UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

Home-based (with one time travel)

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.

UN Women through its Liaison to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) engages with the AU and its various organs, the UNECA and civil society organizations, as well as the diplomatic community. Through the office, UN Women provides technical support to Member States and the AU in the adoption, implementation and monitoring of commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE), as per the entity’s mandate.

UN Women contributes to the implementation of African Union’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024), among others, through its continental flagship program, the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI). The African Girls Can CODE Initiative (AGCCI), a partnership between UN Women, Africa Union Commission (AUC) and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) aims to train and empower a young girls aged between 17-25, across Africa to become computer programmers, creators and designers, placing them on track to take up studies and careers in the information, communication and technology (ICT) sector. Moreover, it promotes the implementation of national media campaigns involving role models (e.g. women in ICT, female teachers in schools) and utilizes an on-line platform to enhance networking among the girls, trainers and mentors. The program aims to close the gender gap in the tech world, and overall the gender digital divide.

In the context of the AGCCI, through a biennial project, UN Women in partnership with the African Union Commission and the Government of Belgium in partnership with UNESCO and UNICEF aims to support the coordination of the project activities in five selected countries including 3 French speaking countries (Burundi, Niger and Mali), on English speaking country (Tanzania) and one Portuguese speaking country (Mozambique). More concretely, the partnership will support the organization of 10 coding camps in the five countries (2 camps per country) bringing together young girls of 17-25 years for a two-week training. The partnership will further support the revitalization of the AGCCI online platform which will help girl coders to continuously update their skills and connect with a supportive online community to share ideas and opportunities. Moreover, they will have skills, confidence, and the resolve to tackle barriers, overcome gender stereotypes and challenge institutional cultural practices and social norms that keep them away from jobs and from pursuing higher education. Through the partnership, UN Women aims to strengthen advocacy with African Union Member States to accelerate mainstreaming of gender, coding and ICT in national curricula for sustainable and inclusive development.

ABOUT THE PROPOSED CONSULTANCY

UN Women together with AUC, ITU, ECA, UNESCO and UNICEF will be launching the next phase of the initiative on 24th March 2022in Tanzania all together with the training of trainers (ToT) which aims to create a pool of trainers who will provide trainings in the national coding camps in the selected priority countries in 2022 and 2023. The TOT will ensure that training module and methodology teaching systems are standardized.

Thus, UN Women seeks to recruit a gender and development expert with a background experience in ICT to design a module that covers key gender mainstreaming concepts, tools for integrating gender in ICT trainings, ICT and gender for development, among others.

Duties And Responsibilities

Under close supervision of UN Women Representative to AU and ECA, the consultant will carry out the following tasks:

• Work closely with the UN Women offices to design a module covering concepts on gender, gender and ICT as well as tools for integrating gender in ICT and coding related trainings
• Attend 3 days training of trainers and facilitate a gender training for computer programmers based on the module
• Post training period, develop a summary (3-5 pages maximum) of proposed strategies and recommendations for strengthening gender mainstreaming in coding camp trainings in AGCCI target countries.

DELIVERABLES

• A module on ICT for development with special emphasis on gender digital divide for use in AGCCI coding camps and training sessions
• Module on the contribution of ICT for the SDGs and Agenda 2063, with special emphasis on SDG 5 and aspiration 6 respectively
• Training of around 60 computer programmers/ToTs on concepts related to gender, gender and ICT, relevant international and continental gender frameworks and tools for integrating gender in coding and other ICT trainings
• A summary brief with (3-5 pages) strategies and recommendations for strengthening gender mainstreaming in coding camp trainings in AGCCI target countries.

Requirements

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

Education

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies, Development Studies or other Social Sciences.

Experience

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in capacity building, facilitation of trainings and workshops on gender and ICT , SDGs and relevant regional and international GEWE and human rights frameworks at national, regional and international levels.
• Experience working with intergovernmental and/or regional organizations including the United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU).
• ICT Professional Certification will be considered as an added advantage)

Language And Other Skills

• Excellent knowledge of written and oral communication in English and/ or French. Knowledge of any other AU language is an asset
• Full command of Microsoft applications, particularly Word, and other relevant software and digital skills.