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.

In September 2015, governments united behind the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which features 17 new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets that aim to end poverty, combat inequalities and promote prosperity by 2030 while protecting the environment. The 2030 Agenda sets out a historic and unprecedented level of ambition to “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030” (SDG 5) as well as including 37 gender-related targets in 10 other SDGs. It commits to addressing core issues of gender equality such as eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, eradicating discriminatory laws and constraints on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recognizing and valuing unpaid care and domestic work and increasing women’s participation in decision-making.

To successfully track the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, a robust and equally ambitious monitoring framework is needed. Significant investments in gender statistics are necessary to ensure that evidence-based policies are devised, the impacts of these policies are assessed and the accountability of policymakers and governments to deliver on these commitments is promoted. Robust indicators and quality data are of critical importance and will determine whether policy efforts are marshalled and whether the goals and targets are achieved or missed.

To support member states in implementing the 2030 Agenda, UN Women’s Flagship Programme Initiative, “Making Every Woman and Girl Count (Women Count)”  aims to affect a radical shift in the availability, accessibility and use of data and statistics on key aspects of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The regional and national components of the Women Count Programme include a multi-year scope of work with particular focus on implementing and supporting regional and country activities in East and Southern Africa.

This includes enhancing the linkages between normative and technical work on gender statistics at the regional and national levels in the following three inter-related key areas of work:

• Building a supportive policy and institutional environment for the localization and effective monitoring of the SDGs;
• Increasing the quality, comparability and regularity of gender statistics to address national data gaps and meet reporting commitments under the SDGs and;
• Ensuring that gender statistics are accessible to users in governments, civil society, academia and the private sector, to strengthen adequate demand for their production.

At the regional level, UN Women is seeking the services of highly qualified experts to support the assessment of the gender statistics systems in several countries within the East and Southern Africa Region. The successful consultant (s) in each country will work closely with the Gender Statistics Specialist in East and Southern Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, the statistics focal point as well as the gender machinery and National Statistics Office in the specific countries.

Objective:

The overall objective of the consultancy is to conduct an assessment of the gender statistics systems in each country in close cooperation with the gender machinery and National Statistics Offices. 

Scope of the Work:

In the designated country, the consultant (s) will closely work with the gender machinery and National Statistics Offices. The scope of work will include reviewing and:

• Carrying out an initial in-depth desk review of the institutional framework of the National Statistics Office, Ministries of Planning, Ministry of Women and other line ministries that are involved with data production and use. The review will be aimed at establishing the extent to which the institutional frameworks hinders or support the regular production of gender statistics;
• Documenting the key institutional mechanisms or constraints that prevent (or facilitate) more regular production of gender statistics at the national level and propose solutions to strengthen them or steps that can be taken to address these constraints;
• Documenting broader country level initiatives i.e. M&E framework of SDGs and the extent to which gender equality is integrated into this M&E framework;
• Holding consultations with the NSO and other key government agencies and line ministries to assess the technical capacity gaps in gender statistics among producers and users of data, particularly within the NSO will be central to the process;
• Holding consultations with the Planning Commission (NPC), UNCT, national women machineries, Civil Society Organization groups, universities, research institutions and development partners (UK AID, World bank etc.) to have a deeper understanding on the needs, constraints and potential solutions to facilitate increased collaboration between users and producers and identify concrete and actionable solutions to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations (CSO), government and UN Country teams to analyse and use gender statistics to inform decision-making;
• Facilitating validation workshops and incorporating all inputs to finalize the project documents and annual workplans;
• Support UN Women, the NSO and gender machinery to develop a project document and associated work plan for the advancement of Gender Statistics.

Thematic Expertise Required:

As a minimum the experts are expected to demonstrate the following:

• Strong understanding of data eco-systems and national statistics systems;
• Strong understanding of the importance of normative frameworks and data ecosystems in reporting for the SDGs and Africa Agenda 2063;
• An understanding of gender dynamics and gender statistics;
• Strong technical expertise in the drafting of statistics-based research and related reports;
• Some experience in the evaluation of projects and programs.

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

Functional Competencies:

• Strong technical expertise in evaluating projects and programs;
• Strong technical expertise in the drafting of statistics-based research and related reports;
• Technical competence in UN Women thematic areas and knowledge of the UN Women mandate;
• Excellent communication skills, especially training and writing skills.

Education:

• An advanced degree (master’s degree; PhD will be an asset) in the field of statistics, economics, social sciences, gender studies, development studies, or closely related field.

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in working with the development and support of national statistics systems or with gender data and statistics;
• A minimum of 5 years of experience evaluating projects or systems;
• Good understanding and experience working on policy and legal frameworks on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Experience facilitating the work of multi-disciplinary working groups.

Language Requirements:

• Excellent command of written and oral English;
• Working knowledge of French or Arabic is an asset.

Contracting arrangements:

Successful candidates will be included in the vetted Roster of Experts for the maximum period of 1 years. Membership beyond the 1-year period must be renewed through a new application process.  Entry into the expert roster system does not necessarily mean that contract with UN Women is guaranteed. Where a request for services arises, the UN Women shall directly contact consultants with the most appropriate experience from the roster.

UNWOMEN 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.