International Consultant to conduct an End of interventions Perception study on Community perceptions of Women rights to Land

Consultant

Contract

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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.

UN Women’s goal in Liberia is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality which are key in sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development. In this regard, its programming in the Country is connected to five corporate priority areas: women’s leadership and political participation; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; engaging women in all aspects of women, peace and security processes; advancing women’s rights to live free from violence and gender responsive budgeting and governance. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s joint work in advancing gender equality.

UN Women, UNDP and WFP have been jointly implementing the project “Sustaining Peace and Reconciliation through Strengthening Land Governance and Dispute Resolution” funded by the Liberian Multi Partner Trust Fund. The project aims at strengthening the existing semi-formal and informal land dispute resolution mechanisms such as the Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSP) and the new mechanisms established through the Land Rights Act (LRA) such as the Community Land Development Management Committees (CLDMCs), with a view to reducing conflicts in a more transparent, effective and gender and youth responsive manner. The project supported communities including women and youth in targeted counties to have the capacity and skills to participate in decision-making processes of the land dispute mechanisms. In support of finding peaceful resolutions for the communities affected by the activities of concession companies, the project was also addressing effects of environmental hazards and propose alternative livelihood opportunities, the latter of which would contribute to generating incomes for self-sustainability of the existing dispute resolution mechanisms. The project also intended to improve communities’ understanding on the Local Governance Act (LGA), the Land Rights Act (LRA), concession agreements, and women’s and youth’s rights to land, as well as knowledge on use existing formal and informal land disputes resolution mechanisms.

In Liberia, there is a dominant traditional cultural perception that the right place for women is in their homes. Findings of existing studies show that women are targets of violent behavior, and humiliation, forcing them to withdraw from participating in political spaces, or land dispute resolution processes, due to fear or self- doubt. The exclusionary politics results in women choosing not to engage in land discussions thus stifling their voices in land management and dispute resolution processes.

In 2020 UN Women commissioned a perception study and gender and power analysis in the framework of the joint project “Sustaining Peace and Reconciliation through Strengthening Land Governance and Dispute Resolution”, funded by the Liberia Multi-Partner Trust Fund through the Peacebuilding Fund. The goal of the study was to assess the understanding of communities and individuals on gender, human rights and land rights issues, with a view to exacting change on gender stereotypes, particularly as related to land. The study involved extensive field work across 44 communities in four project counties: Grand Cape Mount, Sinoe, Maryland and Nimba. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the form of 786 household surveys 37 focus group discussions (FGDs) 57 community leader surveys. In addition, data and evidence from publicly available sources such as the World Bank, as well as previously conducted evaluations, were used to bolster the analysis.

Summary of the findings

The perception study and gender and power analysis revealed deep-seated gender inequalities in terms of roles as well as access to and control over resources and decision making at household and community levels across all four project counties. However, it showed an existence of county level variation in terms of decision-making power in the household, with Nimba County identified as being more gender equitable than the other three counties. This was also found to be true at the community level, where females are more involved in decision-making in Nimba than their counterparts in other counties.

At the national level too, there exists considerable inequality in terms of power relations and decision-making authority — as illustrated by the dearth of females in leadership positions in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. These inequalities hold true generally, as well as on matters directly related to land and land dispute resolution. At a household level, women’s roles are largely relegated to that of a homemaker and women are seen as subservient to male heads of households as related to decision making. Typical gender stereotypes of women being responsible for cleaning, cooking and looking after the kids were revealed to be the actuality across all four counties. At a community level too, there is a significant differentiation in terms of roles and decision-making power, with males overwhelmingly in leadership roles and in charge of decision-making on most community matters, including land matters.

While responses from focus group discussions (FGDs) indicate that the idea of gender equality is quite widely known and often cited in responses to questions such as electing women leaders and men doing household chores, in reality this gender equality does not play out when examining the distribution of power. The persistence of traditionally held cultural norms around the roles, and rights, of men and women in Liberian society, means that programmatic change will be incremental and play out over the course of at least one, if not several, generations.

On land matters more specifically, the study does find that Liberia has made significant strides in terms of its legal and policy framework towards ensuring gender equality and rights’ protections for women, including around land matters. Liberia’s Land Rights Framework is found to be gender responsive, however on the ground more work needs to be done on education and implementation of existing laws. The study finds that females tend to be more uncertain about land laws and their rights to land than their male counterparts, and more often feel that their voices and opinions are not considered on land matters. At a community level women’s rights to land are weaker than those of men, and intricately tied to their marital status — despite what the law says. The rights of disabled persons are also weak in the study communities as pertains to land and land dispute resolution.

The study finds that decision-making on land matters is also the purview of men in the community, the exception seemingly being around matters related to concessions, where women are found to be more involved in the decision-making process than when it comes to community land matters. Females are less satisfied with dispute resolution processes on land matters than their male counterparts and rely to a greater extent on informal and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms than on the formal courts systems.

