Consultants to Carry Barrier Assessment on the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces

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.

The Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations (the fund) aims to support and incentivize efforts to increase the meaningful participation of uniformed women in United Nations peace operations. The Fund primarily offers financial assistance and incentives for Troop and Police Contributing Countries to identify and overcome barriers to the deployment of trained and qualified uniformed women peacekeepers.  The fund is  supporting  UN Women  to conduct a Barrier Assessment the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces on for the Meaningful Participation of women in UN Peacekeeping Missions.

UN Women is seeking to recruit a Lead Consultant and a Co Consultant to Conduct the Assessment. Reporting to the UN Women Head of Office the Consultants in close coordination with the Programme Specialist and DECAF will perform a Barrier Assessment on the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces using the Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace operations (MOWIP) methodology.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities 

The Measuring Opportunities for Women in Peace operations (MOWIP) methodology will allow assessment teams to identify and measure barriers to and opportunities for women’s meaningful participation in peace operations in their particular country in 10 issue areas and to weight the relative significance and level of priority of each issue area. In order to allow quantitative as well as qualitative measures, assessment teams are expected to use three complementary types of data collection methods: 

1) A fact-finding form including a list of observable indicators, which will be developed under the overall guidance of and with technical support from the Lead Consultant and Consultant, in coordination with Cornell GSS Lab, and with support of the DCAF Help Desk. The fact-finding form will allow collecting factual evidence such as hard numbers of personnel, country policies for deployment, etc. Assessment teams are expected to use official documents (legislation, policies, official guidance, handbooks, manuals, etc), relevant academic sources, contacts with government officials, and grey literature and interviews to fill out the fact-finding sheet. It is envisioned that the research institutions will begin work on filling out the questionnaire immediately after the workshop. 

2) A survey of at least 380 male and female personnel (ideally 190 women, 190 men and at least 50% currently or previously deployed personnel). These data will help assessing the experiences of men and women in the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces and understand the specific opportunities and barriers they may face. Assessment teams will be expected to use tablets/phones and the application Qualtrics (https://it.cornell.edu/qualtrics) or iSurvey/droidSurvey (https://www.harvestyourdata.com/) to gather data. 

3) Key decision-maker interviews with key decision-makers both within the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) and within relevant government bodies. Government or other structures with overall responsibilities for decisions about the military/police/gendarmerie, particularly those responsible for decisions about peace operation deployment, will be used to gather additional information about decision-making. 

Outputs

The data collected by the Lead Consultant and Co Consultant   will be cleaned and processed by the Lead Researcher at the Cornell GSS Lab and national research institution in order to develop statistics indicating the most prominent good practices, opportunities and barriers which will be provided to the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) .

The Consultants, in collaboration with RSLAF, and with the technical support of DCAF Help Desk and Cornell GSS Lab, will analyse the data collaboratively to complete the MOWIP Indicator Form and jointly draft an internal MOWIP report. This report will be presented to the RSLAF at a validation workshop. In principle, the assessment institution is responsible for organising and facilitating the validation workshop. [DCAF, the Cornell GSS Lab and the Lead Researcher from RSLAF may also attend the validation workshop.] 

The purpose of the validation workshop is to:

• Discuss the research findings, make changes in track changes to the draft internal report where necessary and validate the internal report;

• Identify sensitive information that will be redacted from the public version of the report;

• Identify good practices to be included in the public report.

• Develop recommendations for overcoming the barriers and leveraging the opportunities identified. 

• Develop recommendations for the United Nations. 

The RSLAF in collaboration with the Consultants and with the technical support of DCAF Help Desk and Cornell GSS Lab, will work collaboratively to incorporate the requested changes and submit the final version of the public MOWIP report for approval by the RSLAF. The assessment institution is encouraged to participate in any launch or publicity activities undertaken by the RSLAF. This report will be uploaded onto DCAF’s website and can also be distributed freely by the assessment institution and RSLAF.   

Through written correspondence and exchange forums, the RSLAF will provide feedback, and, upon request, draft case studies of good practices and lessons identified to be incorporated into the public MOWIP Report and shared with the National Committee for implementation of WPS agenda in Sierra Leone]. 

Deliverables:

• Deliverable 1: An approved inception report that includes the work plan, the methodological framework, and the timeline for the deliverables in English. (expected delivery date: 15 July 2021)

• Deliverable 2: A final approved Barrier Assessments in English along, with a set of recommendations. (expected delivery date: 30 October 2021)

• Deliverable 3: A final approved narrative report for the whole assignment. (expected delivery date:  31st December 2021) 

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.

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to lead Policy review process through consultation with stakeholders;
• Very strong background on gender;
• Experience in assessing impact of policies, strategies and measures from a gender perspective;
• Ability to manage time and meet tight deadlines;
• Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
• Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
• Proven networking, organizational and communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced degree (Master’s level or higher) in Gender, Peace & Women Studies, Law, Political Science, International relations, Humanities or other related area. 

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in the fields related to peace and security, inclusive of gender; international or regional cooperation and development assistance; and/or defense, military or police service is required;
• Experience working with on issues related to increasing women’s participation;
• Experience working directly or in partnership with police, military or defense services or components;
• Experience in planning and organizing complex multi-stakeholder projects/processes;
• At least 2 previous similar assignments, particularly in areas related to gender and participation. (including research papers and studies, articles, policy paper, evaluation, etc…)
• Experience with the UN system or/and International Organizations is an asset

Languages:

• Fluency in spoken and written English is required.