UNDP Jobs - 70128- National social protection consultant to support g

National social protection consultant to support gender mainstreaming into Tanzania

Location :

Dar es Salaam, TANZANIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Feb-2017

Application Deadline :

24-Jan-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

26 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

26 working days

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

The United Republic of Tanzania aspires to become a middle-income country by 2025 through industrialization for economic transformation and human development. Since 2007, the country has recorded sustained growth of more than 6 per cent per annum and notable progress in human development has been made, as reflected in the improvement of the Human Development Index (HDI) from 0.352 in the 1990s to 0.488 in 2013. However, despite sustained economic growth, the poverty rate has only marginally declined from 33.3 per cent in 2007 to 28.4 per cent in 2012, and 43.5 percent of the population is still living on less than $1.25 per day.

While poverty in Tanzania is particularly pervasive in rural areas, it is also feminized. Also, the Gender Inequality Index ranked Tanzania 123 of 149 countries with a score of 0.553 2013, implying significant gender gaps in human development. Women, particularly in rural areas, are often disadvantaged in terms of access to employment, health services, education and decision making processes. At the same time, inadequate coverage and coordination of social protection interventions continue to leave poor men and women vulnerable to disease, job loss or other catastrophes, despite recent commendable progress in social protection provision in Tanzania.

Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) was initiated in 2000 by the Government of Tanzania as one of its initiatives on poverty reduction anchored to the Poverty Reduction Strategies. The implementation of the first two phases of TASAF achieved impressive results in facilitating community access to social services through infrastructure development projects such as schools, health and water facilities.

Based on the success of TASAF I and TASAF II, in 2013 the Government of Tanzania decided to design and implement the Tanzania Productive Safety Net programme (TASAF III–PSSN). Direct beneficiaries of the TASAF PSSN Programme are poor and vulnerable households living in Project Area Authorities (PAAs) identified as chronic poor, and it targets people living below the food poverty line.

While the PSSN programme does not explicitly aim to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, gender concerns are to some extent integrated into the programme. Women are for example identified as the recipient of the cash transfer on behalf of the household, and are offered flexible working hours for the public works programme. However, there is a need for more knowledge about the impact of the PSSN on gender roles and dynamics in the communities and within families. Additionally, there is a need to ensure that gender concerns are integrated into all components of the PSSN programme.

A team of consultants will support TASAF to conduct an assessment of the gender dimension of the PSSN programme, including the impact of the programme on women’s economic and political empowerment (i.e. workload, inter-household relations, etc.) and capacity of TASAF staff at the national, regional and local levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

Review existing studies and analysis on gender-sensitive social protection programmes, including the baseline study on the impact of the PSSN on women’s empowerment;
Conduct gender assessment of the PSSN programme including conducting interviews with TASAF staff, PSSN beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders in selected districts and providing in-depth qualitative information on the impact of the programme on women’s economic and political empowerment (i.e. workload, inter-household relations, etc.) and capacity of TASAF staff at the national, regional and local levels;
Provide recommendations on actions to ensure that gender is consistently integrated into all areas of TASAF and the PSSN programme;

Competencies

Excellent analytical and reporting skills;
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
Excellent report writing and editing skills;
Excellent command of English and Swahili (oral and written);
Ability to work under minimum supervision to meet short deadlines.
Commitment and drive to achieve challenging goals, and problem solving attitude.
Ability to identify client needs and deliver them promptly and accurately.

Required Skills and Experience

At least 6 years of experience in social protection and gender;
Solid knowledge of Tanzania Productive Social Safety Nets programme;
Solid knowledge of social protection concepts, approaches and programming;
Experience in conducting gender analysis and research on gender sensitive social protection and women’s empowerment in Tanzania;
Knowledge of and experience in social science research methods;

Language requirements:

Excellent command of English and Swahili (oral and written)

How to Submit Proposals:

Proposals should be submitted to icprocurement.tz@undp.org e-mail address not later than not later than Tuesday, 24 January 2017;
Applications with no financial offer or missing P11 form and CV or the required documents for the technical evaluation will not be considered for evaluation;
All necessary information for this post (TOR, Deliverables, Target dates, etc. are presented in the ICPN) therefore applicant must download it from the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/
Each email should be less than 8MB; emails over this size will not be received to the above mentioned account;
Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to the e-mail address tenders.tz@undp.org