UN Women - United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Home Based, Multiple Countries
Location: Home based. Travel within the CARICOM region is expected.
Duties and Responsibilities
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.
Under the overall supervision of the UN Women Deputy Representative and the day-to-day supervision of the UN Women Programme Specialist – Economic and Political Leadership, the consultant will be contracted to develop a Methodology and Research Tools for a Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis of Onions and Companion Crops.
Specific activities and deliverables
The consultant is expected to undertake the following
- Complete a desk review of the relevant project and thematic reports and documents (10 Days).
Review documents including
- Narrative and financial reports pertaining to the project “Empowerment of the Agricultural Women’s Movement-Production and Processing of Onions and Sorrel”;
- Assessment Report on the UN Women-Supported Projects on Gender-Sensitive Food Security and Sustainable Livelihoods;
- Workshop Report for the meeting “Strengthening Partnerships to Promote Gender Equality, Food Security and Sustainable Development”;
- Literature, methodologies and approaches on Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis;
- Relevant reports from other UN agencies, development partners and donor agencies, inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, civil society organisations and Governments on agriculture and onion cultivation in Dominica;
- Based on and informed by the above, identify key criteria for success in linking gender equality, sustainable development and decent work including key baseline indicators.
Complete mission to Dominica to conduct interviews with the following key stakeholders (10 Days)
- Previous beneficiaries of the project “Empowerment of the Agricultural Women’s Movement-Production and Processing of Onions and Sorrel”;
- Potential women farmers of onions and beneficiaries of the emergent UN Women Programme Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work;
- Potential beneficiaries will be identified by members of the Agricultural Women’s Movement;
- Men farmers of onions with a similar socioeconomic profile as the women farmers of onions;
- Ministry of Agriculture;
- Gender Affairs Bureau;
- Ministry of Social Development (Social Safety Net Programme);
- Ministry of Sustainable Development;
- Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA);
- Global Environment Facilities Small Grants Programme;
- Other development partners and donor agencies, inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental agencies, private sector, civil society organisations and Governments;
- Undertake Skype and telephone interviews with key non-resident stakeholders supporting rural development and agriculture in Dominica.
Develop Draft Methodology and Research and Analytical Tools for the Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVCA) (15 Days)
The Draft Methodology and Tools must include/consider the following
- An approach for identifying low-income male and female small holder and subsistence farmers to participate in the GSVCA and the emergent UN Women Programme “Gender Equality, Sustainable Development and Decent Work”;
- The above approach must be based on discussions with the Agricultural Women’s Movement and other key stakeholders, to develop criteria to guide the selection of beneficiaries;
- A gender-responsive approach to determining the lived experiences of poverty at a household level. Such an approach should encompass the relationship between poverty status and child care, care for the elderly, disabled dependents and other dependants;
- An approach that clarifies the contribution to the development and/or implementation of relevant national policies and programmes including but not limited to those on land tenure, financing, social protection, environmental sustainability and decent work;
- An approach to identifying the different functions and activities in the onion value chain (including value in origin) and the main stakeholders who are likely to be involved in or affected by the value chain interventions;
- Specification of the qualitative and quantitative components needed in the GSVCA and the approaches and tools for collecting the information;
- Define the decision-making and control of resources issues specific to the value chain and to linking gender, sustainable development and decent work in the agriculture/food sector in Dominica;
- An approach to facilitate an investigation into the gender-related barriers to entry and the causes of inequalities in different parts of the onion value chain; and the different interests and power relations and contextual factors;
- A process for identifying stakeholder involvement at different stages; how and what information and support will be needed; the implications for the core team to undertake the analysis; and the types of expertise needed;
- An approach for developing a prioritised and time-bound action strategy that synthesises the analysis in a manner that would identify potential benefits to women onion farmers across the value chain, with a view to increasing their access to markets; increasing their income; reducing their caring burdens; and reducing their vulnerability to poverty.
Finalise and submit Methodology and Research and Analytical Tools for the Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVCA) (5 Days)
- Incorporate feedback from UN Women and other key stakeholders to be provided to the consultant virtually and by email, in order to finalise the methodology and research tools;
- Submit Finalised Methodology and Research and Analytical Tools for the Gender Sensitive Value Chain Analysis (GSVCA) to UN Women. This should be a model which could be applied to a diversity of crops and contexts.
The following should be noted
- Based on consultations with the Agricultural Women’s Movement, IICA and the Dominica National Council of Women it was proposed that consideration be given to supporting the potential beneficiaries to grow other crops and vegetables during the off-season for onion cultivation, as a way of maintaining livelihood support during this period. While the methodology for this GSVCA will be specific to onions, the consultant should identify these crops and vegetables, during consultations with the Agricultural Women’s Movement and other key stakeholders and recommend to UN Women if it will be necessary to conduct a separate GSVCA for these crops. This information should be included in an Addendum to the report;
- Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction should be a central component of the analysis and be mainstreamed throughout the proposed methodology;
- Decent Work Principles should be a central component of the analysis and be mainstreamed throughout the proposed methodology;
- UN Women and the consultant should agree on the format and number of pages of the report.
Competencies
Values/Guiding Principles
Integrity and Fairness
- Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct;
Professionalism
- Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work;
- Conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results.
Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity
- Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organisation and the diversity of its staff;
- Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.
Core Competencies
Work in teams
- Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
Communicating and Information Sharing
- Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
Self-management and Emotional Intelligence
- Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behaviour towards others.
Conflict management
- Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.
Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making
- Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.
Required Skills and Experience
Education
- Post-graduate degree, at least a Master’s degree, in Agricultural Economics or similar degree with strong expertise in the following areas: Gender Studies, Development Studies, and Environmental Sustainability.
Required Experience
- A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible and relevant experience in the field of gender and agricultural development; public policy, programme and/or project management and specific work experience in the NGO sector, include with women’s groups;
- Demonstrative experience in working on gender and sustainable development in the CARICOM region is required;
- Demonstrative experience in leading and conducting research on gender, agriculture and climate change adaptation is required;
- Demonstrative experience in conducting gender sensitive value chain analysis is required;
- Familiarity with the Social Protection policy and programme reform context in the Caribbean is an asset, but not required;
- Ability to work independently and as part of a small team, manage competing priorities and perform well under pressure;
- Proven expertise in the use of results-based methodologies;
- Consultancy is open to all CARICOM nationals.
Language
- Excellent command of written and spoken English.