National Researchers (3) to Support Conducting an Assessment of Advocacy Efforts in Jordan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women Jordan Country Office is supporting an initiative led by national stakeholders, the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) and a group of committed civil society partners, to assess advocacy efforts on gender equality and women’s empowerment in Jordan during the past 5 years (2015 – 2019).

Framed under Jordan’s international commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) under CEDAW and UPR, as well as national commitments in various national plans and strategies, the purpose of this assessment is to review previous advocacy efforts and provide recommendations for how civil society and gender advocates could strengthen efforts to mobilize for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This exercise is expected to identify the main factors for successes/ failures and the lessons learned, and what remains unaddressed as priority issues to shape the agenda of future collaborative efforts. It will also be a primary source for evidence-driven advocacy, decision-making and programming for national stakeholders, international development partners and the UN System to advance the gains and overcome bottlenecks at the national, sectoral and grass roots level.

In addition to considerable investments in the education and health sectors that largely benefitted women and girls, important women’s rights advances have been made in Jordan. A landmark parliamentary decision in August 2017 adopted a package of amendments to the Penal Code which included the abrogation of Article 308, which had exonerated rapists if they married their victims. Similarly, a new Law on Protection from Domestic Violence, amendments to Labor Code, the Personal Status Law and legislation regulating political participation were endorsed. In December 2017, the Government of Jordan also adopted its first National Action Plan to implement UNSCR 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security. In addition, Jordan has made continuous efforts to integrate the SDGs, including SDG 5 into national planning processes.

However, Jordan’s Gender Equality Index – as measured by the World Economic Forum – has rapidly declined over the last decade. In 2006 Jordan ranked 93rd out of 115 countries, and currently ranks 138th out of 149 countries. By way of example, the female participation rate in the Jordanian labour market is the lowest in the world for countries not in conflict, standing at 14.9% of women in comparison to 67.1% of men (World Economic Forum 2018). In addition, only three percent of Jordanian women who are victims of violence state a willingness to seek support. Pressure on service delivery has also been aggravated by the large refugee population hosted in the country, which is also comprising vulnerable women and girls.

Driven by the vision of supporting civic engagement, and in order to address the need for a holistic approach that leverages the efforts of all stakeholders to enhance the country’s ability to effectively address GEWE commitments, there is the need for strategizing advocacy efforts, identifying challenges and opportunities and developing approaches and mechanisms to build on existing work of different stakeholders including the government, CSOs and CBOs in addition to international organizations working in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment in Jordan.  

In the light of the above, the assessment will aim to deliver the following:

• Study GEWE advocacy efforts during the past five years, measuring the specific results achieved, identify gaps and review how and to what extent these have affected overall progress in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Examine the partnerships and/or structural frameworks through which these efforts have been implemented (coalitions, movements,) to identify requirements for leveraging collective efforts between different stakeholders.

In this regard UN Women Jordan, on behalf of national stakeholders, seeks to recruit 3 national researchers (the Research Team) to support the Lead Researcher in conducting this assessment in an inclusive manner and ensuring participation of government, civil society, the international community and gender equality advocates at all levels as well as representatives of marginalized groups and those at most risk of being left behind.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

 The main objective of this consultancy is to design and implement an assessment of advocacy efforts in Jordan on GEWE over the past five years, which will help to inform the design of future efforts, while strengthening the capacity of civil society and gender equality advocates.

Scope of Work/Duties and Responsibilities      

Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Country Representative and direct supervision of the UN Women Leadership and Participation Specialist, the researchers will perform the following tasks:

1. Document review
   1. Key documents include the Concluding Observations of the CEDAW Committee, and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations. Reports published in last 5 years on gender equality issues in Jordan and on political and institutional arrangements of Government of Jordan in relation to the relevance and effectiveness of GEWE advocacy efforts in the country.
   2. Supporting the development of the inception report, including a situational analysis.
2. Methodology Design
   1. Participate in and document the consultations with JNCW, civil society reference group and UN Women
   2. Support the organization of a retreat of civil society as a form of participant observation research
   3. Participate in the training sessions on assessment tools designed and organized by the Lead Researcher.
3. Data collection
   1. Conduct and document interviews with key informant stakeholders identified in the methodology
   2. Organize, conduct and document focus group discussions with different stakeholders according to the assessment action-plan  
   3. Conduct field visits to governorates according to the assessment action-plan to capture and assess GEWE efforts at grass-root level.
4. Reporting
   1. Inputs to the report on the civil society retreat provided to lead researcher
   2. Report on the conducted key informant interviews
   3. Report on the conducted focus group discussions
   4. Data-base of interviewees and participants in the focus group discussion with contact details
   5. Report on the field visits conducted assessing the captured GEWE efforts at grass-root level
   6. Draft preliminary findings and inputs towards the production of final presentation and research report.

    5. Validation

1. Support the designing and implementation of a retreat with the civil society reference group.

   6. Presentation of findings

1. Organize and participate in roundtables to disseminate findings

Duration of the assignment

The total duration of the contract assignment will be 60 working days within a four-month period, between 1 January and 30 April 2020.

Expected Deliverables

The researchers are expected to deliver the following results:

All the documents, including the interview tools, training materials and reports should be submitted written in English language.

Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the installment, the deliverables, related reports and documents will be reviewed by the Reference Group and upon recommendation approved by UN Women within two weeks of submission for payment.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Gender Studies, law, social science or other related fields

Experience and skills

• Minimum 5 years of experience working on social research, gender analysis and policy studies on gender equality, women’s rights, social mobilization and advocacy efforts in Jordan
• Good knowledge and understanding of qualitative and quantitative research methods, tools, assessments, data collection and analysis and reporting 
• Demonstrated experience in implementing similar programmes/projects and published research on gender equality and/or women’s empowerment in Jordan through a resume of past experiences and areas of expertise in addition to previous produced reports

Language and other skills

• Proficiency in written and spoken English language
• Proficiency in written and spoken Arabic language

Application:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) the completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-p11-personal-history-form.doc?la=en&vs=558. 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.

Note:

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.

Technical qualification evaluation criteria:

The total number of points allocated for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:

Only the candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically-qualified candidate.