UN WOMEN Jobs - 64156- Lead Consultant - To Undertake Gender Responsive E

Lead Consultant - To Undertake Gender Responsive Evaluation of the Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE) for Convergent Planning for Rural Development (Open to Indian Nationals Only)

Advertised on behalf of

UN WOMEN

Location :

New Delhi (Home Based), INDIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Mar-2016

Application Deadline :

03-Mar-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year (240 working days)

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

March 2016 to March 2017

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UN Women is the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women created in 2010 as a UN entity, to accelerate progress on gender equality and the realisation of women’s rights. UN Women is a dynamic and strong champion for women and girls, providing them with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels. In 2015, UN Women commemorated 20 years of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA, 1995), and successfully advocated with partners, for the stand-alone gender equality goal under the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. UN Women is involved in strengthening the commitment of UN member states to the Agenda 2030, Beijing Platform for Action, and other normative frameworks such as CEDAW, by investing directly in the rights of women and girls, and in supporting gender mainstreaming initiatives, in order to ensure substantive equality, particularly for those from marginalised communities.

The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Government of India (GoI) and UN Women have been working together on their shared mandate of women’s empowerment and poverty reduction. In the last three years joint gender mainstreaming initiative in rural livelihoods have been undertaken at the national and state levels, with a focus on the following areas of cooperation and collaboration:

Capacity-building of central government on gender mainstreaming of flagship programmes, through the initiatives of the Gender Budget Cell (GBC)
Strengthening the gender-responsive implementation and monitoring of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) in two states – Bihar and Madhya Pradesh (MP)
Increasing women’s participation and empowerment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in four states

Of the many successful joint initiatives of MoRD and UN Women, passing of the gender audit guidelines in MoRD to review mainstreaming of gender effectively in policies, programmes and structures of the Department of Rural Development and assess the extent to which such policies have been institutionalised is most valuable. And in the continued effort to mainstream gender and ensure gender-responsive implementation and monitoring of policies and programmes, the Ministry has invited UN Women to conduct a gender responsive evaluation of the ongoing Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE).

Moreover, in a National Consultation organised jointly by MoRD and UN Women in November 2015, collective commitment was reaffirmed for strengthening the design, implementation and monitoring of rural development policies and programmes from a gender lens. The Consultation also lead to emergence of 8 key asks – (1) Inclusion of gender equality and women’s rights as an explicit goal in the vision statement and objectives of rural development programmes; (2) Mechanisms for building gender-related capacities of all rural development functionaries at all levels; (3) Time bound plans for ensuring collection of gender-disaggregated data; (4) Creating public infrastructure and services for reducing women’s unpaid work and increasing their ownership and control over resources like land, water, technology etc.; (5) MoRD to adopt the principle of gender parity at all levels for employment of women; (6) Creation of a cadre of women workers for rural development and a range of interventions by NGOs in every village; (7) Time bound institutionalisation of strategies for achieving convergence; and (8) Time bound plans for systematic and continued engagement with all women who have been organised in collectives.

Convergent Planning: Intensive Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE)

Following the enormous opportunity created by the XIV Finance Commission for responsive local governance at the cutting edge institutional level of the Gram Panchayats and necessitating the urgent need to empower the gram panchayats, one of the pre-requisites if the management of this opportunity is to have a cogent development plan at the Gram Panchayat level. In this context, IPPE is a unique initiative of convergent planning under Mission Antyoday involving five different programmes of the Department – (1) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA); (2) National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM); (3) Indira Aawas Yojna (IAY); (4) National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP); and (5) Deen Dayal Upadhayay Grameen Kaushal Yojna (DDU-GKY). The mission aims to further strengthen the participatory planning process to plan for various rural development programmes and see wider participation of community, especially women and vulnerable families, prepare participatory MGNREGA work plans to strengthen natural resources based on livelihoods etc. It aims at strengthening the capacities of women’s Self-Help Groups and Village Organisations (VOs), community rural youth in engaging with the local governance system for mainstreaming their concern in local planning with support from the civil society organizations.

To achieve the above mentioned objective, gram panchayat serves to be the fulcrum in the planning process. In this context, the gram panchayat development plan (GPDP) is an opportunity to leverage resources from the existing schemes and programmes to match the local felt needs and concerns of the rural citizens especially the marginalized communities and integrate the same in the overall planning process of the villages. The planning process urges for interaction between citizen’s forum and government architecture for gender responsive planning for better gender outcomes under the overarching objective of economic development and social justice of panchayats.

The focus of GPDP is on local development issues, local perception of the need of priority, local analysis of problems and solutions, local resource management all within a collective local vision-based on the principle of Antodaya. The GPDP allows for different local models and innovations that would be locally appropriate and cost effective, transforming the Gram Panchayats into institutions of local self-governance. As a new initiative, the planning is spread across all the Gram Panchayats simultaneously and works with coordination of several departments at all levels – Finance, Planning, Women and Child Development, Health, Forests etc. to name a few.

With Mission Antodaya II, the aim is towards intensifying households and possible interventions to generate sustainable multiple livelihoods options for the backward blocks of the country. The mission aims to ensure that all households that are automatically included, or having even single deprivation definitely have a Mahatma Gandhi NREGA job card, membership of SHG in case the NRLM has reached that Panchayat. The thought behind this is that by planning MGNREGA and NRLM together, there is a real opportunity to see MGNREGA resources as a resource for livelihood. Similarly, a saturation approach in housing for all and skill training under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojna in panchayats that have vibrant SHGs under the NRLM will go a long way in tackling the multi-dimensionality of poverty simultaneously.

It is with regard to the aforementioned discussion on taking forward the adoption of a framework for gender audits by MoRD and collective commitments from the National Consultation to engender programmes and institutions, as well as to support and monitor convergent and participatory planning, that the services of a Consultant are being sought to undertake a gender responsive evaluation of the IPPE in its current phase.

The Consultant will work with the research lead and the WEE Unit in the UN Women Multi Country Office (MCO) for India, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, and the scope of the exercise will be as follows:

To review the IPPE from the perspective of the gender-responsiveness of the policy outline, design, implementation and monitoring mechanism, MIS and indicators, and budget allocation;
To analyse the effectiveness and gender responsive implementation emerged through the convergence of IPPE and GPDP for rural livelihoods operation, with a focus on women’s participation and leadership;
To assess the institutional capacities and mechanism to undertake gender-responsive participatory planning at the state, district and sub-district level; including capacity building methodologies, training modules, staffing plan, implementation plan, review of the associated CSOs at all the levels of implementation etc.

The geographical focus of the evaluation will be four states as follows: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand:

Mission Antyodaya is an effort to address the multi dimensionality of poverty in a simultaneous manner, from existing resources under various government programmes like NRLM, IAY, MGNREGA, DDUGKY, SSA, NHM, ICDS, SBM, etc.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervisorion of the Programme Specialist- Women’s Economic Empowerment Unit, UN Women MCO, the consultant will carry out the following functions:

Develop a methodology note for undertaking the evaluation;
Undertake a desk review of existing policy documents, MIS and budgets of IPPE and GPDP to identify gender gaps, if any;
Carry out primary research in 4 identified states to document the gender-responsive and effectiveness of convergent planning in the implementation and monitoring of IPPE and GPDP at the state, district and sub-district level; with a focus on 5 flagship programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India – (i) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act; (ii) National Rural Livelihoods Mission; (iii) Indira Aawas Yojna; (iv) National Social Assistance Programme; and (v) Deen Dayal Upadhayay Grameen Kaushal Yojna (DDU-GKY);
Prepare a strategy note with recommendations for strengthening gender components in the design, delivery, monitoring and resource allocation of the above;
Document two good practices of gender-responsive convergent planning as part of the review process;
Hold consultative meetings with relevant government functionaries and civil society experts, as and when required;
Contribute to UN Women’s knowledge networks and communities of practice, as relevant;
Attend relevant meetings with MoRD and/or UN Women for feedback on and finalisation of knowledge products.

Expected output

An evaluation report with an appraisal of the implementation and monitoring of IPPE and GPDP for gender-responsive convergent planning; as well as strategies for strengthening it, including two case studies that highlight women’s participation and leadership in local planning.

Deliverables:

March – May 2016:

Develop a work plan and methodology for undertaking research on convergent planning programme, including desk review and primary data collection;
Hold consultative meetings with relevant government functionaries and civil society experts.

June – August 2016:

Draft an evaluation report of 3 states with an appraisal of the implementation and monitoring of IPPE and GPDP for gender-responsive convergent planning;
Hold consultative meetings with relevant government functionaries and civil society experts.

September – November 2016:

Draft an evaluation report of 1 state with an appraisal of the implementation and monitoring of IPPE and GPDP for gender-responsive convergent planning;
Document good practices of gender-responsive convergent planning;
Hold consultative meetings with relevant government functionaries and civil society experts.

December 2016 – February 2017:

Final submission of evaluation report of 4 states with an appraisal of the implementation and monitoring of IIPE and GPDP for gender-responsive convergent planning, including good practices;
Final submission of strategic note for strengthening the convergent planning programme.

Competencies

Core Values / 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.

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.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Functional Competencies:

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Focuses on impact and result for the partners and responds positively to feedback.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Masters’ degree in Gender and Development Studies, Economics, Social Sciences or any other relevant degree.

Experience:

Minimum 7 years of professional experience in feminist evaluation;
Demonstrable understanding of gender and development issues in the context of rural livelihoods and gender equality in India;
Demonstrated ability to undertake research and documentation, including qualitative and quantitative research methods;
Relevant papers, articles and knowledge products published;
Ability to work independently and with minimal supervision.

Language:

Strong written skills in English and good command over Hindi as medium of communication.

Application:

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment, please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment;
Applications received after the close date will not be accepted;
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.