National Gender Experts to Support the Finalisation of the Country Gender Equality Profile for Nigeria

Background

Background

The Government of Nigeria, the African Development Bank (the Bank), and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women) acknowledge the centrality of gender equality and the empowerment of women to national development. This is reflected in national and international commitments to achieve gender equality goals, as outlined in national socio-economic policies including the National Gender Policy, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), CEDAW and Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA). The country is at an important moment in time when preparations for the implementation of the National Development Plan (2021 2026) is underway including gender objectives and concrete steps are being taken towards strengthen its socio-economic response to advance national development priorities while reducing gender gaps. In this regard the government, with the support of AfDB and UN Women, plans to produce a Country Gender Profile (CGP or the Profile). The production of the Profile provides an opportunity to increase national knowledge and analysis on progress and gaps in achieving gender equality, strengthening monitoring systems, and providing evidence to inform strategic policy priorities and upscale gender equitable programming to advance the development agenda going forward.

The draft Country Gender Profile has already been developed, and the partners will work together to finalise it , and work for effective dissemination. The process shall be supported technically and financially by the Bank and UN Women. 

Government shall use the profile to inform ongoing law & policy engagements, supporting decisions and priorities to respond to the current socio-economic context, monitoring achievements and national development planning, upscaling and expanding of existing programmes and development of new initiatives. The profile shall also serve as a reference point and guidance to development partners, civil society, and the private sector. Overall, the profile will assist in accelerating and institutionalising mainstreaming of gender and women empowerment concerns across all sectors and levels, for maximum impact in achieving gender equality and inclusion. It shall serve also as a reference for setting a forward-looking gender equality agenda in line with national, regional, and international norms and standards. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective

The objective of this assignment is to finalise, format, complete the analysis and update statistical information in the Draft Country Gender Profile into a final document ready for dissemination and publishing, culminating into a Final Country Gender Equality Profile guiding action.

Description of the main tasks to be undertaken by the consultant

The Nigeria Country National Gender Profile should be finalised by combining description of data and information, qualitative analysis and statistical data in a manner that is useful for the planning, programming and action, including the preparation and advocacy of projects, institutions, and legislation that are gender responsive. The specific assignment of the consultant/s will cover the followings:

• To update the statistical analysis and information in the draft report, including statistical data, reference regional and international normative frameworks in undertaking the gender analysis, and global development blueprints such as the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG5. Specifying sources and references, as well as information gaps.
• To finalise the gender analysis of the existing draft gender assessment. To diagnose and identify key sector priorities for Nigeria Country’s national development plan including but not limited to the priorities of the AfDB Country Strategy Paper in the country, The National Development Plan of Nigeria, and the National Gender Policy, as well as the H5 AfDB development priorities energy (clean and fossil, action plan, clean cooking), agriculture, quality of life (water and sanitation, employment and human capital), industrialisation and regional integration as well as transport.
• To analyse progress on institutionalisation of gender architecture and governance according to section 4 of the national development policy, including Gender National Machinery, Sector implementation and gender responsive budgeting, and provide recommendations for the way forward.  The analysis will include national machinery, sectoral ministries gender policies and desks, capacity, budget and coordination in the territory to achieve the objectives of the National Gender Policy and in general the empowerment of women. Finalise the Evaluation of sectoral policies and strategies from a gender perspective and identify good practices and shortcomings.
• Analyse trends and evolutions in gender equality in the country specifying differences across states and territories.
• To apply an intersectional perspective to gender inequality, providing concrete recommendations regarding existing gender gaps and inequalities accelerating the advancement of gender equality and the social and economic empowerment of women and their equal participation in decision-making, considering “glass ceilings” and “sticky floors”.
• To finalize analysis of civil society organizations active for gender equality to include their perspective on women progress. This will be done by organizing three focus groups or at least 10 in depth interviews with women civil society organizations active for gender equality to include their perspective on women progress.
• To finalize the analysis of gender of private sector and financial inclusion in Nigeria, including in particular the voices and needs of small and medium women entrepreneurs, through at least two focus groups and two interviews to resource persons. Identify opportunities and specific constraints.
• Development partners: Organize an in-person focus group with the members of the Development Partners Group on Gender and do an online survey to explore with them strengths, weaknesses and opportunities perceived in the work of gender, as well as the most robust, structuring projects.
• To analyse trends in economic inclusion by gender, including the care economy and integrate the Women Economic Empowerment Action plan in relevant strategies and plans in the country.
• Analyse future trends, including in climate change, economic empowerment, and security with a gender lenses.
• Finalise the socio-cultural, economic, political, and legal factors that hinder the efforts of gender equality in Nigeria at the present context of the country.
• Finalise the major needs and concerns with regard to the closing of gender gaps in Nigeria Country and identify the coverage of these by other development partners, the UN, the Bank, and other development partners, gaps which they could address, where impact can be made and opportunities for programmes identified.
• Finalise recommendations to advance gender equality, and the empowerment of women, by cultural change and in the financial, economic, and social sectors, and participation in decision-making processes, in alignment with the National Action Plan and the Country Strategy Paper.

