International Individual Consultant to Conduct Gender Programmatic Review of Guyana and Suriname's Country Programme

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, equality

Background

The UNICEF Gender Action Plan (GAP), 2022–2025, operationalizes the Gender Policy by specifying how UNICEF will promote gender equality. It elaborates the steps required to accelerate progress on gender equality across the five Goal Areas of the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2022–2025, as well as within institutional systems and processes. It also articulates the organization’s role, as a leader and collaborator with Governments and other partners, in supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Indicators for tracking progress are contained in the accompanying indicator matrix for the GAP. UNICEF Gender Action Plan, 2022 2025

UNICEF recognizes that gender discrimination begins before birth and impedes the realization of rights through childhood, adolescence and beyond. Investments in gender equality beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout adolescence are therefore integral to lifelong positive outcomes for children and their communities. As the organization mandated to protect and promote the rights and opportunities of children and adolescents during the time of life when gender norms are learned and solidified, UNICEF has a unique responsibility to ensure that gender equality is at the core of everything it does.

The thrust of responsible programme is founded in the recognition that gender intersects with multiple risks faced by the poorest and the most marginalized and excluded groups, including heightened risk of discrimination and neglect related to disability, racism, xenophobia, sexual orientation and gender identity, ethnicity, urbanization, migration and displacement, natural disasters and armed conflicts, or any other reason.

Committed to leaving no one behind, UNICEF places a particular emphasis on supporting girls during adolescence, as they are both disproportionately affected by gender inequality and have tremendous potential to become leaders for change during this critical time of life. In addition to promoting the rights, leadership and well-being of girls, the GAP advances support for and promotion of the rights of women and explicitly recognizes that children’s rights and women’s rights are inextricably linked.

The COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly complex and extended humanitarian crises around the world and the ongoing catastrophe of climate change all threaten to reverse gains made towards gender equality.

The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing gender inequalities across many spheres of life. It has amplified the need to address the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work on women, the ongoing crisis of violence faced by girls and women and the underrepresentation of girls and women in leadership roles. Women have left the labour force at much higher rates than men and are less likely to return. Disruptions in education have affected children and adolescents everywhere. Adolescent girls are especially at risk of not returning to school and losing access to programmes they need to transition to a rapidly changing workforce. Millions of girls lack access to critical health services and face increased risk of child marriage and early pregnancy. Deepening economic and social stressors, combined with the effects of quarantine, isolation and heightened family and domestic demands, have led to acute stress, particularly for girls and women. Increases in gender-based violence and the strain on prevention and response services have further aggravated the safety and security of girls and women in diverse settings, including in their own homes.

Guyana and Suriname have made strides in responding to gender equality in government structures eg A Gender Equality Commission in Guyana; Gender Units in the MoHSSS; attention to at least one-third female representation in Parliament. Both countries are making efforts to respond positively to general comments of the CRC reviews. Both countries during the period 2018 and 2019 witnessed positive changes in the Gender Inequality Index with Guyana moving for 0.504 to 0.462 and Suriname moving from 0.441 to 0.436. Financial resources, skilled staff and entrenched gender norms remain major challenges. Notable is that both countries have demonstrated commitment to address causes, effects and impact of gender-based violence on adolescent girls and boys and are making paradigm shifts in adolescent programming with emphasis on SRH, MHM, empowerment and employability. This approach underscores the equity and inclusive focus of the Country Programme in a context where boys in both countries are becoming increasingly vulnerable eg, lower school completion rates; increased participation in family, community and gang violence; drug abuse and whose needs and behaviors if left unaddressed ,can further propel negative impacts on girls and women.

The United Nations Multi country Sustainable Development Framework (UN MSDF) is the business plan for the UN agencies, funds and programmes in the English and Dutch speaking Caribbean for the period January 2022 to December 2026 (final draft). The UNICEF Guyana and Suriname Country Programme Document 2022-2026 responds to both the UN MSDCF and UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, with a desire to enhance its alignment to UNICEF’s GAP.

The five UNICEF programme outcomes are directly aligned with three of the four priority areas of the United Nations Multi-Country Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNMSDCF) 2022-2026: (a) pillar 2, equality and well-being, through outcomes on health and nutrition, education and protection; (b) pillar 3, safety, justice and rule of law, through outcomes on child protection and social protection; and (c) pillar 4, resilience to climate change and natural resources management, through an outcome on climate resilience and WASH.

In anticipation of the implementation of the UN Multi-country Strategic Development Framework (UN MSDF) and UNICEF Country Programme 2022-2026 as well as addressing priorities of the GAP 2022 - 2025, a Gender Programmatic Review is envisaged to provide a strategic direction and recommendations for achieving gender transformative results of the GAP. The Gender Programmatic Review will highlight how a Country Programme 2022-2026 can strengthen gender programming in alignment with the GAP and Strategic Plan 2022-2025 by conducting a retrospective analysis based on the GAP 2018-2021 against the current CPD as well as the upcoming CPD 2022-2026 against the GAP 2022-2025.

The Gender Programmatic Review process includes four main steps.

1) Analysis of the gender results in the GAP within the national context (the consultant is expected to identify other elements then included in the GAP as applicable to the reality of both countries and include in the analysis), in order to identify a subset that can potentially be addressed in the country programme, for further analysis. 2) Identification of the gendered barriers and bottlenecks at the root of the selected gender results, and develop programmatic solutions to address those barriers, including in light of opportunities and facilitating factors (including institutional factors e.g. strategic alliances, resources, staff gender capacities, data and evidence, accountability) to meet the unique needs of girls and boys in the national contexts so as to enhance gender transformative programming . 3) Guidance and support to the Country Office to articulate results and specify indicators to track progress, as well as accountability standards to support achievement of those results. 4) Documentation of the findings of the GPR in a way that facilitates integration of key agreements and conclusions into NICEF country programme documents. Under this backdrop, the UNICEF Guyana and Suriname Office is seeking a consultant to conduct a Gender Programmatic Review. This will include: 1) capacity development activities on gender programming for UNICEF staff; 2) mapping country programme outputs, Indicators and activities; 3) an in-depth review of selected outputs and indicators; and 4) integrating specific action points into the work planning process.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree in social sciences, public health, or international development.

• At least 8 years of strong technical skills in gender research and analysis /assessments and ability to support countries especially on gender assessments or reviews. • Substantive and programmatic experience in gender issues, with an understanding of social change, is essential. • Demonstrated experience in using the evidence base on gender in shaping and implementing programmes. • Strong analytical skills in gender programme design and assessment, ideally at the national level • Some prior experience with UNICEF or UN agency programme planning • Previous experience of Gender Programmatic Review • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong interpersonal and presentation skills.

Please access the complete ToR here: Clean Terms of Reference for GPR verified.pdf

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

All candidates are required to submit a technical and financial proposal (attached separately).

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.