UNICEF Consultancy Job Opportunity

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
 

Kenya Country Office

SSA Consultancy to undertake development of Gender Equality Strategy
 

Duration:  4 Months but spread over 9 months
 

Date of Issue: 06 June, 2012                                                                                               

Closing Date:12 June,  2012

Applications are hereby invited from suitably qualified candidates to fill the above Consultancy in the Office of the Deputy Representative, UNICEF Kenya Office.
 

Purpose of the Post:  Support UNICEF Kenya Country Office to develop a Gender Equality Strategy as well as undertake staff capacity building on gender mainstreaming.

Justification

Kenya gained its independence in 1963 and has since made effort to provide economic and socio political empowerment of its masses. Over this period, it has realized an increase access to rights for all on one hand, and it has witnessed an epoch of significant abuses of Human Rights on the other. 

The expansion of women’s spaces to engage and participate in governance has been a key agenda for many institutions in the country but has also seen its share of difficulties over the years.
 

Kenya is a signatory to most international conventions and human rights instruments that are aimed at expanding Gender Equality i.e. the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW – 1979), the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 1985 third world Conference on Woman which ratified Nairobi Forward Looking strategies for greater equality which was hosted in Kenya. 

Kenya’s National Gender and Development Policy 2000 provides a framework for advancement of women, leading to greater efficiency in resource allocation and utilization to ensure empowerment of women.
 

At national level, the newly promulgated Constitution of Kenya addressed the legal gaps and created affirmative action as a means of addressing equality in decision making and resource allocation in the country. It has also introduced the Bill of Rights which entrenches gender equality being key to development. 

Other key strategies for enhancing gender equality include the Vision 2030 where Kenya asserts its commitment and readiness to ensure gender mainstreaming in its planning processes with particular emphasis on gender equity, improved livelihoods for vulnerable groups, and a responsible, globally competitive and prosperous youth.
 

The UN General Assembly at its 59th Session resulted in the adoption of the Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR) aimed at mainstreaming gender equality in country programs, planning instruments and sector wide approaches.  

The UN Development Program Group formed a Task Team on Gender Equality to support consistent and coherent action amongst UNDG members to mainstream gender equality and women empowerment in programming at country level and a wide range of tools and processes have been developed by UNDG for use by UN Country Teams (UNCT). 

There is a gender Score Card that sets minimum standards for UNCTs to assess their performance (gender responsive programming, partnerships, participation, policies, capacities etc), identifies gaps and progress.
 

UNICEF Kenya office’s  Country Program of Action Plan 2009-2013 (CPAP) is anchored on Kenya government development priorities such as vision 2030, MTSP and a number of key sectoral policies that emphasize the importance of  Human Rights and Gender Equality.
 

UNICEF Kenya thus supports the Government of Kenya (GoK) with significant policy level advocacy, technical support and service delivery where necessary to ensure better results for Children and Women. Within the UN family, UNICEF CPAP is strongly aligned to UNDAF results framework. 

Therefore, gender equality and mainstreaming is central to UNICEF transactions and its efforts towards ensuring equity and inclusion at all levels of program implementation and management.
 

In 2010, a Gender Audit was done by UNICEF Kenya to review and address gender equality in programming both in the practices and policies of the office in line UNICEF’s global policy framework.  

The gender Audit covered the period between 2008 to 2010 and examined the extent to which the overall GoK-UNICEF CP has (or failed to) promoted gender equality in terms of policy, programmes and interventions.
 

In general the Gender Audit found that UNICEF Kenya’s internal institutional mechanisms, capacities and management supports comprehensive gender mainstreaming in programming. 

This was evident from the existence of the Annual Work Plan (AWP), existence of the Gender Task Force (GTF) as well as strong UNICEF participation in the UN Joint Program on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (JPGEWE) amongst other things. However the audit cited the existence of strong and pervasive ambiguity and ambivalence around gender mainstreaming which was described by one informant as “gender fatigue”. 

Also staff interest, effort and skill sets were noted to be variable thus affecting the level of engagement in gender mainstreaming hence  recommendations for capacity development of both staff and partners to improve gender mainstreaming at all levels. 

It is important to recognise that gender mainstreaming requires a personal commitment to gender equality from all staff, particular male staff in positions of authority.

It is from this premise that UNICEF Kenya is seeking a Technical Assistance (TA) to facilitate the development of a UNICEF Kenya Gender Mainstreaming Strategy coupled with intensive staff capacity building program to engender program management and implementation.
 

The consultancy will be spread out over nine months to undertake and achieve all the four parts of the terms of reference.

Scope of Work
 

The purpose of this consultancy is to facilitate UNICEF Kenya office develops a Gender Mainstreaming Strategy and a staff capacity building program that entrenches gender consciousness, enhances accountabilities, staff motivation levels, skills and attitudes towards gender equality and women empowerment throughout the UNICEF program cycle

The consultant will build on the 2010 Gender Audit report findings and recommendations, work closely with KCO GTF as well as JPGEWE and cross reference recommendations with UNCT efforts to ensure gender equality and women empowerment.