Modality

This consultation will have consultants working as a team. It is foreseen to have a national and an international consultant. The national consultant will lead on the focus groups organization/interviews of organizations and analysis, as well as the search for national plans and data.

The international consultant will conduct desk review, organize the information and finalize the document.

A steering committee for this consultation will be set up with the participation of the Bank, UNWOMEN and the Ministry of Women.  A focal point of contact will be provided to the consultants. 

Methodology

The methodology to be adopted in carrying out this exercise combines desk review of information and data, focus groups and interviews resource persons, structuring, and formatting the draft Gender Country Profile with the above guidance.

The proposed space to conduct the interviews and focus groups is the African Development Bank in Abuja.  An appendix of the Country Gender Profile will include the names of persons and organizations interviewed/participating in focus groups, although they will not be individualized in the analysis.

To deliver on the expected output, the consultant, with backstop from the Technical Team, shall:

• Propose methodology and timeline
• Agreement of methodology and timeline with the leading team of this exercise including the Ministry of Women, Bank and UN Women technical;
• Conduct necessary desktop research for the Country Gender Equality Profile. This should involve updating gaps in statistical information
• Finalisation and approval of final document
• Presentation in public workshop

Length Country Gender Profile for Nigeria

• The Profile, discounting the executive summary and annexes, will be a document of 100 pages maximum, detailing all above-mentioned information with all statistics by sex and gender analysis. This document should finalise the current draft report, and structure will be provided.
• The document will include a 3–4-page executive summary to the main report.

Duration of the assignment and timeline

The duration of the assignment is 30 days for each consultant distributed in two calendar months.

Ideally, the contracts will start the first week of September and the CGP will be finalized the first week of November.   

Deliverables

The following are the major expected deliverables:

• The inception report (One week after the beginning of the consultation)
• The second draft report.
• The Nigeria Country Gender Profile.
• A Power Point presentation on the key messages and recommendations.
• Appendix with participants in consultations/interviews and resource persons
• Appendix with documents reviews

All deliverables shall be made by the team of both consultants.

Competencies

Core Values

• Integrity: Demonstrates consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrates professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Respect for Diversity: Demonstrates an appreciation of the multi-cultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrates an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Competencies:

• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Development and Innovation: Take charge of self-development and take initiative.
• Teamwork: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communication and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards others.
• Conflict Management: Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
• Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing: Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.
• Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making: Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies

• Good programme formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation skills
• Good knowledge of Results Based Management
• Ability to gather and interpret data, reach logical conclusions, and present findings and recommendations
• Good analytical skills
• Knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced University (at least a Master’s) degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences Economics or related disciplines is required; a PhD in economics is a plus.

Experience:

• Minimum of 7 years of demonstrated extensive experience that combines research and capacity development in the area of gender and economics and/or women’s social and economic empowerment at the national and international levels is required.
• Proven record of publications on economics and gender, women’s socio-economic empowerment, including publications on these topics in English with renowned institutions, is required.
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating multi-cultural training for adults.
• Knowledge of socio-cultural, geopolitical, economic, and environmental country context is an advantage.
• Excellent writing skills and analytical skills.
• In depth knowledge of gender issues in Africa and in Nigeria specifically.
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills.
• Ability to speak and write in a clear and gender-sensitive language.

Note: Applicants are required to send the following documents in one application by email.

1. Application letter explaining interest in the consultancy and suitability of the candidate for the consultancy position
2. Updated CV
3. A short proposal (max 1,500 A4 pages) that details a proposed methodology and conceptualization of the consultancy.
4. Personal History Form (P11). The P11 Form can be downloaded from the following website:

Duration of the Assignment

The assignment is expected to take 30 working days from the date of signing the contract.

Language Requirements:

Excellent command of written and spoken English language.

Application

All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from:

. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment. Applications without the completed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW, and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided based on qualifications, competence, integrity, and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority, and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel 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.)