Antecedentes

Worldwide trends reflecting the unequal burden of care, as well as a mismatch of care needs and care services available (in both public and private sectors) and the impact this has on families and women’s economic and public participation, are mirrored in Egypt.

The recent UN Women-ERF regional report “The Role of the Care Economy in Promoting Gender Equality: Progress of Women in the Arab States 2020” revealed that in Egypt, married women spend seven times more time than married men on unpaid care work, while unmarried women spend 6.5 times more time as unmarried men.  Employed and unemployed women in Egypt spend almost the same amount of time on unpaid care work, reflecting the double burden many women face. There is also a mismatch between care needs in the home and available services, which limits the ability to redistribute unpaid care responsibilities. The number of nurseries currently available in Egypt is limited(1) with enrolment rates of around 8 percent and although the enrolment has been increasing significantly in the last few years, the rate is still far below the SDG target of reaching 60% of children enrolled in nurseries by 2030.

The above report also posits that expanding decent jobs in the care sector can be a major driver of private sector growth and women’s engagement in paid work. Between 2009–2017, private sector employment in Egypt grew faster in paid care sectors (education, health, and social work) than in the rest of the economy (at 13 versus 1.8 percent).  Addressing gender imbalances in unpaid care work and investing in the paid care sector would equally increase women’s economic empowerment and reduce gender disparity in the Egyptian labor market, as women form a significant percentage of employees in the paid care sector. Expanding quality ECCE services would give women choices for childcare thus enabling them to join or return to the labor market. It is estimated that increasing women’s labor force participation rate in Egypt to match that of men’s would result in an increase of 34 percent in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

Egypt has demonstrated the political will to invest in the care economy through initiatives spearheaded by the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MOSS) and by seeking to expand the availability of care services nationwide. MOSS has been working on developing a database with information on nurseries based on input from different stakeholders. Additionally, through the Hadanaty (my nursery) programme, which is led by MoSS in partnership with Nasser Social Bank, soft loans with lenient terms are being provided for new nurseries. For existing ones, the Hadanaty programme offers loans for renovating spaces or satisfying licensing requirements and accreditation criteria to facilitate the formalization of currently unregistered ECCE establishments.  Raising awareness among parents about the importance of enrolling children in nurseries in early childhood is another pillar of the MoSS Hadanaty programme.

Furthermore, the Government of Egypt has announced plans to establish more nurseries and childcare centers under the Decent Life Presidential Initiative. In addition, under new directives from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, nurseries will now be treated as micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), granting them eligibility for all incentives available under the MSMEs Act.  The directives include tax markdowns to a rate of 1 percent of the total growth in sales per year. The President also instructed his government to continue giving unlicensed nurseries temporary licenses until they complete the necessary paperwork.

The COVID-19 pandemic has multiplied the care burden within the family. The temporary closure of school and childcare facilities has placed additional strain on women and girls, increasing their unpaid care responsibilities in the household and constraining their ability to work.  The pandemic has thus laid bare the urgency for increased public investment in the care economy. Moreover, the economic impact of the pandemic and rising unemployment has led to a consensus within policy circles on the need for unprecedented economic policy stimulus.  But fiscal stimulus packages need to be designed and implemented so that they can instigate the highest possible decent jobs and income generation, poverty prevention/reduction, inclusive and sustainable growth while promoting gender equality. Ensuring that fiscal stimulus spending includes investments in the care economy promises to meet these multiple policy objectives simultaneously.

To contribute to the design of post-pandemic interventions for an effective and inclusive recovery, UN Women and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have developed a new policy tool “Policy Support Tool for Estimating Care Deficits, Investment Costs and Economic Returns”. This policy tool seeks to increase policymakers’ awareness of the potential of investments in the care economy to meet multiple development priorities, while at the same time advising on how to prioritize such expenditures. Specifically, the tool aims to (i) identify coverage gaps in care services; (ii) estimate the costs of public investments and expenditures for eliminating these coverage gaps; and (iii) assess the various economic returns to such investments in the short- and the long-run. The tool thus seeks to strengthen national capacities and contribute directly to MOSS’s strategic objectives of expanding ECCE services.

[1]As of October 2020, the total number of privately licensed nurseries in Egypt stood at around 14,000, according to the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS). Based on MoSS’s latest figures, there is also a significant number of unlicensed nurseries operating in Egypt that are estimated to exceed 10,000.

Objective of the Assignment:

MOSS and UN Women Egypt country office seek to recruit a competent national consultant to work closely with the two entities to apply the above-mentioned policy support tool to the case of Egypt with a focus on early childhood care (nursery). The consultant is expected to produce a report and accompanying messages for infographics and to strengthen the capacity of relevant MOSS staff on the application of the policy tool. The consultant will be expected to work in close collaboration and coordination with MOSS and UN Women on each step of the report. He/she will also be technically supported by an international consultant engaged by UN Women who will provide technical support regarding the analytical work produced.

