Consultant Facilitator for Enhanced Access to Digital Financial Services (DFS) for women in Ethiopia

Period of Consultancy: 1st January to 31^st May 2024

Location: Ethiopia – Addis Ababa with travels to Gambella, Bahar Dar and other field locations as may be agreed

Remuneration: Competitive

Introduction:

Digitalisation and digital financial services are a reality for women in many countries but not in Ethiopia. There are several barriers excluding many women in Ethiopia from these services widening the risk of gender-related digital divide. One of the foundational barriers for women’s access to digitalization and digital financial services is literacy rate which typically is lower for women than for men. Basic and financial literacy together with women-centred design of financial services are therefore required to overcome the existing barriers for women’s fair and equal access to digital financial services, and to help ensure long-lasting and sustainable digital and financial inclusion.

The proposed initiative promotes a two-pronged approach to ensure that every woman can access safe and trusted digital financial services:

• The root causes (lack of basic literacy skills and financial literacy skills) excluding women from the digitalisation path will be addressed by promoting vulnerable women’s access to basic and financial literacy education through awareness raising and advocacy amongst financial services providers, NGOs, policy makers among others.

• The creation and use of solutions tailored to women already engaged in income generating activities but not using digital services will be promoted by connecting key actors (i.e., digital financial service providers and women involved in small business) to create joint understanding on the current barriers and areas in need for support.

Finnish Refugee Council (FRC) and The Centre for Accelerated Women’s Economic Empowerment (CAWEE) will jointly implement the proposed initiative targeting women and girls in Gambella, Amhara Regions and in Addis Ababa. The project will target refugee, IDP and host communities.

FRC is looking for a suitable consultant to lead in the facilitation and discussions leading to a policy paper to address issues that affect access of DFS for Ethiopia girls and women. The consultant will use the information to produce a policy paper on the key findings and recommendations for actions to be taken to support women’s use of digital services in Ethiopia.

Target and Main Tasks:

Three specific groups of women will be targeted in the various implementation sites: 

1.                    Women with low literacy levels or illiterate (target),

2.                    Self-employed women and women involved in small business who are unable to access financial services (target),

3.                    Women who have broken the barriers to serve as champions and mentors for women’s digital financial inclusion (special stakeholders).

The main tasks will be as follows:

1.      Facilitate implementation of the following activities in Gambella Region so that the voices of disadvantaged women in access to financial services is raised to the national level through the advocacy process targeting providers and policy makers:

• Organize Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) with women who graduated from Functional Adult Literacy/Financial Literacy (FAL/FL) classes from both refugee and host communities to identify digital literacy gaps and the key barriers of access to financial services.

• Organize FGD with digital financial service providers and NGOs providing Digital Financial Services (DFSs) and identify barriers, opportunities and skills needed for illiterate/semi-literate women to access financial services.

• A validation workshop on the key findings of major barriers, and areas for adjustment for the FAL/FL curriculum to enhance opportunities for Digital Financial in Gambella as a model for other locations.

2.      Facilitate implementation of the following activities in Gambella, Bahir Dar and Addis Ababa

• Map digital and financial service providers and NGO practitioners active in targeted areas.

• Organize FGDs targeting unbanked women involved in small business, and DFS providers facilitated by women entrepreneur champions to discuss about the needs, and the barriers and social norms preventing women’s access to existing digital and financial services.

• Conduct a validation workshop on the key findings and produce a policy paper on the key findings and recommendations for actions to be taken to support women’s use of digital services. The policy paper will be discussed and shared with financial providers, donors, practitioners, and policy makers.

Key project deliverables 

1.      Common understanding between vulnerable groups (illiterate women and/or women with low literacy levels), and financial service providers (FSP) on the required skills to access financial services.

2.      Digital and financial service providers (Commercial banks and Micro-Finance Institutions-MFI), and women involved in small businesses engaged to address barriers to women-inclusive digital financial services.

3.      Policy brief including recommendations and commitments for future actions developed.

Desired outcome:

The desired Outcome of this consultancy is to ensure that all women can access safe and trusted digital financial services. By facilitating and promoting marginalised women’s participation to a dialogue with key stakeholders (service providers) the proposed action is expected to enhance the enablers of digital financial inclusion (literacy and numeracy, financial literacy, access, awareness), and overcome the social and cultural norms and barriers against women’s inclusion.

Qualifications, qualities, and Experience:

• Master’s degree in social sciences, Business Administration (MBA) or related.
• At least 5 years’ experience facilitating high level advocacy processes.
• Proven expertise in the areas of community engagement, gender, and social inclusion
• Ability to work in an international/multicultural environment.
• Proven experience in drafting professional documents in accordance with international standards.
• Proven skills in facilitation of advocacy processes.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• private sector experience especially favorable if has experience with Digital Financial Services or relevant disciplines.
• Knowledge of the Ethiopian context is a must.
• Females’ candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.