National Consultant: Assessment of Women’s Leadership in Government’s Civil Service in Bangladesh

Background

Women in every part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from the political and public sphere, often because of discriminatory laws, practices, attitudes and gender stereotypes, low levels of education, lack of access to health care and the disproportionate effect of poverty. Women are less in leading positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change, and their right to participate equally in the governance process.

The Constitution of Bangladesh has guaranteed equality of men and women in all spheres of life but still women are underrepresented in various economic and social affairs in the country. The labour force survey of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics shows that only 36% of women are engaged in the labour force. Also, there are very few women are in the leadership positions in both public and private sectors, particularly in the government civil service. The persistent gender gap at the highest level across the civil service remains a big challenge for female officials due to stereotypes and preconceptions of women’s roles and abilities. Though the government has kept special quota provision for gazette and non-gazette posts for females, there is criticism that quotas for women’s employment to government services have been used inappropriately and less effective to promote women’s leadership in civil services in Bangladesh.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives:

The assessment will provide an in-depth understanding and analysis on the stauts of women’s leadership in the government civil service. It will also provide substantive information on the policy and practice level challenges and opportunities that are critical for advancing women’s leadership in the civil service. 

The specific objectives of the project are to;

1. Develop an analysis on the status of women’s leadership in the civil service;
2. Identify key barriers that impede female officials to climb the highest positions in the civil service;
3. Propose reforms in the areas like recruitment, retention, change management, human resource management, performance management and capacity development for gender balance at all levels of civil service;
4. Identify and document best practices of women leaders/role models in the civil service.

Scope of the work and main responsibilities:

• Conduct a detailed desk review to understand the status of women’s leadership in the civil services, including by reviewing similar studies conducted by other agencies and or experts;
• Establish contacts with government officials/offices and relevant stakeholders for interview;
• Lead the information/data collection and analysis and ensure quality control of information/data;
• Conduct Key Informant Interviews with government officials, CSO’s and think tanks;
• Organize validation meetings/workshop with wider stakeholders;
• Develop a report based on the recommendations and way forward.

Key expected Deliverables:

1. Work plan and proposed methodology and an outline for the final report;

2.Submission of draft report;

3. Final assessment report with findings and recommendations, with particular focus on programmatic and policy direction for UN Women on the issue.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN Women;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• At least Master’s degree in Social Science, preferably in Gender Studies, Public Administration, Development Studies etc.

Experience

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in the field of similar studies/research with strong understanding and analytical capacity on gender equality and women’s rights.
• Demonstrated capacity on networking and engagement with government officials at the ministry and higher level on gender equality issues.

Language

• Excellent communications, analytical and writing skills in English and Bangla.

Travel:

Travel cost will be reimbursed as per UN Women travel policy.

Application Process:

Proposals can be submitted by the followings:

• Narrative consisting of
  • Experience and Approach to this assessment (max 2 pages)
  • CV , completed P11 form and cover letter
• A financial proposal

 Applications without financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment.“Personal History Form - P 11” which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employme