REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

PREPARATION OF THE COUNTRY GENDER EQUALITY PROFILE FOR THE FEDERAL

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA

  1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following assignment: Preparation of the Country Gender Equality Profile for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
  1. The services to be provided include all relevant activities associated with the assignment as captured in the TORs.
  1. Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this assignment (documents, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.)
  1. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a shortlist and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Procurement Policy for Recruitment of Corporate Consultants. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist. It is expected that interested individual consultants shall be registered in the Bank’s DACON System for consultants. Unregistered parties can register using the following link: https://www.afdb.org/en/projects-and-operations/procurement/consultancy-services-dacon
  1. A shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established following the request for expressions of interest. EOIs will be judged on the following criteria as per their CV:
  • Level of education (10%)
  • Years of experience (10%)
  • Years of experience relevant to the assignment (35%)
  • Knowledge of the working environment/country context (35%)
  • Regional and prior Bank experience. (10%)
  1. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: 8.00AM to 17.00 GMT.

E-Mail: [email protected]; cc’ing: [email protected]

  1. Detailed expressions of interest (EOI) and CV must be received at the addresses below no later 12th July 2021 at 17:00 GMT and specifically mentioning “National Gender Expert – Preparation of the Country Gender Equality Profile for the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.” The EOIs can be sent by email:
For the attention of: Ms. Madvee Muthu
Gender Expert
African Development Bank
E-Mail: [email protected];
cc: Irene Konan: [email protected]

TERMS OF REFERENCE

NATIONAL GENDER EXPERTS – PREPARATION OF THE COUNTRY GENDER EQUALITY

PROFILE FOR THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA

1. Background

The African Development Bank (AfDB) and UN Women acknowledges the importance the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia attaches to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, with a focus on elimination all forms of inequalities and promotion of inclusive growth. This is demonstrated through the government’s efforts in providing an enabling environment that includes an improved legal framework and other mechanisms to advance women’s economic status, involvement in politics and leadership roles. Ethiopia has adopted several international conventions that ensured equality of men and women and also developed its own national policy instruments and legal reforms to enable the implementation of these international conventions.

The country is at an important moment in time when preparations for the Country Strategy Paper (2021 – 2025) are underway, assessment of progress towards achieving the SDGs is ongoing, and concrete steps are being taken towards strengthening its socio-economic response to advance national development priorities. In this regard the government, with the support of AfDB and UN Women, plans to produce a country gender equality profile (CGEP). The production of the CGEP provides an opportunity to increase national knowledge 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 exercise will involve undertaking a review of existing gender analysis through an Issue Paper, which will survey existing gender analyses, country reports, and identify recently released gender disaggregated data. The Issue Paper will set the baseline and reference point for the CGEP, which will focus on the country’s priority development sectors. It will provide updated information, including an overview of existing projects and programs addressing gender inequalities and inequities, the differential impacts of COVID-19 on women and men, identifying major donors and their priorities, as well as major gaps in funding and project/program coverage. It will therefore have a practical approach, which is focused on what has been done already, what needs to be done, and what approaches need to be replicated or scaled up. The Issue Paper will inform the design and shape the focus of a more comprehensive sectoral gender analysis, which will result in a national gender equality profile. The resulting comprehensive gender analysis of the situation (and gender roles) of women and men in their socio-economic position, needs, participation rates, access to resources, control of assets, decision making, individual freedoms and human right conditions will be used to guide the development of strategies, policy and interventions.

Government shall use the CGEP to inform ongoing law and policy engagements, support decisions and priorities to respond to the current socio-economic context, monitor achievements and national development planning, scale and expand 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 CGEP will assist in accelerating and institutionalising the mainstreaming of gender and women empowerment concerns across all sectors and levels for maximum impact. 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.

All UN and Development partners working in Ethiopia are welcome to support the CGEP development process technically as part of the Reference Group, to review and provide substantive inputs.

  1. Objectives

The objective of this assignment is to undertake a comprehensive multi-sectoral gender analysis of Ethiopia, culminating into a Country Gender Equality Profile.

