Gender Analysis Specialist - National ONLY

Consultant

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

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 center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system in Lebanon 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.

Today, Lebanon is facing the long-term structural challenges as well as the profound effects that the subsequent crises are having on its economy (the Syrian crisis since 2011 and more recently the monetary and economic crisis), and there is ongoing need to support job creation and inclusive economic growth especially for the most vulnerable in the most disadvantaged areas. These adverse conditions coupled with the recent financial crisis and the rising unemployment make supporting job creation and economic opportunities a top priority. In particular, women face disproportionately high levels of unemployment and vulnerability. Without serious efforts to support the economic empowerment of women, high levels of unemployment and poverty are likely to persist and even worsen, thus further reducing the resilience of communities and their ability to withstand the shocks and stresses caused by local and regional crises.

Under the Lebanon Recovery Fund, UN Women is a participating UN organization in a UN joint programme in Lebanon with 6 other UN organizations, namely FAO,UNIDO, UNDP, ILO, and UNICEF, and coordinated by the Resident Coordinator Office (RCO), entitled “Productive Sectors Development Program” (PSDP), funded by the Government of Canada. The purpose of the joint programme is to support gender-responsive job creation and economic opportunities in the agriculture and agrifood sectors, prioritizing women, and female youth in disadvantaged areas. Considering the wide array of challenges that women and girls, in particular, face in the agriculture and agrifood sectors that range from weak policy environment to high cost of doing business and shortage of skills, a comprehensive approach is needed to address those challenges and create an enabling environment for inclusive and sustainable job creation. As such, the PSDP programme works at three levels: macro on legislative and policy reform for an enhanced enabling environment, meso on institutional support for facilitating product export, and micro on individual capacity building for businesses, SME, and employees to achieve its overall objective.

Following an in-depth assessment that examined 13 agricultural and agrifood value chains against set criteria, including the potential for women`s participation in male dominated sectors within the value chain, export potential, and impact on food security, among others, the fruits and vegetables value chain in the North of Lebanon was selected for targeting throughout the programme activities.

Purpose and scope of the Gender Analysis (GA): Two gender analyses are planned under the Joint Program (JP) during the baseline and endline phases. The gender analyses conducted at the onset of activities (baseline phase) examined in detail the distribution of roles and responsibilities of men and women within the agricultural and agrifood sectors of the fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes value chains, and made recommendations for accelerating women`s economic empowerment through targeted interventions. The proposed gender analysis at the endline phase aims to develop robust evidence in support of interventions targeting improving the working conditions of rural women that are either employed or part of the supply chain of agribusinesses firms in the selected value chains, using the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) as a framework. The WEPs were established by UN Women and the United Nations Global Compact in 2010 and are based on international labour and human rights standards. They enable companies to evaluate and assess their policies and practices and to identify areas for improvement. The 7 principles of the WEPs facilitate progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) in the workplace, the marketplace, and the community. The sample will be selected from agribusiness firms that participated in activities implemented by the participating UN organizations under the JP.

About the WEPs:

• Principle 1 calls on company leaders to establish goals and targets for implementing the WEPs, to increase gender equality in leadership roles, and to measure progress through clear performance indicators. Companies with gender diversity in leadership and decision-making tend to outperform those with fewer women in executive positions, and this also contributes to attracting and retaining talent.
• Principle 2 is about the equal and fair treatment of women and men by fostering an inclusive workplace culture that promotes equal pay and remuneration, including benefits and bonuses, for work of equal value and ensures at a minimum a living wage for all employees. Principle 2 is also about implementing gender-sensitive recruitment, retention, promotion, and reintegration practices that proactively seek to create a gender-balanced workforce, including at managerial level and in roles traditionally occupied by men.
• Principle 3 is about ensuring employees’ health, well-being, and safety, including through safe working conditions, health insurance and protection against violence and harassment.
• Principle 4 on Education and training for career advancement, which includes supporting programs for women’s professional development such as education and training that are complemented by networking and mentoring programmes.
• Principle 5 is about establishing supplier diversity programmes that actively seek to expand business relationships with women-owned enterprises, systematically sourcing goods and services from other companies that align with the WEPs, appointing women to top positions in procurement departments and designing gender-sensitive solutions to women’s barriers in accessing financial products and services. It calls on companies and organizations to require business partners, contractors, and suppliers to adopt the WEPs. The principle is also about removing harmful gender-based stereotypes in all media and company materials and advertising, by systematically respecting women and men’s dignity and depicting them as empowered actors with progressive, intelligent, and multi-dimensional personalities.
• Principle 6 is about undertaking community consultations with local leaders – women and men – to establish strong ties and programs to eliminate discrimination and exploitation of women and girls. It is also about leading by example by showcasing concrete actions to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in local communities.
• Principle 7: Transparency of the WEPs commitment, progress made, and results achieved is paramount for making progress on gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community. It requires strong measuring and reporting mechanisms and fosters accountability and informed decision-making within organizations.?

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Women`s Economic Empowerment Programme Manager to deliver a detailed gender analysis, as per the below details.

Objectives The proposed gender analysis aims to achieve the following objectives:

• To gain insight into the working conditions and wellbeing of women working in agriculture and agri-food sectors of the fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes value chain.
• To generate concrete evidence and recommendations for targeted interventions that aim at enhancing the working conditions, safety, and wellbeing of women working across the sectors.

