National Consultant to Facilitate and Coordinate the Institutionalization of Men Engagement and Volunteerism Programme

 

Hiring Office:

UNFPA Turkmenistan CO

Title:

National Consultant to Facilitate and Coordinate the Institutionalization of Men Engagement and Volunteerism Programme

Purpose of consultancy:

The UNFPA Gender Programme aims to cooperate with government agencies to create comprehensive systems and mechanisms to enable women and adolescents to make informed choices and be protected from violence, and to engage men and boys in promoting positive social norms in society.

Within its mandate and in cooperation with national partner agencies and CSOs, UNFPA CO initiated the interventions within the Youth and Gender programmes aimed at tackling harmful gender norms and gender stereotypes concerning the roles of women and men in the family and in society. 

Thus, in partnership with the State Committee on Physical Culture and Sports and CSOs, UNFPA CO successfully piloted a men engagement project in Ashgabat and 2 regions initially and scaled up to cover all regions of the country. The programme focused on promoting gender equality and prevention of Gender Based Violence (GBV) through volunteerism. At present the programme is at the phase of institutionalization with the national partner agencies to ensure the sustainability of the project.

Within this institutionalization stage, the UNFPA plans to hire a national consultant to facilitate and coordinate the transition of the "MenEngage and Volunteerism" pilot from a UNFPA-led initiative to a nationally-owned, institutionalized program within the State Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Education and CSOs including sports clubs for PwDs. The consultant will focus on standardizing curricula, institutionalizing of gender-focused, men engagement volunteerism programme and establishing data-driven accountability for gender-transformative work with men and boys.

To achieve this purpose the Consultant will implement the below outlined tasks.

Scope of work:

 

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)

The deliverables of this consultancy include: 

Technical standardization & development of training manual

1. Conduct an intersectional needs assessment by completing a desk review and consultations with trainers, volunteers, secondary school teachers and the Clubs for Persons with Disabilities to identify specific barriers to gender equality in rural vs. urban settings.
2. Review the developed materials, modules, videos and other available resources provided by UNFPA on engagement of men and volunteerism programs, including the developed 4 training modules:  
   1. Module 1: Understanding Gender Equality; 
   2. Module 2: Gender Roles and Responsibilities; 
   3. Module 3: Gender Stereotypes; 
   4. Module 4: Emotional Maturity.
3. Develop a standardized curriculum by finalizing a comprehensive "MenEngage Manual" that includes the above mentioned 4 training modules and additional modules in Turkmen and Russian languages on:
   1. Positive masculinity to be promoted through education on shared domestic responsibilities, healthy relationships, emotional intelligence, communication and consent.
   2. Technology-Facilitated GBV to be promoted through education on digital safety and ethical online behavior for boys.
   3. Intervention in GBV cases to educate and develop the skills for men and boys to safely intervene in cases of gender-based harassment, moving from "not being violent" to "actively stopping violence" when they see it among peers.
4. Create simple post-training evaluation forms for teachers and coaches to use with their athletes and students long-term.
5. Advise on making the modules tailored for different literacy levels or for youth with specific disabilities (e.g., visual or hearing impairments).
6. Ensure the methodology works in the velayats (provinces) where social norms might be more conservative than in Ashgabat.
7. Conduct a technical validation workshop with national partners to ensure the manual aligns with state educational standards.

 

Youth agency, innovative advocacy, engagement with young men and boys on tackling toxic masculinity, promoting gender equality and zero tolerance towards GBV, including TFGBV.

1. Design out-of-school men engagement and men education programme and develop a plan of activities that includes training, roundtables, discussions, campaigns and other activities to be conducted during the year jointly with the sports schools, FSSs, WGSSs and CSOs. 
2. Present the programme to UNFPA programme staff.
3. Coordinate a network of the current 60 gender champion volunteers providing monthly mentorship and monitoring their personally led events and activities. The topics for sessions with volunteers will be related to the issues of gender equality, GBV prevention, RH and RR, as well as leadership and interpersonal development.
4. Ensure that training/workshops are held by volunteers in each region with at least 3,000 young people with 70% of boys and young men; at least 15% young people with disabilities are trained on positive masculinity, gender equality and zero tolerance towards GBV and other harmful practices. 
5. Mentor volunteers in creating "positive masculinity" digital content including videos and reels for local platforms (e.g., IMO, Tiktok, other) to challenge harmful stereotypes.
6. Negotiate and advocate for the integration of MenEngage messaging into regional sports tournaments, youth festivals and other activities.
7. Update, present to the UNFPA and the national team of trainers a methodology to gather disaggregated data (by age, sex, disability, and region) for all activities.
8. Generate and submit comprehensive quarterly and final yearly reports.

