Background

As the development network of the United Nations, UNDP supports African countries in developing national and local capacities to advance human development and accelerate progress toward the achievement of SDGs and the Africa Development Agenda 2063.  It is our aim to help the region to achieve rapid inclusive growth by encouraging a strong private sector, social protection for the most vulnerable and employment opportunities, especially for the young. In addition, UNDP promotes agricultural transformation to bolster food security and incomes across the region. It also helps to empower women so they can participate in all spheres of activities, from the economic to the political. Secondly, UNDP aims to strengthen the resilience of African societies by working to prevent conflict, build peace and pave the way for long-term recovery, ensuring development progress is preserved and built upon. The organization also helps to minimize the impact of natural and climate-related disasters, collaborating with countries to prevent losses and help them to recover wherever these events occur. In doing so, Gender equality and women’s empowerment is regarded as one of the core strategies for achieving Africa’s development.  UNDP, Regional Service Centre for Africa, is supporting African member states, the African Union and to adopt and implement gender equality and women’s empowerment policy reforms and initiatives.  Underpinning this approach is the need for a transformative and sustainable strategies for gender equality.  Indeed, a policy and programming focus on harnessing the potential of women is an important economic and social driver for more inclusive and sustainable development.  It is UNDPs view that, policies and programmes that unintentionally leave out or disenfranchise women will never be successful over the long term. Nor can inclusive growth be achieved if women’s empowerment is compartmentalized, or seen as a separate activity from what are traditionally perceived as the core functions of government.

Despite widespread recognition of women’s rights and the benefits that accrue to all of society from equitable treatment and access to resources and opportunities for women and men, inequalities persist. At the regional and national levels, there is growing recognition that as African women attain higher measures of economic and social well-being, benefits accrue to all of society; despite this growing understanding, removing inequalities for women has not kept pace. Significant gaps between men’s and women’s opportunities remain a major challenge and a severe impediment to structural economic and social transformation that is still the goal of all African countries.

The UNDP, 2016 African Human Development Report, however, shows that human development in Africa is rising and countries with a low human development index are catching up. Yet it is also noted that, gender inequality persists and slows down the pace of development on the continent. The report estimates that gender gaps in the labor market account for economic losses of USD 95 billion per year or higher; equaling approximately 6 per cent of GDP. For Africa to deliver sustainable development outcomes for all and faster, the report recommends more concerted attention to gender equality and a clear focus in policy and programming on harnessing the full potential of women.

As African countries are beginning to ‘domesticate’ the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the continental Agenda 2063, the African Human Development Report provides a powerful opportunity to help African countries shape their plans and policies towards gender equality in order to fully realize the ambitions articulated in the global and continental agendas.  To date, UNDP stands committed towards contributing and supporting interventions aimed at Accelerating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa.  Indeed, giving more concerted attention to gender equality will be an important and is a long overdue stimulus to faster and more inclusive human development and economic growth for the entire continent. Similarly, addressing gender equality in a holistic way dovetails with, and reinforces, the ambitious agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which African governments and the international community as a whole have set for the coming 15 years. A holistic approach to gender equality will also bolster the achievement of Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

With continued commitment on gender equality and women’s empowerment, UNDP has successfully been undertaking a number of programmes aimed at supporting both the African Union and African member states address gender inequality and women’s empowerment as well as worked strategically with civil society organizations and the UN agencies initiating transformative programme interventions.  The Regional Programme for Africa and two other specific projects on Gender and Women’s Empowerment are a good example of some of the existing initiatives, with a focus on; i) the Fostering Inclusive Participation and the Effective Contribution of Women in Economic and Political Empowerment and ii) Building an enabling environment for women´s economic empowerment and political participation in Africa.  

In order to ensure continued support to our initiatives, UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Africa (RSCA) invites candidates to send their applications for inclusion in a Vetted Roster external experts. The process of including candidates in the Expert Roster are described in the later sections of this advertisement.

To be considered for inclusion in the roster, applications would need to have expertise in one or more of the following areas: 

• Expertise 1. Women in peace and security
• Expertise 2. Women in Democratic Governance
• Expertise 3. Economic Empowerment
• Expertise 4. Environment and Climate Change
• Expertise 5. Structural, Cultural and Social Barriers to Gender Equality
• Expertise 6. Cross-cutting areas

For detail please refer the competencies section of this adveristment 

Duties and Responsibilities

Policy and Strategy Development

• Prepare Policy briefs, Status papers on gender equality and developmental challenges/issues based on secondary review of existing literature for evidence based advocacy and policy dialogue
• Formulate national, sub-national and sectoral strategies and guidelines for advancing gender equality
• Develop recommendations for policy, legal and institutional frameworks to facilitate the advancement of the gender equality agenda
• Gender review of policy literature
• Identification of policy options to eliminate barriers and propose responses

