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 and as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

 

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Capacity Building Project (ZIM-ECO) is a 5-year electoral support programme for Zimbabwe in response to a request by the Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for UN capacity building support to ZEC.

The project has three outputs, which are:

  • Strengthened institutional and electoral capacity of ZEC to meet its constitutional mandate to ensure sustainability.
  • Sustainable voter registration system that is credible and inclusive.
  • Enhanced and effective ZEC’s engagement with electoral stakeholders including the eligible voters

The programme has a very strong monitoring and evaluation framework with clearly defined targets and indicators and an oversight mechanism in the form of a Project Board. ZEC, UN Women and UNDP are working in partnership towards achieving the gender mainstreaming elements of the project document.

Duties and Responsibilities

Gender equality self-assessment methodologies which are participatory will be used to support staff to ‘take stock’ of all their work and assess the extent to which it promotes gender equality and inclusion. Reviewing and reflecting on the quality and relevance of current work with a gender and inclusion lens allows staff to understand what is working well, where the gaps are, and to decide on clear actions to improve the quality of their work in future. The methodology will require every department in ZEC to review its internal and external relations, understanding and exploring the gender equality and inclusion issues in both. The consultant will be required to work with a core team within ZEC to lead the process of gender mainstreaming including development of a gender policy.

Specific Objectives of the Consultancy:

  • Agree on methods to be used in the gender equality self-assessment process/ situational analysis;
  • Review of key documents from different units to analyze the gender mainstreaming issues;
  • Collect required information through participatory processes (Document review, Focused Group Discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews);
  • Analyze the information and present the gender equality self-assessment findings to ZEC;
  • Train the Gender Task Team members on gender, gender policy development gender mainstreaming within the electoral process and consolidate their input for inclusion in the gender policy;
  • Write a comprehensive draft Gender Policy report for ZEC, with identified issues and recommended action plan;
  • Present a final, agreed and clear report on the process, findings and recommendations (concrete and actionable recommendations for promoting gender equality as well as enhancing inclusivity);
  • Maintain on-going communication with Gender Task Team members.

Expected Outputs

  • A work-plan for the gender equality self-assessment process;
  • A workshop and report for the Gender Task Team members;
  • A report of the findings, conclusions and recommendations from the Gender Equality Self-Assessment process or situational analysis;
  • Facilitate the collection of data;
  • A summary of recommendations to be used for a Gender and Inclusion Action Plan;
  • A Gender Policy. 

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

  • Experience in undertaking organizational gender and /or self-assessment processes /methodologies/gender policy development;
  • Understanding of organizational structures, operations and policies of large organizations;
  • Appreciation of the challenges and limitations as well as opportunities of within organizational businesses to promote gender equality and inclusion;
  • Strong facilitation skills and hands-on experience of working in participatory ways with staff groups, partners and communities;
  • Strong gender analytical skills and knowledge/experience of different gender tools;
  • Ability to create non-threatening environment for open and frank discussions on difficult issues;
  • Strong understanding of inclusion issues in organizational set-up and experience of using tools to elicit information pertaining to inclusion;
  • The ability to select the best approach/methodology for different groups and audiences;
  • Qualitative and quantitative data collection skills;
  • Openness to listen, learn and accurately record the findings;
  • Good report-writing skills are essential;
  • An ability to present challenging findings from the assessments with actionable propositions to move forward.

 

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.

Required Skills and Experience

  • At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in developing organizational policies using appropriate gender equality self-assessment participatory methodologies
  • Experience in gender policy formulation for election management bodies in Africa and beyond;
  • Experience in the design of baseline studies and surveys as well as the use of appropriate methodologies;
  • Vast experience in writing reports and publications which have made a significant contribution to gender equality programmes or learning in the field of development practice and studies;
  • Working with independent constitutional commissions within the framework of human rights and elections,
  • Working with government, UN system and civil society organisations in designing strategic interventions in elections.

Timeline, Reporting & Quality Control for the Assignment

The assignment is expected to take 25 business days. The Consultant will work in close collaboration with ZEC, UNDP and UN Women. 

Applicants must submit a Technical proposal, including:

  • A brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
  • Personal History Form (P11);
  • Financial Proposal.

Evaluation

The Consultant will be evaluated based on the qualifications and the years of experience within the development crisis modifier. In addition, the Consultant will also be evaluated on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis: When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

a) Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and

b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;

  • Technical Criteria weight: 70%;
  • Financial Criteria weight: 30%.

The award of the contract shall be made to the Consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the ToR.

ZEC / UNDP / UN Women are 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.