Specifically, the key objectives are:

  • To undertake, through an Issue Paper, a review of existing gender analyses, country reports, policies and programmes identifying available information and gaps;
  • To identify key gender inequalities that constrain inclusive growth, assess the prevailing macro and sectoral policies and legal frameworks that impact gender equality and women empowerment, and recommend key areas for strategic actions;
  • To examine the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on women and men, with a specific analysis on how the multiple forms of discrimination experienced by women exacerbate the impact of the pandemic on their lives;
  • To examine the institutional and human resources capacity for advancing gender equality and empowerment of women;
  • To provide concrete recommendations regarding existing gender gaps and inequalities and for accelerating the advancement of gender equality and the social and economic empowerment of women and their equal participation in decision-making;
  • To identify key sector priorities for Ethiopia’s national development plan including, but not limited, for example to infrastructure development (with focus on energy, transport, and water and sanitation), agribusiness, employment, and human capital development;
  • To examine both the demand-side and the supply-side characteristics and constraints on the status of women-owned SMEs and the financing gap, including: the regulatory environment; available innovative financial instruments; capacity development programs, along with relevant ecosystem players, targeting the different states of women-owned SMEs to improve access to finance to women; and
  • To reference regional and international normative frameworks in undertaking the gender analysis, and global development blueprints such as the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG5.

  1. Description of the main tasks to be undertaken by the team of national consultants

In consultation with the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth, the AfDB and UN Women will hire a team of three national consultants to prepare the CGEP. The Ethiopian CGEP should combine description, qualitative analysis and statistical data in a manner that is useful for the planning, programming and preparation of projects that are gender-responsive. The specific assignment of the team of national consultants will cover the followings:

  • Examine the socio-cultural, economic, political and legal factors that hinder the efforts of gender equality in Ethiopia;
  • Assess the institutional capacity of sectoral ministries and stakeholders to promote gender, equity, equality and the empowerment of women in Ethiopia, in particular where strategic institutional support and capacity building shall be provided by partners, including the UN and AfDB;
  • Analyse the specific constraints to gender-sensitive financial inclusion: enabling environment for all entrepreneurs, their access to credit and financial services, etc.;
  • Evaluate sectoral policies and strategies from a gender perspective and identify good practices and shortcomings;
  • Collect secondary data regarding gender issues by sector, in particular for infrastructure, private sector, industrialization, agriculture, water, health, education, energy, science and technology;
  • Up-date existing administrative data on gender gaps and conduct a gender analysis;
  • Update major needs and concerns with regard to the closing of gender gaps in Ethiopia 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;
  • In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic:
  • Assess the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 on women and men, particularly in the productive sectors, informal sector, access to social services, employment and gender-based violence;
  • Evaluate the COVID 19 rapid response teams, including the training of female health personnel and the gender responsiveness of the communication and awareness strategy to respond to COVID-19; and
  • Recommend actions to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, taking into account gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
  • Make recommendations to advance gender equality and the empowerment of women in the financial, economic, and social sectors, and participation in decision-making processes;
  • Propose the outline of a priority program of interventions in the field of gender in Ethiopia; and
  • Conduct a field mission with the technical team and facilitate two half-day national workshops on the preliminary results and findings of the study.

The consultants will report to the AfDB & UN Women technical teams which is composed, on the AfDB side, of the AfDB Principal Statistician-Economist on gender, the Principal Country Economist, Senior Socio-Economist and the Senior Gender Expert, and, on UN Women side, of the Deputy Representative, Programme Specialist, Statistics and Senior Adviser, Policy and Strategic Planning.

  1. Methodology.

The methodology to be adopted in carrying out this exercise combines desk review, focus group discussions, meetings, interviews as well as a consultative workshop. More specifically, to deliver on the expected output, the consultants, with support from the Technical Team, shall:

  • Meet with relevant ministries and consult on the proposed methodology and content of the study;
  • Conduct necessary desktop research for the Country Gender Equality Profile. This will involve collection of and review of available literature from stakeholder reports, strategic frameworks, legislation, policies, academic literature, statistical information, UN documents, CEDAW reports, and other relevant organizations and government documentations on the subject matter
  • Collect and review gender disaggregated statistical data and gender assessment/analysis conducted by development partners, governmental institutions, universities and civil society organizations;
  •  Conduct in-depth interviews with members of key Government departments and institutions, development partners and other key stakeholders, including civil society organizations including women’s associations and universities, aiming to identify gender disparities, challenges, opportunities and good practices. The data collected through interviews and focus groups should complement the desk review.
  • Review Development Partners’ interventions and their contribution to the closing of identified gender gaps, including research reports, and sector analyses;
  • Review gender policies and strategic plans of the sectors and identifying their contribution to gender equality;
  • Organize focus groups with key stakeholder’s groups including representatives of CSOs, associations of rural women, religious and community leaders, women entrepreneurs (including beneficiaries of microfinance programs); and facilitate two half day workshops to discuss with relevant stakeholders the preliminary findings of the study (first draft) and its recommendations, and integrate comments into final draft Country Gender Equality Profile.

