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.

Zimbabwe seeks to become an upper middle-income country by 2030. The attainment of gender equality and women’s rights as afforded to all female citizens in the Constitution is critical for Zimbabwe’s attainment of the Vision 2030 goals. The Vision[1] is based on the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (October 2018 to December 2020) and two successive five-year National Development Strategies (NDSs), the first of which has been developed.[2]

The country has signed and ratified the major international and regional gender equality and women’s right commitments. These include the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 1995 Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action, the Protocol to the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development, among others.

Closing the political, economic, and socio-economic inequalities between females and males, however, remains one of the country’s major development challenges. The country’s gender inequalities also are situated and compounded by a multi-hazard humanitarian environment which has included three consecutive years of drought, major damage from Cyclone Idai in 2019 and uneven economic reforms. In 2020, the country joined the global community in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of the global El Nino have pushed the country further into prolonged droughts and in April 2024, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe declared a state of emergency as the drought was declared a National Disaster. The country also issued the Drought Flash Appeal (March 2024-March 2025) requesting US$351 million from humanitarian partners to target close to three million people in need.

The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index Report 2024 ranks Zimbabwe at no.52 which puts it in the top 100. The Global Gender Gap Index annually measures the state and change in gender parity in the areas of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment.

Zimbabwe has managed to close gender disparities in education, but a slightly higher proportion of females (27% compared to 23.1% males) continue to leave school due to gender stereotypes and norms that encourage females to marry, unplanned pregnancies leading to marriage and poverty in rural homes where the education of boys is favoured over that of girls. Gender stereotypes and norms also lead to more women who attend tertiary institutions to choose fields of studies that provide career options that balance their responsibilities between jobs and a family.[3]

Agriculture continues to be one of the mainstays of the country’s economy and the 2019 Labour Force Survey shows 11,235,467 in the sector comprising of 56.9% females and 43.01% males. A ZimStat survey to measure SDG 5.a.1 (Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land by sex) shows about 45% of the population in agriculture have ownership or secure rights over agricultural land with women constituting a smaller proportion (44.9 percent) than males (45.9 percent), and women constitute more than half (56.4 percent) of the owners or right-bearers of agricultural land.[4] However in terms of agricultural labour, gender disparities emerge with more women in the agricultural sector being in vulnerable employment. Women constitute about 81% of contributing family workers in the sector and females are only 38% of the employees in paid employment in agriculture.[5]

A dedicated National Country Gender Equality Profile (NCGEP) which provides timely and an up-to-date analysis of the progress and challenges towards Zimbabwe’s achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and specifically SDG 5, is one of the strategic priorities of the country’s Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MoWACSMED) as a key source for evidence-based policy making, programming and advocacy by all sectors and stakeholders. It also provides a strong baseline of data for tracking a measurable change in the lives of women and girls in the country. The NCGEP is critical for the development of a more gender-responsive National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), Country Common Assessment (CCA) and the next UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

 

 

[1] “Government of Zimbabwe (2018): Towards an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030-New Dispensation Core Values”

[2] National Development Strategy (2021-2025)

[3] Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

[4] Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

[5] Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

Duties and Responsibilities

UN WOMEN Country Offices (UNWOMEN COs) have the mandate to support national Governments with the production of the NCGEP in accordance with the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022-2025 outcome 6, indicator 0.6f which speaks to the “Production, Analysis and Use of Gender Statistics, Sex-disaggregated data and knowledge”. The NCGEP therefore is an in-depth, national-level analyses of the status of women and men, based on both statistics and qualitative data.[1]

UN Women Zimbabwe CO in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) provided technical and financial support to the Government of Zimbabwe through the MoWACSMED to produce the country’s first Gender Profile during the period of 2020-2022 which also includes a gendered analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its support for the country’s second NCGEP, UN Women will work again with the MoWACSMED and collaborate with a range of partners within the public and private sectors, civil society, academia and within the UN to build national ownership and capacities in producing the second NCGEP.

The year 2024 provides an opportune time for Zimbabwe to begin to produce a timely and high-quality NCGEP to be published in early 2025. The country has conducted several large censuses and prevalence surveys (2022 Population and Housing Census, in 2024 data was gathered for the Zimbabwe Demographic & Health Survey, data collected for the forthcoming Zimbabwe Gender Inequality Index, data collected in 2024 for the country’s Economic Census (conducted every 10 years) which will inform the NDS2, among other smaller surveys conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency). Zimbabwe also prepared and presented in 2024, the country’s SDG Voluntary National Review III report which contains some up-to-date administrative data from Government entities. All these reports provide a wealth of new and timely quantitative data for a strong gender statistics analysis.

UN Women Zimbabwe therefore seeks the services of an International/Regional Consultant to support the CO as Lead consultant the development of the NCGEP (2025-2030).

