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National Consultant to provide technical support to the drafting of a Gender Policy for the Ministry of Agriculture

Monrovia

  • Organization: UNWOMEN - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
  • Location: Monrovia
  • Grade: Consultancy - National Consultant - Locally recruited Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Legal - Broad
    • Political Affairs
    • Women's Empowerment and Gender Mainstreaming
    • Agriculture and Forestry
    • Documentation and Information Management
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background

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’s goal in Liberia is to promote women’s human rights and gender equality which are key in sustaining and furthering achievements in stability and development.  In this regard, its programming in the Country is connected to five corporate priority areas: women’s leadership and political participation; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes ; advancing women’s rights to live free from violence  and Gender Responsive Governance.  The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)  established by  1972 Act, repealing the 1964 Law which created the Department of Agriculture - with the mandate to develop the agriculture sector, calls for putting in place an effective organizational structure and staffed by personnel capable of planning, coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating agricultural development programs. It also ensures that its staff and the farmers are trained to cope with the challenges of developing the agriculture sector. In addition, MOA ensures that agricultural challenges that impede production are investigated and lasting solutions found, and the farmers are provided with the supportive services and the enabling environment to produce. The core general areas of responsibility of MOA consists of agriculture, both smallholder and commercial; plantation crops; fisheries and livestock.

The Ministry’s major activities are coordinated through the following four (4) departments: Administration; Planning and Development; Regional Development and Extension; and Technical Services, each having units and divisions.  

 Women comprise over half of the agriculture labor force and about two-thirds of the trade and commerce labor force in Liberia. Their role in agriculture is important, particularly in food crops, where they are reported to produce over half of the output, but their production of cash crops is limited. Access to resources and markets is also significantly constrained across the population, especially for women. Challenges faced by women in the agriculture sector are lack of access to land, financing, markets, agricultural training and education, suitable working conditions, and equal treatment.  Policies and programs designed to revitalize the rural economy, including its agricultural production, processing and marketing, should consider the role of women and that of women’s groups. Against this backdrop, UN Women Liberia through the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection that is responsible to ensure a well-coordinated system-wide approach in mainstreaming gender in our development process and across all line ministries and agencies seeks to hire a National Consultant to develop an internal Gender Policy and a Costed Action Plan for the MOA.  

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of the assignment

 The main objective of this consultancy is to draft and finalize an Internal Gender Policy for the MOA and develop a five-year costed action plan with clear goals and targets, in a participatory manner. In addition, the assignment will envisage to institute mechanisms that promote gender sensitive planning, budgeting, implementation and monitoring. At the same time, it will also foresee that adequate resources are allocated, training needs identified, and capacity building opportunities are available to benefit women, men, girls and boys equitably.   The Gender Policy for the MOA will articulate the gender responsiveness of Central office, regional offices and county offices in developing and coordinating a gender-responsive strategy to meet the challenges in the ministry and equip employees with the relevant skills and knowledge to become real agents of change in coping with the situations from a gender perspective. It will be a realistic document that reflects the real life needs in the Ministry.   Scope of work and tasks Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Country Representative of UN Women Liberia and direct supervision from the Program Specialist on Governance and Gender Responsive Budgeting, and in close collaboration with the Deputy Minister for Planning and Development, the Consultant will perform the following tasks:  

Task 1. Desk Review and development of the consultancy plan  1) Conduct a desk review of existing relevant documents;

2) Conduct preliminary consultations with the MOA Senior Management and the Gender Unit of the MOA, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCSP), Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, GRB Technical Working Group and UN Women for development of the  consultancy plan/inception report.  Task 2. Conduct an institutional gender assessment or gender audit to inform the development of the Gender Policy at the MOA 

 1) Data collection: conduct desk review and interviews to prepare institutional assessment and capacity building needs to facilitate   preparation of the Gender Policy;

2)  Lead and manage data processing and analysis;

3) Develop a well-structured gender assessment/gender audit report that comprehensively outline the  findings, methodology, challenges, recommendations, list of persons interviewed

4) Conduct a workshop to enhance their capacity in gender mainstreaming.   Task 3.  Develop a Gender Policy and Costed Action plan with the MOA

5) Based on   the gender assessment/gender audit results, finalize the Gender Policy and develop a detailed Costed Action Plan (2021-2025) with clear goals and targets. The plan should further state roles and responsibilities for concerned stakeholders and outline an implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting framework and include an indicative budget; 

6) Develop a concept note to organize the workshop for the validation of the Gender Policy and facilitate the validation workshop;

7) Incorporate recommendations from the validation workshop into the Gender Policy and the Costed Action Plan. 

