario and must not disclose names or identifying details of survivors, complainants or accused persons.

The consultant must not independently receive, investigate, retain or circulate safeguarding allegations as part of this policy assignment. Any concern disclosed during an authorised consultation must be passed promptly and safely to SSWC’s designated safeguarding route, following the organisation’s current procedures and applicable obligations. Files must be exchanged through agreed secure channels, stored with restricted access and deleted or returned at the end of the work as directed by SSWC.

All policy documents, templates, diagrams, training materials and other work products produced under the consultancy will belong to SSWC, subject to any expressly declared pre-existing third-party materials. The consultant must identify any third-party tools or content requiring continuing permission before incorporating them.

10. Required experience and competencies

• At least five years of relevant work in humanitarian safeguarding, PSEA, organisational accountability, complaints management, NGO compliance or closely related policy development.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing and operationalising safeguarding/PSEA and complaints policies for local or national humanitarian organisations, preferably in Somalia or comparable fragile settings.
• Sound understanding of safe disclosure, survivor-centred responses, accessible feedback channels, confidentiality and practical internal controls.
• Proven ability to write concise, clear policy documents, usable reporting tools and short training guidance in good written English.
• Ability to consult respectfully across leadership and field functions; working Somali is an advantage, especially for reviewing translated safeguards and community-facing messages.
• Independence, sound judgement and a willingness to raise unresolved protection risks rather than certify systems without evidence.

11. Application and selection

Interested individual consultants or qualified firms should submit a concise technical offer explaining their approach, a realistic workplan within 15 input days, relevant experience, two comparable assignments or references, and a fixed-price financial offer. A sample of a previously developed policy framework or accountability tool may be requested, provided it contains no confidential or case-identifying information.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION	WEIGHT
Relevant safeguarding, PSEA and complaints policy expertise	30%
Comparable experience with Somali/local humanitarian organisations	25%
Practical methodology, workplan and feasible outputs	20%
Quality of writing, facilitation and operational tool experience	15%
Value for money within the fixed allocation	10%

SSWC will apply its procurement and conflict-of-interest procedures. Selection is subject to reference checks and safeguarding requirements appropriate to the assignment.

12. Handover and evidence of completion

Before closure, SSWC must receive a clearly named digital folder containing the four clean policies and redline copies, a change log, the gap/action matrix, tool specifications and review notes, translated-text review notes where relevant, the orientation pack and the consultant’s completion note. The consultant and SSWC focal point will review outstanding matters against a simple sign-off checklist. Any matter requiring a management or board decision will be flagged rather than silently inserted as an approved organisational commitment.

The wider grant will document staff orientation, field testing of tools, Somali policy accessibility, lessons learnt and experience sharing under the remaining approved budget lines. Consultant deliverables will provide the technical foundation for those activities, while SSWC remains responsible for implementation, monitoring and reporting to Start Network.