Background

“Creating Employment and Entrepreneurship Opportunities for Women in India” (Project Disha) is a multi-year partnership project between United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and India Development Foundation (IDF), supported by the IKEA Foundation. Project Disha aims to reach out and enable one million underprivileged women in India through training, employment and entrepreneurship skills development, as well as development of a new model of public private collaboration that can be adapted and replicated across India. Project Disha is being implemented in Delhi, Haryana, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

For entrepreneurship promotion, Disha project has visualized a model consisting of integrated value chain comprising creation/ strengthening of producer groups, skill building (technical and market related) and forging of market linkages. Additionally, managerial capacity will be created through training of local educated youth.

Towards this, UNDP has entered into a collaboration with Vasantrao Naik State Agriculture Extension Management Training Institute (VANAMATI) which is an apex training institute of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Maharashtra, responsible for imparting capacity building training to middle and senior level officials of State Department of Agriculture and Allied Sector.?The operational area for the institute is entire State where as for Regional Institutes, the regions include Nagpur, Amravati, Aurangabad, Nasik, Pune, Kolhapur and Thane (Khopoli). The principal lines of activities for the institute revolve around Training and Development and thrust areas for the organization are Agriculture Extension Management, Human Resource Development &?Information and Communication Technology. The institute conducts various training programs throughout the year and enables intended trainees develop desired competencies to improve their performance in the field, thereby supporting farmers in realizing their dreams.

In this context, UNDP seeks the support of a consultant for mainstreaming gender and in all training curriculum and increasing gender sensitivity among the training beneficiaries of VANAMATI through capacity building.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Director, VANAMATI, and the State Project Officer, the consultant will undertake leadership and supportive roles for the following:

• Integrate gender related content in curriculum of VANAMATI and ensure execution of gender sensitization amongst all the stakekholders
• Strengthen women empowerment component in the dairy value chain of Mother Dairy project
• Strategize women community cadres (Pashu Sakhi) and women entrepreneurs (managing milk CCs/Biz Sakhis) in the dairy value chain with appropriate capacity building.
• Capacity building of women (formation of community cadres) of SHGs / Federation under NULM of Nagpur Municipal Corporation.
• Holding events / workshops / conferences (networking) with multi-lateral agencies, CSOs, NGOs working the field of women empowerment to strengthen advocacy for gender mainstreaming in developmental programmes
• Identify gaps related to gender / women empowerment and provide appropriate solutions in various State and Central Government schemes
• Undertake periodic studies of the status of women empowerment in the region and produce quality reports
• Undertake field visits as and when required
• Facilitate and coordinate innovative (technology enabled solution) practises in agriculture extension and value chain domain.????
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the reporting officers
• Strengthen reporting on gender within the institute

Expected Deliverables

• Study report- To study the outcome of gender studies carried out by various research institutions (such as TISS, Gokhale Institute etc.), Government, MLI, CSOs and compile the findings / knowledge to suggest appropriate changes/ alteration in schemes/ policies active in the agriculture and allied domain; if necessary to carry out fresh studies as deemed fit.
• Prototype- To develop a prototype to test an evidence for gender mainstreaming endeavours in agriculture and allied business, based on identified gaps and opportunities
• Income generating Activities- To increase women’s collective participation & decision making in agriculture and allied businesses aiming to enhance household income
• Training module and training activities- To integrate gender sensitive training curriculum and its effective delivery through VANAMATI implemented training programs and projects.
• Workshops/conferences/events- To convene and manage relationships with organizations whose work focuses on gender in agriculture at State & National level (e.g. government organizations, NGOs, community -based organizations, women’s association, private sectors)
• Strategy paper- To prepare & integrate the guidelines of women empowerment strategy in the dairy development and other government programs
• Training programmes- To conduct/facilitate/coordinate the trainings of Animal husbandry department and other concerned officials on implementation of women empowerment strategy
• Create a cadre of women- To exchange the knowledge of UNDP implemented program through VANAMATI’s platform for nurturing local women community cadre in the domain of agriculture and allied sectors (Biz Sakhi, women sourcing manager, community manager, mini MBA, etc)
• Any other task given by the Director, VANMATI and State Project Officer

Travel
The consultant will undertake travel to consult with various agencies and institutions. The travel cost as part of assignment will be inclusive of quoted cost. There will not be any separate travel and accommodation cost claimed from UNDP.

Payment Schedule
The payment will be as per the following payment schedule against the deliverables.

Deliverables and Schedule of Payment: On monthly basis based on satisfactory performance, actual deliverables approvals/endorsement by the Director, VANMATI and actual attendance.

All the outcomes should be verifiable through appropriate documentation maintained by institution and make available for any cross checking within the consultancy period.

Competencies

Functional Competencies

Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

• Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches in developing knowledge products.

Client Orientation

• Demonstrates an understanding of client / partner perspective and strives for high quality client-oriented services
• Establishes smooth relationship and enabling environment between clients, partners and service providers

Results based management

• Plans and produces quality results to meet established goals,
• Demonstrates ability to generate innovative, practical solutions to challenging situations
• Ability to work independently and with minimum supervision

Required Skills and Experience

Required Experience and Skills

Experts shall demonstrate sufficient capacities to carryout activities to a high standard.

• Minimum Master’s Degree in science, social science, development studies, education or relevant field;
• Minimum 10 years of experience in conducting research and managing partnerships in areas of agriculture, gender and other
• Experience in development sector/gender/agriculture and/or related fields is desirable;
• Experience in documentation and/or knowledge management is desirable;
• Outstanding communication, analytical skills, drafting and reporting skills;
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages, experience in handling of web-based management systems is essential;
• Excellent knowledge of English, Hindi and local language.

Evaluation Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultants whose offer has been evaluated and determined as responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a predetermined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation;

• Technical Criteria weight - 70%;
• Financial Criteria weight – 30 %

Technical Criteria (70% of total evaluation)

• Prior work experience in gender, agriculture and related fields – 30%
• Experience partnership management, research and module development – 20%
• Excellent communication, analytical, drafting and reporting skills – 10%
• Engagement with academic/ government institutions – 10%

Financial Criteria:

(30% of the total evaluation) based on the total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement. This include all expenditure including travel and accommodation for delivering the results to UNDP.

Submission of Proposal

Financial Proposal
Consultants should specify his/her lump sum per day consultancy fees for approximately 21 days a month. Travel, if any, would be pre-approved as per UNDP guidelines. Please note that this a full-time consultancy, duty station for which will be VANAMATI, Nagpur. The local travel or accommodation within duty station will not be considered separately.

Documents to be submitted by Consultants

• Cover letter expressing interest and availability and financial proposal in terms of consolidated charge.
• Updated CV
• Sample writing materials or its links

MENTION CLEARLY THE POST APPLIED FOR IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF THE APPLICATION/ COVER LETTER

Please Note

• Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges etc. would not be reimbursed;
• Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered.

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.

For any clarifications, please write to: ic.india@undp.org?