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.

Background

Ethiopia has been showing increasing progress in terms of ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) has demonstrated its commitment through (1) accepting major international and regional frameworks including CEDAW, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063 (2) putting in place adequate legal frameworks starting from the constitutional protection of the rights of women, revision of the family and criminal laws and in proclamation dealing with education, employment, housing and land administration including provisions for temporary special measures (3) issuing policies, strategies and action plans starting from the National Women’s Policy in 1993, the National Action Plan on Gender Equality (2006-2010) and the Development and Change Strategy and Package (2017) (4) Setting up the national gender machinery including the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (formerly the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth), bureaus of women, children and youth/social affairs at regional level and lower structures and directorates at sector ministries and (5) the inclusion of gender into its development plans and agendas, as evidenced most recently by the 10 Years Development Plan (2020-2030) which includes gender and social inclusion as one pillar of the plan.

These efforts have brought about changes in the participation and benefit of women in the economic, social and political realms. In terms of the economic aspect, there has been an increase in women’s access to vital resources such as land and property, participation in the labor force and in engagement in income generating activities especially through micro and small enterprises and self-help groups. In the social sphere, education and health outcomes for women have shown remarkable improvements. Although it declines at higher levels, girls’ education has expanded reaching parity (100%) at primary school level. Maternal and child mortality rates have significantly gone down with more access to reproductive health information and services. Ante-natal care coverage has expanded to 72% with 66% of birth in health institution. There has also been increased coverage of social protection with strong gender elements. The significant increase in the number of women in higher government positions is also a remarkable development in recent years. Currently, women take up 36% of the cabinet positions at the federal level.

Despite this progress however, for the most part Ethiopian society still lives in a patriarchal social structure that underlies the unequal social power relations between men and women, boys and girls. These entrenched social norms limit women’s decision-making and pull them back from enjoying the same opportunities and benefits. There is also limited access to quality services, programs and infrastructure especially in rural areas including poor roads and transportation, access to clean water and electricity and access to health care. These limitations further expose women and girls to risks such as gender based violence and harmful traditional practices. Institutional constraints in technical and financial capacity and human resources in the gender machinery have also been a bottleneck to effectively implement the laws and policies on GEWE.

Addressing these gaps and limitations requires putting in place a transformative policy framework. The National Policy on Ethiopian Women (NPEW) which was issued in 1993 still remains in place and although it has spearheaded progress in the participation and benefit serving as an anchor, there have been many changes and developments at the global, regional and national level in the last 26 years since the policy has been issued. It is important for the national policy to take stock of these developments and be aligned with commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s Agenda 2063. At the national level as well it is necessary for the policy to take into account the situation of women in the present time to put in place timely policy directions for enhancing women’s rights and their participation and benefit. It is also critical for the policy to fully consider the current issues and demands of Ethiopian women.

With this background in mind, the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs in collaboration with UN Women, CARE Ethiopia, and other partners have commissioned a consolidated review of the policy. The policy review which was guided by a task force composed of representatives from government, CSOs, UN Agencies and other partners analyzed the policy document, conducted consultations with relevant stakeholders at the federal and regional levels including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) at the community level. The findings of the review clearly indicated gaps in the policy and forwarded recommendations for the preparation of a transformative gender policy through an inclusive process. The review includes an action plan for the major activities that need to be undertaken for the development and implementation of the policy. For the development of the policy, the action plan recommends establishing a multi-stakeholder gender advisory coordination mechanism, aligning the key areas of concern and the policy with international frameworks and commitments and national development plans, including a toolkit with indicators in the key areas of concern and costing the policy.

Based on the findings of the comprehensive review and the action plan, the MoWSA has started the process to develop the gender policy with the establishment of a technical committee composed of senior experts from government, CSOs, UN Agencies international organizations, and donor agencies. The technical committee has held its initial meeting on February 23, 2022 providing guidance on the preparation of the draft policy through an inclusive and consultative process bringing inputs from all relevant stakeholders with the facilitation of a consultant.

