Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women 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. Placing women's rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Within the framework of the Gender Partners Coordination Group co-chaired by the EU Delegation in Jordan and UN Women, the proposed assignment for the conduction of a Gender Country Profile is hereby commissioned as a tool provide a timely and effective understanding of the operating context from a gender perspective to national and international partners. The exercise is also aimed at informing policy and programme development in response to the Government of Jordan’s priorities on gender equality and women’s empowerment. To this end, UN Women Jordan is hiring a team of experts to collectively develop the Gender Country Profile. The team will be led by a Senior Gender Expert that will be supported in data collection by two Junior Analysts (data/research).

In line with the approach of relevant stakeholders, the European Commission defines a Gender Country Profile as the study of differences in the conditions, needs, participation rates, access to resources and development, control of assets, decision-making powers, etc. between girls/women and boys/men in their assigned gender roles. Then, it is important to understand these differences in each particular country in order to ensure that actions funded by development partners tackle gender inequalities and discrimination where needed and benefit equally girls, women, boys and men. Gender should not be a barrier to benefitting from international development actions. 

The Evaluation of EU Support to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Partner Countries (April 2015)[1] highlights as one of its conclusions that “the limited use of country-level Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment contextual analysis significantly weakens strategy and programme relevance and undermines the EU’s ability to achieve significant GEWE results. This represents a binding constraint to improved performance”. In this regard, the GAP II “Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020”[2], formally adopted by the Council in October 2015, has among its four pivotal areas, a horizontal one addressed to shift the Commission services’ and the EEAS’ institutional culture to more effectively deliver on EU commitments. To fulfil this priority, one of the objectives reflected in the GAP II relates to the use of robust gender evidence to inform all EU external spending, programming and policy making (Objective number 4). To this end, all EUD/ Units should have a gender analysis at the correct level of intervention (this will be context specific and might be, for example, sector level, project level or national level). Proposed interventions also build on the outcomes of the 4th Union for the Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Strengthening the Role of Women in Society[3] (Cairo, 27 November 2017) and the resulting Ministerial Declaration[4] which included a set of recommendations to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the region, including Jordan.

Context overview

Since the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)[5] in 1992, Jordan has introduced new policies to promote implementation. In addition to considerable investments in the education and health sectors that largely benefitted women and girls, important women’s rights advances have been made in Jordan. More recently, a landmark parliamentary decision in August 2017 adopted a package of amendments to the Penal Code which included the abrogation of Article 308, which had exonerated rapists if they married their victims. Similarly, amendments to the Labor code are being considered. In December 2017, the Government of Jordan also adopted its first National Action Plan to implement UNSCr 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security.

However, Jordan’s gender equality index – as measured by the World Economic Forum, has rapidly declined over the last decade. In 2006 Jordan ranked 93rd out of 115 countries, and currently ranks 135th out of 144 countries[6]. By way of example, the female participation rate in the Jordanian labour market is one of the lowest in the world, standing at 13.3% of women in comparison to 60.3%[7] of men. In addition, only three percent of Jordanian women who are victims of violence state a willingness to seek support. Pressure on service delivery is also aggravated by the large refugee population hosted in the country, which is also comprising vulnerable women and girls.

Scope of Work

The Gender Country Profile should provide qualitative information, sex-age disaggregated data and analysis on the gender situation in the identified sectors in order to contribute to the policy dialogue and facilitate the development of gender-sensitive country strategies as well as programmes and projects throughout the whole project and programme cycle management. The following sectors are being identified for the scope of this exercise: Education, Livelihood & Employment, Food Security, Access to Basic Services, Health, Justice and Rule of Law, Social Protection, Environment and Energy, Private Sector and Access to Finance, Local Governance and Decentralization, Peace and Security. Youth, social norms, and the impact of the Syria crisis to Jordan are considered cross-cutting issues which need to be integrated in the sectoral analysis. In this sense, to identifying at least one objective to contribute for each thematic priority, the Gender Country Profile should at a minimum meet the following criteria:

• Use key recent statistics on the situation of women and girls, men and boys – which will also provide the baseline for future measurement (including relevant statistics that reflect EUD thematic or concentration areas) and provide an interpretation;
• Key barriers to achieving gender equality (including social norms, legislative, institutional capacity, political will etc.) focusing on those areas that are of interest to the activity of development partners
• A mapping of actors with mandate and capacity to act for gender equality (NGOs, civil society, international development partners, international organizations, international financial institutions, line ministries, gender equality national machineries, etc.);
• A mapping of knowledge / information gaps (e.g. sex-age disaggregated statistical information), identifying relevant knowledge and statistical gaps;
• Clear assessment of where development partners can add value for achieving country objectives on gender equality (as part of national development);
• Realistic objectives/ opportunities for policy and political dialogue;
• A number of clear tangible suggestions for the integration of gender in the areas of intervention (e.g. sectors of concentration, thematic area), including from a programmatic perspective.
• The document will be 50 pages at most. Annexes and supporting documents (including literature review) can be added as needed.

Documents failing to meet these criteria must be reviewed to satisfaction of the EUD and UN Women.

[1] https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/evaluation-cooperation-ec-gender-1338-summary_en.pdf

[2] http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/10/26/fac-conclusions-gender-development/

[3] http://ufmsecretariat.org/ufm-ministerial-conference-strengthening-role-women-society/

[4] http://ufmsecretariat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/womenfinaldeclaration.pdf

[5]http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/Countries.aspx?CountryCode=JOR&Lang=EN

[6] http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2017/dataexplorer/?doing_wp_cron=1528191092.4121689796447753906250#economy=JOR

[7] Department of Statistics, Q1 2017

Duties and Responsibilities

Expected outputs and Deliverables

The final output will be an analytical and operative document based on qualitative and quantitative documentary review and fresh new field research/analysis. The document should contain the following sections:

1. Methodological note: The methodology will be explained concisely. All the instruments used such as interview guide, focus group guide, list of documents and institutions/ persons involved in the analysis, agenda of the meetings (if applicable) will be placed in annex.

