Background

Many international commitments support women's economic empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and a series of International Labour Organization conventions on gender equality. UN Women supports women's economic empowerment in line with these, and with the growing body of evidence that shows gender equality significantly contributes to advancing overall economies and sustainable development in communities and countries.

UN Women’s global strategic work plan has established four key outcome areas for women’s economic empowerment including: policies adopted and implemented to strengthen women’s economic empowerment; companies (private and public) promote women’s economic empowerment; gender-responsive services (transport, utilities, markets, water, energy, etc.) to enhance women’s livelihoods; and strengthened coordination of the UN system to the adoption of a common strategy on women’s economic empowerment.

In 2015, the global development agenda will enter a new phase in the context of the SDGs and the post-2015 agenda shaping the future in both framing and substance on links between gender and sustainable development and the importance of gender-responsive environmental policy for achieving gender equality. Moreover, key priorities for finance and investment for more sustainable consumption and production will be decided in July and December 2015. CSW 59 this year reinforced the need to improve concepts, engagement, action and commitment on gender and environment in the context of the SDGs and the post-2015 agenda.

The Work of UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean 2012-2014

The portfolio of support on Economic Empowerment in the UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean has traditionally focused primarily on child and gender-responsive social protection and advancing decent work for domestic workers. In 2012, the UN Women Multi-Country Office sought to diversify its work in this area and further strengthen its portfolio of work on gender and sustainable development by issuing a regional Call for project proposals focusing on gender-sensitive food security and sustainable development initiatives in the Caribbean that:

• Supported rural women, small farmers and women entrepreneurs, including agri-business actors, in the context of land rights, agricultural production, food security, livelihoods, natural resource conservation, and climate change;
• Supported the integration of a gendered approach to food security policy and action plans;
• Promoted access to green economy opportunities by women, particularly rural and agricultural women producers and women in fisheries; and
• Increased the capacity of women to establish or undertake economic enterprises, including green economy initiatives.

From 2012 to 2014, the Dominica National Council of Women, with financial support from UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean supported the Agricultural Women’s Movement in Dominica with the cultivation of two main crops: onions and sorrel.

In November 2014, a consultant was hired to undertake an assessment this and three other projects on gender-sensitive food security and sustainable development, supported by UN Women.  The results of this assessment confirmed that while the short duration of the project did not allow for an assessment of impact, there were short term positive benefits for some women. These benefits include an increase in income and prospect for ownership of assets, including land. The successes of the project propelled the Ministry of Agriculture to extend further support to women farmers in the country for onion production. However, the assessment recommended the need for a baseline assessment to support future interventions.

The Work of UN Women Multi-Country Office – Caribbean 2015-2019

The findings of the assessment will inform UN Women’s approach and the design of the agency’s emerging four-year programme on Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work.  This programme will also link strongly to the UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean’s on-going work on social protection in the Eastern Caribbean.

In January 2015, the UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean convened the meeting “Strengthening Partnerships to Promote Gender Equality, Food Security and Sustainable Development”.  The meeting was an opportunity to share the results, lessons learned and findings of the assessment of the four projects funded in 2012.  The meeting also provided a forum for UN Women to engage in a dialogue with participating Governments, Civil Society and Development Partners to identify linkages between the emerging Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work programme and existing national policy and programme interventions and ensure that it meets the needs of stakeholders and complements on-going efforts of other development partners in this area.

Building on the results of the assessment and the recommendations from the abovementioned meeting, UN Women will support the conduct of a Gender-Sensitive Value Chain Analysis of Onions and Companion Crops. The results of this analysis are intended to provide the baseline information needed to inform the development of UN Women’s four-year programme on Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work. This would allow for a more detailed exploration of the intersectionality between these three domains, specifically of key sustainable development and green challenges in this context, for example addressing water scarcity, reducing the use of chemicals and using low-till technologies for low carbon impact which can create added value in the value chain for women farmers and rural women. As a first step in this process, UN Women is seeking to hire a consultant to develop a methodology and research tools for the Gender-Sensitive Value Chain Analysis that could be applied to other crops and other contexts within its programming countries.

Duties and Responsibilities

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Deputy Representative and the day-to-day supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist – Economic and Political Leadership, the consultant will be contracted to develop a Methodology and Research Tools for a Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis of Onions and Companion Crops.

Specific activities and deliverables:

The consultant is expected to undertake the following:

• Complete a desk review of the relevant project and thematic reports and documents (10 Days).

Review documents including:

• Narrative and financial reports pertaining to the project “Empowerment of the Agricultural Women’s Movement-Production and Processing of Onions and Sorrel”;
• Assessment Report on the UN Women-Supported Projects on Gender-Sensitive Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods
• Workshop Report for the meeting “Strengthening Partnerships to Promote Gender Equality, Food Security and Sustainable Development”;
• Literature, methodologies and approaches on Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis;
• Relevant reports from other UN agencies, development partners and donor agencies, inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, civil society organisations and Governments on agriculture and onion cultivation in Dominica;
• Based on and informed by the above, identify key criteria for success in linking gender equality, sustainable development and decent work including key baseline indicators.

