Background

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) was established by General Assembly resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence, with the mandate to assist countries and the United Nations system itself to progress more effectively and efficiently toward the goal of achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment, and upholding women’s rights. 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 Nigeria, socio-cultural barriers, including gender-based discrimination and societal attitudes, present a significant challenge to women's access to essential services such as health, education, and economic opportunities. Women are often viewed as inferior, and their needs and rights are not considered equal, leading to a lack of investment in services and resources specifically addressing their needs. For example, cultural norms may restrict women's mobility, making it difficult for them to access healthcare facilities or other services located in far-off locations.

Despite the presence of various programs and initiatives aimed at providing access to services for women, the implementation of these initiatives often lacks coordination and cooperation among different stakeholders. UN Agencies and development partners each have their own programs and initiatives, leading to a fragmented approach to addressing the needs of women and girls. This fragmentation results in a lack of knowledge-sharing and collaboration, leading to duplication of efforts, and ineffective program implementation.

The Ministry of Women Affairs is often unaware of these programs and initiatives, and the various gender-focused groups work in silos, further exacerbating the lack of coordination. Additionally, the targeted women beneficiaries are not always able to access these opportunities, leading to ineffective and inefficient use of resources.

To address these challenges and improve access to services and opportunities for women and girls in Nigeria, it is crucial to have a comprehensive mapping of all services provided by public institutions, UN agencies, and development partners. This mapping will provide an opportunity for greater inclusivity in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women in Nigeria. By having a clear understanding of the services and resources available, it will be possible to identify gaps and prioritize areas where additional resources and support are needed. This will also enable a more effective and coordinated approach to addressing the needs of women and girls in Nigeria, maximizing the impact of efforts to promote gender equality and empower women.

As part of its commitment to engendering legal and policy frameworks in Nigeria to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women, as enshrined in UN Women’s 5-year Strategic Note (2023 -2027) and the SDGs, UN Women Nigeria Country Office seeks to engage a national consultant to conduct a comprehensive mapping of all services related to health, education, gender-based violence, economic opportunities, and finance provided for women and girls in Nigeria. This mapping exercise will be carried out by a consultant with extensive experience in gender-responsive service delivery and a deep understanding of the Nigerian context. The consultant will be responsible for conducting a thorough analysis of existing services and resources, assessing their coverage and impact, identifying duplications, gaps, and overlaps, and promoting collaboration and coordination among different actors. The objectives of the assessment will include:

1. To identify and map all existing services and resources related to health, education, gender-based violence, economic opportunities, finance, technologies, and spaces for inclusive development, provided for women and girls in Nigeria.
2. To comprehensively assess and document the presence, scope, and impact of all actors offering health, education, gender-based violence, economic opportunities, technologies, safe spaces for development, and finance services for women and girls in Nigeria, including their location, objectives, and target populations.
3. To identify duplications, gaps, and overlaps in services provided by different actors.
4. To promote collaboration and coordination among different actors in the implementation of gender-responsive services.
5. To increase the transparency and accountability of UN agencies, development partners, and public institutions in the provision of gender-responsive services.
6. To engage with local communities and women's organizations to understand the specific needs and challenges faced by women and girls in accessing services.
7. To inform the design and implementation of future gender-responsive services and programs in Nigeria.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Programme Specialist, WEEGRP, and working closely with the Deputy Country Representative, the Consultant is expected to perform the following tasks:

• Develop an inception report that outlines the mapping methodology and data collection tools.
• Conduct a comprehensive mapping exercise of all existing services and resources provided by UN Agencies, Development Partners, and Public Institutions, related to health, education, gender-based violence, economic opportunities, finance, technologies, and safe spaces for inclusive development provided for women and girls in Nigeria.
• Assess and document the presence, scope, and impact of all identified actors providing these services, including their location, objectives, and target populations.
• Identify duplications, gaps, and overlaps in services provided by different actors.
• Inform the design and implementation of future gender-responsive services and programs in Nigeria by presenting recommendations based on the mapping findings.
• Develop a final report that highlights the mapping findings and recommendations for promoting transparency and accountability of all actors involved in providing gender-responsive services.
• Develop a PowerPoint presentation to summarize the findings and recommendations of the report.
• Perform any other task as directed by the Country Representative.

Usage of findings:

• The report will be used to seek programmatic interventions to address coordination gaps and enhance access to gender-responsive services and resources for women and girls in Nigeria.

Methodology

The consultant will develop a detailed methodology to guide the mapping and assessment exercise.

Report should:

• Contain an executive summary (mandatory)
• Be analytical (both quantitative and qualitative)
• Be structured around the key issues/entry points highlighted above and related findings
• Include identified duplications, gaps, and overlap in the provision of services, a plan of action/strategy, and a recommendation

The selected Consultant will be expected to complete the following key deliverables within the indicative timeframe: 

Competencies

         Core Values / Guiding Principles:

• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

  Functional Competencies:

• Excellent methods for the content analysis of large bodies of qualitative information.
• Demonstrates outstanding skilled knowledge of qualitative data analysis methods.
• Demonstrates excellent ability to prioritize and focus research questions to produce relevant and useful recommendations.
• Objectivity and ability to analyze large datasets in a short period.
• Excellent knowledge and technical skills on corporate social responsibility.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, particularly to summarize complex findings and convey complex achievements in clear results language.
• Produces timely, quality outputs.
• Strong skills in data presentation.
• Excellent understanding of international development issues and knowledge of the UN system

Required Skills and Experience