In this context, UN Women is seeking to hire national consultant to facilitate the development of the national gender policy including preparing background documents, leading drafting workshops, coordinating consultations with relevant stakeholders, and submitting a final policy document.

Objectives

The general objective of the assignment is to facilitate the development of the national gender policy and present a draft policy for endorsement by the Council of Ministers. Specifically, the assignment will have the following specific objectives

• Identifying key areas of concern that need to be addressed in the national gender policy
• Coordinating the process of drafting a comprehensive national gender policy for Ethiopia
• Ensuring that the draft gender policy is aligned with international and regional commitments and national development plans of Ethiopia
• Facilitating inclusive consultations with all relevant stakeholders on the gender policy
• Liaising with the Steering and Technical Committees established to lead and support the development of the policy
• Ensuring that the gender policy incorporates the different needs and strategic interests of all groups of women (rural and urban women, adolescent girls, elderly women with disabilities, women living with HIV/AIDS etc.)

Duties And Responsibilities

UN Women will recruit a national consultant for the assignment. The national consultant will have the following main tasks and responsibilities,

• Identifying key areas of concern that need to be addressed in the national gender policy based on the comprehensive review of the NPEW
• Coordinating a drafting workshop for the national gender policy which brings together the technical committee members and relevant stakeholders from regional states
• Conducting interviews with relevant stakeholders, where necessary to compliment information from the comprehensive review of the NPEW or include new perspectives following the comprehensive review
• Facilitating inclusive consultations with all relevant stakeholders on the draft gender policy
• Presenting briefings on the process of development of the gender policy for the Technical and Steering Committees
• Submitting a draft gender policy document for endorsement by the Council of Ministers

EXPECTED OUTCOME

• Key areas of concern/themes to be included in the gender policy identified
• Draft gender policy aligned to international and regional commitments and national development plans ready for endorsement by the Council of Ministers prepared
• Inclusive consultations with stakeholders at all levels on the draft policy document undertaken

DELIVERABLES

• The following key deliverables are expected to be submitted to MoWCY and UN Women:
• Inception report which clearly depicts the understanding of the ToR, details the agreements made between MoWCY, UN Women and the consultant undertaking the assessment regarding the proposed research methodology and core tasks to be undertaken for this assignment
• Report on the key areas of concern/themes to be incorporated in the policy
• Summary report of interviews and names/designation of all those interviewed
• Summary report of the drafting workshop
• Summary report of the consultations on the draft with relevant stakeholders
• Attend and provide briefings to the technical and steering committees established to support the policy development process
• Final draft of the gender policy document for endorsement by CoM

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling UN Women values and ethical standards.
• Demonstrates a commitment to UN Women’s mission and vision.
• Able to work effectively within a team.
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability.
• Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands.
• Can assess and prioritize work needs quickly.
• Able to relate to external partners, including other international organizations and agencies, NGOs, grassroots community groups, etc.

Functional Competencies

• Sound expertise in gender equality and women’s empowerment, including policy and strategy development
• Communications or knowledge management experience an advantage.
• Academic and practical research experience.
• Outstanding networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills.
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors and civil society.
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds
• Ability to produce well-written documents
• Demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills.

Required Skills And Experience

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Sociology, development and policy studies, human rights or relevant field and/or equivalent practical experience

Experience And Skills

• More than 10 years’ experience in development work and particularly on issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment and comprehensive background in consultancy work related to policy development
• Experience in conducting data analysis and synthesizing information into concise, analytical written documents
• Proven expertise in carrying out gender focused research and analysis that are able to contribute to the formulation of policies, procedures and guidelines on gender equality and the empowerment of women
• Experience working with Governments and non-governmental organizations and knowledge of their working procedures
• Ability to establish and maintain productive relationships with partners and other stakeholder’s and responds positively to critical feedbacks and differing points of view.
• Demonstrated ability to produce well written, well researched and high-quality reports and documents
• Experience in leading and facilitating consultations with stakeholders in government, CSOs, UN agencies, donors

Language

• Fluency in oral and written English and Amharic is required.
• Working knowledge of other local languages is an asset