1. Background

1.1 About UNDP

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a long-standing development partner in Liberia, supporting governance, human rights, access to justice, gender equality, poverty reduction, and institutional strengthening. UNDP works with the Government of Liberia, civil society organizations, communities, and development partners to promote inclusive and sustainable development.

Through the Liberia Spotlight Initiative 2.0, a partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, UNDP supports efforts to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls by strengthening legal protection, access to justice, survivor-centred services, community engagement, and institutional capacity. The initiative focuses on advancing gender equality, addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), harmful practices, and promoting the rights and protection of women and girls through evidence-based and sustainable interventions.

1.2 About SHED

Serving Humanity for Empowerment and Development (SHED) is a Liberian non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 2017. SHED has demonstrated expertise in human rights, gender equality, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) prevention and response, access to justice, legal aid, justice sector strengthening, nutrition-sensitive food security, livelihoods development, and community empowerment. The organization has successfully implemented multi-year projects supported by international partners and donors, including BMZ, the European Union (EU), Finn Church Aid, and Irish Aid.

1.3 The Project

SHED, with funding from the European Union (EU) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is implementing a 9-month Spotlight Initiative 2.0 project across Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, and Nimba Counties. The project aims to dismantle financial, geographic, and institutional barriers to justice for SGBV survivors—particularly women and girls in underserved communities—by expanding free, survivor-centred legal aid, improving service mapping and coverage, strengthening the capacity of legal aid providers and women’s organizations, and enhancing coordination and referral pathways among justice and protection actors.

To guide implementation, the project will begin with a comprehensive baseline assessment and legal aid service mapping to identify gaps, capacities, and underserved areas. Based on these findings, SHED will establish or scale up legal aid clinics, reinforce referral mechanisms, and build the capacity of community-based providers to deliver gender-responsive services. Ultimately, this intervention seeks to increase legal awareness, improve equitable access to justice, and strengthen accountability for survivors. To establish benchmark indicator values and generate evidence for effective project execution, SHED now seeks to engage a qualified consultant to conduct the baseline survey.

Note to Consultants: The full project document (including Results Framework and indicators) will be shared with the selected consultant upon contract signing. Proposals must demonstrate how baseline values for project KPIs will be established.

• Locations

Grand Cape Mount, ii) Nimba, iii) Lofa and iv) Montserrado Counties respectively in 20 communities @ five communities per county.

• Objectives of the Assignment
  • Overall Objective

The overall objective of the baseline survey is to establish reliable benchmark data that will serve as the foundation for measuring the progress, effectiveness, outcomes, and impact of the project “Strengthening Civil Society Leadership for Legal Awareness, Inclusive Advocacy, and Community-Led Legislative Action on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Harmful Practices (HPs), and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Liberia.”

The survey will generate comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform project implementation, strengthen monitoring and evaluation systems, facilitate adaptive management, and provide baseline values against which future project achievements will be assessed.

• Specific Objectives

Specifically, the baseline survey shall:

1. Assess the current availability, accessibility, quality, utilization, and effectiveness of free legal aid services for survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence within the four target counties.
2. Map existing legal aid providers, legal aid clinics, women’s organizations, community-based organizations, justice institutions, referral service providers, and other actors involved in providing legal support and protection services to survivors.
3. Identify underserved communities with limited or no access to legal aid and justice services and document the geographical, institutional, financial, social, and cultural barriers that limit access to justice.
4. Assess the institutional, technical, organizational, and operational capacity of government institutions, civil society organizations, women’s organizations, community-based organizations, and legal aid providers responsible for delivering legal aid and justice services.
5. Examine the effectiveness, functionality, coordination, and responsiveness of existing referral pathways and coordination mechanisms among justice sector institutions, protection actors, health facilities, psychosocial service providers, and community structures.
6. Assess the level of community awareness and understanding regarding Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Harmful Practices, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, existing legal protections, available justice services, referral pathways, and survivors’ legal rights.
7. Establish baseline values for all applicable indicators contained within the Project Results Framework and identify appropriate means of verification for future monitoring and evaluation.
8. Generate practical, evidence-based recommendations that will inform project implementation, improve targeting, strengthen institutional capacity, support strategic decision-making, and contribute to the long-term sustainability of project interventions.
9. Scope of Survey

The consultant/firm shall:

• Geographically: cover all four project counties (Montserrado, Grand Cape Mount, Lofa, and Nimba), targeting approximately 20 communities (5 per county) with balanced representation of rural, peri-urban, and urban settings.
• Thematically: assess SGBV legal aid and justice access, covering service availability, institutional capacity, coordination, community perceptions, and barriers faced by women and girls
• For primary data: engage a broad range of respondents: community members (women, girls, youth, persons with disabilities, survivors), local leaders, state justice/gender officials, and civil society/service providers (legal, health, psychosocial, CSOs, and development partners).
• For secondary data: conduct a comprehensive review of existing policies, legislation, program reports, research studies, administrative records, service directories, referral protocols, and monitoring reports relevant to SGBV prevention, legal aid, and access to justice in Liberia.
• As an analytical output: prepare county-specific profiles for each of the four counties that detail service availability, institutional capacity, geographical coverage of existing services, and priority intervention areas for future project implementation.
• Sampling Methodology:Propose a justifiable sampling approach—probability sampling (e.g., stratified/cluster) for quantitative surveys and purposive/snowball sampling for qualitative components. Include sample size justification, confidence levels, and margin of error.
• Ethical Considerations:Outline a strategy for the safe inclusion of vulnerable groups (SGBV survivors, PWDs), covering informed consent, confidentiality, data protection, referral pathways, and ethical approval or compliance with SHED protocols.

4. Expected Deliverables:

The consultant/firm shall submit the following deliverables within the specified timelines:

Additional Requirements:

• All reports shall be submitted in Englishin Microsoft Word format, with a PDF copy also provided.
• All raw data (quantitative datasets, qualitative transcripts, codebooks, and survey instruments) shall become the sole property of SHED and UNDPand must be submitted in accessible, standard formats.
• The final report must include a clear line of sightconnecting each finding to the corresponding indicator in the project’s Results Framework, presenting baseline values and the means of verification used.

5. Required Qualifications

Interested consultants/firms shall possess:

• Post graduate degree in Statistics, Human Rights, Law, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Monitoring and Evaluation, or a related field.
• At least five years of experience conducting baseline surveys, evaluations, or research assignments.
• Proven experience in Gender, SGBV, Access to Justice, Legal Aid and Justice Sector, or community development programming.
• Strong quantitative and qualitative research skills.
• Excellent analytical, report writing, and presentation skills.
• Experience working in Liberia or similar contexts is an advantage.

6. Duration of Assignment

The assignment shall take place during the period 20 July 2026 – 21 August 2026, with a maximum of 25 working days. The final report shall be submitted by 30 August 2026. In addition, the Consultant is required to communicate to SHED any relevant changes or delays to the assignment immediately.

7. Contact persons

The Consulting firm’s or Consultant’s contact persons at SHED will be:

Program Manager, tel: 0770423035, email: nathan.kpehe@shed-liberia.org , the main point of contact and in charge of the approval of instruments and report/data

8. Proposal Submission

8.1 Submission Requirements

Interested consultants or firms shall submit two separate documents:

• Technical Proposal, which shall detail the consultant’s understanding of the assignment, proposed methodology, detailed work plan, quality assurance mechanisms, ethical considerations, staffing structure, key personnel CVs, evidence of similar assignments completed, organizational profile (where applicable), and references from comparable assignments completed within the past five years,
• Financial Proposal, which shall provide a detailed budget, including professional fees (daily rates), enumerator costs (training, per diem, and supervision), travel and logistics costs (transportation, accommodation, and field supplies), data collection and analysis costs, administrative overheads, applicable taxes, the total cost in United States Dollars (USD), and any other relevant costs clearly indicated.

 8.2 Submission Address

Applications should be submitted electronically to:

The Executive Director & The Program Director
Serving Humanity for Empowerment and Development (SHED)
Email: Joyce.pajibo@shed-liberia.org & emmanuel.sandi@shed-liberia.org

 8.3 Deadline

All proposals must be received latest by 14 July 2026 at 4:30 PM (Liberia Time). Late submissions will not be considered.

 8.4 Shortlisting

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

9. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

SHED reserves the right to request clarifications, conduct interviews, or negotiate with shortlisted candidates before final selection.

10. General Provisions

• SHED is an equal opportunity organization and encourages applications from qualified women, persons with disabilities, and members of marginalized groups.
• SHED reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal without obligation to provide justification.
• All costs incurred in the preparation and submission of proposals shall be borne by the applicant.
• The successful consultant/firm must comply with SHED’s policies on child protection, safeguarding, and data protection.