Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Expert (2 positions), Level : SB 4/ Peg 1 (Only for Nepalese nationals)

Background

The Constitution of Nepal turned Nepal into a federal state with three levels of government with the intent of transforming the country from a centralized unitary state into a federal country and to ensure economic equality, prosperity and social justice. The Constitution marks a fundamental paradigm shift in the system, structure and functioning of sub-national governance in Nepal and requires massive reorientation of the institutions, systems, work cultures and styles of functioning.

The Provincial and Local Governance Support Programme (PLGSP) is the national flagship programme of the Government of Nepal (GoN) to build institutional, organizational and individual capacity at all levels of government, with special focus on the provincial and local levels. The ultimate goal of the programme is to attain functional, sustainable, inclusive and accountable provincial and local governance. The Programme aims to contribute to delivery of quality services at provincial and local levels, promote better local infrastructure and enhance economic prosperity. The Programme will achieve 14 outputs under the following three outcomes:

• Government institutions and inter-governmental mechanisms at all levels are fully functioning in support of federal governance as per the Constitution;
• Provincial and local governments have efficient, effective, inclusive and accountable institutions; and
• Elected representatives and civil servants at provincial and local governments have the capacity and serve citizens to their satisfaction.

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA) is the executive agency of the Programme. The seven provincial governments, the 753 local governments, the restructured Local Development Training Academy (LDTA) and seven provincial-level training centres (Provincial Centres for Good Governance) are the implementing agencies of the Programme. The Programme is supported by four international development partners, namely, the Department for International Development (DfID) of the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), the Government of Norway, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and the United Nations.

MOFAGA is partnering with UNDP to receive Technical Assistance (TA) for the implementation of the Programme. As the first step, a key priority of the TA is recruitment of TA  personnel, their capacity building and knowledge enhancement, including orientation and continuous backstopping support in coordination with the Programme Management so that they deliver on the intended outputs.

The Provincial governments have a major role to facilitate and implement the Programme, benefitting both province and local governments. All the province governments have entered into the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MOFAGA to be a part of the Programme implementation. To support the provincial governments in the implementation of the Programme, a Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) will be established in the Office of the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers (OCMCM).

Likewise, the Programme envisages that all province governments will establish their training centers, proposed as the Provincial Center for Good Governance (PCGGs) with the role of serving the capacity development needs of the local governments in the province as well as the province government.  In relation to the Programme, PCGGs will function as the capacity development service provider to the provincial and local governments. Against this background, a number of technical assistance personnel will be deployed by the Programme to support the PCGGs in discharging their roles. This Terms of Reference (ToR) describes functions, responsibilities and expected results of the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Expert of the PCGG as well as qualifications/experience, competencies and selection criteria required of the incumbent. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Functions / Key Results ExpectedThe overall responsibilities of the assignment are to:

1. Directly contribute to the achievement of relevant Programme outputs, output 5: Modernized Provincial Government systems enable horizontal and vertical accountability to all citizens and mainstream GESI; and output 10: LG systems mainstream GESI in their service delivery; and mainstream, GESI in all other PLGSP activities; 
2. Provide necessary support to the PCGG and PPIU on GESI related issues;
3. Lead the planning of GESI activities for PCGG and facilitate the implementation of the approved plans;
4. Contribute to producing resource materials on GESI related issues;
5. Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities, including the Local Governance Expert cum Team Leader in the PCGG.

Specific responsibilities of the assignment are:

1. Directly contribute to the achievement of relevant Programme outputs, output 5: Modernized Provincial Government systems enable horizontal and vertical accountability to all citizens and mainstream GESI; and output 10: LG systems mainstream GESI in their service delivery: 

• Lead the planning and implementation of activities under PLGSP outputs in the province, including; output 5: Modernized Provincial Government systems enable horizontal and vertical accountability to all citizens and mainstream GESI; and output 10: LG systems mainstream GESI in their service delivery;
• Provide strategic advice and inputs to Provincial and Local Governments regarding the realization of the GESI through the  Programme outputs;
• Coordinate periodic meetings with key stakeholders including women’s rights organization and networks of excluded groups at the provincial level;
• Receive and disseminate updates from the Programme Coordination Unit (PCU) on GESI related GoN policies, guidelines, models, templates, standards, and norms related to law making, gender budgeting, planning, public financial management, information technology etc.
• Coordinate with the Province Government through the Provincial Programme Implementation Unit (PPIU) to translate the above-mentioned documents to the provincial context, as applicable;
• Ensure that GESI-related documents that are customized to the provincial context or developed at the province level meet minimum national standards;
• Support in reviewing provincial and local level policies and provide inputs from GESI perspective; 
• Prepare high quality Terms of Reference for consultants and resource persons, and develop and maintain roster of experts and resource persons on GESI-related issues;
• Mobilize support from relevant PCGG and PPIU personnel  to ensure GESI-responsive planning and implementation of activities towards delivering all PLGSP outputs; and
• Monitor and analyze the trends in the local governments in the province in achieving PLGSP outputs from a GESI perspective.

