Background

As the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, UN Women’s vision is of a world in which women and men have equal opportunities and capacities, where women are empowered and where principles of gender equality are firmly embedded in all efforts to advance development, peace and security. Globally, UN Women works to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems; women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; all women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence and ensure that women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. In Ethiopia, UN Women is working on four priority areas: increasing women’s participation and representation in leadership, ending violence against women and girls; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting.

UN Women Ethiopia works to implement goal one of UN Women global Strategic Plan 2018-21 ‘women lead and participate in decision-making at all levels’ believing enabling governance systems are essential for the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Research shows that women’s increased political participation and leadership results from a confluence of factors, including removal of legal and logistical barriers; implementation of supportive frameworks; promotion of women’s leadership through political party reform; support of CSOs and a positive shift in societal gender norms. Accordingly, women’s full and effective leadership at all levels of decision-making requires a four-pronged strategy: (1) Support development and implementation of robust legal frameworks and administrative arrangements that facilitate women’s participation (2) Expand the pool of qualified and capable women to run for election, (3) Transform gender norms so that women are accepted as legitimate and effective leaders. (4) Support women leaders in gender-sensitive political institutions, including parliament, political parties 

and Electoral Management Bodies (EMB’s), to attract, promote and retain women leaders, and highlight the constructive contribution they make to decision-making.

Aligned with this strategy, UN Women Ethiopia's women in leadership program aims to contribute to the overall goal of increasing the effective participation and representation of women in leadership, particularly focusing on the legislative and executive branch of the Government. UN Women Ethiopia has partnered with National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) on the project titled “Support for Inclusive and Gender Responsive Electoral Process”.  A key component of the project is the provision of technical support to the NEBE, which is the national electoral management body, and capacity building support to political parties as main vehicle for women’s election to office to enhance their capacity to promote gender balance in politics and become more gender sensitive institutions. Political parties can do this by nominating more women candidates to stand for election; adopting voluntary, gender-sensitive reforms to internal party processes and statutes; devising and implementing gender-sensitive policies and strategic plans.

In Ethiopia, there is a significant improvement in the number of women attaining leadership positions. Conducive normative framework combined with the political will of the ruling party, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, to set aside a voluntary internal quota during national and local elections has enabled this gain. Particularly, following the 2015 elections Ethiopia surpassed the 30 percent core minimum representation threshold set at the global level by achieving a 38.8 percent representation in the House of Peoples Representative (Parliament).Also, Ethiopia achieved parity at the highest level of executive leadership where now the council of ministers have 50% female leadership. While the gender gap in leadership at the upper most levels of power seems to have been narrowed, it remains a critical issue in the country in every aspect including in leadership at various decision-making positions (in the civil service at federal level and in regional and local administrations); women’s low socio-economic and political status and participation in society remains a reality. At the same time, negative stereotypes towards women’s leadership role, lack of awareness regarding gender equality and the human rights of women are critical challenges observed at every level i.e. institutional, societal, community and individual level. 

In 2020 a general election is planned in Ethiopia. Currently, there are around 130 political parties registered at NEBE to participate in election. On a recent interview held with the chairperson of NEBE it was noted that there are only one or two women in leadership position among 100 plus political parties in Ethiopia, indicating women’s participation in politics and decision-making mechanisms are much less and it is critical to increase women’s engagement. To tackle this challenge, NEBE in collaboration with UN Women Ethiopia is planning capacity building trainings for women political candidates who are running or planning to run for office. Accordingly, UN Women is seeking to hire two consultants that can deliver the capacity building trainings.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of UN Women Ethiopia Women in Leadership and Governance Program Program Specialist, the national consultants will work closely to support the delivery of a five-day training on Transformational Leadership for Women Political Empowerment. The national consultants will be responsible for the following tasks:          

• Review and contextualize relevant UN Women’s Training Manuals for women political candidates, develop a training plan, prepare presentations and training outlines (i.e. agenda, PPTs, handouts, questionnaire/assessment forms, etc.)  to be delivered during the training sessions (In English and Amharic)
• Facilitate a five-day training on Transformational Leadership for Women Political Empowerment
• Preparation of a report on the trainings including recommendations based on the analysis of pre and post training assessment of participants and other feedback.

Competencies

Key Competencies

• Knowledge in the area of democratic governance
• Excellent training, facilitation and communication skills
• Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines
• Excellent coaching and mentoring capabilities
• Cultural, political and gender sensitivity
• Ability to work in teams

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Master’s degree in social sciences including in gender studies, public administration, international relations, international law, public policy, human rights, political science, transformative leadership or other related field.

Experience

Lead consultant: Minimum seven years of experience in areas related to gender equality, gender mainstreaming, women’s participation in leadership and politics, local governance, elections related issues 

Supporting consultant: Minimum three years’ experience working on gender equality, political participation, local governance, elections related issues 

• Previous professional experience in delivering similar trainings for women politicians is required  
• Specific experience in adult education/training is mandatory 

Language

• Fluency in English and Amharic both written and oral.