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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of its efforts, UN Women is mandated to lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming are translated into action. It is also mandated to provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Zanzibar has recently embraced the Blue Economy (BE) as a pathway to sustainable and inclusive development. This involves the utilisation of maritime and marine resources to support gender inclusive and sustainable economic growth as well as creating employment opportunities for women and youth. Moreover, the Zanzibar Blue Economy Policy 2021 has identified, among others, key sectoral priorities, which include tourism; fisheries; seaweed farming; mariculture; maritime transport, infrastructure, and services; maritime safety and security; offshore renewable energy; and oil and gas development.

UN Women has been working  closely with the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries to mainstream Gender in the Blue Economy Policy and its implementation. UN Women’s 2020 Baseline study  on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Fisheries in the Blue Economy of the Indian Ocean Rim reinforces the need for the formal recognition of women’s contributions to the growth and sustainability of this industry and identified a number of issues to be addressed for women’s involvement in the sector.

In this effort, UN WOMEN, is supporting the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries (MoBEF)  to address environmental  and systemic gender inequalities, discriminatory social norms, and barriers that women face in the blue economy sector. In this regards, UN Women in collaboration with UNDP, UNEP and development partners  is supporting the Government of Zanzibar in the development of a participatory,  and social- and gender inclusive Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process that is aimed at improving livelihoods for women and youth and reducing gender inequalities through a multi-sectoral integration of the ocean-based economies. The Joint UN supported MSP (Marine Spatial Plan) Pilot initiative will provide the MoBEF with a roadmap of strategies, activities, and pathways to benefit women and their communities , enhance gender inclusive sustainable economic prosperity, ensure women’s leadership and effective participation in the MSP process, in  improving conservation of the ocean, and increase efforts in climate adaptation. 

Building on this, UN Women seeks the services of an international expert to support   women’s engagement in Marine spatial Planning and development in Zanzibar. The international consultant will be supported by a national consultant, to be hired through a separate contract by UN Women. The two consultants will work as a team, with the international consultant as lead responsible for overall quality assurance.

Under the overall supervision of the UN Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Programme Specialist, the international Consultant will undertake the following assignments in collaboration with, the Ministry of Blue Economy and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry for Community Development ,  Elderly, Gender and Children ), UN Agencies, Development Partners, Women in marine communities, private sector, women’s rights organizations and other stakeholders in  Zanzibar:

Deliverables:

1. Inception report (within 7 days) upon signature of the contract with an outline of the methodological approach and a detailed workplan with specific timelines for each deliverable and payment schedule.
2. Gender and stakeholders Analysis of the Blue Economy policy implementation
3. A detailed Gender Strategy and action plan for BE MSP
4. Presentation of the gender strategy to government partners, UN Agencies and  relevant CSOs in a 1- day validation workshop in Zanzibar.
5. Report and feedback from the gender strategy  validation workshop
6. A  concept note for a four-year UN Women project on investing in women in the blue economy sector in Zanzibar with MSP considerations
7. Brief report and inputs submitted to the UN Joint drafting team drafting Marine Spatial Planning in track changes
8. Contribute towards the development of UN Women new Country Strategic Note, in relation to Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Blue Economy.

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism 

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues in Blue Economy and Fisheries;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication.
• Inclusive Collaboration.
• Stakeholder Engagement.
• Leading by Example.
• Ability to establish, build, and sustain effective relationships with clients, demonstrating understanding of client’s perspective and how to anticipate client needs and address them promptly.
• Works effectively as a team member, demonstrating emotional intelligence and good judgment.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Education:

Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field, gender studies, gender and sustainable development, women and environment, sociology, marine environmental studies or closely related subject area.  

Experience:

• Minimum 5  years of demonstrable experience in Gender and Blue Economy or Gender marine spatial planning in East Africa and/or Indian Ocean Rim countries.
• Practical experience in conducting gender and stakeholder analysis; stakeholder consultations, women’ economic security centered design, and programme design in the blue economy sector.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Zanzibar’s Blue Economy and associated sectors such as fisheries, tourism, maritime transport, aquaculture, renewable energy from a gender perspective.
• Substantive knowledge and understanding of gender equality and women’s economic empowerment issues in the blue economy sector, marine spatial planning.
• Demonstrated experience in supporting development of gender policies, strategies and programmatic issues with national and local governments and civil society organizations including community organizations.
• Experience with project development and results-based management methodologies, including gender mainstreaming of activities and projects in field of environment and marine  is highly desired.
• Record of working experience in gender mainstreaming activities and projects in the field of the environment and biodiversity conservation.
• Proven experience of working with communities in coastal and marine environmental issues. 
• Excellent analytical, writing, advocacy, presentation, and communications skills are required.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Work experience in the East Africa and Indian Ocean Rim countries. 
• Excellent oral presentation and writing skills.