International Consultant to develop GIMAC’s 20-year Report (Re-advert)

BACKGROUND

UN Women is grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination and violence 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.

The UN Women office in Ethiopia plays a dual role, representation to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and representation to Ethiopia. In this regard, under its regional function, the Ethiopia country office engages with the AU and its various organs, the United Nations system particularly ECA, regional CSOs and international NGO, as well as the diplomatic community and in particular, delegations to the African Union.

CSOs are UN Women’s most important constituents. UN Women has long standing relation with women’s movement and brings their voices, capacities and contributions in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Gender Is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) Network is a continental network of African women’s and civil society organizations, with over

55 member organizations.   The Network’s main mandate is the empowerment of women and girls in Africa particularly through the implementation of key regional and international gender equality instruments.

GIMAC Network was officially launched in 2002 during the transformation of Organization of the African Union (OAU)to ensure women are part of, and benefit from, the transformation process and realize the gender equality agenda. The Network has identified key strategic objectives to meet its mission and vision. GIMAC Network advocacy strategy for the year 2020-

2022 details  strategic  and  policy  influencing  and  convening; builds capacity  of  and  support member led advocacy initiatives; and facilitate inter-generational leadership and mentorship of young women amongst the key strategic objectives of the network.

In almost 20 years of its existence the network has implemented specific activities targeted at achieving its strategic objectives. GIMAC Network has created advocacy platforms to engage key decision-making bodies of the AU, RECs, Member States and UN in a conversation with CSOs and young women networks.  GIMAC Network has held over 37 consultative meetings on the margins of the African Union Summit meetings; organized campaigns focusing on various thematic areas; held CSOs consultations in the development of legal instruments speaking to the  gender  agenda  such  as  the AU  Gender  Equality  and  Women’s  Empowerment  Strategy (GEWE). Moreover, the Network has pushed for CSOs, women farmers as well as young women and  girls’  active  engagement  and  participation  in  major  decision-making  spaces  at  the continental and international level.

Every  advocacy  effort was  accompanied  by specific  outcome statement  and  call for  action, outlining  key  recommendations,  shared  with  key  decision-making  bodies  of  the  AU  and Members  States  for  integration  and  endorsement.  GIMAC  Network  has  shared  over  37 outcome statements with African Union Women, Gender and Youth Directorate (WGYD) for deliberation   at   the   Specialised   Technical   Committee   on Gender Equality   and   Women´s Empowerment (STC on GEWE) meetings, which is the statutory organ that adopts and decides on AU’s work on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Through the support of WGYD the recommendations had also been shared with key decision-making bodies of the AU and Member States for consideration in major policy spaces. In addition, members used them as advocacy tools and consistently called for their integration in various decision -making spaces including AU Summits, AU- RECs Coordination Meetings and CSW.

It is evident that these efforts have led to key results that constitute the achievements of the network. Among others is the adoption of the SDGEA by the Heads of State at their July 2004

Summit which has remained the most strategic reporting instrument deployed by the AU in the promotion  of  Gender  Equality  and  Women’s  Empowerment  in  Africa.  Moreover,  GIMAC network  advocated  for  the  appointment  of  the  first  female  chair  of  the  African  Union Commission in 2013, the appointment of the Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security (2014), and AUC Envoy for the Youth (2018).

Nonetheless,  continued  tracking  and  monitoring  of  the  substantive  contributions  of  the network through systematic analysis is of critical importance to fully measure the results of its advocacy efforts. It is pertinent to assess the level of recognition, adoption and endorsement of the recommendations in continental and regional policy decisions.   Measuring their impact in creating  the  desired  policy  changes  and  analysing  the  extent  to  which  they  have  been integrated within the decisions of the African Union, Member States and Regional Economic Communities  (RECs)  is  critical  to  understand  the  effectiveness  of  the  network’s  advocacy efforts.

About the proposed initiative

Against this background and as part of its 20 years anniversary celebrations, GIMAC Network in partnership and support from UN Women  proposes to commission an assessment to track, monitor and evaluate the contributions of GIMAC to the continental policy and advocacy for GEWE and the impact on policy decisions, follow-up strategic plans and actions by AU, Member States and RECs.  Furthermore, it will support the development of tracking tool that will enable the network to  monitor and track the  integration  of  its recommendations in  AU  Assembly decisions and outcomes of other key continental policy platforms.   The knowledge product will be an important tool in ensuring advocacy efforts of the network are result oriented.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The consultant will be required to undertake the following tasks:

• Develop a report that analyses the uptake of GIMAC’s recommendations by AUC Assembly  Decisions  throughout  the  20  years  of  its  advocacy  efforts  towards creating the desired policy changes
• Develop  a  tool  to  track  and  monitor  the  integration  of  the  GIMAC  Network recommendations in AUC Assembly Decisions and outcomes of other continental policy platforms.

 Deliverable

• A tracking tool of uptake of network recommendations in AUC Assembly decisions going forward
• A 20-year anniversary report that assesses the 20 years achievements, the impact of the network , lessons learned and proposed way forward for strengthening the network.
• A presentation on the findings of the report on the launch event during the 20-year anniversary.

COMPETENCIES

Professionalism:

Demonstrate  solid  professional  competence  and  expert  knowledge  in  the  area  of communication, gender, politics or peace and security

Teamwork:

Demonstrate  ability  to  work  in  a  multicultural,  multi-ethnic  environment  and  to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds

Ethics and Values:

Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

Be able to communicate easily and effectively, using various communication channels.

Functional Competencies:

–     Extensive knowledge of the global and Africa regional women, peace and security agenda, as well as related regional priorities in Africa.

–     Excellent writing and communication skills.

–     Good knowledge of the African Union.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

Educational qualifications

•  An  advanced  degree  in  International Law, Development  studies, Political  science, Gender studies, or related Social Science field with a minimum of six years relevant experience.

 Experience

• At least 6 years of progressive experience in national, sub-regional and regional policy evaluation and assessment, research and advocacy initiatives on GEWE issues.
• Substantive experience in evaluating and assessing organizational policy advocacy and influencing at continental policy spaces
• Technical Policy  Skills  with  a deep  familiarity and  knowledge of  the legislative process and experience with the advocacy spectrum, as well as the political landscape,  policy  opportunities,  and  roles  of  various  influencers  and decision- makers in a particular locale.
• Experience in gender advocacy, gender policy development, gender coordination, partner engagement, strategy development and implementation.
• Ability to analyze organizational processes, identify constraints and opportunities and recommend targeted solutions.
• Experience  in  working  with  women’s  organizations  at   continental,  regional national and community levels.

.Language Requirement

• Proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of French will constitute an advantage.

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from [ P-11].

UNWOMEN is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.