2. Current situation: This concise part will provide an overview on the current country and identified sectors situation from a gender perspective, illustrated as appropriate with references. The analysis will be presented in a format that identifies challenges, barriers and opportunities. The analysis will consider the various inter-related causal factors, and will highlight trends and forces which could contribute to the overall change in existing gender-related relations.

All information must be sought disaggregated by sex as a minimum; other criteria (age groups, vulnerabilities, rural/ urban, etc.) need to be included as well, where available. Where sex disaggregated data do not exist or is outdated (e.g. older than 5 years) this should be pointed out and possibly briefly explained. How to collect up to date information should be explored.

The consultant(s) should provide an overview and analysis with regard to gender equality, the situation of men and women, girls and boys, and context and group specific problems in the following areas under each identified sector:

• Human Rights and Rule of Law: Protection and full enjoyment of all human rights by women, girls, men and boys in the country, formulation and design of national gender equality policies and their effective level of implementation, and equal representation and participation in the decision-making process.
• Socio-economic situation: Economic policies and reforms, social sector spending, employment and labour in both the formal and informal sector, poverty situation, income distribution, demographic situation, provision and access to services and resources.
• Socio-cultural context: Social groups, family structure (in particular female-headed households), children (in particular girls), youth, food security, housing and urban development, livelihood systems, traditional laws etc.
• Government, civil society (in particular women’s organizations), international community and private sector response: For each of the sub-titles above, the consultant(s) shall provide information and analysis of what is currently being done for promotion of gender equality in the specific sector, the shortcomings and main challenges to be addressed, including recommendations for action as outlined in the following section.

3. Specific issues and response strategies: In this part, the consultant(s) must provide proposals to contribute to development partners’ programme and policy responses. This will be achieved through the formulation of 11 sectoral fiches, describing the overall trends assessed and providing specific recommendations towards the design of new actions or the strengthening of current interventions from a gender perspective.

Deliverables:

Duration and duty station for the assignment 

The expected duration of this consultancy is 1 year, with the expected starting date 1st of October 2018.  The place of assignment is Amman, Jordan, with expected travels in the field as required.

Competencies

• Awareness & Sensitivity regarding Gender Issues: UN Women’s mandate demonstrates a global commitment to gender equality and this requires every team member’s commitment to developing gender awareness and applying this sensitivity in their day to day activities. 
• Accountability: To achieve UN Women’s mandate requires that every individual takes ownership for achieving the organization’s priorities. Our success at UN Women is driven by the collective decisions each individual makes and their effort to deliver on these commitments. This means that each individual at UN Women is responsible for defining and delivering on the organizations priorities. 
• Creative Problem Solving: At UN Women we openly share ideas and identify creative solutions. We solve problems collaboratively by considering multiple perspectives and approaches. This means that we value different perspectives and collectively harness a wide range of viewpoints to identify innovative ways of doing things. 
• Effective Communication: At UN Women we seek to communicate effectively by conveying ideas and thoughts in a clear, concise and convincing way. We achieve this by developing a strong set of messages and choosing the mode of communication that is best-suited to the relevant audience while also accounting for key cultural differences. 
• Inclusive Collaboration: At UN Women we exemplify the principles of our mandate by engaging with all team members in an inclusive way and working collaboratively to achieve outcomes. Effectively working with others means supporting fellow team mates to be themselves at work, valuing differences and individual contributions. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: We achieve our priorities at UN Women by engaging internal and external stakeholders in the delivery of the mandate. This requires careful consideration of both the internal and external stakeholders as well as developing key relationships with these stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the mandate. 
• Leading by Example: At UN Women all individuals are required to demonstrate a commitment to our values and mandate as well as consider how their behaviors influence the attitudes and thoughts of others. Leading by example is about helping all team members to deliver the most value to UN Women and working to overcome challenges. 

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications and skills

• Postgraduate university degree or equivalent with relevant work experience in development studies, social development, gender studies or equivalent;
• Strong writing and communication skills;
• Computer literacy (minimum MS Word, Excel).

Experience

• A minimum of ten years’ experience in social development and gender analysis;
• Specific experience and expertise on gender analysis, gender mainstreaming and women’s participation;
• Extensive experience working on national gender policies in developing countries;
• Experience of working in the country (insert the particular one) is essential, other field experience being desirable;
• Organizational development and capacity building experience;
• Knowledge of international/regional agreements and initiatives on gender (UN, CEDAW, Beijing, etc.);
• Demonstrated experience in managing a team of experts;
• Up-to-date and comprehensive knowledge and experience of EU development, policies, instruments and facilities.

Application instructions and Evaluation

Application instructions:

Applications from qualified and interested consultants should include the following:

1. Updated Curriculum Vitae (not more that 3 pages long)
2. A signed P11 form. This form can be downloaded at:  http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=2740
3. Technical proposal: Including at least the proposed methodology and the estimate implementation timelines.
4. Financial proposal: Indicating the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of cost by daily rate, including all envisaged travel costs. The proposal should be presented in USD only. All prices quoted should be exclusive of all taxes, since UN Women is exempt from taxes.

Fees and Schedule of Payments

The successful candidate will receive his/her payment, approved by the UNWOMEN Country Representative, based on satisfactory deliverables.