Deberes y responsabilidades

In specific, the consultant will be expected to perform the following tasks:

1. Review and understand the UN Women-ILO policy support tool, the methodology, and the steps needed to undertake to complete the analysis.
2. Develop the methodological proposal to guide the country-level work based on the review of the policy support tool. The methodology will allow for calculating the total cost of providing services for early childhood care (nursery) based on different proposed parameters and scenarios of coverage and quality (the targets and scenarios must be based on Egyptian official policy frameworks); and must contain all the specific items for analysis, the data needs for the calculations of costs and the simulations of employment and fiscal effects.
3. As part of the report, conduct a literature review in English on recent (last 5 years) documents, reports, and research on the intersecting themes of early childhood care in Egypt, and care for elderly and people with disabilities, service provision, and the role of tertiary education in producing quality workers in that sector in addition to gender inequalities in the labor market and women’s (un)employment.
4. Carry out the national–level calculations in close coordination and collaboration with MOSS and UN Women on assessing the care deficit in early childhood care, the cost of expanding early childhood education, based on the data collected.
5. Conduct capacity-building training and coaching for relevant MOSS staff (max. 10) on the policy tool (3-4 sessions), including on how to replicate the tool for elderly people and people with disabilities (depending on data availability).  To this end, the consultant will be responsible for creating the appropriate PPTs and handouts based on the UN Women-ILO policy tool to ensure interactive and informative training sessions. The consultant will also be responsible for a pre-and post-training assessment, as well as a signed attendance sheet of all participants for each day of the training session.

The methodology includes but is not limited to (for full methodology please see the policy tool) analysis, such as:

1. Estimate the care needs (based on official data), existing care services and care coverage gaps as well as care unit costs in the framework of the UN Women-ILO policy support tool.
2. Estimate the investments needed to reach official policy targets declared in the care sector, grounded in existing Egyptian official policy targets (i.e., MOSS targets and/or Vision 2030) taking into account current commitments and government programs (e.g. Hayah Karima) that are already ongoing in this sector.
3. As a result of the investment, estimate the direct employment to be created in the childcare sector based on additional children to be covered, caregiver-care receiver ratios, and direct-to-indirect care worker ratios.
4. Estimate the indirect employment to be created in other sectors through backward linkages using input-output analysis.
5. Build a microsimulation model to assign the new jobs to employable people observed in the household income and expenditures survey microdata, to estimate the change in their household earnings and to estimate the impact on poverty reduction.
6. Using the results of the microsimulation model assess the distributional impact of new jobs and earnings by gender, education, and household income. In addition, estimate national-level parameters such as tax revenue from formal employment creation, increase in women’s labor force participation rates, and other relevant indicators that would be impacted by increased investment in the care sector.
7. In collaboration with MoSS, draft the assessment report of the findings and validate it with other national stakeholders as deemed necessary by MOSS. A report should be drafted that will elaborate on the methodology used, the consultations carried out, the estimate for the country as well as some reflections on the methodological and data challenges of arriving at such estimates. The national expert should develop a brief summary of the findings (compelling summary showing main findings and briefly showing the methodology used, to serve as a quasi-policy brief) as well as a PPT presentation of the main findings based on the Assessment report and concrete measures to address the recommendations raised. All draft and final knowledge materials (report, summary brief, and PPT shall be provided by the consultant in English and Arabic as well.
8. Finalize the assessment report package (including summary brief and PPT), based on the feedback received from stakeholders from the validation meetings.
9. Submit final report in English and Arabic to MOSS and UN Women.
10. Submit content/main messages for accompanying infographics on the report.

Competencias

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.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Functional Competencies:

• Technological Awareness: Ability to work in a web-based environment. Fluency in office software, email, and web-based applications;
• Planning and Organizing: Ability to plan own work and manage conflicting priorities. Ability to develop clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies. Identifies priority activities and assignments and adjusts priorities as required;
• Ability to organize, facilitate with outstanding networking, team-building, organizational, and communication skills. Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors, and civil society;
• Interest and commitment to the empowerment of women with ample knowledge of gender issues.   
• Ability to maintain networks and partnerships with key partners.
• Excellent analytical, facilitation, communications, and writing skills; 

Habilidades y experiencia requeridas

Education:

• Master’s degree in Economics.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in conducting policy-oriented research related to gender equality;
• Technical experience in collecting, compiling, refining, and tabulating data required for the report and analysis;
• Experience in capacity development of government and in linking research and policy;
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills.

Language Requirements:

• Language proficiency in English and Arabic (written and spoken).