 

Monitoring and reporting 

Expected Outcomes and Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: by 27 June 2026: - 20 days

• "MenEngagement Manual" is developed;

• Validation workshop completed.

   

Deliverable 2: by September 27, 2026 submit a report indicating that: - 50 days

• Men engagement and education programme is developed;
• Sessions and mentoring work held with volunteers with session plans and volunteer products;
• At least 2,000 young people (70% boys and young men; 15% of PwDs) trained in 4 sessions in Module 1: Gender equality; Module 2: Gender Roles and Responsibilities; Module 3: Gender Stereotypes; Module 4: Emotional Maturity.
• Men engagement messages promoting gender equality and GBV prevention communicated and highlighted at sports tournaments, in social media and awareness raising events being implemented;
• At least 6 community initiatives (one in each velayat and Ashgabat city) engaging 180 people (30 young people in each locality) conducted;

• Quantitative and qualitative information and success stories from volunteer-led sessions with boys/young men in all regions.

   

Deliverable 3: by December 25, 2026 submit a final consultancy report indicating that: - 50 days

• At least 1,000 young people (70% boys and young men; 15% of PwDs) trained in 4 sessions in Module 1: Gender equality; Module 2: Gender Roles and Responsibilities; Module 3: Gender Stereotypes; Module 4: Emotional Maturity.
• Men engagement messages promoting gender equality and GBV prevention communicated and highlighted at sports tournaments, in social media and awareness raising events being implemented;
• At least 6 community initiatives (one in each velayat and Ashgabat city) engaging 180 people (30 young people in each locality) conducted;
• Quantitative and qualitative information and success stories from volunteer-led sessions with boys/young men in all regions.

 

Duration and working schedule:

Duration of this consultancy is 120 days from June 1, 2026 – December 25, 2026

Place where services are to be delivered:

The place where services are to be delivered is Ashgabat, Ahal (Annew and Tejen), Mary, Lebap, Balkan and Dashoguz velayat

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Dates for deliverables are provided in the Scope of Work section. All written deliverables will be provided in an electronic format. 

Monitoring and progress control, including reporting requirements, periodicity format and deadline:

The National Consultant will coordinate the work with the Programme Coordinator and report to the UNFPA Programme Analyst on Gender and Youth by providing monthly updates, quarterly reports on progress, challenges encountered, and support requirements as well as final report on the programme implementation.

Supervisory arrangements: 

The National Consultant will directly report and work under the guidance of the UNFPA Programme Analyst on Gender and Youth 

Expected travel:

No travel is expected.

Required expertise, qualifications and competencies, including language requirements:

• At least a Bachelor's Degree in teaching, social sciences and other related subjects or high school diploma with additional 1 year of relevant experience;
• Minimum 6 years of experience working with young people and 5 years of experience as a trainer including work with PwDs;
• Knowledge of cultural, social norms, customs and gender in Turkmenistan;
• Excellent Turkmen and Russian speaking and writing skills required, and English ability will be an asset.

Inputs / services to be provided by UNFPA or implementing partner (e.g support services, office space, equipment), if applicable:

UNFPA will provide the consultant with all the necessary training materials and lesson plans. However, additional information will be identified by the Consultant through desk reviews, consultations in the community, and other.

Other relevant information or special conditions, if any:

The consultancy fee will be calculated based on GS-7 level of the UN salary scale for General Service Category, effective 1 November 2020 and will be paid upon quality provision of the deliverables as follows:

 

Instalment 1 upon completion of Deliverable 1 by June 27, 2026

Instalment 2 upon completion of Deliverable 2 by September 27, 2026

Instalment 3 upon completion of Deliverable 3 by December 25, 2026

 

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. Persons with disabilities, and individuals of other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity.