Job

Job Description

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy to Conduct Research and Gather Evidence on Priority Women’s Rights Issues in Somalia

Assignment title	Research and evidence generation on priority women’s rights issues
Project	Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership – Somalia (RWVL Somalia)
Donor	Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Contracting organization	Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC)
Geographic coverage	Nine locations: Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Southwest State, Hirshabelle, Banadir Regional Administration (Mogadishu), Togdheer, Marodijeex and Awdal
Type of consultancy	National consultant, or consulting firm, leading a gender-balanced research team with field capacity in all nine locations
Indicative duration	Approximately 30 working days of lead-consultant input, counted from contract commencement, supported by concurrent field-research teams; implementation period mid-November 2026 to end-February 2027. Bidders must justify team-level inputs and the proposed schedule.
Reporting line	SSWC Head of Programs, with day-to-day coordination by the Project Officer and technical oversight by the MEL Manager
Application deadline	Monday 9th , November 2026, 16:00 hrs (East Africa Time)

1. Background

1.1 About Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC)

Save Somali Women and Children (SSWC) is a Somali, women-led, non-governmental and non-profit civil society organization founded in Mogadishu in 1992 by a group of Somali women from across the community. SSWC is headquartered in Mogadishu and operates through offices in South and Central Somalia.

SSWC’s mission is to empower vulnerable Somali women and children to live in dignity. The organization works to overcome marginalization, violence and poverty by strengthening women’s voice, leadership and access to services, and by advocating for laws, policies and practices that uphold the rights of women and girls. SSWC believes that women, working through their own efforts and in collaboration with local, national and international allies, are central to transforming their own lives and their communities. As a women-centered organization, its programs are shaped by the needs and priorities of the women it serves, and it maintains established management, finance, safeguarding and program systems.

1.2 About the RWVL Somalia Project

The Renewed Women’s Voice and Leadership – Somalia (RWVL Somalia) project is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and runs from March 2025 to February 2031. It is implemented by Plan International Canada and Plan International Somalia (PISOM) in close partnership with two Somali feminist organizations: SSWC and NAFIS Network.

The project’s ultimate outcome is increased enjoyment of human rights by women and girls in all their diversity and the advancement of gender equality across Somalia. It strengthens local, regional and national WROs, WHRDs and YLOs – particularly those led by or serving structurally excluded groups such as IDPs, persons with disabilities and ethnic and clan minorities – through three intermediate outcomes:

• Outcome 1100: enhanced organizational sustainability of WROs, WHRDs and YLOs;
• Outcome 1200: strengthened gender-transformative programming and advocacy through Multi-Year Core Funding, Fast Response Funds and Influencing Grants;
• Outcome 1300: increased effectiveness of sub-national, national and regional women’s rights platforms, networks and alliances to effect policy, legal and social change.

The project is guided by its Gender Equality Strategy and by feminist principles co-developed with Somali WROs, including “Nothing about or for WROs without WROs” and “WROs are experts.” These principles apply directly to this research: the research agenda is to be shaped by WROs and by women lived experience, not imposed from outside.

1.3 Rationale for Research

Under Outcome 1300, the Year 2 Annual Work Plan commits SSWC to generate credible evidence on priority women’s rights issues using participatory, conflict-sensitive and gender-responsive approaches. SSWC leads this research in Somalia. The findings will form the foundation for later project steps: a joint evidence-based advocacy agenda developed with WROs, and policy briefs, fact sheets and dissemination events for communities and policy makers.

Somali women and girls continue to face serious and interlinked barriers, including gender-based violence, discriminatory social norms and harmful practices, limited participation in governance and decision-making, weak access to justice, economic marginalization and gaps in legal protection. These challenges are being shaped by the current operating context:

• Political transition and federal–state tensions. Disputes over the 2026/27 electoral process and the constitutional framework have strained relations between the Federal Government and several Federal Member States, narrowing and polarizing civic space for rights-based advocacy.
• Al-Shabaab retains influence in many rural areas and continues to carry out attacks, limiting access and increasing risks for WHRDs and activists.
• Climate shocks and displacement. Severe drought and flooding continue to drive displacement and economic stress, with particular effects on women, girls and IDP households.
• Diversity of governance contexts. Each of the nine locations has its own legal, institutional and political arrangements, so evidence must capture regional differences rather than assume a single national picture.

Existing evidence on these issues is fragmented, frequently out of date, and rarely produced with or for WROs. Advocacy is therefore often based on general statements instead of specific, verified, region-level evidence. This research will help fill that gap.

2. Purpose and Intended Use

The purpose of this consultancy is to generate credible, gender-responsive and actionable evidence on priority women’s rights issues in nine locations of Somalia, so that WROs, WHRDs, YLOs, women’s rights networks and project partners can choose advocacy priorities, substantiate their messages, and identify feasible policy and program actions.

The research will document the nature and, where the research design allows, the scale of the selected issues; examine their drivers and the barriers women face; assess the legal, policy and institutional response; and capture the perspectives of affected women and other stakeholders, including differences across the nine locations and across groups of women.

Intended users of the evidence are:

User	How the evidence will be used
WROs, WHRDs, YLOs and women’s rights networks (including RWVL grantees)	Selecting shared advocacy priorities; developing the joint advocacy agenda and action plans; strengthening the evidence base of influencing work
SSWC, NAFIS Network, PISOM and the PMT	Informing evidence-based advocacy training, Influencing Grant support, dissemination products and adaptive program management
Federal and FMS ministries, parliamentarians and local authorities	Policy dialogue on gaps in law, policy and service provision affecting women and girls (via later dissemination)
Global Affairs Canada and development partners	Understanding priority issues and lessons for gender-equality programming in Somalia

3. Objectives

3.1 Overall Objective

To generate, validate and hand over a robust body of evidence on priority women’s rights issues across Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Southwest State, Hirshabelle, Banadir, Togdheer, Marodijeex and Awdal that strengthens coordinated, evidence-based advocacy by Somali WROs and women’s rights networks.

3.2 Specific Objectives

1. Confirm priorities with WROs: facilitate participatory consultations with WROs, women’s rights networks and young women activists to confirm two to three priority research themes and translate them into specific, answerable research questions. The consultant will document participants, selection criteria (including importance to affected women, advocacy relevance, evidence gaps, safety and feasibility), how competing priorities were considered, and the locations and groups to which each theme applies. SSWC will approve the confirmed themes based on this documented consultation; the WRO-led Research Advisory Group will provide review and advice. During inception, the consultant will facilitate a documented theme-confirmation process with WROs, WHRDs, YLOs and women’s rights networks across the nine locations, with participants agreed with SSWC and NAFIS Network. The inception report will set out: who took part; the criteria used (e.g., importance to affected women, advocacy relevance, availability of existing evidence, safety of researching the issue, feasibility within the timeline); how differing priorities across locations were handled; and whether each theme applies in all nine locations or in a subset. Themes should be narrowed to specific, researchable issues
2. Review existing evidence: analyze relevant laws, policies, strategies, studies and program data at federal and FMS levels, assessing their quality, currency and gaps rather than treating all sources as equally reliable.
3. Collect primary evidence in all nine locations: gather data from affected women and stakeholders using safe, accessible and inclusive methods, with deliberate attention to IDPs, women with disabilities, minority-clan women and young women.
4. Analyze and compare examine key patterns, barriers, underlying drivers, institutional responses, good practices and advocacy opportunities. Distinguish verified evidence from stakeholder perceptions and highlight differences across locations and groups.
5. Validate and share learning: test findings and recommendations with stakeholders through regional validation sessions and a national learning forum that promotes peer learning among WROs, WHRDs and YLOs.
6. Produce usable outputs: deliver a high-quality final report, executive summary (English and Somali), regional summaries and an evidence-to-action matrix that can directly inform the joint advocacy agenda and dissemination products. The evidence-to-action matrix should, for each key finding, show: the evidence base and its strength; the locations and groups it applies to; priorities expressed by stakeholders during validation; consultant recommendations, labelled as such; the relevant actor(s); and feasibility considerations. Findings, stakeholder priorities and recommendations will be presented separately. The matrix is intended to inform the subsequent selection of advocacy priorities by WROs and networks, not to make that selection.