8) Submit the Gender Policy for approval by MOA Senior Management 

9) Make preparation and work with the MOA Gender Unit for the Launch of the Gender Policy and ensure its dissemination including its publication on the MOA website.  Task 4. Strengthen the capacity of the MOA Gender Unit and the Senior Management to facilitate   implementation of the Gender policy  1. Develop a term of reference for the Gender Unit at MOA

2. Conduct capacity gap analysis followed by a capacity building training for staff of the Gender Unit.

Expected Deliverables   The consultant will produce the following deliverables: 

# Deliverables Indicative Deadline
1 Consultancy workplan/inception report 23 October 2020
2 Report of the Institutional Gender Assessment/Gender Audit 6 November 2020
3 Validated and approved Gender Policy and costed Action Plan for MOA. The policy will incorporate goals and targets and will further describe tasks and responsibilities, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting frameworks and indicative budget; 27 November 2020

 

4

5

6

 

TOR of the Gender Unit at the MOA

Capacity building training for the staff of the Gender Unit (based on the capacity needs assessment) and final report containing results, changes in knowledge and skills, and recommendations, as well as annexes (pre and post-tests questionnaires)

Consultancy report containing results, changes in knowledge and skills, and recommendations, as well as annexes (pre and post-tests questionnaires

 

 

All the deliverables, including annexes, notes and reports should be submitted in writing in English. Upon receipt of the deliverables and prior to the payment of the first installment, the deliverables and related reports and documents will be reviewed and approved by UN Women. The period of review is one week after receipt.   Inputs   - UN Women, MGCSP and MOA will provide the Consultant with background materials relevant to the assignment;

- The Consultant is expected to work using his/ her own computer;

- The Consultant will be based at MOA; and

- MOA shall facilitate consultations/meetings between the consultant and relevant stakeholders 

Competencies

Performance evaluation:  Consultant’s performance will be evaluated based on timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. Evaluation

Applications will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis. 

• Technical Qualification (100 points) weight; [70%] 

• Financial Proposal (100 points) weight; [30%]  A two-stage procedure is utilised in evaluating the proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared. Only the price proposal of the candidates who passed the minimum technical score of 70% of the obtainable score of 100 points in the technical qualification evaluation will be evaluated.  

Technical qualification evaluation criteria: The total number of points allotted for the technical qualification component is 100. The technical qualification of the individual is evaluated based on following technical qualification evaluation criteria:  Technical Evaluation Criteria        Obtainable Score

Experience and skills                          90 %

Language and other skills                   10 %

Total Obtainable Score                       100 %  Only the candidates who fit the minimum requirements will be longlisted and may be requested further documentation. Candidates with a minimum of 70% of total points will be considered as technically qualified candidates and will be shortlisted for potential interview.  Financial/Price Proposal evaluation:

  • Only the financial proposal of candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation will be considered and evaluated.   
  • The total number of points allotted for the price component is 100. 
  • The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened/ evaluated and compared among those technically qualified candidates who have attained a minimum of 70% score in the technical evaluation. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

Annex I : Financial proposal

BREAKDOWN OF COSTS SUPPORTING THE ALL-INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL PROPOSAL  Breakdown of Cost by Components:  

Deliverables Percentage of Total (Weigh) for payment Fixed price    
Consultancy workplan 23 October 2020  
Report of the Institutional Gender Assessment/ Gender Audit 6 November 2020  
Validated and approved Gender Policy and Costed Action Plan for MOA. The policy will incorporate goals and targets and will further describe tasks and responsibilities, implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting frameworks with indicative budget 27 November 2020  

TOR of the Gender Unit at the MOA

Capacity building training for the staff of the Gender Unit (based on the capacity needs assessment) and final report containing results, changes in knowledge and skills, and recommendations, as well as annexes (pre and post-texts questionnaires)

18 December 2020  

The lump sum costs should include all travels and administration costs and expenses related to the consultancy. All prices/rates quoted must be exclusive of all taxes. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation. 

Required Skills and Experience

V. Required experience and qualifications The Consultant should fulfill the following requirements: 

a. Education  Master’s degree is required, but PhD would be an added advantage, in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Political Science, Governance or other related fields. 

b. Experience: 

At least 3 years of proven experience in gender and gender mainstreaming;

- Proven exposure/experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment including the design/development/implementation of capacity development support programmes, experience on agricultural programmes would be an added value;

- Proven experience in leading and facilitating workshops; 

- Previous experience in conducting gender audits and developing gender policies would be an asset;

 Language and other skills: - Proficiency in oral and written English 

- Ability to effectively utilize computer software (i.e. MS Excel, MS Word)

  - Excellent facilitation and training skills ;

Submission of application Interested candidates are requested to submit electronic application to liberia.procurement@unwomen.org no later than 10 October 2020.  Submission of package 

1. Cover letter; 

2. CV, including contact information of 3 referees;

3. Financial proposal. The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount per each deliverable, including any travel, per diem and administrative fees, based on the template in Annex 1. The lump sum costs must be accompanied by a detailed breakdown of costs calculation.  All applications must include (as an attachment) a CV and financial proposal. Applications without a financial proposal will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further processing.  Please note that only short-listed candidates will be invited for the interview. 

Selected candidates will need to submit prior to commencement of work: 1. A copy of the latest academic certificate

2. UN Women P-11 form, available via  http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

3. A statement from a medical doctor of ‘good health and fit for travel’

4. Before any travel outside of Monrovia, the consultant will need to provide proof (certificate) of “Basic and Advanced Security in the Field” (which can be accessed here: undss.trip.org) 

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
This vacancy is now closed.
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