IC2022/WSM/017 GENDER and TIME-USE SPECIALIST

Background

The EWACC proposes an economy-wide approach to integrate climate change adaptation and disaster risk management into national development planning and programming across all sectors. The implementing agency is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the responsible parties include the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development, the Land Transport Authority and the UNDP. The program which started in 2014, is ending in May 2022.

Under EWACC, the Small Business Incubator (SBI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD), has provided small-scale financing support to families through the Ministry's Youth Employment Programme. The intervention has targeted families that were selected with reference to a specific list of vulnerability criteria.  The selected families received training and financial assistance in tranches for business activities in a wide range of areas, which include vegetable gardens, canteens, bakery, handmade printing, plantations, fishing, and mixed cropping. According to a preliminary evaluation of the SBI initiative (Draft EWACC Final Evaluation report of February 2022), a total of 142 families were supported in Upolu and Savaii, with the total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries estimated to be 1,300 individuals. Of the 640 direct beneficiaries, 384 were women and 256 were men.

Furthermore, according to the EWACC Q3-2021 Project Progress Report, a 2021 survey on a selected sample of 81grant-recipients in Upolu showed a high survival rate of business initiatives supported by the program: 63 recipients reported that their businesses were sustainable, 12 recipients reported that their businesses had failed, 5 were waiting for the upcoming harvest season and sales to be able to report on the sustainability of their investments, and 1 recipient was unavailable at the time of the survey. Furthermore, the survey reported that a typical family living in vulnerability earned between ST$50 to ST$100 per week at the time of the survey. Based on a sample of 58 SBI grant-recipients still in operation: families of 29 recipients (or 50%) reported earning between ST$150 and ST$1,000 per week; families of 7 recipients (or 12%), between ST$101 and ST$150; families of 16 recipients (or 28%), between ST$51 and ST$100; and families of 6 recipients (or 10%) reported earning less than ST$50 per week. The survey does not report if, and if so, to what extent the SBI initiative contributed to this outcome. The survey also mentions that 28 recipients received ST$5,000 to start small businesses in July 2021.

The EWACC Evaluation Report also notes the work under the SBI as an example of EWACC’s gender focus in empowering women by, for instance, providing a source of income to provide and pay for essential services and utility bills and invites additional research and learning on the gender dimension of climate change and disaster risk vulnerability. An important area of such further research is understanding how time dedicated to unpaid care and household work may affect families and/or individuals’ ability to apply for and absorb financing support and/or how the extra financing may impact the provision of care (and time dedicated to it) within the household of beneficiaries and in their communities. This is particularly critical since unpaid care and household work, while an important pillar in the socio-economic development of local communities, is disproportionally done by women in Samoa. An assessment of the interactions between the provision of financing and care-work is therefore crucial for understanding the potentially gendered impact of the SBI intervention.

The SBI initiative targets families with fewer earning opportunities (selection criteria included sources of income and amount per source) and greater responsibility for care (criteria: number of people and proportion of young and old dependents, number of people living with disabilities). While higher earnings could alleviate the burden of care work by enabling market-based substitution for unpaid work (in the absence of public provision of care services), the gendered responsibility of care remains a critical constraint for the female beneficiary of small-scale financing programs. In addition, the home-based nature of certain types of family- and micro-businesses tends to perpetuate the gendered asymmetries of care responsibility within the households.

Time-use data are not currently available in Samoa. To address the lack of information and capacity to produce it, this activity will develop a framework for rapid time-use appraisal based on a 'peer-to-peer' approach that is culturally and gender-sensitive. This framework will then be applied in a pilot study that utilizes the SBI initiative to test the methodology. The objective of this activity is to develop a tool that can be integrated into monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of future activities of a similar nature. It may also yield some insights into the relevance of gender-sensitive time-use considerations when designing interventions. This may help to sensitize local communities and national-level decision-makers to the multidimensional impact of the gendered responsibility of unpaid household and care work.

The development of a framework for rapid time-use appraisal in Samoa, with a pilot application to the SBI initiative of the EWACC Project, directly responds to UNDP's strategic goal to promote gender equality in the economy in four dimensions: (1) Agency: besides other dimensions such as skills development and voice, time dedicated to unpaid care and household work is considered a crucial contributor to the socio-economic and political disempowerment of women; (2) Policy environment: this initiative proposes the development of a tool that will facilitate the integration of time-use considerations in the formulation of gender-responsive policies and initiatives; (3) Decent work: this initiative will strengthen the recognition of unpaid care and household work as key sector in Samoa's economy; (4) Social norms: by raising awareness of the time dedicated to care provision, and how it disproportionally falls on women, this initiative may contribute to shaping social norms around the gendered responsibility of care in Samoa.