4. Scope of Research

4.1 Geographic Coverage

The research will cover nine locations in Somalia. A common core of research questions and tools will support comparison across all nine locations. The depth of inquiry on each confirmed theme may vary by location where justified by WRO priorities, evidence gaps, access and security. Final districts and data-collection sites will be agreed during inception based on research needs, the presence of RWVL partners, access and the security situation. The sites below are indicative only; any variation and its implications for coverage must be documented and approved by SSWC.

Location	Indicative data-collection sites	Context notes for the research design
Puntland	Garowe	Distinct state legal and institutional framework; currently outside some federal processes – state-level authorizations and neutral framing are essential
Jubaland	Kismayo	Federal–state tensions; insecurity in rural areas; significant displacement
Galmudug	Galkayo	Shifting political alignments; clan dynamics; drought-affected pastoral communities; confirm feasible sites and stakeholder participation during inception.
Southwest State	Baidoa	Large IDP population; access constraints outside main towns
Hirshabelle	Beledweyne	Recurrent flooding and displacement; areas recently affected by conflict
Banadir (Mogadishu)	Selected districts, including IDP settlements	Seat of federa institutions; high concentration of IDPs, WROs and service providers
Togdheer	Burco	Apply RWVL’s WRO-led approach in Burco: confirm priority research themes with local women’s rights actors; document barriers to women’s voice and leadership; validate findings locally to inform the joint evidence-based advocacy agenda under Outcome 1300
Marodijeex	Hargeisa	In Hargeisa, agree stakeholder engagement with SSWC and NAFIS Network during inception; consult WROs and women’s rights networks on advocacy priorities, institutional barriers and opportunities for coordinated influencing under RWVL Outcome 1300
Awdal	Borama	Apply RWVL’s participatory approach in Borama: confirm local WRO and youth-led organization participation during inception; document locally identified rights priorities and barriers to collective advocacy; validate recommendations for inclusion in regional summaries and the joint advocacy agenda

4.2 Thematic Scope

In line with the principle of the project that WROs are experts, themes will not be predetermined by the consultant or SSWC. During inception, the consultant will facilitate structured consultations with WROs, WHRDs, YLOs, women’s rights networks and young women activists in the nine locations, with participants identified in agreement with SSWC and NAFIS Network. A WRO-led Research Advisory Group, with representation reflecting geographic and social diversity, will be convened by SSWC and supported by the consultant. The group will review the proposed research questions and tools, provide feedback on emerging findings, and review draft conclusions and recommendations at key milestones. The consultant will maintain a decision and feedback log showing how inputs were considered and, where not adopted, why. The final study will focus on two to three priority themes. These will be framed as specific, answerable research issues rather than broad subject areas. A common core may apply across all nine locations, while additional or deeper location-specific questions may be included where local consultations identify distinct priorities. The inception report must state which themes and questions apply in each location and explain the basis for any variation.

Indicative theme	Examples of possible focus
Women’s political participation and leadership	Representation and the quota debate in the 2026/27 electoral process; barriers to women’s leadership in clan, local and state structures
Gender-based violence and access to justice	Survivors’ pathways through formal, customary (xeer) and religious justice systems; status of relevant legislation at federal and FMS levels
Harmful practices	Female genital mutilation/cutting and child, early and forced marriage: norms, enforcement and community responses
Women’s economic rights	Access to livelihoods, land, property, inheritance and finance, including for displaced and female-headed households
Women and girls in crisis	Impact of climate shocks, displacement and conflict on women’s rights, safety and access to services
Civic space and WHRD safety	Risks, restrictions and protection needs of WHRDs and WROs, including online harassment

4.3 Indicative Research Questions

The consultant will refine the questions below for each confirmed theme and present them in a research matrix in the inception report. The matrix will identify the locations and population groups to which each question applies, the evidence sources and methods, and the limits of comparison.

