National Consultant-Conduct an assessment about gender, youth, children, elderly and disability issues mainstreaming at federal and regional levels and prepare a comprehensive manual for the mainstreaming of the issues

Background

Ethiopia has been showing increasing progress in terms of ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) and ensuring the rights, participation and benefit of children, youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities. The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has demonstrated its commitment through (1) accepting major international and regional frameworks including CEDAW, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (2) putting in place adequate legal frameworks starting from the constitutional protection of the rights of women, children and youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities (3) issuing policies, strategies and action plans starting from the National Women’s Policy in 1993, the National Action Plan on Gender Equality (2006-2010) and the Development and Change Strategy and Package (2017, the National Child Policy, the National Youth Policy, the National Plan of Action on Persons with Disabilities (4) Setting up the national institutional framework of the mainstreaming of these issues including the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (formerly the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth), bureaus of women, children and youth/social affairs at regional level and lower structures and directorates at sector ministries and (5) the incorporation of gender and social inclusion into its development plans and agendas, as evidenced most recently by the 10 Years Development Plan (2020-2030).

These efforts have brought about changes in the participation and benefit of women, children, youth, elderly and disability in the economic, social and political realms. In terms of the economic aspect, there has been an increase in all-inclusive access to vital resources such as land and property, participation in the labor force and in engagement in income generating activities especially through micro and small enterprises and self-help groups. Social protection schemes have also been rolled out with focus on vulnerable groups of the society including women, children, youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities.

Despite this progress however, for the most part Ethiopian society still lives in a patriarchal social structure that underlies the unequal social power relations between men and women, boys and girls. Children still face different forms of violence and exploitation. Youth unemployment is a critical concern. Persons with disabilities encounter a variety of barriers including physical, environmental and attitudinal barriers. Institutional constraints in technical and financial capacity and human resources in the national machinery for the mainstreaming of these issues have also been a bottleneck to effectively implement the laws and policies on GEWE.

As per the Proclamation on the Definition of Powers and Duties of the Executive Organs (Proclamation 1263/2021), ensuring that policies, strategies, laws, development programs and projects formulated benefit women, children, youth, persons with disabilities and the elderly and facilitating conducive conditions to persons with disabilities, the elderly and segments of society vulnerable to social and economic problems for their full participation and benefit from equal opportunities is one of the common powers and duties of all government ministries. In addition, the proclamation has given the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs the mandate to “devise strategy and standards for mainstreaming of issues of women, children, youth, persons with disabilities, elderly and other vulnerable groups in the development policies, programs and projects and evaluate the same; follow up and supervise the same”.

Taking this into consideration, the MoWSA in collaboration with UN Women has decided to conduct a comprehensive review of the situation of the mainstreaming of the issues of women, children, youth, persons with disability, the elderly and other vulnerable groups at the federal and regional levels. Therefore, UN Women is seeking to hire a national consultant to undertake the assessment and draft a comprehensive manual for the mainstreaming of the issues.

Duties and Responsibilities

UN Women in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs will recruit a national consultant for the assignment. The national consultant will have the following main tasks and responsibilities,

Identifying key areas of concern and gaps that need to be addressed in the mainstreaming of the issues of women, children, youth, persons with disabilities, social and vulnerable sections of society
Presenting best practices on the mainstreaming of the issues from global, regional and national experiences
Reviewing national, regional and international normative framework and commitments as well as manuals, guidelines, directives and other documents on the mainstreaming of the issues
Conducting interviews and focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders
Facilitating inclusive consultations with all relevant stakeholders on the draft study
Preparing and submitting a draft inclusive mainstreaming document addressing all the issues

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Draft study report on the status of mainstreaming of the issues of women, children, youth, persons with disabilities, the elderly and other vulnerable groups at the federal and regional level
Draft comprehensive manual on the mainstreaming of the issues

Deliverables

Inception report which clearly depicts the understanding of the ToR, details the agreements made between MoWSA, UN Women and the consultant undertaking the assessment regarding the proposed research methodology and core tasks to be undertaken for this assignment
Well-developed and comprehensive research methodology and data collection tools for the conduct of the assignment
Draft Study report on the status of mainstreaming of the issues of women, children, youth, persons with disabilities, the elderly other vulnerable groups of society
Reports of interviews, FGDs and Consultations with relevant stakeholders
Draft Comprehensive Manual on the mainstreaming of the issues
Final Study Report and Mainstreaming Manual

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles

Demonstrates integrity by modeling UN Women values and ethical standards.
Demonstrates a commitment to UN Women’s mission and vision.
Able to work effectively within a team.
Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability.
Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands.
Can assess and prioritize work needs quickly.
Able to relate to external partners, including other international organizations and agencies, NGOs, grassroots community groups, etc.

Functional Competencies

Sound expertise in gender equality, women’s empowerment and social inclusion issues
Academic and practical research experience.
Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors and civil society.
Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds
Ability to produce well-written documents
Demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Educational:

An advanced university degree or equivalent (Masters or PhD) in Gender and Social Inclusion, Law, Sociology, Development Studies, or relevant Social Science fields.

Experience:

At least 10 years of professional experience in gender analysis, development work and gender mainstreaming or 5 years of experience for PhD holders.
Experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative data analysis and synthesizing information into concise, analytical written documents.
Ability to carry out gender and inclusive focused research and analysis that are able to contribute to the formulation of policies, procedures, guidelines and programmes/projects on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Demonstrated ability to produce well written, well researched and high-quality reports is essential.
Experience in the development of manuals and guidelines

Language and other skills

Language: Excellent knowledge of written and communication in English and Amharic is required.
Computer skills: full command and experience in Microsoft applications, statistical software applications and electronic data collection software such as SPSS, STATA,CSPro, Survey Solution, etc.