Background

About UN Women Liberia

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), grounded on 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 at various levels; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, the UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. In Liberia, UN Women leads the United Nations Country Team on gender equality and the empowerment of women. In line with the implementation of the UN One Programme in Liberia, UN Women is embarked on scaling up its support in the four priority areas as aligned to the Government’s Agenda for Transformation i.e. 1. Governance and Women Participation; 2. Women’s economic empowerment; 3. Women, peace and security; and 4. Coordination and gender mainstreaming in national development priories.

After a decade of peace, Liberia is resolutely turned toward the future and consolidating the gains and dividends of peace. Characterized as both a post-conflict country, and a fragile state, Liberia is facing the challenges of transitioning from a country marked by the fourteen year civil war to a country resolutely turned toward the future.  Liberia is confronting the challenges of persistent structural poverty, highly unequal income distribution, and lack of access to basic services for the vast majority of the population. The consequences of the civil war only further exacerbated the situation, destroyed the existing infrastructure and lay the groundwork for the significant reconstruction and development priorities which need to be addressed today in Liberia. The Ebola outbreak further exacerbated the vulnerability faced by women impacting their livelihood, access to opportunities, as well as halting peace building processes. Despite the presence of emblematic leaders in advancing women’s rights and strong state commitment as well as the continued improvements in global rankings, the status of women in Liberia remains marked by gender disparities and the persistence of cultural norms which limit the recognition and exercise of women’s human rights and compromise future development.

 The Government of Liberia through mandated ministries such as Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection is committed to addressing its institutional development needs and capacity gaps in order to more effectively play its role in consolidating the policy gains through improved implementation and anchoring them in a whole of government accountability framework.  As the Ministry’s key partner, UN Women is particularly well placed to accompany them in this process through the provision of technical assistance, capacity building, and policy guidance.

Although the Ministry plays the lead coordination role within the Government of Liberia for the promotion of gender equality, there are multiple Government institutions and ministries with the responsibility of implementing the National Gender Policy, particularly within the implementation of pending national reforms. These reforms also take into consideration the ongoing processes of the Ebola recovery through the Economic Recovery and Stabilization Plan (ERSP), Review of the Agenda for Transformation, as well as taking into account UNMIL drawdown. The various government institutions are central to the success of the National Gender Machinery with active stakeholders and participants in the assessments, analysis. In partnership with Sweden, UN Women is undertaking a Preparatory Phase of the Gender Sector Support Programme, which will provide a baseline and evidence to inform and longer-term strategic interventions to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women in Liberia

About the Position:

Under the overall guidance of the Country Representative, and direct supervision of the Deputy Representative, the consultant will undertake a participatory institutional assessment of key stakeholders in gender equality and women empowerment, including government, civil society, women groups, government agencies, among others, to identify the institutional and capacity gaps which need to be addressed to strengthen their ability to play their role in advocacy, accountability and oversight on gender results. Based on the findings, the consultant will develop a 4-year programme to address the gaps at national and subnational levels, as well as increase women participation and representation in decision making processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Undertake a participatory institutional assessment of key stakeholders in gender equality and women empowerment, including government, civil society, women groups, and government agencies, among others, to identify the institutional and capacity gaps which need to be addressed to strengthen their ability to play their role in advocacy, accountability and oversight on gender results. Based on the findings;
• Develop a 4-year programme to address the gaps at national and subnational levels, as well as increase women participation and representation in decision making processes.

Undertake a participatory institutional assessment of key stakeholders in gender equality and women empowerment:

• Prepare an inception report, covering the background, objectives, methodological approach, work plan and deliverables for presentation at inception workshop;
• Develop tools to conduct capacity assessment needs of participating institutions;
• Review the gaps analysis reports on gender initiatives at national and subnational levels including structures, mandate, personnel and funding, relevant to the effective implementation of the gender responses within view to develop their capacity;
• Conduct in-depth assessment of the capacity of the participating institutions (selected government ministries; civil society( including women networks and groups, women Peace Huts), Private Sector, and other relevant stakeholders) and their organs and identify capacity gaps; institutional development requirements; assess ability to strengthen relations with external stakeholders; assess inter-institution coordination capacity; with specific reference to gender equality and the empowerment of women;
• Carry out an analysis on the capacity of the participating institutions to mainstream gender and human rights, and fully apply result based management principles;
• Assess institutional strategies, business processes, human resource management, information, equipment and communications technology of the participating institutions;
• Assess the relevance of professional and technical qualifications of professional and support staff;
• Provide report with recommendations on a framework to address the capacity gaps;
• Develop a 4 -year Programme for institutional capacity development of the participating institutions and stakeholders which will include technical capacity and strategies.

Develop a 4-year programme to address the gaps at national and subnational levels, as well as increase women participation and representation in decision making processes:

• Develop a draft programme drawing from the capacity assessment as well as recommendations from various research and assessments – as per the literature review analysis report (available);
• Conduct a series of consultations with stakeholders at national, county and district levels on the proposed interventions;
• Review the programme based on inputs and feedback from various stakeholders, through a technical working group;
• Finalize the Programme, and facilitate round tables with key agencies including the donor community on the agreed interventions.

Deliverable(s):

• Report including capacity assessment with recommendations and Capacity Development Action Plan/Framework;
• Develop a 4 – Year Programme to develop and strengthen capacity of gender machineries and actors, including government, civil society, women groups, and private sector in Liberia.

Competencies

Core values and Guiding principles:

Integrity:

• 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.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity:

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

Core Competencies:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

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 behavior towards others.

Conflict Management:

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

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Participatory approach, knowledge of statistical theory and applications and the ability to monitor and collect research data to assess accuracy, validity, and integrity;
• Ability to analyze statistics and other data and to interpret and evaluate results, and create reports and/or presentations;
• Ability to effectively utilize computer software (i.e. MS Excel, Access, oracle, etc.) for database development and management;
• Communicating clearly and objectively the work done and the resulting findings. Use appropriate standards for reporting certain findings or recommendations;
• Ability to follow instructions through a standard work process;
• Ability to perform routine tasks and to check work for accuracy before completion of tasks;
• Ability to write comprehensive assessment and/or research reports.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Science, Economics, or equivalent; Certified in Monitoring and Evaluation.

Experience:

Minimum 8 years  of proven experience in the following areas:

• Gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls;
• Developing strategies for conducting baseline studies and/or research;
• Developing multi-year programmes especially in the area of gender and women participation at national and subnational levels;
• Strong on participatory methodologies including analysis and reporting of data;
• Survey design, research study, with a focus on gathering statistics and/or data on institutional capacity; and
• Assessment of gender machineries.

Language:

• Fluent in English.

Note:

Shortlisted candidates may be requested to provide samples of their previous work.