Background

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.

The UN Women Multi Country Office for the Caribbean (MCO) covers 22 countries and territories in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean, which are part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) have embarked on a new, global, multi-year initiative focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) - The Spotlight Initiative. The Initiative is so named as it brings focused attention to this issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the centre of efforts to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Complementing the Spotlight country programmes in six Caribbean countries[1], the Regional Spotlight Programme will support and catalyse regional approaches that will cascade to the national levels, for the development of standardised approaches to essential services; prevention programming; and data collection and analysis. It will expand the influence of the women’s movement to participate in, influence and monitor the implementation of regional strategies; and it will provide resources for regional, national and community-based organisations to scale up their work and to innovate evidence-based prevention programming. All of this will be done based on intersectional analyses to ensure a focus on those under-served or marginalised because of discrimination and social exclusion.

The regional programme will maximize investment, and contribute to the scale, sustainability, visibility, lessons learnt and replication of programming throughout the region. It will address specific regional barriers/challenges/bottlenecks that inhibit progress on the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls. In particular, the regional programme will support CARICOM and OECS as the two intergovernmental frameworks leading functional cooperation in the region.

UN Women is the Technical Lead for the Regional Spotlight Initiative and also leads the pillar on Data and Research (Pillar 5).

Objectives of the assignment

UN Women, as the agency leading Pillar 5 on Data in the Regional Spotlight Initiative, is seeking to contract a Team Leader with a Sub-Contracted Research Team to undertake the following in Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica (the countries under study):

• Estimate the annual economic cost of sexual harassment against women at the household level including:
  • Estimate of annual direct costs to individual women of incidents of sexual harassment. These costs include those associated with reduced earnings, impact on promotions, time out of work, lost benefits, difference in earnings and benefits in subsequent employment, and related expenses for legal fees, medical and therapy fees, adverse effects on personal finances and loans, housing insecurity, retraining and education
  • Estimate of indirect costs – income loss due to missed work, loss of reproductive labour such as childcare and care associated with elderly and sick dependents, children’s health and children’s school performance including missed days, failing and poor grades.
• Estimate annual service provision costs to the workplace, both public and private sector which includes:
  • Workplace costs related to perpetrator:
    • Legal expenses, settlements and insurance costs
    • Loss of productivity
    • Reductions in team performance, including dismissal
    • Transfer costs
    • Reduced brand perception and reputation
    • Hindered talent acquisition and recruitment
  • Workplace costs related to the survivor:
    • Loss in productivity
    • Reductions in team performance including retention issues
• Develop the following macro-estimates:
  • Estimate aggregate costs for the workplace
  • Estimate cost of service provision
  • Estimate costs due to productivity loss

The Multi-Country Study on the Economic Costs of VAWG will fill a key knowledge gap in CARICOM. This study builds on the Women’s Health Surveys conducted in 5 CARICOM countries (Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago) from 2016 to 2019 which produced data for the first time in the region on the prevalence of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. The results from the Women’s Health Surveys confirm that lifetime sexual harassment rates across the abovementioned 5 countries are as follows: 13% (Trinidad & Tobago), 17% (Guyana), 24% (Jamaica), 25% (Suriname) and 27% (Grenada).[2]

The study will focus on providing an estimate of opportunity costs of sexual harassment against women individually and their households; and costs to the workplace, both public and private sectors.

[1] Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago

[2] Caribbean Women Count: VAWG Data Hub (unwomen.org)

Duties and Responsibilities

The Team Leader and her/his sub-contracted Research Team, with overall guidance provided by UN Women MCO-Caribbean, will directly undertake the research activities necessary to fulfil the objectives outlined above.

The Team Leader, regardless of where s/he is located, will be responsible for all logistical arrangements, (international and local) and costs, including transportation telecommunications costs (among others) related to conducting research activities within the countries under study. UN Women will cover the costs of convening the Dissemination Meeting where the report and study report will be publicly shared.

