Result of Service

To support ECA to strengthen the statistical systems of member States to produce quality gender statistics to meet policy and reporting commitments.

Work Location

Addis Ababa

Expected duration

4 months

Duties and Responsibilities

Accurate and comprehensive gender statistics are important to assess whether progress is being made towards achieving gender equality, identify key gender inequalities where policy interventions are necessary and assist countries to meet their reporting obligations under global and regional human rights treaties. However, the production and dissemination of quality gender statistics remains a major problem in in African countries.

ECA through its Africa Centre for Statistics (ACS) and Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment Section (GEWES) has been working to strengthen the capacity of national statistical systems to produce, disseminate and use quality gender statistics to facilitate evidence-based policymaking, planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting. Every year, it organizes the Regional Workshop on Gender Statistics, jointly with the African Development Bank, UN-Women and other entities which brings together gender statisticians and gender experts in Africa. It implements the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI), a voluntary tool with the aim of supporting member States to monitor and report on progress made in meeting gender equality commitments. ECA regularly receives request from member States to support them to compile the AGDI. In 2020, ECA launched the Africa Gender Index (AGI) in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to highlight the gaps, challenges, and progress towards gender equality on the continent, with a second edition slated for production in 2023. The index is challenged by limited data.

In response to these data challenges, AfDB has provided financial support to ECA for the Capacity Building for Gender Statistics and Monitoring Systems (CB-GenSMS) Project in 4 countries: Burundi, Mozambique, South Sudan, and Zimbabwe. The project covers the years 2022 through 2025 and aims to strengthen the statistical systems of the beneficiary countries to produce quality gender statistics to meet policy and reporting commitments. It consists of three workstreams: (I) National Statistics Development Strategies; (II) National Gender Monitoring and Reporting Systems; and (III) Time-use Surveys.

The project is overseen by a Project Implementation Team co-led by the Chief of the Demographic and Social Statistics Section/ACS and Chief of GEWES and consisting of staff members from ACS and GEWES. Country assessments undertaken by consultants using standard methodologies will be used to inform the capacity building interventions.

2. Objective

The ultimate objective of the consultancy is to support ACS and GEWES attain the stated objectives of the CB-GenSMS project, and provide technical support to key gender statistics initiatives More specifically and within limits of delegated authority, the consultant will be responsible for providing coordination support to the Project Implementation Team to ensure the effective implementation of the CB-GenSMS project, provide technical support to the implementation of workstream II on National Gender Monitoring and Reporting Systems and support the organization of the 2023 Regional Workshop on Gender Statistics. The consultant will also support the programme delivery of GEWES with a focus on AGDI and AGI.

3. Duties and responsibilities

Working under the guidance of the Chief of the Demographic and Social Statistics Section/ACS and Chief of GEWES (Task Managers), the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

(a) Capacity Building for Gender Statistics and Monitoring Systems (CB-GenSMS) Project

• Support the National Gender Monitoring and Reporting Systems workstream by:

i. Preparing technical materials to guide national consultants to conduct situation analyses of the gender monitoring systems, including questionnaire, outline for Gender Fact Sheets and outline of the gender status report.

ii. Organizing orientation session for national consultants in the use of technical materials to undertake situational analyses in the four target countries.

iii. Providing supervision and technical support to the national consultants to produce high quality reports.

iv. Reviewing and providing comments on the work of national consultants.

v. Providing statistical inputs for the preparation of regional reports.

vi. Organizing and participating in technical support missions to project countries.

• Provide project coordination support to the Project Implementation Team to ensure effective project implementation and monitoring by:

i. Supporting the Project Implementation Team to coordinate the implementation and monitoring of the project.

ii. Preparing and distributing regular progress reports and updates to the Project Implementation Team.

iii. Scheduling and organizing project meetings to assess team members’ needs, project requirements and mission and activity planning, and monitor progress.

iv. Preparing and distributing minutes for all meetings of the Project Implementation Team.

v. Undertaking other project-related activities.

(b) Support to the Regional Workshop on Gender Statistics

• Providing support to organize the Regional Workshop on Gender Statistics.

• Attend and make presentations at the Workshop.

(c) Support to the African Gender and Development Index (AGDI)

• Support the organization and servicing of the technical support missions to African countries upon request.

• Provide statistical support to countries undertaking AGDI assessments; and

• Provide statistical inputs for the preparation of fact sheets and status reports, based on the results of the AGDI.

(d) Second edition of the Africa Gender Index (AGI)

• Participate in processing and validation of AGI data.

• Provide statistical inputs for the preparation of the report.

• Undertake data quality assessments of the AGI results.

(e) Adhoc tasks

• Perform other administrative and substantive tasks as assigned by the Chief of GEWES.

Qualifications/special skills

Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Statistics, Economics or Demography or in a suitably relevant field is required. A first-level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A minimum of five years proven experience in management of large databases, data and trends analyses, and data visualization using Microsoft Excel or other similar tools, is required.
Previous experience in similar assignments in gender statistics is desirable.
Familiarity with the African Gender and Development Index, Africa Gender Index or similar gender indices is desirable.

Languages

English and French are the working language of the United Nations. For this consultancy assignment, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of the other language is an advantage.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.