Background

Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) seeks to mainstream gender issues into the national budgeting processes from planning to implementation, monitoring and evaluation. In recent years, GRB has been increasingly used in various countries as an effective tool to channel financial resources and monitor progress towards achieving gender targets and priorities. Over the past eight years, UN Women has supported GRB work in more than 30 countries at national, sectoral and local levels and significantly contributed to positioning GRB within the framework of mainstream fiscal policy as well as national planning and budgeting processes.

Work on GRB in Ethiopia provides a platform for gender mainstreaming that will strengthen policies and budgets across sectors to better meet the needs of women and men in local communities. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) has a lead role in the institutionalization of GRB: A gender responsive Budget Call for the 2010 fiscal year (2003 Ethiopian fiscal year) requests Sectoral Ministries to include activities in support of the implementation of the Women’s Policy and gender inclusive policies in the budgets submitted to MOFED as part of the annual national budgeting process.

 The long term objective of GRB work in Ethiopia is to contribute to the effective implementation of gender sensitive policy commitments reflected in the national development strategy, the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) for 2010/2011-2014/2015 and other strategic documents through increased and better targeted resource allocations for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In the context of its Country Programme Strategy for Ethiopia (2008-2011), UN Women has developed a partnership with MOFED focusing on capacity building of government officials on GRB tools as well as the development of guidelines for institutionalizing GRB in selected sectoral budgets. UN Women is also working closely with MOWCYA in the context of the UN Flagship Joint Programme on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in support of the implementation of specific thematic priorities on women’s economic empowerment, preventing and responding to Gender Based Violence as well as institutional capacity strengthening across sectors. Furthermore, UN Women’s partnership with the Ministry for Women, Children and Youth Affairs focuses on the development and use of a leveling tool to assess results of gender mainstreaming across different sectors.

UN Women has also developed partnerships with civil society organizations in Ethiopia that implement projects aiming at strengthening the gender dimensions of selected regional development plans and budgets.

In this context, UN Women is planning to hire 2 national consultants that will contribute to building capacity of national stakeholders and developing relevant tools, guidelines and methodologies for the implementation of the GRB agenda in Ethiopia in close collaboration and consultation with MOFED and MOWCYA and other national stakeholders as relevant.

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultants on GRB will work with a team of two international consultants recruited to work on this assignment. Under the direct supervision of the Country Programme Manager and in close cooperation with other programme staff of UN Women Ethiopia, the consultants will accomplish the following tasks:

  • Assist in the development of a needs assessment methodology to identify partner needs and priorities to feed into the design of the TOT and training sessions.
  • Assist in the process of revising the existing GRB guidelines produced by MOFED to feed into and inform the development of country specific training tools on GRB.
  • Facilitate the adaptation of existing training materials on GRB to the needs of specific target groups and the Ethiopian country context.
  • Assist in the organisation of 2 TOT training sessions for selected a) government and b) non-government partners working on GRB in Ethiopia and facilitate selected parts of the training.
  • Assist in the organisation of 1 sensitization session for members of parliamentary standing committees (budget and women’s caucus) and facilitate selected parts of the session as appropriate.

    The national consultants on GRB will work with a team of two international consultants recruited to work on this assignment. Under the direct supervision of the Country Programme Manager and in close cooperation with other programme staff of UN Women Ethiopia, the consultants will accomplish the following tasks:

    • Assist in the development of a needs assessment methodology to identify partner needs and priorities to feed into the design of the TOT and training sessions.
    • Assist in the process of revising the existing GRB guidelines produced by MOFED to feed into and inform the development of country specific training tools on GRB.
    • Facilitate the adaptation of existing training materials on GRB to the needs of specific target groups and the Ethiopian country context.
    •  Assist in the organisation of 2 TOT training sessions for selected a) government and b) non-government partners working on GRB in Ethiopia and facilitate selected parts of the training.
    •  Assist in the organisation of 1 sensitization session for members of parliamentary standing committees (budget and women’s caucus) and facilitate selected parts of the session as appropriate.
    • Contribute to the preparation of reports on the outcomes of the training sessions, including key decisions and action plans developed by the target groups.  
    • The consultants will have in-depth and extensive experience in conducting training on Gender Responsive Budgeting with participation of government institutions, civil society organizations and academia. In addition, the consultants should have rich experience and knowledge in production of training toolkits.
    • Contribute to the preparation of reports on the outcomes of the training sessions, including key decisions and action plans developed by the target groups.  
      • DELIVERABLES
      • A needs assessment questionnaire and a report on needs and priorities identified by partners and stakeholders in relation to the TOT and training sessions.
      • Country-specific training materials (tool kits) for the TOT and training sessions
      •  2 TOT sessions and 1 training/sensitization session
      • Report on the key outcomes/results of the training sessions.
         
        DURATION AND START DATE
        • The total time to complete the project specified under these ToRs shall not exceed 30 calendar days from the start date.
        • The consultancy will commence on November 28 2011

Competencies

The consultants will have in-depth and extensive experience in conducting training on Gender Responsive Budgeting with participation of government institutions, civil society organizations and academia. In addition, the consultants should have rich experience and knowledge in production of training toolkits.

 
Competencies  
  • Ability to work with diverse stakeholders to ensure effective delivery of training on GRB of high standards;      Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
  • Ability to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks effectively as part of a team
  • Excellent communication and facilitation skills
  • Familiarity and working experience in Ethiopia is necessary
  • Fluency in Amharic is required.

Required Skills and Experience

Experience
  • At least 7 years of professional experience on gender and development issues at regional and/or country level with focus on Gender Responsive Budgeting.
  • Proven record (of at least 7 years) and expertise in development of country specific training materials and facilitation of TOT and training sessions on GRB tools and methodologies.
  • Extensive experience in facilitating the development of strategies and action plans on GRB by relevant stakeholders;
  • In-depth knowledge of public finance management systems and public sector reforms and their implications for gender equality and women’s empowerment.
     
    Education
    • First Degree or Masters Degree in Economics or in any social science, preferably in gender and development studies
    • Interested candidates are requested to submit a technical proposal that includes a detailed work plan and a presentation of the methodology for the completion of the assignment and a financial proposal that states the financial resources required for the delivery of the various activities

    DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

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

    1. Proposal: (not more than 450 words)
    • Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
    • Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (if applicable)
    2. Financial proposal: indicate monthly fee

    3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references

     

    EVALUATION

    Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

    Cumulative analysis

    The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

    a) responsive/compliant/acceptable
    b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
    * Technical Criteria weight; 70%
    * Financial Criteria weight; 30%

    Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 point and above would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

    Criteria
    Weight
    Max. Point
    Technical  (based on CV, Proposal and Interview)
     
     
    Minimum educational background and work experience (CV)
    10%
    10

    Understanding of scope of work and methodology (From Proposal)
    20%
    20

    Individual Competencies (Interview)
    40%
    40
    Financial
    30%
    30