Complete mission to Dominica to conduct interviews with the following key stakeholders (10 Days)

• Previous beneficiaries of the project “Empowerment of the Agricultural Women’s Movement-Production and Processing of Onions and Sorrel”;
• Potential women farmers of onions and beneficiaries of the emergent UN Women Programme Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work. Potential beneficiaries will be identified by members of the Agricultural Women’s Movement;
• Men farmers of onions with a similar socioeconomic profile as the women farmers of onions
• Ministry of Agriculture;
• Gender Affairs Bureau;
• Ministry of Social Development (Social Safety Net Programme);
• Ministry of Sustainable Development;
• Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA);
• Global Environment Facilities Small Grants Programme;
• Other development partners and donor agencies, inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, private sector, civil society organisations and Governments;
• Undertake Skype and telephone interviews with key non-resident stakeholders supporting rural development and agriculture in Dominica.

Develop Draft Methodology and Research and Analytical Tools for the Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVCA) (15 Days)

The Draft Methodology and Tools must include/consider the following:

• An approach for identifying low-income male and female small holder and subsistence farmers to participate in the GSVCA and the emergent UN Women Programme “Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work”;
• The above approach must be based on discussions with the Agricultural Women’s Movement and other key stakeholders, to develop criteria to guide the selection of beneficiaries;
• A gender-responsive approach to determining the lived experiences of poverty at a household level. Such an approach should encompass the relationship between poverty status and child care, care for the elderly, disabled dependents and other dependants;
• An approach that clarifies the contribution to the development and/or implementation of relevant national policies and programmes including but not limited to those on land tenure, financing, social protection, environmental sustainability and decent work;
• An approach to identifying the different functions and activities in the onion value chain (including value in origin) and the main stakeholders who are likely to be involved in or affected by the value chain interventions;
• Specification of the qualitative and quantitative components needed in the GSVCA and the approaches and tools for collecting the information;
• Define the decision-making and control of resources issues specific to the value chain and to linking gender, sustainable development and decent work in the agriculture/food sector in Dominica;
• An approach to facilitate an investigation into the gender-related barriers to entry and the causes of inequalities in different parts of the onion value chain; and the different interests and power relations and contextual factors;
• A process for identifying stakeholder involvement at different stages; how and what information and support will be needed; the implications for the core team to undertake the analysis; and the types of expertise needed;
• An approach for developing a prioritised and time-bound action strategy that synthesises the analysis in a manner that would identify potential benefits to women onion farmers across the value chain, with a view to increasing their access to markets; increasing their income; reducing their caring burdens; and reducing their vulnerability to poverty.

Finalise and submit Methodology and Research and Analytical Tools for the Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVCA) (5 Days)

• Incorporate feedback from UN Women and other key stakeholders to be provided to the consultant virtually and by email, in order to finalise the methodology and research tools;
• Submit Finalised Methodology and Research and Analytical Tools for the Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVCA) to UN Women. This should be a model which could be applied to a diversity of crops and contexts.

The following should be noted:

• Based on consultations with the Agricultural Women’s Movement, IICA and the Dominica National Council of Women it was proposed that consideration be given to supporting the potential beneficiaries to grow other crops and vegetables during the off-season for onion cultivation, as a way of maintaining livelihood support during this period. While the methodology for this GSVCA will be specific to onions, the consultant should identify these crops and vegetables, during consultations with the Agricultural Women’s Movement and other key stakeholders and recommend to UN Women if it will be necessary to conduct a separate GSVCA for these crops. This information should be included in an Addendum to the report;
• Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction should be a central component of the analysis and be mainstreamed throughout the proposed methodology;
• Decent Work Principles should be a central component of the analysis and be mainstreamed throughout the proposed methodology;
• UN Women and the consultant should agree on the format and number of pages of the report.

Competencies

Values / Guiding Principles:

Integrity and Fairness

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;

Professionalism

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work;
• Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organisation and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Work in teams

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.

Conflict management

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Post-graduate degree, at least a Master’s degree, in Agricultural Economics or similar degree with strong expertise in the following areas: Gender Studies, Development Studies, and Environmental Sustainability.

Required Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible and relevant experience in the field of gender and agricultural development; public policy, programme and/or project management and specific work experience in the NGO sector, include with women’s groups;
• Demonstrative experience in working on gender and sustainable development in the CARICOM region is required;
• Demonstrative experience in leading and conducting research on gender, agriculture and climate change adaptation is required;
• Demonstrative experience in conducting gender sensitive value chain analysis is required.
• Familiarity with the Social Protection policy and programme reform context in the Caribbean is an asset, but not required.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a small team, manage competing priorities and perform well under pressure;
• Proven expertise in the use of results-based methodologies;
• Consultancy is open to all CARICOM nationals.

Language:

• Excellent command of written and spoken English.

Timeframes and Institutional Arrangements:

The consultant will be engaged for a maximum of 40 working days from 11 May 2015 – 17 July 2015. The consultancy will be home-based with travel expected within the CARICOM region.

Hardware, software, and communication:

The consultant must be equipped with a portable computer (laptop). The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based communication (Skype or equivalent) is required.

Payment:

The fee will be negotiated before contracting. Each payment will be based on a predefined and formal agreement between UN Women and the consultant and will be disbursed based on satisfactory completion of agreed deliverables.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter highlighting the specific post for which you are applying;
• The completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment; 
• Detailed curriculum vitae including a description of main achievements;
• A financial proposal quoted in United States dollars (US$) indicating daily rates and preferred fee structure based on deliverables.

Applications should be submitted by email to the attention of Melissa Bohne, UN Women (melissa.bohne@unwomen.org) by 28 April 2015.