The T.A will cover three main components listed below:-
 

Part 1: Analysis of status of Kenya country program planning and implementation processes, modalities and staff capacities towards commitment to promoting gender equality and women empowerment in programming and advocacy by:
 

i. Assessing staff attitude and capacity with particular focus on budget holders as well as management so as to gauge level of awareness, understanding and programming for Gender Mainstreaming in their respective areas of responsibilities. This also should look at management tools such as annual management plans, Rolling Work plan, PCA approval Checklist, UN gender Score Card and staff responsibilities at section level.
 

ii. Undertaking a desk review to bring forth a comprehensive overview and in-depth analysis of UNICEF’s current data gathering, program planning, implementation, monitoring processes(frameworks) and subsequently develop concrete recommendations on how to establish and integrate gender sensitive evidence gathering, analysis, programming, monitoring and advocacy into each of the specific programme components. The TA should look at the depth to which organizational policies, planning tools, resources and monitoring and evaluation mechanism of both program and operations in order to enhance technical knowledge and commitment to Gender equality in UNICEF Kenya.
 

Part 2: Develop a UNICEF Kenya Gender Mainstreaming Strategy and staff capacity building plan to engender all program implementation and management. 

The consultant will: -
 

iii. Develop with staff and management input a programme specific gender analysis, evidence gathering, programming, monitoring and advocacy and reporting strategy based on the findings and recommendations drawn from the above items (i) analysis of staff knowledge, skills, competencies and attitudes to gender related issues ii)  in-depth analysis of UNICEF KCO’s current programme planning and implementation and 

(iii) the desk review above as well as by reviewing other Gender Mainstreaming strategies, by UN bodies such as UNIFEM, UN Women, WHO and UNFPA.  The consultant should also look at the UNCT gender Score card, the UN JPGEWE program priorities  bottleneck analysis report as well as Level three monitoring processes and subsequently draw firm conclusions on how to strengthen gender awareness, analysis and gender sensitive programming each of UNICEF Kenya programs. Recommend changes to management practices where necessary.
 

iv. Develop a staff Capacity Building Action Plan- that recognizes and addresses the entrenched beliefs of staff regarding gender roles that undermine their willingness and ability to apply principles of gender equality in their professional and personal lives. The plans should have a clear timeframe for staff capacity building stating current baseline and set indicators of achievement after capacity building taking into account different sector’s needs.
 

v. Recommend mechanisms to incentivize, support and recognize effective gender mainstreaming through management processes
 

Part 3 - Development of a capacity building package and monitoring plan with clear indicators:-
 

vi. Review existing UN staff gender equality training packages to suit the needs of different staff levels and identified needs.  The consultant will also develop a training plan with concrete timeframe and plan groups sessions as well as separate sessions for different sectors as required in order to discuss and roll out the office wide strategy that will be adapted out of this exercise.
 

vii. Undertake trainings and facilitate peer learning sessions for staff in line with the work plan stated above to improve commitment and change attitudes that hinder gender mainstreaming.
 

viii. Develop a checklist of compliance and subsequently undertake review of progress midway and at the end of the TA to gauge levels change in staff skills, and understanding of gender analysis, programming, monitoring, advocacy and reporting as well as enforcement of gender mainstreaming by management in the office.

Existing Information sources
 

The consultant will look at but not limited to the following key sector documents:

UNICEF Kenya’s key documents (Gender Audit Report 2010, CPAP, CPD, RWPs AMPs, IMEP of the current country program), Bottleneck analysis report, UNICEF Global Gender Equality Policy, Other  UN agency Gender policy documents  (UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP, WHO etc.) Gender Mainstreaming Strategies and policies, Gender Score Card, Joint Program on Gender Equality & Women Empowerment documents; GA protocals, Constitution of Kenya 2011, Draft Affirmative Action Policy of GoK,  UNDAF, Vision 2030, Taskforce Report on constitutional realignment to education sector, Gender and Education Policy (MoE),

AWP areas covered
 

Annual Management Plan /Deputy Representative’s office

Expected Deliverables
 

The expected deliverables are:

• Consultancy conceptual framework outlining, timelines, deliverables and key responsible parties to UNICEF two weeks upon signing of contract- but not later than June 30th 2012.
• A programme specific gender analysis, evidence gathering, programming, monitoring and advocacy and reporting strategy along with office wide performance targets/indicators and means of verification by 31st July 2012.
• A Comprehensive Capacity Building Action Plan by August 15th 2012
• A comprehensive Gender Mainstreaming training package by September 30th, 2012
• A final report comprising of a training completion report, a monitoring report with status of implementation of the trainings and their outcomes as well as the level of implementation of the programme specific strategies by 15th February   2013.

Desired background and experience

• A consultancy firm that has Gender Equality and Women Empowerment one of its core business/departments with a pool of gender experts. The consultants selected by the firm must have the following skills:
• Lead consultant should have at least a Masters or PhD in Social Sciences and/or in gender in development.
• A minimum of 10 years’ experience and evidence of gender mainstreaming and equality programming, monitoring and research done with or for international organizations.
• The capacity building team leader must have at least a Master’s degree in social sciences/ gender training with at least 7 years’ experience in staff capacity building and development of packages for entrenching gender equality in programs.
• Excellent research and analytical skills in both qualitative and quantitative analysis.
• Excellent  command of the English language, with proven writing skills;
• Proficient in computer skills

Competencies: Analytical, drive for results, communication, working with people; planning and organizing.

Interested and suitable candidates should ensure that they forward their applications along with their curricula vitae, to;
 

The Human Resources Manager
UNICEF Kenya Country Office
Email address: kenyahrvacancies@unicef.org

Please indicate Reference No. “KCO/SSA/DR/2012/016” in the email subject.
 

Interested candidates should also complete the Personal History (P11) form, which can be downloaded from the UNICEF Kenya website (http://www.unicef.org/kenya).

“Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply”
 

Zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse
 

UNICEF is a smoke-free environment