Readvertisement: Call For Proposals for Civil Society Organizations to establish and operate a community of practice on the development, improvement, and management of referral pathways in the region that encompass multi-stakeholder articulated and coordinated dialogue under “EU4 Gender Equality – Women’s Economic Empowerment and Ending Violence Against Women in the Western Balkans” regional programme.

UN Women plans to engage a Responsible Party as defined in accordance with these documents. UN Women now invites sealed proposals from qualified proponents to provide the requirements as defined in the UN Women Terms of Reference. 

With a view to contributing to the strengthening of the capacities of key stakeholders in the referral system, including government, policymakers, law enforcement officials, the judiciary, the health sector, and civil society organizations,media organizations, and regulators of digital platforms and social media, to provide quality, coordinated offline and digital services for survivors of violence including online and technology-facilitated violence, the selected responsible party/partner is expected to deliver the following services:

• Establishment and Maintenance of Collaborative Platforms: Establish and maintain a regional online platform to enable collaboration, information sharing, and peer exchange among stakeholders. Facilitate quarterly multisectoral meetings through organizing regular meetings of CoP members from across the Western Balkans to discuss and align on best practices and protocols. Ensure the platform is GDPR‑compliant, WCAG 2.1‑AA accessible, and equipped with secure evidence‑upload functionality and analytics dashboards to monitor TF‑VAW trends.
• Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing: Organize annual regional workshops to build capacity and share best practices across IPA beneficiaries. Develop a repository of protocols and tools, and training resources, including guidance on documenting TF VAW and safeguarding survivor data. Foster collaboration among CSOs through a structured regional platform to enhance referral mechanisms. Develop e‑learning modules on digital safety, AI‑generated abuse detection, and platform‑takedown procedures for frontline providers and cybercrime units.
• Mapping and Evaluation: Conduct regional mapping of referral pathways, including identifying promising practices, gaps, and areas for improvement in existing referral pathways and service models. Strengthen inter-institutional coordination through aligning local, national, and regional protocols with international standards to ensure cohesive and effective service delivery. Collect sex, age and disability‑disaggregated data on TF‑VAW and build an interactive dashboard tracking response times, evidence preservation actions and content‑takedown outcomes.
• Integration and Inclusion: Integrate cybercrime units into referral mechanisms by defining and formalizing the roles of cybercrime units in multisectoral mechanisms through consultation and integration into bylaws or protocols. Support inclusion of vulnerable groups through ensuring that referral services are designed to meet the needs of vulnerable and minoritized women, including those in rural areas, women with disabilities, and displaced women. Provide digital‑accessibility audits of online services and ensure sign‑language interpretation, captioning and low‑bandwidth options for remote users.
• Development of Tools and Protocols: Develop and disseminate data protection protocols and guidelines to accompany interventions focused on protecting women and girls from VAW. Assess and address the protection needs of women activists and frontline providers exposed to TF VAW. Design standard operating procedures for expedited cross‑border evidence preservation, AI deepfake verification and survivor‑centred risk‑assessment checklists.
• Governance and Institutionalization: Define community operating principles by establishing the governance structure and operating principles for the CoP based on desk reviews and qualitative research. Work towards integrating the CoP within national and regional coordination mechanisms to ensure sustainability. Adopt a CoP code of conduct, data‑governance policy and open‑source sustainability plan to guarantee continuity beyond project funding.

Interested proponents may obtain further information by contacting this email address: [ Click to reveal ]. Please note that there will be an informative session which will be held in on November 17, 2025 at 14 CET. You can register in advance for this meeting HERE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Following the information session, the captured minutes and Q&A document will be shared in the website as an attachment.

Selected programme partner will accept the Terms and Conditions set out in the Partner Agreement template and will commit on the registration on the UN Partner Portal which is a platform for facilitating engagement between CSOs and UN Agencies.

The project is expected to be carried out between January 2026 and July 2027, with a minimum duration of 12 months and a maximum duration of 18 months. The budget range for this proposal should be Min. 120,000.00 USD – Max. 135,000.00 USD. 

Proposals must be received by UN Women at the address specified not later than 17.00 CET on December 7, 2025.