Background

Background/Context

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.

The Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) policy builds on and reinforces existing legal and strategic frameworks that promote equal rights for women and men in Sierra Leone and derives its basis from the 1991 Constitution, which calls for the equal enjoyment of fundamental human rights and freedoms by men, women, girls, and boys at the national, region, and international instruments and conventions.

It serves as the lawful reference point for addressing gender inequalities at national and community levels within family units, based on equal access for women, men, boys, and girls to opportunities across all areas of the economy, and articulates the strategic and institutional frameworks and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to ensure effective implementation. The policy’s overall goal is to mainstream gender into all the national, sectoral, and local policies, plans, budgets, and programmes to achieve GEWE in all spheres of development in Sierra Leone.

UN Women is developing a GEWE Policy Brief, which provides a succinct overview of key issues, challenges, and gaps in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in Sierra Leone and provides the basis for understanding the national development priorities and needs in Sierra Leone. The GEWE Policy Brief also informs policy and program development in line with the Government of Sierra Leones priorities on GEWE and provides evidence-based policy recommendations on prioritizing national strategies and investments for accelerating the progress towards gender equality.

The Gender Policy Brief will also serve as a key reference document for the implementation of Sierra Leone’s GEWE commitments in line with the 2016 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Concluding Observations, the Beijing Platform for Action, National Strategic Development Plan (2011-2030), National Action Plans on UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant will work under overall guidance of the UN Women Office and direct supervision by the Programme Officer for the UN Partnership to complete the following tasks and who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

A proposed work plan (including a timetable).

• Final report of validation stakeholders for input into the policy briefs

Final acceptable policy briefs

• The successful individuals will be required to report periodically and upon request to the program officer in charge of this project at the UN Women.
• The implementation of this project will be subject to the UN Women Timeframes: (15 days).
• The successful candidate will avail themselves to make presentations at various stages of the contract, to stakeholders, subject to them being provided with notice of the time and venue of the meeting.
• Deliverable
• 1.Submission of the Draft Policy Brief (main document) providing an overview of key issues, root-cause analysis, and challenges in accelerating the progress towards gender equality in Sierra Leone, and a list of feasible and evidence-based policy recommendations to inform policy making for prioritized investment, strategies and plans for mainstreaming gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment in all areas
• 2.Submission of the final version of the Policy Brief, including the main document, the 2-page summary and presentation materials
• All deliverables should incorporate UN Women feedback before finalization, and all reports shall be presented in electronic version.

  Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the deliverables.

• Schedule of Payment
• Payment in full upon final submission and satisfactory outputs/products in accordance with specified requirements.

  Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the instalment, the deliverables will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of the review is one week after receipt.

  Description of Responsibilities /Scope of Work

• An inception report will be required before commencement of the assignment, to make sure that the consultant understands the Terms of Reference and the assignment requirements. (Inception Report to include a work plan, methodology, all roles and responsibilities, and timeline, and serve as a means of ensuring mutual understanding of the consultant’s plan of action and timeline for conducting the assignment). Location: Home Based Duration: two working days
• Literature review to detail the main findings of a desk review of all relevant international, regional, and national documents, and conduct data informed gender analysis to develop a Policy Brief on the progress made on implementation of GEWE Act 2022, to be used for influencing policy and resourcing by policy makers, stakeholders, and the public, including media and implementing organizations. The Policy brief should outline the following:
  1. An overview of key issues, root-cause analysis, and challenges in accelerating the progress towards gender equality in Sierra Leone.
  2. The gaps in legal framework and policies, strategies and plans in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in various aspects, including gender-based violence.
  3. The areas where transformative changes are required, reflecting the development priorities and needs in Sierra Leone.
  4. A list of feasible and evidence-based policy recommendations to inform policy making for prioritized investment, strategies and plans for mainstreaming gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment in all areas, in line with the SDG 5 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. (2 working days)
• To Stakeholder Consultations To provide the main findings of in-depth consultations of Government, UN, CSOS and other key stakeholders detailing their perspectives on GEWE Act’s achievements, challenges, and gaps (7 working days)
• The consultant will submit the first draft for review before finalizing the work (1 working day)
• Validation Meeting (1 working Day)
• Synthesis policy paper no more than fifteen pages
• Two pagers policy brief-soft and hard copies
• In addition to the Policy Brief main document, the Consultant is also required to produce a 2-page summary and a Presentation PowerPoint to summarize the Policy Brief.

  Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

  This is a home-based consultancy.

  The consultant is expected to use her/his own computer, presentation equipment and software for related tasks.

  The cost of telecommunication and transportation within Dili will be covered by the consultant

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:

• Strong knowledge of gender equality and women’s rights issues, political science, law, and development.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively with government representatives of Member States as well as CSO representative.
• Proven networking skills, and ability.
• Strong writing and communication skills.
• Knowledge and understanding of UN system and familiarity with inter-governmental processes.
• Strong IT skills, including databases, extranet and office software packages.
• Strong analytical and interpersonal skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Law, Human Rights Political Science, Gender and Development or a related field is required.

• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

• A project/programme management] certification would be an added advantage

Bachelor’s degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted.

Experience:

• At least 7 years of experience of relevant work in the field of gender equality and women’s rights.
• Extensive experience in producing gender data and conducting gender analysis, and/or conducting research on gender equality and rights of women and girls.
• Experience in conducting evaluation of development strategies and policies, particularly in gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Knowledge of Sierra Leone’s context or experience in the country would be an advantage.
• Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.

Languages:

• Fluency in English o is required.
• How to Apply
• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.