CONSULTANCY: Development of a Database of Services and Infrastructure Supporting Women’s and Girls’ Unpaid Care Work and Analysis of Potential Solutions to Advance The 3R of Unpaid Care Work

Consultant Human Rights

Contract

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Background

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 all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

Care work is fundamental for human wellbeing as well as essential for a vibrant, sustainable economy with a productive labour force. The centrality of care to sustainable development and its relevance for gender equality are now widely recognized by the global community including as a target under Sustainable Development Goal 5. 1 Care work ensures the complex and life-sustaining web on which our very existence depends; without it, individuals, families, societies, and economies would not be able to survive and thrive. Yet, around the world women and girls shoulder a disproportionate share of care work that is unpaid, unrecognized and undervalued. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, women already did three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men with women on average doing around 4.1 hours per day compared to men who on average do around 1.7 hours. For women living in rural areas these figures can vary widely, particularly in areas with limited access to regular basic services such as energy, water and sanitation, as women and girls tend to bear the brunt of the unpaid labour to collect and manage these resources and services for daily household consumption.

Furthermore, illness or other crises in the household can increase the time spent by women and girls on care-giving and domestic work. This has been brought into sharp focus by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated the care demands on women and girls due to pandemic-related measures and lockdowns. As evidenced from previous epidemics, women and girls tend to be the ones who take on the bulk of the extra care needed when national systems are unable to cope. Addressing unpaid care work is particularly relevant in West, Central and Southern African contexts where access to decent work is limited and women’s employment options are significantly constrained by societal expectations that burden them with disproportionate responsibility for unpaid care and domestic work.

The 3R Programme builds on UN Women’s expertise at the global, regional and country level as well as UN Women’s existing strong partnerships with women’s cooperatives and other women’s rights organizations, traditional leaders, communities, men and boys, and the private and public sectors. The 3R Programme seeks to address unequal power relations, systemic discrimination and harmful norms and practices that underpin inequities in care work. In particular, the 3R Programme will complement existing UN Women programmes on climate-resilient agriculture and rural women’s economic empowerment in the three countries, by developing a care component which responds to lessons learned that indicate insufficient attention is given to women’s unpaid care and domestic workloads and overall time poverty. This Programme fills a critical gap in this area by developing a holistic package of solutions, i.e. transformative solutions, to these challenges.

Objectives of the assignment:

With the above background, the objective of this assignment is to develop a database of services and infrastructure supporting women’ and girls’ unpaid care work and analyze potential solutions to advance the 3Rs of unpaid care work (recognition, reduction and redistribution) in Free State and Limpopo provinces in South Africa to better understand existing and needed care services and social care infrastructure in rural areas, to identify any gaps and formulate recommendations on possible solutions that should be climate-resilient, time saving and accessible by women and girls.

The results of this exercise will be used to inform different stakeholders, including national and local authorities, governmental entities, women’s cooperatives and other organizations, private sector, CSOs, NGOs, development partners, donors, etc.

This exercise will directly contribute to the 3R Programme’s Output 1.2: National and Local Authorities have increased tools and capacities to develop and implement laws, policies and services that address unpaid care work, and Output 2.1 Women’s cooperatives and other organizations have increased capacity to provide care services.

Scope of Work:

In undertaking the assignment, the consultant will closely work with, but not limited to the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Development, the Department of Health, and the Department of Basic Education. The study will be done within the Free State and Limpopo Provinces as well as with Civil Society Organizations and women’s cooperatives that do care services.

Geographical Areas covered

The assignment will be carried out in the following in the following regions:

Group

Province

Regions

Group 1

Limpopo Province

Capricorn, Mopani, Sekhukhune District

Group 2

Free State

Motheo, Thabo Mofutsanyane District

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Develop an Inception Report, with timeline on executing the tasks and deliverables of the assignment. The inception report will include:

• all details on the proposed methodology of the study,
• the proposed structure of the database,
• proposed questionnaires for the interviews with key informants, proposed list of stakeholders to consult (key informants),
• a detailed list of documents that the consultant will extensively review and use for the analysis such as laws, policies, National and Provincial Development Plans, regulations, other government documents and available resources that address care work within the South African context.

2. Develop the database of existing care tools, services and infrastructure within the care services including early childhood development services, basic education, water solutions and climate resilient and environmentally friendly energy source linked to care services in Free State and Limpopo provinces.

3. Review literature (pre-identified list of documents in the inception report), identify gaps, propose solutions which are time saving and climate resilient and formulate related recommendations in two guidance notes, one per province.

4. Develop one guidance note per province (two guidance notes in total) with a synthesis of the above analysis and recommendations to influence national and local policy and programmatic interventions.

5. Develop a final report harmonizing all components of the study.

6. Present the study to UN Women team and to a broader audience during the 3R National consultative workshop (end March 2023).

By conducting the above tasks, the consultant will liaise with the pre-identified key informants and solicit information through consultations.

Work Schedule:

Deliverables

Details of deliverables

Timelines

Allocated percentage

Inception Report

• Brief meeting with UN Women
• Develop a comprehensive inception report
• Submit and present the report to UN Women

2 days

20%

Database

• Desk review of the unpaid care work in South Africa, existing tools, services and infrastructure within the care services including early childhood development services, basic education.
• Review National Development Plans, regulations, other government documents and available resources that address care work and basic education within the South African context.
• Liaise with relevant stakeholders including the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Department of Agriculture, Department of Social Development, the Department of Health and the Department of Basic Education, CSOs and women’s cooperatives, solicit required information to complete the database.
• Develop the database.

5 days

40%

Guidance notes

• One guidance note per province.
• Each guidance note: i) includes a synthesis of existing services and infrastructures supporting women’ and girls’ unpaid care work, ii) it identifies the gaps, iii) it provides an analysis of potential solutions to advance the 3Rs of unpaid care work in an environmentally sustainable manner and related recommendations.

2 days

Final report

• The final report combines the different components of the study: inception, database and guidance notes.

2 days

40%

Presentation to UN Women

• Submit draft final report to UN Women and stakeholders and incorporate feedback in the study.

1 day

Presentation of the study at the 3R National consultative workshop

• Present the study at the National workshop (early March 2023), collect and incorporate feedback in the final version of the study.

1 day

Competencies

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/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Good analytical skills and knowledge of quantitative, qualitative, and participatory research methodologies and analysis on care work and ECD.
• Excellent facilitation, organization, and planning skills.
• Proven information management and data skills (Excel, PowerPoint, MS word) in the areas of multi-modal, cross-sectoral data collection, data visualization, including mapping and M&E.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team in a challenging and highly fluid and complex environment, flexibility, and ability to handle ambiguity and constant change.
• Ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's University degree in Sociology, Gender Studies, Statistics, Early Childhood Development, Social Work, or another related field.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience in conducting research and studies, and developing guidance notes in socio-economic area, gender and early child development, women’s rights and empowerment, sustainable development and climate change.
• Relevant experience in a cross-sectoral ECD coordination role in a UN system agency or similar organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience in working with government institutions, specifically those in the care work services, and ECD.
• Experience in developing, managing, monitoring and/or evaluating programmes in care work and women’s empowerment is a strong asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English is required;
• Familiarity of Afrikaans, IsiXhosa, Sesotho, and/or Sepedi is an asset.

Note:

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

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Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org