1. Nature and extent: How does the issue manifest in each location, and which groups of women and girls are most affected and how? Where does the research design allow, what is known about its scale?
2. Drivers and barriers: What social, economic, legal, institutional, political and security factors drive the issue or prevent women from claiming their rights?
3. Legal and policy framework: For each theme, what formal laws, policies and strategies apply in each location, and at which level of government? How far are they implemented and resourced? How accessible are related services and mechanisms to different groups of women? How do women and other stakeholders experience them, including customary (xeer) and religious mechanisms?”
4. Responses: How do government institutions, customary and religious leaders, service providers and civil society currently respond, and what is working?
5. Intersectionality: How do displacement, disability, clan or minority status, age and location shape women’s experiences?
6. Role of WROs: What roles are WROs, WHRDs and YLOs playing, what constrains their influence, and where are the most promising entry points for advocacy?
7. Action: What realistic, prioritised actions could WROs, networks, duty bearers and partners take in the short and medium term?

4.4 Participants and Stakeholders

• Rights holders: women in all their diversity, including IDP women, women with disabilities, minority-clan women, rural and urban women and young women (18–35).
• Women’s rights actors: WROs, WHRDs, YLOs, organizations of persons with disabilities and women’s networks, including RWVL grantees.
• Duty bearers: federal and FMS ministries responsible for women and human rights development, justice, and the interior; local authorities; parliamentary or state assembly women’s caucuses where relevant.
• Community and service actors: traditional and religious leaders, legal aid providers, health and GBV service providers, and the media.
• Partners: NAFIS Network (to support comparability where useful), PISOM, and relevant UN agencies and INGOs.

Girls under 18 will not be included in primary data collection unless a specific child-safeguarding protocol, parental/guardian consent and child assent arrangements are designed, justified and approved in writing by SSWC.

The consultant must plan and budget for reasonable accommodation so women with disabilities can participate meaningfully. This may include accessible venues and materials, sign-language interpretation or other communication support, adapted facilitation, extra time, transport or access support permitted by SSWC policy, and consultation with organizations of persons with disabilities. Accommodation needs should be identified confidentially with participants. Disability-related information must be collected only when necessary and with informed consent.

4.5 Methodological Expectations

The study is expected to use a primarily qualitative, participatory and feminist research design, supported by quantitative or secondary data where appropriate and feasible. Proposals should specify the proposed mix of key informant interviews, focus group discussions, participatory methods and desk review; the indicative number and composition of participants in each location; the sampling approach; and how evidence will be triangulated. The report will distinguish (a) qualitative descriptions of how issues are experienced; (b) descriptive findings from the study sample, which are not generalizable beyond it; and (c) population-level estimates, used only where drawn from a design or secondary source that supports them, with source, date and quality noted. Each findings chapter will state its limitations.

5. Deliverables

All written deliverables are to be submitted in English, in editable (Word/Excel) and PDF formats, and must comply with GAC, Plan International, NAFIS Network and SSWC visibility and branding requirements as communicated by SSWC. The cover page will include the approved logos of SSWC, Plan International, NAFIS Network and Global Affairs Canada, subject to the partners’ brand-use and approval requirements. Indicative due dates assume contract signature by 9 November 2026 and will be confirmed in the approved inception report.

To support comparable and realistic proposals, bidders should budget for a common minimum coverage in each of the nine locations: (i) at least one structured consultation with local WROs/women’s rights actors; (ii) at least two focus group discussions with adult women, normally 6–8 participants each and organized to support safe participation by relevant groups; and (iii) at least four key informant interviews with a mix of duty bearers, service providers, community actors and women’s rights stakeholders. These are planning floors, not quotas to be pursued where unsafe or inappropriate. Bidders may propose additional or alternative methods and must justify the sample, disaggregation, recruitment and any location-specific variation. The common core should enable comparison, while deeper inquiry may be concentrated on selected themes or locations. Proposals must explain how depth and breadth will be balanced within the available time and the budget ceiling, if confirmed by SSWC; any trade-offs and their implications for findings must be explicit. Regional validation sessions may be combined only where this remains meaningful and accessible to participants and SSWC approves the arrangement.

