Request for Proposal for contracting a National Consultant for developing a Gender mainstreaming Strategy for Project ProAgro-‘Promotion of Decent Work in Agribusiness in Ethiopia’

Introduction

Pro Agro is an ILO programme designed within the framework of the BMZ’s Special Initiative on training and job creation. This project puts forward an integrated strategy, combining policy support and social dialogue, skills development, value chain development and entrepreneurship training, with the ultimate objective to create decent jobs opportunities for women and young men in the agribusiness sector.

Pro Agro is being implemented in Ethiopia over a period of 42 months and aims to  build the capacity of national, regional, and local stakeholders to develop and implement policies aimed at boosting the job creation potential of the agribusiness sector while enhancing decent work conditions. The ILO has organized its global policy messages and responses along four integrated pillars. The first (macro) Pillar, Stimulating the economy and employment, includes broad fiscal and monetary policies as well as actions to support sectors most endangered by the crisis.

The second (mezzo) Pillar, Supporting enterprises, jobs, and incomes, addresses the need for simultaneous measures to support enterprises and reduce unemployment and its effects.

The third (micro) Pillar, Protecting Workers in the Workplace, encompasses those measures that all workers need, regardless of where they work, to withstand the crisis

Finally, the fourth Pillar, Relying on Social Dialogue for Solutions, demonstrates how all forms of social dialogue can and must play a central role in crafting policies and solutions to suppress transmission of the virus while preventing layoffs and protecting incomes.

With their sectoral focus, interventions to be implemented under ProAgro will aim at supporting job retention and creation in the agribusiness sector and support enterprises, which can play a vital role both in responding to the crisis and in propelling a sustainable and resilient recovery. Once the pandemic has run its course, enterprises will need support to reinitiate operations, such as easing access to credit and other financial services or helping them to adapt to new market circumstances. This will need to be backed up by strong coordinated policy measures, both to stimulate labour demand, such as tax incentives to stimulate local sourcing of multinationals, and labour market interventions to support job retention or reskilling.

Through its integrated approach which will support value chain development and policy implementation to promote job creation both on the demand and supply sides, ProAgro is thus very relevant to support national responses in mitigating the impact of the crisis and facilitating a more effective recovery.

ILO policy demands that gender responsiveness is mainstreamed throughout the implementation of the project to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment between women and men. This in effect will ensure that the strategic gender needs of both women and men are addressed. This will contribute to the project achieving better results, ensuring a more efficient and effective allocation of resources.

Objective of the Consultancy Assignment

To develop a gender mainstreaming strategy for project implementation to ensure that gender dimensions are integrated and contribute to equality of opportunity between women and men throughout the project cycle.

Scope of expected deliverables

In developing the gender mainstreaming strategy, the consultant is expected to do the following;

Review the Project document, related project assessments from a gender lens in terms of sex-disaggregated data and qualitative information.

Develop an inception report that clearly lays out the methodology and process to be adopted, the list of stakeholders to be met, details of the gender analysis to be conducted to clearly understand the roles and needs of both women and men and their respective access to resources, financial inclusion, market linkages, trainings and skills development visa via the project outcomes.

• • Develop a Final report  that includes;
  • Identified strategic needs of both women and men to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment between women and men.
  • Identified clear gender equality objectives to be achieved in the implementation of the project and the activities to be undertaken thereunder.
  • An implementable Gender Action Plan with activities to be undertaken, indicators and a gender budget.

The Gender Mainstreaming Strategy.

Present the gender mainstreaming strategy during a tripartite-plus validation workshop to then be finalized after including the feedback and recommendations from the stakeholders.

Methodology

The consultant will employ both desk review research and key informant interviews to get the information required for the development of the gender mainstreaming strategy. In addition to representatives of the ILO Tripartite constituents, Businesses, Organized labour, project partners and the Community Constituency, key informant interviews should be conducted with all relevant stakeholders.

In addition to Addis Ababa, the consultant will be expected to travel to Sidama and Amhara regions to meet/interview stakeholders of the project for a maximum of 6 working days.

The consultant will deliver a gender mainstreaming strategy with an accompanying Action Plan in English.  It shall be submitted electronically in MS Word format as part of the final report.

Timeframe

The consultancy assignment is expected to commence by 20th June 2021 for a total of 15 working days until the 31st July 2021.

Supervision and reporting

The consultant will report and work under the direct supervision of the CTA of the Pro Agro Project ILO Addis Ababa CO, and will receive technical guidance and advice from Gender Specialist in the Pretoria DWT.  He/ she will also coordinate with other members of the ProAgro Project as per requirements.

Terms of Payment

Payments will be made as follows:

First tranche (30 per cent) upon submission of the inception report to the satisfaction of the ILO ; and

Second tranche (70 per cent) upon submission of the final report to the satisfaction of the ILO and presentation of findings.

Ownership and Disclosure of Data/Information:

All the information shall be treated as confidential and shall not be made available to any third party without the written approval of ILO. In addition, the consulting company / consultant (s) formally undertake not to disclose any parts of the confidential information and shall not, without the written approval of ILO make available to any third party. The utilization of the assessment is solely at the decision and discretion of ILO. No part of the assessment report shall be reproduced except with the prior, expressed and specific written permission of ILO

Qualifications and experience required

• The consultant must possess a minimum of a Master’s degree in related fields, such as Gender studies, law, humanities, social sciences, economics or a relevant field.
• The consultant should have extensive professional experience working in the field of gender, women and labour related areas in Ethiopia.
• Experience that demonstrates the knowledge of the consultant that is relevant to the current assignment to be undertaken, including track-record of publications.
• Proven ability to work with Public authorities Governments and with the ILO constituents is a necessity.
• The consultant should also have an excellent command (written and oral) of English and proficiency in other local Ethiopian languages.