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.  UN Women’s goal in Liberia is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality which are key in sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development. In this regard, its programming in the Country is connected to four strategic priorities: Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems; Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

The Government of Liberia’s commitment to International and regional conventions, treaties, and protocols on gender equality and mainstreaming led to the formulation and the adaption of the National Gender Policy (NGP) as the overarching policy framework for achieving gender equality and women empowerment in Liberia. After its adoption in 2009, since 2010, the Government of Liberia through the former Ministry of Gender and Development (MOGD), now Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), has been working with all stakeholders in the country including line ministries, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, development partners in designing and implementing various programs and projects to address gender inequalities. In 2015, a mid-term review assessed the implementation of the National Gender Policy. The midterm review recommended revising the policy to align with evolving national and global agendas including the changes in the Ministries mandate (from MOGD to MGCSP), and the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The revised National Gender Policy was adopted in 2017, launched in 2018, and implemented from 2018 to 2022.

The MGCSP is currently planning an end evaluation of the National Gender Policy to assess the progress achieved, identify challenges, and address emerging issues. This evaluation will inform the review of Liberia's Gender Policy and guide the development of a new National Gender Policy. This assignment will be supervised by the Deputy Country Representative of UN Women Liberia in close collaboration with the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection through its Deputy Minister for Research, Policy and Planning. The consultant will closely work with UN Women’s Programme Specialist, Gender Responsive Budgeting in undertaking the day-to-day responsibilities.  In addition, a technical Committee will be established composed of selected key stakeholders and gender experts from other Ministries, UN Agencies, Development Partners, and CSOs among others to provide technical guidance and oversight to the consultant throughout the process of conducting the assignment. The Technical Committee will also strengthen ownership of the process. The consultant shall be ultimately accountable to UN Women and MGCSP for this assignment.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main objective of this consultancy is to conduct an evaluation of the Liberia’s National Gender Policy including through a Literature review, Key Informants interviews, and multi-stakeholder consultations to provide clear findings and recommendations for consideration in the Review of the Liberia’s Gender Policy to strengthen ongoing efforts towards achieving GEWE objectives in Liberia. More specifically, the objectives of the review are:

• Assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, and sustainability of the Gender Policy in its performance against set targets.
• Identify new global, regional, and national evidence and emerging issues that have influenced the implementation of policy-related programs.
• Evaluate the efficiency in the utilization of resources deployed in the implementation of the policy.
• Identify achievements, best practices, challenges, and lessons learned from the implementation of the policy.
• Draw recommendations and conclusions that will inform the development and review of the next Gender Policy.

Task 1. Inception Phase: Desk Review and development of the consultancy plan and inception report

1. Conduct a comprehensive desk review of existing relevant documents, including policies, programs, procedures/regulations, and reports. This review should encompass global, regional, and national evidence, as well as emerging issues influencing the implementation of the Policy and related programs, such as legislative reports, national budgetary allocations, policy guidelines, and legal frameworks pertinent to the institutionalization, mainstreaming, and implementation of gender equality in the country;
2. Develop an inception report that demonstrates an understanding of the assignment, methodology/tools/checklist, stakeholders, and work plan and present it to the Technical Committee and officials responsible for coordinating the review of the Gender Policy;
3. Incorporate comments and present for the approval of the Final Inception Report, including revised tools, for the evaluation of the Gender Policy/ Methodology and checklists;

Task 2. Data Collection, Compilation and Analysis:

1. Compile and analyse available statistical data, research findings, and policy documents relevant to gender issues in Liberia.
2. Conduct consultations with key institutions including Ministries of Agriculture, Education, Health, Finance and Development Planning, Justice and Gender Children and Social Protection as well as the Gender and Social Inclusion Units;
3. Conduct selected stakeholders’ consultations including UN agencies, development partners and non-governmental organsations/civil societies, private sector representatives, and media representatives;
4. Identify gender issues, challenges, and emerging issues that have been addressed by Liberia’s National Gender Policy in alignment with regional and global normative frameworks and national development priorities of Liberia;
5. Identify good practices, lessons learned/achievements, and gaps/challenges from Liberia’s National Gender Policy implementation;

Task 3. Report Development:

1. Based on the findings from the desk review, primary data, and data analysis, draft the end-line report outlining the status, achievements, resources committed to the National Gender Policy implementation, challenges, gaps emerging issues and recommendations to be considered in the next National Gender Policy;
2. Share Draft Evaluation report /preliminary findings and recommendations with the Technical Committee for review ;

Task 4. Stakeholder Validation and Endorsement and Finalization:

1. Facilitate National multistakeholder consultative meetings with identified key stakeholders, including development partners, government representatives, civil society organizations, community leaders, academia, the media, and other relevant actors in gender-related issues;
2. Incorporate inputs from national multistakeholder consultative meetings into the Draft Evaluation Report of the Liberia’s Gender Policy  
3. Present a Revised draft Evaluation report to the Technical Committee and the selected stakeholders for feedback and input;
4. Submit the final Evaluation Report of Liberia’s National Gender Policy to the MGCSP in both soft and hard copies to inform the drafting of a new National Gender Policy;
5. Prepare minutes and activity reports from all consultative meetings and workshops at National and local levels;
6. Develop and submit Gender Policy evaluation process report that describes the entire evaluation process, a list of stakeholders consulted, a matrix of all stakeholders’ comments obtained throughout the evaluation; challenges encountered, and lessons learned;

Deliverables

1. Draft and Final Inception Report with detailed work plan, methodology, tools, roles, responsibilities, and time frame;
2. Literature Review Report detailing the main findings of relevant international, regional, and national documents, reports, and instruments, including legislative reports, national budgetary allocations, policy guidelines, and legal frameworks pertinent to gender equality institutionalization, mainstreaming, and implementation in the country;
3. Multi-Stakeholders’ Consultations Report to provide the main findings of in-depth consultations with key stakeholders (including, but not exclusive to, all relevant Government ministries and local government bodies, Members of the House of Representatives and Senate, UN agencies, Development partners, agencies, professional organizations,  and non-governmental organizations/ civil society organizations, law enforcement agencies, the Judiciary, gender focal persons, relevant, and private sector representatives);
4. Draft endline evaluation report including preliminary findings and recommendations;
5. Final validated endline evaluation report;
6. Gender Policy evaluation process report that describes the entire evaluation process, a list of stakeholders consulted, a matrix of all stakeholders’ comments obtained throughout the evaluation; challenges encountered, and lessons learned.

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

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:  

https://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values 

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women's rights issues, political science, law, and development;
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with government representatives, CSOs, Women’s rights group, other UN agencies and donors;
• Proven networking skills, and ability;
• Strong writing and communication skills;
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes; Strong IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages; and
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skill.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree is required, but PhD would be an added advantage in Gender Studies, social sciences, political science, governance, or other related fields.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of proven experience in gender and gender mainstreaming and gender related policies.
• Prior experience in review, assessment, and evaluation work in development context and proven success in leading reviews of policies and programs preferably related to gender ;
• Proven exposure/experience in gender and emergency including the design/development/implementation of capacity development support programmes;
• Proven experience in leading and facilitating workshops;
• Knowledge of the governance, policy development on gender equality, and women empowerment context within Liberia.
• Excellent analytical skills with a strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
• Familiarity with the UN system would be an asset.

Language and other skills:

• Proficiency in oral and written English;
• Ability to effectively utilize computer software (i.e. MS Excel, Access, oracle, SPSS etc.) for database development and management

How To Apply 

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form-en.doc)
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.