Research Questions:

The examination will take seek to answer the following research questions:

I. What are the working conditions of women working in agriculture and agrifood within the value chain? Examining the following elements:

• Physical environment, work culture, and protective policies of workplace: is it conducive to women`s safety and wellbeing?
• Working hours, patterns, and workload
• Wages, salaries, and benefits: an update from the situation presented in the baseline gender analysis, in addition to an analysis of benefits (healthcare, etc.)
• Childcare support
• Managerial / employer support and communication
• Training and capacity building
• Progression and development opportunities, with a partiuclar focus on the potential to assume leadership positions
• Occupational stress: are women feeling overloaded and stressed with reduced productivity and motivation?
• Job security: impact of all the above elements of their job satisfaction and therefore their sense of job security

II. Policies and programs on the prevention of sexual harassment across the value chain?

• Which segements of the value chain is sexual harassment most prevalent in?
• What is the impact of sexual harrassment on the workers, work productivity, and working environment?
• Are women and men workers and employers aware of Law 205?
• Are there any policies in place, whether formal or informal, to report sexual harassment and support victims?

III. How can working conditions of women working across the sectors be enhanced? Examining what can be done, particularly in the current climate, at the levels of:

• Employers
• International community
• Public, including women themselves

VOICES OF WOMEN AND MEN Throughout data collection, voices of women and men will be collected and amplified, so as to highlight the importance of personal and lived experiences in shaping the programmatic recommendations.

Methodology and Sampling This study will rely on a mixed-method approach including secondary literature review and qualitative and quantitative data collection.

Secondary Data Collection A literature review covering issues pertaining to the working conditions on workers across the segments of the fruits and vegetables value chain will precede. UN Women’s initial survey of the literature review shows that there is very limited information available on the gender elements of the working conditions of the workers across the sectors. In order not to replicate recent studies and overburden the communities and stakeholders with repetitive data collection, the primary data collection under this study will focus on the gaps that exist in the available research, with a focus on the North area.

Primary data collection The primary data collection will gather and examine information on employees across the value chain (women and men), women and men farmers, industrialists, SMEs/MSMEs, cooperatives and agricultural and agrifood businesses of various sizes. The sampling will be done from the above-mentioned beneficiary groups who have been targeted throughout the program activities and is expected to include 250 – 300 individuals representing these groups. For that, the following methods will be used:

• Focus group discussions.
• Key informant interviews
• Surveys.
• Information retrieved from PUNOs technical assessments.

Primary data collection done with business enterprises will utilize elements from UN Women`s WEPs Gender Action Plan tool.

Deliverables

Timelines

An inception report, to include:

• Literature review
• Proposes timeline and workplan.

October 14th, 2023

Detailed methodology, to include:

• Proposed research questions, data collection and analysis tools.
• Stakeholder list to be consulted, along with the sampling framework.

October 19th, 2023

Brief presentation of preliminary findings

November 05th, 2023

First draft report, along with its annexes.

The annexes would include FGD scripts, KII responses and such.

November 20th, 2023

Presentation and validation of findings to stakeholders

November 24th, 2023

Final report submission, to also include one electronic file of the clean (final) qualitative and quantitative data collected.

December 14th, 2023

Final presentation to the PSDP partners and donor

December 4th, 2023

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.

Functional Competencies

• Substantive experience and record of accomplishment in gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Demonstrated analytical and technical skills in designing and carrying out Gender Analysis exercises.
• Good knowledge of the agricultural and agro-food sectors in Lebanon.
• Good knowledge of UN Women and the UN system.

Please visit the link below 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

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies, Development, Sociology, Research, Public Administration, Public Policy, or related Humanitarian field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 1 year of progressively responsible professional experience in issues related to gender equality, human rights, and development, including experience conducting multi-level gender analysis and/or gender related research.
• Experience working in the agriculture and agro-food sectors in the Middle East region in general, and Lebanon in particular, is an asset.
• Computer skills, internet communication and command of MS Office.

Language Requirements:

• Proficiency in written and oral English and Arabic is a must.

Evaluation Criteria:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology: Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points in the technical evaluation would be considered for the financial evaluation.

Criteria Weight Technical: 70% (70 points)

• Criteria 1: Education (5 points)
• Criteria 2: Experience conducting multi-level gender analysis and/or gender related research (30 points)
• Criteria 3: Experience in issues related to gender equality (30 points)
• Criteria 4: Experience working in the agriculture and agro-food sectors (5 points)

Financial: Lowest Financial Proposal: 30% (30 points) The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula:

• Contract will be awarded to the technically qualified consultant who obtains the highest combined score (financial and technical);
• The points for the Financial Proposal will be allocated as per the following formula: (Lowest Bid Offered*)/ (Bid of the Consultant) x 30;
• 'Lowest Bid Offered' refers to the lowest price offered by Offerors scoring at least 49 points in the technical evaluation.

Application

Interested Individual Consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

• A cover letter with a brief presentation of your consultancy explaining your suitability for the work and link to portfolio of work;
• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment;
• Personal CV; and Financial proposal; Proposed inclusive daily rate.

The above-mentioned documents should be merged in a standalone file including all them, since the online application submission does only permit to upload one file per application. Incomplete submission can be a ground for disqualification.

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, color, 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.

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 7 months ago - Updated 6 months ago - Source: jobs.undp.org