  1. OBJECTIVES

The consultant will be required to develop and implement an agreed upon NCGEP Action Plan of Work that aligns to the following NCGEP’s objectives:

  • To provide a strategic analysis of GEWE (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and Women’s Rights) status, progress and priorities for evidence-based advocacy, policy dialogues and policy making
  • To strengthen UN System Coordination including to inform the UN’s forthcoming CCA and UNSDCF processes.
  • To inform the development of UN Women Zimbabwe’s next Strategic Note and localize implementation of the corporate Strategic Plan
  • To support and complement monitoring and reporting on global and regional frameworks by providing a comprehensive analysis on the impact of normative and legislative GEWE frameworks.
  • To contribute to Zimbabwe’s gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

 

  1. UN WOMEN’S CORE PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPING A NCGEP

In responding to these TORs, the consultant should consistently follow and embed the core principles provided below into the NCGEP processes:

  • International Norms and Standards -all CGEPs must be framed against the key GEWE international norms and standards, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, among others, as well as relevant intergovernmental outcomes, such as resolutions of the General Assembly and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women
  • National Ownership and Capacities – ownership and buy-in should be sought through consultations with a diversity of stakeholders for the UN Women-led CGEP to be produced.
  • Enhanced UN Coherence and Gender Mainstreaming – recommendations provided by the CGEP can, along with other UNDG planning and accountability tools, advise the UNCT on the strategy to support countries to achieve GEWE.

Deliverables

 

The National Consultant will work with a Lead Consultant. The National Consultant will be responsible for a nuanced Qualitative Analysis which shall include the following:

 

  • Undertake the desk review of existing and relevant literature, reports, assessments, etc.
  • An in-depth analysis of the economic, political and social contexts and challenges in the country which provide the context in which to analyze gender equality issues, framed against international norms and standards and the national/international commitments Zimbabwe has made.
  • Prevailing policies at both the macro and sectoral level that impact on GEWE.
  • A specific analysis of laws and policies aimed at addressing different aspects of gender inequality, how they are being implemented, any blockages or bottlenecks encountered and how these realities may differ for those groups most at risk to being left behind.
  • A political analysis of government and other key stakeholders on gender equality in the country and how they are involved in shaping policies, including the National Gender Equality Machinery, relevant sectoral ministries and key actors in civil society including women’s organizations, trade unions, academics, the private sector and others
  • Convening and facilitation of national consultations with government, civil society, academics, development partners, among others

 

 

Deliverable

No of days/duration

%Allocation and amount

Mapping of key stakeholders on gender equality and recommendations, proposed dates & methodology, for conducting 6 stakeholder consultations (government ministries, OPC, Independent Commissions, Parliament, Gender equality and women’s rights groups, private sector, academia) & Key informant interviews

5

30%

6 Consultations convened and reports from each completed

25

Key informant interviews completed, and information transcribed/compiled

15

Desk review report compiled

5

70%

Qualitative analysis reports (scope of each described in Deliverables above) completed and submitted

25

Support to the Lead Consultant with NCGEP inputs and recommendation s

25

 

 

 

 

Organizational setting, reporting and collaborators.

 

The consultant will work with the Lead Consultant and both report to the UN Women Zimbabwe Deputy Country Representative, and will be supported by the UN Women Deputy Country Representative, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. The Deputy Country Representative also may appoint an internal CO team to provide additional support.

 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

 

This is a home-based consultancy. The National Gender Consultant is expected to work remotely using her/his own computer and office facilities and supplies but may access UN Women office whenever required within the scope of this assignment.

 

Consultancy reports should be provided in both print and electronic versions in English, along with a detailed description of the fulfilled tasks according to the Terms of Reference and deliverables to be submitted. Analytical documents, reports and other materials developed by experts should be submitted as justification for payment.

 

[1] Guidance Note, UN Women, Country Gender Equality Profiles

 

[1] “Government of Zimbabwe (2018): Towards an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030-New Dispensation Core Values”

[2] National Development Strategy (2021-2025)

[3] Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

[4] Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

[5] Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

[6] Guidance Note, UN Women, Country Gender Equality Profiles

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 qualitative research methodology skills
  • National and demographics statistical background
  • Gender analysis skills
  • Strong facilitation skills
  • Knowledge of gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment issues in various sectors

 

 

Required Skills and Experience

 

Education and Certification:

 

Advanced university degree (Masters) in gender, economics, public policy, social science research methods or related disciplines is required.

 

Experience:

  • At least 7 years of progressively responsible work experience that combines research and knowledge generation in the areas of gender and development, gender equality and/or women’s empowerment.
  • Proven record of publications, articles on gender and development, gender equality and/or women’s empowerment in general or in a specific sectors/discipline (e.g. politics, economics, private sector,)
  • Demonstrated experience in facilitating consultations with a diversity of stakeholders on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment issues at national level
  • Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
  • Proven experience and background in national and demographics statistical analysis
  • Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)
  • Demonstrated knowledge of gender equality and women’s empowerment issues within Zimbabwe’s political, economic, cultural, development and social contexts

 

Languages:

  • Fluency in English is required.
  • Knowledge of one of Zimbabwe’s local languages is an advantage

 

V. How to Apply