Indicative due dates will be confirmed in the approved inception report. Bidders should propose a realistic schedule within the period [start]–[end] that allows for: participatory theme confirmation; ethical review and research authorizations before data collection; tool piloting; staggered fieldwork across the nine locations; and validation. Proposals should state which steps are on the critical path and what depends on SSWC’s approval turnaround.

The inception report will justify: (i) the sampling approach and the number and composition of participants per location and method; (ii) which groups of women will be reached in which locations, and why; (iii) which comparisons across locations and groups the design can support and which it cannot; (iv) how consistency across locations will be ensured (e.g., common core tools); and (v) how gaps in coverage (e.g., rural or insecure areas) will be reported. Statistical representativeness at location or subgroup level is not expected unless proposed and justified.

‘Complete coverage’ in D3 means coverage against the approved sampling plan.”

#	Deliverable	Minimum content	Indicative due date	Acceptance standard
D1	Inception report and workplan	Confirmed themes and location applicability; research matrix; methodology and sampling rationale; WRO consultation record and Research Advisory Group arrangements; location-by-location data-collection plan; ethics, safeguarding, accessibility and data-management plans; conflict/access analysis and risk register; detailed workplan and analysis/triangulation plan. Max. 20 pages plus annexes	15th Nov 2026	Feasible design within budget and timeline; SSWC written approval to proceed
D2	Desk review and final tools	Desk review synthesis (max. 10 pages) and source matrix; final KII/FGD guides in English and Somali; accessible consent and participation materials; location-specific referral directory; pilot, researcher training and authorization status report	22nd Nov 2026	Sources traceable; tools mapped to research questions; safeguarding feedback incorporated
D3	Fieldwork report and anonymized dataset	Coverage summary by location and method against the approved sampling plan; quality checks and deviations; anonymized transcripts/notes; coding framework or data dictionary	1st Dec 2026	Complete coverage or approved alternatives; no identifying information
D4	Draft research report	Full draft following Annex 1, including regional summaries and evidence-to-action matrix; findings distinguished from stakeholder priorities and consultant recommendations	10th Dec 2026	Clear links between evidence and conclusions; no unsupported claims about prevalence or causality
D5	Validation report	Validation presentations; non-identifying summary of regional validation sessions (sessions may be combined where justified and approved) and national learning forum; participant records disaggregated by sex, age and disability; feedback-and-response log	18th Dec 2026	All sessions held or approved alternatives agreed; feedback documented
D6	Final report and handover package	Final report (40–60 pages excluding annexes); stand-alone executive summary (4–6 pages) in English and Somali; nine regional summaries (2 pages each); evidence-to-action matrix; final presentation; secure data handover and close-out	23rd Dec 2026	Consolidated comments resolved; consistent outputs; complete references; confidentiality respected; SSWC final sign-off

6. Timeline and Level of Effort

The assignment is expected to run from mid-November 2026 to the  Last week of December, with final approval and secure handover completed by 30^th December 2026, within project Year 2 (1 April 2026–31 March 2027). The schedule includes time for participatory inception, required ethical and government authorizations, piloting, concurrent fieldwork, analysis, regional validation, a national learning forum, revisions and handover. Dissemination of findings is planned for Year 3.

SSWC anticipates approximately 30 working days of input from the lead consultant, counted from the contract commencement date, supported by appropriately sized field-research teams working concurrently across the nine locations. Bidders must propose and justify the level of effort for each team member, explain the division of responsibilities among the lead consultant, field researchers, SSWC and partners, and demonstrate how quality will be maintained. The 30-day figure is an indicative planning assumption, not a requirement to compress essential research or safeguarding steps. The overall implementation period is mid-November 2026 to last week of December 2026. Any proposed change to milestones must explain implications for cost, quality and completion within Year 2 and require SSWC’s written approval.

