Deadline: 21-Jul-2025
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is seeking expressions of interest for its project titled “Prevention, Risk Mitigation and Response to Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies in Tigray Region.” The project aims to establish and scale up community-level prevention, risk mitigation, and services for survivors of gender-based violence (GBV). Humanitarian crises in Ethiopia, including conflicts and climate-related disasters like droughts and floods, have increased the risks of all forms of GBV. These crises disproportionately affect women and girls through displacement, loss of social protection, damaged infrastructure, food and water shortages, livelihood losses, failed crops, and poor health outcomes.
The war in Tigray has particularly impacted young women and adolescent girls, uprooting them from their homes and exposing them to multiple traumas such as abduction, rape, death, loss of family members, and forced marriage. UNICEF’s project focuses on providing survivors with improved access to lifesaving, age-appropriate services including health care, psychosocial support, and protection. It also aims to reduce risks faced by women and girls in their communities through GBV prevention and risk mitigation measures.
To achieve these outcomes, the project will support case management services and build the capacity of service providers such as government officials, NGO partners, law enforcement, health workers, social workers, and teachers to identify, report, and respond to GBV cases in line with national and international standards. The project will also establish and operate safe spaces and shelters for women and girls at risk, offering secure environments for support, counseling, peer connection, information on psychosocial services, and referrals.
Community-based gender-transformative behavior change interventions will be implemented through local partners, including women-led organizations, to challenge harmful gender and cultural norms that condone GBV, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. These interventions will also raise awareness about available services and engage men to support change. Additionally, the project will train frontline humanitarian service providers on GBV risk mitigation, handling disclosures safely, and making confidential referrals. Safety audits and consultations with women and girls will inform the implementation of GBV risk mitigation recommendations to reduce identified risks.
The project targets the Tigray, Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions, focusing on woredas affected by humanitarian crises. Selection criteria for partners include proven expertise in GBV programming, experience working in humanitarian contexts, preferably with UNICEF or UN agencies, and local presence in the target areas. Applicants must present clear and credible methodologies with interdisciplinary approaches and demonstrate cost-effectiveness by aligning resources with project objectives.
For more information, visit UN Partner Portal.
