Call for Proposal for Civil Society Organization(s) to address GBV – Albania

Deadline: 10-Apr-25

Un Women is seeking proposals to support Coordinated Referral Mechanisms (CRMs) to effectively manage GBV and DV cases, through providing direct support to survivors of GBV/DV, including psycho-social counselling, free legal aid, shelters etc., to expand their services in more rural areas, with a special focus on women from marginalized groups and develop and/or implement socio-economic reintegration activities in the targeted municipalities to ensure short and long-term reintegration of survivors of violence.

Funding Information

• All proposals under this Call must fall within a maximum of ALL 12,500,000 ALL.
• The Project is expected to be implemented during the timeframe May 2025 – October 2027 (30 months), subject to performance.

Required services/Results 

• The main scope of the foreseen project/s is to strengthen the capacity of service providers, especially those engaged in the Coordinated Referral Mechanism of targeted municipalities, to provide adequate services to survivors of violence including psycho-social counselling, free legal aid, shelters. In addition, the interventions will support the socio-economic reintegration of survivors of violence, including developing and costing socio-economic reintegration plans for survivors of violence, coordinate with members of the CRMs to identify women who can benefit from socio-economic reintegration and provide them with individualized support, and increase women’s awareness about the availability of such plans. This intervention is expected also to support the economic empowerment, economic reintegration and independency of women survivors of violence in the target areas and neighboring municipalities and should be implemented through partnership with civil society organizations with expertise in addressing violence against women in Albania, including socio-economic reintegration of survivors.
• The interventions should directly reach the members of the Coordinated Referral Mechanisms in the municipalities of Bulqizë and Dibër and neighboring locations, which will directly support women survivors of violence and their children, who will benefit from socio-economic reintegration packages that will be designed through the proposed interventions for survivors of violence.
  • Support CRMs of target areas providing specialist support services to survivors of GBV/DV, including psychosocial counselling, free legal aid, shelters etc., to expand their services in more rural areas, with a special focus on women’s survivors of violence, in all their diversity.
    • Interventions are expected to achieve the following results:
      • Support the functioning of Coordinated Referral Mechanisms in targeted municipalities
      • Provide direct services to women and girls survivors of violence
      • Raise awareness among men and women, boys and girls in all their diversity, on all forms of gender-based violence and domestic violence to prevent such forms of violence and encourage their reporting
  • Develop and/or implement socio-economic reintegration activities in the targeted municipalities to ensure short and long-term reintegration of survivors of violence.
    • Interventions are expected to achieve the following results:
      • Establish contacts with local government authorities, particularly members of CRMs as well as local civil society organisations, which offer services for women victims of violence in the respective municipalities.
      • Based on previous results achieved in the context of promoting socio-economic integration of women survivors, support selected municipalities to develop and cost, as necessary, socio-economic integration plans/schemes for women victims of domestic and all other forms of violence.
      • Coordinate with other local institutions members of the CRMs and civil society organizations to identify women survivors of violence that will benefit from socio-economic integration support. Priority should be given to women from disadvantaged communities, including women with disabilities, Roma and Egyptian Women, women from the LBTI+ community, single mothers, migrant women and women from rural areas.
      • Provide individualized support to at least 40 women, who will be benefit from socio-economic reintegration packages for survivors of violence from the municipalities in the North of Albania, with focus on Bulqizë and Dibër and neighboring locations for a period of maximum 30 months. Packages should include food and nonfood items.
      • Provide mentoring, training and other forms of support to local authorities and civil society organizations to pilot the implementation of socio-economic reintegration plans within a specified timeframe.

Eligibility Criteria

• Technical/functional competencies required
  • Civil Society Organizations qualify for applying as Responsible Party/ies for this Call. The Responsible Party/ies can enter into partnership with other CSOs. Partnerships with local proponents and/or community organizations are highly encouraged in the context of this call. The Responsible Party/ies and its implementing partners applying in this call should comply with the following requirements:
  • At least 7 years of experience in promoting and strengthening the human rights of women in general and to prevent VAW, including previous experience in working with local CRMs, as well as experience in directly providing services to women survivors of violence, and particularly long-term socio-economic reintegration services
  • Proven experience in advocacy and capacity building for providers of services for women victims of violence in accordance with international standards and the relevant national legal and policy framework;
  • Experience in directly providing services to women survivors of violence, including in emergency situations;
  • Experience in working with public and non-public service providers in the area of combating violence against women and girls;
  • Specific knowledge and experience on intersectional violence against women and girls;
  • Focus on the empowerment of women and using a gender sensitive approach;
  • Previous collaboration with UN Women in similar projects is an asset.
• Other competencies can be an asset for the performance of services:
  • Human rights-based and gender-responsive approaches that place first priority on promoting, protecting and fulfilling the human rights of women as well as strengthening institutional capacities of service providers at the local level to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women;
  • Focus on disadvantaged groups, including those living in poverty, rural women and disadvantaged groups of women – elderly women, Roma and Egyptian women, women with disabilities, migrant women, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, women in detention, secluded women, and asylum-seeking women. The capacitybuilding activities need to bring to the attention of service providers on the barriers that each of these groups face in accessing the services and the relevant measures that need to be taken to remove or mitigate these barriers;
  • Focus on all forms of VAW as foreseen in the Istanbul Convention (physical, psychological, economic, sexual violence, rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, forced marriages, forced abortion and sterilization, female genital mutilation, crimes in the name of “honour”, all forms of domestic violence and human trafficking);
  • Holistic responses that address women and girls’ inter-related rights and needs, including safety, access to health, education and economic security;
  • Evidence-based programming, building on lessons learned and recommended practices, to ensure optimal results and use of resources;
  • Coordination and multi-sectorial partnerships, including among government institutions, nongovernmental organizations, women’s and other civil society groups;
  • Commitment to knowledge sharing, by documenting, evaluating and disseminating results;
  • Priority placed on sustainability of results;
  • Ensuring protecting the safety and confidentiality of women beneficiaries of the project.

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