7. Ethics, Safeguarding and Data Protection

The consultant and all team members must comply with SSWC’s Safeguarding, Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH), Child Protection and Code of Conduct policies, and with applicable project and donor requirements. All team members will sign SSWC’s code of conduct before fieldwork begins.

7.1 Informed Consent and Participation

• Participation is voluntary. Participants will receive a clear explanation, in Somali or their preferred language, of the purpose of the research, what participation involves, foreseeable risks, how information will be used, and their right to skip questions or withdraw at any time without consequence.
• Consent to take part does not automatically include consent to audio recording, direct quotation or attribution; these require separate, explicit permission.
• Any limits to confidentiality (for example mandatory reporting of risk to a child) will be explained before participation.
• Recruitment must avoid coercion and must not create expectations of assistance. Any reimbursement of transport or refreshment costs will follow SSWC’s policy.

7.2 Safeguarding and Survivor-Centered Practice

• Questions must not ask participants to disclose personal experiences of violence unless this is essential, justified and approved. Survivor-centred principles of safety, confidentiality, respect and non-discrimination apply throughout.
• Every location will have an up-to-date referral directory (GBV, health, psychosocial and legal services), and researchers will be trained to make safe referrals.
• Sessions with women will be facilitated by female researchers in safe, private and accessible venues.
• Safeguarding concerns or incidents must be reported to SSWC’s designated safeguarding focal point within 24 hours.
• Engagement with girls under 18 requires a dedicated child-safeguarding protocol, parental/guardian consent and child assent, and SSWC’s prior written approval.
• Where GBV or harmful practices are selected as research themes, the consultant should prioritize questions about systems, services, norms and institutional responses rather than eliciting personal disclosures. Direct research with survivors may proceed only where it is necessary to answer the approved research questions and where a specialized protocol, trained researchers, referral pathways and risk-mitigation measures have been reviewed and approved by SSWC.

7.3 Ethical Review and Authorization

Before fieldwork, the consultant will confirm with SSWC any ethical review and research authorization required by federal, FMS or local authorities and obtain the necessary approvals. The proposal should state which reviews and authorizations apply, by whom, and how long they are expected to take. Fieldwork would not begin in any location until the required approvals are in place. SSWC will provide letters of introduction and support liaison with authorities.

7.4 Data Protection

The data-management plan in the inception report will set out: data minimization; anonymization; separation of consent records from research data; access permissions; encrypted storage and transfer; retention and disposal. Identifying information will be collected only where necessary and justified. The consultant will guard against identification through combinations of location, role or quotation, which is a particular risk in small communities. Data incidents must be reported to SSWC promptly. Identifiable records and recordings must not be included in donor-facing or public materials.

8. Conflict Sensitivity, Security and Risk Management

Given the political tensions around the 2026/27 electoral process and the volatile security situation, the consultant must manage risk actively and remain strictly neutral. In particular, the consultant will:

• Carry out a rapid conflict and access analysis for each location during inception and update it before fieldwork in each location.
• Use neutral, non-partisan language in tools, communications and reports, and ensure balanced representation of clans and groups.
• Follow SSWC and PISOM security guidance, including movement restrictions, check-in procedures and incident reporting; the consultant remains responsible for the security, insurance and duty of care of their own team.
• Pause, adapt or relocate activities that become unsafe, in consultation with SSWC. Remote or partner-facilitated alternatives may be used with approval. Meeting sample targets must never take priority over safety.
• Maintain a risk register (security, access, political, safeguarding, data and delay risks) and update SSWC on changes.

9. Required Qualifications and Team Composition

9.1 Lead Consultant

• Advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in gender studies, social sciences, human rights, law, development studies, public policy or a related field.
• At least seven years of experience leading research, assessments or evaluations, including at least three assignments on gender equality, women’s rights or human rights.
• Proven expertise in qualitative and mixed-methods research, participatory and feminist research approaches, and rigorous data analysis.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the gender, governance and civil-society context in Somalia, including the differing legal and political arrangements of the Federal Member States.
• Experience applying conflict-sensitive, survivor-centered and do-no-harm approaches in fragile or conflict-affected settings.
• Excellent analytical and report-writing skills in English; fluency in Somali is a strong advantage.

9.2 Research Team

• A gender-balanced team with female researchers able to facilitate sessions with women in each location.
• Field researchers fluent in Somali (including relevant dialects such as Maay where needed) with demonstrated access to, and acceptance in, all nine locations.
• Team members trained or experienced in research ethics, safeguarding and safe referral.
• Capacity for data management and analysis (qualitative coding software and, if applicable, statistical software).

Somali-owned firms, women-led consultancies are strongly encouraged to apply.

10. Ownership, Confidentiality and Conflict of Interest

• All data, reports and materials produced under this assignment are the property of SSWC and the RWVL Somalia project. They may not be published, shared or reused, in whole or in part, without SSWC’s prior written consent.
• All products will acknowledge Global Affairs Canada and follow agreed visibility and branding requirements.
• The consultant will treat all information received or collected as confidential and will not disclose it to third parties except as authorized.
• Bidders must declare any actual or potential conflict of interest, including links to political actors or to organizations that may be assessed through the research, and explain how it would be managed.

11. Application Requirements

Applications must include the following. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

1. Technical proposal (maximum 12 pages, excluding annexes) setting out: understanding of the assignment and context; proposed approach to confirming themes with WROs; research questions; methodology, minimum coverage and sampling per location; how depth and breadth will be balanced within the available time and budget; team structure and level of effort; approach to inclusion, reasonable accommodation, ethics, safeguarding and conflict sensitivity; quality-assurance measures; risks and mitigation; and a realistic workplan consistent with Section 6.
2. Financial proposal, submitted as a separate document.
3. CVs of the lead consultant and all key team members, with each member’s role, level of effort, languages and availability during the assignment period.
4. Evidence of field capacity: a short statement showing how the team will access all nine locations, including presence or networks in each.
5. Two samples of previous research on comparable topics
6. Signed declaration of any conflict of interest and acceptance of SSWC’s safeguarding policy and code of conduct. Firms should also attach a copy of their registration certificate.

12. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated on a combined technical and financial basis. Only proposals that score at least 63 of the 90 technical points (70%) will have their financial proposals assessed. SSWC may invite shortlisted applicants to an interview or presentation.

Criterion	What will be assessed	Points
Qualifications	Relevance and level of academic qualifications of the lead consultant and key team members	10
Research experience	Track record leading comparable research, assessments or evaluations; quality of submitted samples	20
Thematic expertise	Demonstrated experience on gender equality, women’s rights, GBV, harmful practices, women’s participation or human rights	15
Somali context, language and field access	Knowledge of the federal and FMS contexts; Somali language ability; credible ability to reach all nine locations with female researchers	15
Technical proposal and methodology	Quality, feasibility and rigour of the approach; participatory and intersectional design; ethics, safeguarding and conflict sensitivity; realistic workplan	30
Technical sub-total		90
Financial proposal	Value for money, clarity and completeness of the budget	10
Total		100

13. How to Apply

Qualified individual consultants and consulting firms are invited to submit their technical and financial proposals, with all required documents, by: Monday, 9 November 2026, at 16:00 hrs (East Africa Time)

Send to	hr@sswc-som.org
Copy (cc)	info@sswc-som.org
Email subject line	“Conduct research and gather evidence on women’s rights issues”
Format	Technical and financial proposals as separate PDF attachments

Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

SSWC’s commitment

SSWC is committed to safeguarding and promoting the rights, dignity and protection of women, girls and children. All engagements are subject to safeguarding checks, and SSWC has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. SSWC is an equal-opportunity organization; qualified women, persons with disabilities and candidates from under-represented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.