2.   Provide necessary support to the PCGG and PPIU on GESI related issues:

• Develop strategy for mainstreaming GESI in the PCGG programme activities and develop action-plan for implementing the strategy;
• Collaborate with Monitoring and Reporting Experts at PPIU to make sure impact measurement focuses on women and other vulnerable groups;
• Support the Capacity Development Expert to ensure that GESI elements are well mainstreamed into all capacity development initiatives and all training materials;
• Support Curriculum Development Expert to ensure GESI related issues are well integrated into all curricula;
• Meet regularly with all technical specialists and experts of the PCGG to brief them on progress, issues, challenges and opportunities with regard to GESI;
• Identify capacity development needs with regard to GESI of the Technical Assistance personnel in the province and support the development and provision of internal capacity development activities to TA personnel;
• Liaise closely with the GESI Specialist in the PCU; and
• Support the ED of the PCGG in delivering their management roles with particular attention to internal and external GESI related issues.

3.  Lead the planning of the GESI activities for PCGG and facilitate the implementation of the approved plans:

• Lead the preparation of the GESI activities for PCGG Annual Strategic Implementation Plan (ASIP) and trimester workplan based on the ProgDoc, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework of the Programme, and the guideline provided by the PCU in line with GoN’s commitments towards international framework on human rights that including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)  and the  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
• Collect GESI inputs for the workplan based on the Local Institutional Self-Assessment (LISA), wherever applicable, and coordinate with PPIU as well as hold consultations with local government representatives and local government associations in preparing the plans;
• Support the implementation of the ASIP under the guidance of the Executive Director of the PCGG; and
• Provide GESI related inputs to the Monitoring and Reporting Expert in PPIU to prepare provincial level monitoring framework and consolidated (PPIU and PCGG) progress reports to be forwarded to the PCU.

4.  Contribute to producing resource materials on GESI related issues:

• Support development and maintenance of the knowledge products and Communities of Practice on relevant issues in line with SDG principle of Leaving No One Behind (LNOB); and
• Document lessons learned and best practices and communicate to the concerned agencies in relation to the gender and social inclusion. 

5.  Perform any other tasks assigned by the concerned authorities, including the Local Governance Expert cum Team Leader in the  PCGG on GESI related issues. Work closely and liase directly with the PCU GESI Specialist. 

 Impact of Results:

• Relevant Programme outputs are achieved within the given resources and timelines with high quality standards; and
• GESI aspects are well mainstreamed into the planning and implementation of the Programme at PCGG.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Government of Nepal (GoN) and UN values and ethical standards;
• Serves and promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the GoN and UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent inter-personal skills;
• Clear and upfront communication skills;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Collaborates effectively in a team environment;
• Organized and good with following-up on pending issues; meets deadlines;
• Promotes learning and knowledge management/sharing;
• Focuses on delivering results by taking calculated-risks and problem-solving approach;
• Fair and transparent decision making; regularly shares information with team members.

Functional Competencies: 

• Promotes sharing of knowledge and experience, and actively works towards continued learning and development on personal level as well as for supervisees;
• Good practical knowledge of inter-disciplinary development issues;
• Ability to go beyond established procedures and models, propose new approaches which expand the range of projects;
• Demonstrates strong numerical and analytical skills;
• Has experience working with Monitoring and Evaluation tools;
• Experience in developing business plans for financial institutions including energy enterprises;
• Experience in coordination, technical assistance and advisory support top government and private institutions;
• Experienced in delivering training and other needed capacity/ institutional building support to a wide range of stakeholders including financial institutions;
• Demonstrates excellent organizational and administrative skills;
• Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating GoN and UNDP’s mandate;
• Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders;
• Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the position;
• Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures relating to the position and applies them consistently in work tasks;
• Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments;
• Effectively networks with partners seizing opportunities to build strategic alliances relevant to Government of Nepal and UNDP’s mandate and strategic agenda;
• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work;
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation;
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration; and
• Oversees and documents the process of strategy formulation for programmes at Project level.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in Gender Studies, Sociology, Human Rights, Law and/or development or any other related fields. 

Experience: 

• At least three years of working experience in development and governance and in the area of gender equality and social inclusion, be this in Government (at federal or sub-national level) or with well recognized national institution and/or international agency;
• Experience of project management, implementation and monitoring;
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of gender responsive budgeting, gender advocacy and social mobilisation;
• Priority shall be given to candidates with work experience in GoN and legal areas;
• Sound understanding of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and their implications to the local governance;
• Demonstrated social skills of coordinating with different stakeholders and facilitating discussions;
• Demonstrated skills on preparing quality reports and other knowledge products;
• Experience of working in government, UN and international agencies will be preferable;
• Good knowledge of computer applications especially MS Office; and
• Good understanding of other application for data management and project monitoring.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English and Nepali, both written and oral, at professional level is essential;
• Knowledge of any of the national languages will be an added advantage.