Project Design, Formulation & other project related functions

• Prepare conceptual framework/concept note on new area of work/gender equality challenge
• Conduct gender-sensitive, socio-economic impact assessments
• Provide Technical assistance in identification of gender equality challenges, possible interventions, target areas, beneficiaries and partners and formulation of implementation strategy for UNDP support
• Provide technical support in development on new interventions/projects with Implementation (operational plan, monitoring and resource requirement) Institutional and management arrangements
• Formulate and review project documents to ensure innovation in concepts, strategies and incorporation of best practices
• Conduct feasibility studies
• Develop and organize partnerships for resource mobilization

Research and Documentation

• Undertake secondary research in the new areas of developmental concern based on review of existing literature
• Develop research design, research questions and scope of work for undertaking primary research in new areas
• Document good practices, case studies, innovations and pilot models for wider dissemination and sharing
• Undertake process documentation of ongoing interventions for up scaling

Capacity Development/Training

• Based on capacity assessment, develop institutional Capacity Development Plan to achieve the milestones identified and address the identified capacity gaps to achieve gender equality goals
• Develop target specific gender mainstreaming training tools/tool-kits and manuals based on training needs assessment
• Design gender mainstreaming training modules, facilitate and/or coordinate trainings programmes for various stakeholders
• Carry out Capacity assessments of public institutions and government institutions for development of strategic interventions for institutional strengthening for advancing gender equality
• Design and delivery of training tool-kits, products etc.

Knowledge Management

• Prepare knowledge and communications products capturing UNDP’s gender equality results (Audio, Video and Hard copies)
• Review of Knowledge products (subject, design and content)
• Prepare and publish featured articles and case studies in publications of the UNDP, other pertinent organizations, academic journals;
• Disseminate knowledge and communications products.
• Develop literature on best practices and case studies.

MIS & GIS

• Preparing of Base Line Data (BLD) through primary and secondary data sources.
• Development of MIS tools for verification and analysis on various activities, developing databases.
• Conceptualize, design and establish GIS platforms
• Management of Knowledge portals and other MIS platforms
• Baseline and Client satisfaction surveys

Monitoring & Evaluation 

• Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of national and sub-national policies in contributing to gender equality
• Carry out required independent monitoring and evaluation of UNDP projects.
• Facilitate community and process monitoring.
• Undertake Baseline and Client satisfaction surveys

Competencies

To be considered for inclusion in the roster, applicants would need to have expertise in one or more of the following areas:

Expertise 1. Women in peace and security:

• Gender in migration and prevention of violent extremism;
• Mediation, conflict resolution and recovery;
• Women’s participation in decision making in peace architecture and security organs;
• Transitional justice;
• Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV).

Expertise 2. Women in Democratic Governance:

• Constitution-making processes;
• Engendering electoral processes (electoral law, women’s presence as decision makers in Electoral Management Bodies, or EMB, women’s candidacy, women’s presence in political parties, women’s registration, violence against women in election);
• Justice, transitional justice and women’s human rights;
• Corruption, nepotism, and African Peer Review Mechanism.

Expertise 3. Economic Empowerment:

• Gender, gender budgeting, the macro economy and unpaid care economy;
• Gender and economic policy, modeling and statistics;
• Access to finance, social protection, and productive resources (land, capital, credit, input in agriculture, technology, and technical skills and training);
• Access to employment, labor market and trade;
• Gender and the private sector management;
• Expanding women’s leadership roles in private sector and value chains.

Expertise 4. Environment and Climate Change:

• Disaster risk reduction;
• Clean/renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro, and new technology);
• Gender in green and blue economy and access to natural resources (land, oceans, and mining);
• Women and girls’ education and orientation to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Expertise 5. Structural, Cultural and Social Barriers to Gender Equality:

• Masculinity and patriarchy;
• Working experience with communities and traditional and religious leaders on the issue of gender and customary norms (female genital mutilation, or FGM, and child marriage).

Expertise 6. Cross-cutting areas:

• Gender mainstreaming and policy research, analysis, design and strategy formulation;
• Working experience in gender responsive legal framework (reforms – domestication of international – regional commitments/adoption);
• Gender policy and projects monitoring and evaluation;
• Gender equality advocacy and training tools development;
• Design and facilitation of capacity development initiatives for gender mainstreaming;
• Design and development of materials for communicating gender equality results (knowledge management and communications);
• Management of a development project with an objective of advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment (capacity-building and mentorship).

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Degree in Gender studies, development studies, public policies, economics, human rights, public administration, or related field.

Experience:

Following a vetting process, the successful candidates would be placed in one of the following bands:

• Band 1, Implementation Support: Master’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 3 years of relevant work experience, or Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 5 years of relevant work experience;
• Band 2, Specialist Support: Master’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 7 years of relevant work experience, out of which minimum 3 years of international experience as a requirement;
• Band 3, Senior Advisory: Master’s Degree in relevant field with minimum 12 years of relevant work experience, out of which minimum 5 years of international experience as a requirement;
  • Experience at the subnational/national/international level in policy research and analysis and policy advocacy on gender equality, women’s empowerment and/or GBV response/prevention;
  • Experience in working with Government institutions and/or international development organizations supporting community-led implementation processes and coordination and facilitation of complex teams in a local context for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment;
  • Experience in the design and facilitation of institutional gender mainstreaming capacity development measures;
  • Previous experience of working with UNDP is an asset.