UNDP is recruiting a National Gender and Time-Use Specialist to provide technical support and guidance to the UNDP MCO Accelerator Lab in the design and development of a methodology of data collection, support the implementation of the time-use survey and conduct a time-use analysis and writing of the report.

Duties and Responsibilities

The rapid time-use appraisal will be the first of its study to be conducted in the Pacific and in particular Samoa. It is intended that this study will serve as a baseline framework of the importance of carrying out time-use studies to provide insights and recommendations to leverage and accelerate gender specific outcomes. What the implications of unpaid care work entails for female and male respondents and how such unpaid care work is distributed in a household where there are income earners and non-income earners.

The Gender and Time-Use Specialist (GTUS) will report directly to the Accelerator Lab in the UNDP Multi-Country Office (MCO). S/he will lead the design of the time-use survey, data collection and collation and analytics and develop the final report. S/he will also provide technical guidance and advice to the Accelerator Lab and the Working Group where required and ensure to complete the deliverables as set out below.

Scope of work for the specialist will include the following deliverables:

1. Lead the design of the time-use survey

• Collaborate with the assigned International Consultant on the time-use study on designing the time-use survey questions;
• Lead and collaborate with the Samoa Bureau of Statistics Focal Point on finalizing the framework for the classification of care work;
• Develop a methodology for data collection including leading the implementation of the data collection (e.g., focus group discussions);

2. Provide technical support/guidance

• Collaborate with the UNDP MCO Gender and Time-Use Specialist to develop the time-use study presentation and/or briefing on the key aspects of gender considerations and the time-use study.
• Develop relevant questionnaires and presentations to facilitate and lead the dialogue in the focus group sessions with the beneficiaries of the time-use study;
• Prepare and submit insight reports from the focus group dialogues to formulate insights and recommendations towards the Final Report.
• Provide technical guidance, support and facilitation of the training of enumerators recruited for the time-use study data collection;
• Provide technical guidance and/or advise to the Accelerator Lab and the Working Group where necessary to accelerate and facilitate the objectives of the time-use study.

3. Conduct a time-use analysis and writing of the final report

• Responsible for ensuring the integrity of the data collection and collation of the time-use study including providing technical advice on the framework to verify and validate the data collected;
• Conduct the time-use analysis of the data collected and collated and writing of the final report;

4. Knowledge Management

• Extract, document and share the technical lessons learned from the time-use study;
• Develop and write a “how to” framework on the use of a rapid time-use study;

Create data visualizations from the time-use study to support the UNDP MCO communications and awareness raising strategy to potential partners.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

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

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent inter-personal and teamwork skills, networking skills, and proven ability to work well in multicultural environments;
• Strong analytical skills and critical thinking skills;
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills;
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with various partners including government, civil society, the private sector, UN agencies; development partners; and communities;
• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills and ability to foster relationships with key stakeholders;
• Ability to work under pressure, effectively coordinate others and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of work.

Required Skills and Experience

Required

• Minimum Master’s degree in Statistics, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Law, Public administration, Social Policy and/or related social sciences
• Proven track record of at least 5 years (Masters) or 2 years (PhD) of conducting research on gender and development, designing surveys and focus group methodologies, conducting field research, writing reports/papers, analyzing household surveys, and evaluating development projects;
• Substantial experience of at least 6 years in research related to gender and development, including facilitating, and implementing data collection, stakeholders, partners, and community engagement with an in-depth understanding of how to contextualize unpaid care work;

Desired

• Relevant work experience in developing countries in a multi stakeholder environment with a development organization, Government, civil society, private sector, or a research/academic  institution;
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and Samoan.

Evaluation criteria: 70% Technical, 30% financial combined weight:

Technical Evaluation Criteria will be based on the information provided in the CV and the relevant documents must be submitted as evidence to support the above required criteria [maximum 70 points]. Only the candidates that have achieved a minimum of 49 points (70% of 70 points) will be deemed compliant and considered for the panel assessment;

• Minimum Master’s degree in Statistics, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Law, Public administration, Social Policy and/or related social sciences; (10)
• Proven track record of conducting research on gender and development, designing surveys and focus group methodologies, conducting field research, writing reports/papers, and evaluating projects; (20)
• Substantial experience of at least 6 years in research related to gender and development, including facilitating and implementing data collection, stakeholders, partners, and community engagement with an in-depth understanding of how to contextualize unpaid care work; (20)
• Relevant work experience in developing countries in a multi stakeholder environment with a development organization, Government, civil society, private sector, or a research/academic institution; (10)
• Proficiency in English and Samoan (10).

================

Download the TEMPLATES to use to submit your proposal from the UNDP Procurement Notices website link https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=90981.  You need to use the templates otherwise your proposal will be deemed non responsive.  SUBMIT only ONE file per submission.