Violence against women and girls is a global issue that has significant consequences on the well-being, health, rights and safety of women and girls, as well as on educational outcomes, productivity and public policies. It also affects children, families and whole communities. If unaddressed, these human rights violations will have serious implications on poverty reduction and development and efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Existing evidence shows that gender-based violence in Turkmenistan has been still considered a sensitive public issue and gives grounds for a concern. For instance, 58.4 per cent of women aged 15-49 years justify violence against women due to the established traditional gender roles of women in a family and society. This has almost been doubled from 35% in 2016. Only 42.2 per cent of women aged 15-49 years (married or in union) make informed decisions about sex, contraceptive use and reproductive health (SDG indicator 5.6. 1). This indicator is even less for women living in rural areas (37,7 %). The Sustainable Development Index measuring progress toward gender equality (59.4) also shows inequalities for women and girls, including issues ranging from health and gender-based violence to other socio-economic dimensions of life. 12 per cent of women aged 18-59 have been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a spouse or partner.

In 2022, UNFPA Turkmenistan started the implementation of the second phase of its Regional Project on “Strengthening prevention and response to GBV in Central Asia” which is a part of a Central Asia programme funded by the Central Asia – UK Conflict Stability and Security Fund funding (CSSF). The project aims at (i) promoting social norms changes as well as behavioural changes at community level and among religious leaders; (ii) building capacity of key services providers and will strengthen GBV coordination mechanisms at national level. The project has been designed to work so that women and girls in Central Asian Republics (CARs), including the most vulnerable, are provided through a multi-sectoral, survivor-centred inclusive Gender Based Violence (GBV) services in both humanitarian and development settings.

The CEDAW Committee, in its concluding observations on the sixth report in 2024, recommended strengthening support services for women and girls who are victims of gender-based violence.

In July 2024 UNFPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan to provide psychological counselling and case management support to women and girls with a focus on gender-based violence. Following the signing the services were launched in 5 regions of the country and Ashgabat city.

Within this context, in close consultations with the National Society of Red Crescent in Turkmenistan there is a need to hire an international consultant to train national service providers in Family Support Centres and Civil Registration Office on psychological counselling for GBV survivors and family counselling.

(Description of services, activities, or outputs)

Planning phase:

1. Desk review, preparation of training materials and presentations– 5 days.
2. Country mission and training – 5 days:
   1. 2-day training for Civil Registration Office specialist on family counselling;
   2. 3-day training for GBV service providers on psychological counselling for survivors on December 2-6, 2024;
3. Debrief with the NPO Gender and Youth and prepare a detailed final consultancy report, including recommendations on further interventions – 5 days.

Deliverable 1: Training materials and presentations by November 23, 2024;

Deliverable 2: Debriefing and final report – December 10, 2024.

• At least Master’s Degree in Psychology, social sciences or other related fileds;
• At least seven years of experience in the work related to psychological counselling to survivors of gender-based violence and domestic violence;
• Prior experience in Central Asia and former Soviet Union countries;
• Excellent English speaking and writing skills required. Knowledge of Russian will be considered an asset;
• Strong presentation and training skills.