DELIVERABLES

Jamaica Component

• Inception Report - 24 March 2022
• Estimate the annual economic cost of sexual harassment against women  - 22 April 2022
• Estimate annual service provision costs to the workplace, both public and private sector - 20 May 2022
• Macro-estimates - 31 May 2022:
  • Estimate aggregate costs for the workplace
  • Estimate cost of service provision
  • Estimate costs due to productivity loss         

Guyana Component

• Inception Report  - 31 March 2022
• Estimate the annual economic cost of sexual harassment against women  - 29 April 2022
• Estimate annual service provision costs to the workplace, both public and private sector - 27 May 2022
• Macro-estimates -7 June 2022:
  • Estimate aggregate costs for the workplace
  • Estimate cost of service provision
  • Estimate costs due to productivity loss         

Grenada Component

• Inception Report  -  23 June 2022
• Estimate the annual economic cost of sexual harassment against women  - 22 July 2022
• Estimate annual service provision costs to the workplace, both public and private sector -24 August 2022
• Macro-estimates - 23 September 2022
  • Estimate aggregate costs for the workplace
  • Estimate cost of service provision
  • Estimate costs due to productivity loss         

Draft Report: Results of Multi-Country Study - 21 October 2022

Final Report: Results of Multi-Country Study - 18 November 2022

Power point Presentation: Results of Multi-Country Study -  30 November 2022

Competencies

Core Values:

• Integrity and Fairness
• Professionalism
• Respect for diversity

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf.

Functional Competencies

• Strong economic analysis and social research and analytical skills. 
• Excellent written skills including conveying complex concepts and recommendations
• Ability to interact independently or as part of a team. 
• Demonstrated ability to multitask under pressure and to meet strict deadlines.

Language:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required.

LOCATION

• The consultancy will be home-based with no travel required.

REMUNERATION

• The consultancy fee will be negotiated with each consultant 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.
• The remuneration for this contract type is an all-inclusive fee, the organization will not be liable for additional cost or benefits.  Hence, it is the responsibility of the consultant to take out adequate medical insurance for the duration of the contract and it is recommendable that the policy includes coverage for COVID-19 related illness.   The medical coverage should be international when the contract requires missions or international assignment.
• If selected for this consultancy, proof of medical coverage should be presented within the first two months of the contract.

HARDWARE, SOFTWARE, AND COMMUNICATION

The consultant must be equipped with a fully functional laptop, which must run at least Windows 7. The consultant must be reasonably accessible by email and telephone (preferably mobile). The use of reliable, internet-based (Skype or equivalent) is required.

REFERENCES:

• Minimum of three client references that include the name of the contact person, title and contact information.

Required Skills and Experience

Team composition

1. Team Leader: A Ph.D. or equivalent Degree in any of the following areas: Economics, Statistics, Public Health, Gender and Development (provide CV)
2. A minimum of two Project team members: A Minimum of a Master’s Degree in any of the following areas: Economics, Statistics, Public Health, Gender and Development (provide CVs)

Relevant Experience of the Team

1)  The Team Leader must meet the minimum requirements outlined above in terms of education and following with regard to experience.

2) Team Leader:

• At least ten years working on gender and development issues, and specifically, costing and budgeting for gender equality.
• Proven experience with undertaking at least 1 large research initiative on costing violence against women and girls.
• Proven experience with engaging with users and producers of gender statistics or gender equality research

3) Team Members:

• At least three years working on social statistics or related areas.
• A minimum of three years working on social and /or gender and development issues

Robustness of Methodology Proposed

Globally, the research on the economic costs of sexual harassment is weak. Given the dearth and variation of methodologies, it will be critical to assess the robustness of the research methodology applied prior to finalisation of contractual arrangements for this assignment. The Team Leader will therefore be expected to include a proposed methodology for assessment in her/his application.

Interview

The Team Leader will be interviewed in order assess suitability for the assignment and to inform the overall evaluation of the application submission.

Provisions for monitoring and evaluation of performance

The Team Leader’s performance will be formally assessed at the end of the assignment. Each deliverable will be reviewed/assessed for feedback by UN Women MCO-Caribbean.