  1. Format and content of the Country Gender Profile for Ethiopia

5.1 The Country Gender Profile will follow the format outlined below:

  • A document detailing all above-mentioned information with all statistics disaggregated by sex. This document should contain an analysis of the current situation, gaps, challenges, opportunities, and recommended actions. A summary of 20 pages will be delivered as well.
  • Contain a summary 3 pages maximum, which will present the statistics disaggregated by sex on the gender situation in Ethiopia.

5.2 Content of the Country Gender Profile

  • The Gender Profile should cover the following topics:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 1   INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background and Justification

1.2     Goal and Objectives of the CGEP

1.3     Methodology of the Country Gender Equality Profile

2    THE NATIONAL CONTEXT

2.1     The Gender Aspects of the Historical Situation

2.2     Gender-Sensitive Poverty Profile

2.3     Macroeconomic Overview

2.4     Human Rights of Women

2.5     Representation of Women at Decision-Making Levels

3    POLICY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

3.1     International and Regional Commitments to Gender Equality

3.2     The Gender Dimension of National Development Plan

3.3     Legal Framework and Women’s Legal Status

3.4     Institutional Frameworks

4 GENDER ANALYSIS BY SECTOR

4.1 Gender and Health Sector 

4.2   Gender and Education Sector

4.3     Gender and Agriculture Sector

4.4     Gender and Employment

4.5     Gender and Infrastructure Sector

4.6     Gender and the Industrial sector

4.7     Gender and the Mining Sector

4.8     Gender, Leadership and Decision-Making

4.9      Gender and Peace and Security sector

4.10    Gender and Water and Sanitation

4.11    Gender Perspective of the COVID-19 Impact

  • OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES 
  • CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

IIREFERENCES

  • LIST OF ANNEXES 

  1. Duration of the mission

The duration of the assignment is eleven (11) weeks for the national consultant (55 days in full-time equivalent); and commencing tentatively on 2 August 2021. The schedule of execution of the mission will be adjusted according to the needs of the government, the Bank and UN Women. The eleven weeks in full-time equivalent will tentatively be scattered over a period of 6 calendar months maximum.

  1. Deliverables

The following are the major expected deliverables:

  • The Issue Paper;
  • The Field Mission Report;
  • The Ethiopia Country Gender Profile. Production of a first and final draft, and presentation of the two drafts to stakeholders for validation (including to the Advisory Group);
  • A Power Point presentation on the key messages and recommendations; and
  • 10 one- to two-page policy briefs based on CGEP findings.

  1. Required qualifications

The consultants shall possess a combination of the following:

Education: An 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: A 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 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. Knowledge of socio-cultural, geopolitical, economic and environmental country context for Ethiopia is an advantage. Excellent writing skills and analytical skills.

Languages: Excellent command of written and spoken English and Ethiopia local languages.

  1. Role and Responsibility of AfDB and UN Women 9.1 AfDB

The Gender Department at headquarters (HQ) as well as the Country Office (COET) will coordinate the assignment, share best practices in preparing Gender Profiles, and provide technical support and guidance to the working team in the region. The responsibility for the overall quality of the reports will lie with the team in HQ. They will also be responsible for the recruitment process of consultants. The consultant will report to the AfDB Gender Expert (AHGC1) and the Senior Socio-Economist (COET).

9.2 UN Women

UN Women will lead the assignment on the ground including planning the necessary field missions and meetings with local stakeholders. With the support of COET team in country, they will take the lead in preparing engagements on the ground, including liaising with the Central Statistics Agency of Ethiopia. They will be responsible for leading in-country meetings relating to the CGEP as well as for publishing the report.