Three general recommendations arose as a result of this study’s findings:

1. Donors, civil society and the Government of Liberia (GoL) ought to invest in continuous, long-term grassroots awareness-raising activities around land rights and gender equality.
2. Donors, civil society and the GoL ought to invest in programming aimed at levelling the playing field for women’s participation in decision making processes at community, district, county and national levels, and
3. Donors, civil society, the GoL and concession companies need to invest in programmes and activities that build and strengthen the relationship between communities and concession companies

In view of these findings, UN Women seeks to recruit an international Consultant to conduct the End of intervention perception survey to measure and changes instigated by the joint project. The Consultant will work alongside a firm to support with the data collection during the assignment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

The major objective of this consultancy is to conduct an End of intervention perception study on gender stereotypes and public perceptions of gender roles and attitudes towards women’s participation in alternative land dispute resolution mechanisms in Sinoe, Grand Cape Mount, Nimba and Maryland Counties. This assignment also aims to conduct a gender and power analysis. This assignment will seek to check any progress achieved in changing the perceptions and gender stereotypes observed at the beginning of the project

Scope of work and tasks

Under the overall guidance and management of the UN Women Deputy Representative, Liberia Country Office Women Peace and Security team, A Reference group and supervision from the Gender and Land Management specialist in collaboration with UNDP, WFP and LLA, the International Consultant will perform the following tasks:

Task 1. Desk Review and development of a consultancy Work Plan and an Inception Report that describes the methodology to be used for the perception survey

• Conduct a desk review of existing relevant documents (Home-based);
• Conduct preliminary consultations with members of the project team (UN Women, UNDP, WFP, LLA, National Bureau of Concession (NBC) and other stakeholders and beneficiaries of the project and the reference group)
• Develop a consultancy work plan

• Draft and submit an Inception Report. The report should be structured as follows:

• Introduction

• Methodology
• Data collection tools
• Findings
• Annexes

Task 2. Undertake data collection, perception assessment and gender and power analysis in Nimba, Grand Cape Mount, Sinoe and Maryland Counties

• Develop and agree with UN Women, UNDP and WFP data collection tools
• Work with the LLA, NBC, Peace building Office to collect data
• Analyze data collected

• Develop a well-structured report that comprehensively describes findings of the research. The report will be structured as follows:

• Executive summary

• Acronyms
• Introduction
• Table of Contents
• Background information
• Methodology
• Baseline data
• Analysis
• Findings
• Conclusion and recommendations
• Annexes

Task 3. Facilitate a validation workshop and present results to major project stakeholders

• Develop a concept note, a presentation, and an agenda for the validation workshop to be held in Monrovia
• Facilitate a validation workshop and present results to major project stakeholders
• Collect additional information from stakeholders and incorporate in the final report
• Finalize the perception assessment and gender and power analysis report

Methodology

The research will be composed of four components: 1) Development of methodology (to be approved by UN Women) 2) A desk review based on secondary data 3) Primary data collection in Liberia in targeted Counties. 4) Data analysis and writing and validation of final report.

The research will use a mixed-methods approach, using surveys, Focus Groups and key Informant interviews. For primary data collection, women and men will be interviewed.

Expected Deliverables

The IC will produce the following deliverables:

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Deliverables

Indicative Deadline

1

Consultancy work plan and a detailed Inception Report

7th October 2022

2

Finalization of Data collection tools alongside Firm selected to conduct Data collection

14th October 2022

3

1. A well-structured perception study report on public perception of gender roles and attitudes towards women’s participation in alternative land dispute resolution mechanisms, and access to land in Sinoe, Grand Cape Mount, Nimba and Maryland Counties.

The report must include any changes observed and attributed to the project in reference to the perception survey conducted in the beginning of the project.

The report will be structured as follows:

• Executive summary
• Acronyms
• Introduction
• Table of Contents
• Background information
• Methodology
• Baseline Data
• Analysis
• Findings
• Conclusion and recommendations
• Annexes

1. Validation workshop for Results from the Report

20th November, 2022

4.

Final consultancy report detailing support provided to strengthen the capacity of the stakeholders including results (changes in knowledge and capacity), recommendations, and annexes such as means of verification.

30th November 2022

Competencies

All Deliverables, including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in writing in English. Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.

Inputs

• UN Women/ UNDP/WFP/ LLA will provide the IC with background information and documents, and a list of stakeholders relevant for the assignment;
• The IC is expected to work using his/ her own computer;
• UN Women will provide transportation while on missions to the project counties;

Performance evaluation:

The IC ’s performance will be evaluated based on: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered

Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis.

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%]
• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]

A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allotted for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Technical Evaluation Criteria

Obtainable Score

Experience and skills

90

Language and other skills

10

Total Obtainable Score

100

Only the candidates who meet the minimum requirements will be longlisted, and additional documentation may be requested. Candidates with a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically-qualified candidates and will be shortlisted for potential interview.

Financial/Price Proposal evaluation****:

• Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.
• The total number of points allotted for the price component is 100.
• The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technically qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Annex I: Financial Proposal

BREAKDOWN OF COSTS

Breakdown of Cost by Components:

DeliverablesPercentage of Total Price (Weigh) for payment)Fixed PriceDue Date 50% 40% 50% The lump sum costs should include administration costs, per diem and expenses related to the consultancy. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.

Flight tickets will be directly covered by UN Women

Submission of package

1. Cover letter.
2. CV, including contact information for 3 referees.
3. A sample report of a research conducted by applicant.
4. Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per each deliverable, including any administrative fees, based on the template in Annex 1. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.

Applications without any of the items listed above will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing****.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be invited to the interview.

Selected candidates will need to submit prior to commencement of work:

1. A copy of the latest academic certificate(s)
2. UN Women P-11 form, available via http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment
3. A statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’
4. Before any travel outside of Monrovia, the consultant will need to provide proof (certificate) of “Basic and Advanced Security in the Field” (which can be accessed here: undss.trip.org)

Required Skills and Experience

Required experience and qualifications

The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements:

Education

Master’s degree in gender and development studies, international affairs, or political science

Experience:

• At least 5 years of proven experience in conducting perception studies on gender stereotypes and public perceptions
• At least 5 years of experience conducting research and/or conducting gender analysis;
• Proven experience in collecting and analyzing data;
• Previous experience in a similar assignment in Africa would be an asset;
• Proven Knowledge of Gender and Land issues

Language and other skills:

• Fluency in English, with the ability to produce well written reports
• Excellent facilitation skills
• Mastery of information technology is required to ensure well organized and systematized presentations, including statistical and graphical descriptions

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