Language:

• Fluency in spoken and written English.
  • or fluency in spoken and written French and intermediate fluency in English.
  • or fluency in spoken and written Spanish and intermediate fluency in English.
  • or fluency in spoken and written Portuguese and intermediate fluency in English.

Evaluation of Applicants:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

• Applicants will be screened against qualifications and the competencies specified above and will be evaluated as per following criteria.

Stage 1:- Establishing a Roster :

• All applicants will be initially screened against the minimum requirements as specified above and those meeting the minimum requirements will be long listed.
• Long-listed applicants will be evaluated through a Desk review and/or interview against the following criteria based on evident in the submitted application:
  • Demonstrated specialized expertise in a minimum of one of the above action areas mentioned in the TOR: (1) Women in Peace, Security and Governance (ii) Gender and Economic policy, modelling and statistics (iii) Gender and the Private Sector Management; (iv) Gender analysis Social policy development – 40 points
  • Demonstrated specialized experience (as applicable) in policy and strategy development, programme/project design, management, capacity development, knowledge management, research and documentation and monitoring and evaluation aspects required for fulfilling the consultancy successfully – 40 points
  • Demonstrable educational qualifications and experience in working with UN agencies in African geographies on Gender and macroeconomic policy modelling and research, women Governance, Peace and security, Legal and policy reform -related projects for requisite duration (Band 1, Band 2 or Band 3) – 10 points
  • Demonstrated language skills: and ability to write reports, presentations and briefs – 10 points.

Only those candidates who obtain a total technical score of 70 and above will be included in the roster

Successful candidates will be included in UNDP RBA Experts Roster for a period of 5 years, in one of the “bands” indicated above. However, the addition of an individual in the Roster does not guarantee a contract with UNDP. Qualified women are encouraged to apply.

Stage 2:- Evaluation and call off mechanism for specific assignment /Contracting/:

When a request for services arises, the roster manager shall contact the individuals included in the specific area of expertise with ToR, location and dates of the assignment seeking confirmation of availability, as well as other costs such as living allowance, travel cost, etc. The daily fee quoted by the individual during this application process shall remain as the ceiling fee and cannot be increased upwards for any offered individual assignment(s).

Consultants that confirmed their availability  for Specific assignment will be evaluated in one of the two evaluation criteria that shall be clearly  indicated in the respective assignment ToR.

Lowest price and technically compliant offer:

When using this method, the award of a contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as both:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
• Offering the lowest price/cost.

"Responsive/compliant/acceptable” can be defined as fully meeting the TOR provided.

Cumulative analysis:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
• Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
  • Technical Criteria weight; [To be determined]
  • Financial Criteria weight; [To be determined]
• Only candidates obtaining the minimum point on the technical criteria specified on the assignment ToR would be considered for the Financial;
• The individual selected for the deployment will be contracted as an Individual Contractor to the UNDP;
• The Contract and its terms and conditions are non-negotiable.

Travel:

• For each assignment UNDP shall reimburse cost of travel from the place of domicile of the individual to the place of assignment (most direct economy fare). This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources;

Applications should include:

• A cover letter, clearly identifying the “Areas of Expertise and Sub-Expertise” as mentioned in the background section above.
• Updated Personal CV and Personal Information Form (PIF), including past experience from similar projects, and email, telephone, and any other contact details for references.
• Daily professional Fee. This can be indicated on the cover letter

Payment:

Payment(s) shall be made following certification by the hiring UNDP Office that the services related to each deliverable, as specified in the contract, have been satisfactorily performed and the deliverables have been achieved by or before the due dates specified, if any.

Additional Information:

• This call for experts is not linked to other UNDP rosters or to a specific UNDP recruitment opportunity.
• The purpose of this call for experts is to add additional experts to the UNDP RBA Experts Roster. As a result, Candidates who have previously been vetted and maintained in UNDP RBA Roster/s are not required to apply.
• Due to the large number of applications, we receive, we are only able to inform the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.
• Interested individual consultants can submit the above documents (Cover letter, CV and the PIF from) in one of the following two addresses.
  • UNDP Jobs site/ UNDP Jobs /; OR at; -
  • procurement.rsca@undp.org

For any clarifications, please write to Mr. Getachew Araya at: - rsca.icroster@undp.org

Interested candidates are strongly advised to carefully review this advertisement, the procurement notice and ToR  and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications required. All relevant information including ToR & Procurement Notice can be found  on :https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=90950

For any clarifications please write to:- rsca.icroster@undp.org.