Consultancy – Gender Expert

Consultancy – Gender Expert

We are searching for an experienced Consultancy – Gender Expert at our Tunisia facility. 

Project Overview:

The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) is a 7-year and €134 million programme funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that aims to create a prosperous future for 230,000 young women and men in the Middle East, North Africa, Sahel & West Africa and Horn of Africa regions. The Fund will be supporting initiatives in 11 focus countries that will offer youth, in particular young women, opportunities for work that is demand-driven and productive, offering a stable income and safe working conditions, and that is contributing to their personal development and social protection. 

Private sector, civil society and knowledge institutions will be invited to submit proposals geared to scalable solutions for creating more and better jobs and income generating opportunities for youth. Solutions will in particular focus on an integrated approach that addresses the shortcomings on the demand side (jobs) and supply side (skills) and bridging the mismatch between these two in the labour market. 

Assignment Overview:

The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment has partnered with private sector entities in Tunisia spanning across sectors such as waste management, agriculture, IT and business development in order to create, match and improve more than 10,000 jobs for youth, of which 50% are women.

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) targets are integrated into the goal of the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) by specifically stating that 50% of the beneficiaries should be female. GESI is also integrated into the provision of Technical Advisory (TA) to the implementing partners.

To meet this goal, CFYE is seeking a gender expert to deliver TA to our implementing partners in Tunisia who require targeted support to improve the recruitment, selection, and retention of young women in their businesses. The goal is to mobilize young women for jobs in the partnered businesses to achieve their targets with CFYE. The appointed expert will play a pivotal role in identifying specific gender related barriers unique to each IP (Implementing Partners) and across sectors. The GESI diagnostic assessment Tool which is developed by CFYE should be used for this purpose. The expert will also evaluate and document existing interventions and guide the IPs in the development of gender responsive solutions, which will be systematically implemented, monitored, and evaluated through a Gender Action Plan which the expert will develop together with the IP.

In collaboration with CFYE, and depending on the specific IP needs, the expert will provide strategic advice and coaching to the IPs as they implement the gender responsive solutions to ensure the achievement of their gender targets and contribute to harnessing valuable gender related insights for the fund. The expert(s) may also need to find practical ways to mobilize young women for direct or indirect employment with CFYE’ implementing partners.

The IPs can be brought together (virtually) during kick off and at several points in the assignment to facilitate peer learning sessions to drive the exchange of lessons learned on effective GESI activities among IPs. The expert should also visit the IPs to have a better understanding of their needs and potential for female employment. 

Assignment Objectives and Activities:

Overarching Goal:

To support the three or four IPs from the CFYE Tunisia portfolio to adopt effective gender inclusive practices that enable them to attract, select and retain more female youth.

Short term objectives:

1) Preparatory Actions:

• Review the gender performance indicators from their outputs and outcomes from their quarterly reporting.
• Review the CFYE Gender Tools including Diagnostic & Gender Action Plan, in coordination with the CFYE Gender Advisor, and make Country Specific Adaptations to the tools where necessary.
• In direct collaboration with the Tunisia Country Team, develop a workplan indicating key milestones of the assignment.
• Compile & share monthly assignment progress reports with key achievements, challenges, and learnings.

2. IP-Specific Actions:

• Conduct and document gender diagnostics for each of the selected IPs and analyze their challenges and barriers at an individual and sector level.
• Consult with the IP’s female employees and beneficiaries to gain insights into stereotypes, biases, motivations, and challenges in specific job, and sectors.
• Develop and advise on the contextualized Gender Action Plans to offer customized solutions for improved recruitment, retention, inclusive policies, and organizational culture transformation.
• Provide support in consultative meetings with IPs leadership to promote gender inclusiveness and youth (especially women) participation in project implementation and towards meeting the IP’s CFYE project gender targets.
• Provide coaching to the IP to facilitate implementing the Gender Action Plan (including “Gender smart” interventions).
• Provide practical support to mobilize young women for the employment and training opportunities proposed by the selected implementing partners.

Deliverables:

Country Portfolio-Level Deliverables:

• A brief report on Gender learnings and/or key insights, including successful approaches, best practices, tools that work and case studies in the different sectors.
• A workplan for the assignment and monthly progress reports on the activities, which has been developed in consultation with the IPs, and confirmed by them.
• An adapted gender diagnostic tool and Gender action plan relevant to the country context and the IP sector.

IP-Specific Deliverables:

• A Gender Analysis report from the diagnostics for each of the IPs with individual and sectoral insights out of the challenges identified among participating IPs.
• Gender action plans for each of the participating IPs developed, including tested and proven recommendations on how IPs and effectively attract, select, and retain females into employment under their CFYE projects.
• List of the female employees contracted by the IPs directly or indirectly. 

Required Qualifications:

• Applicants must have expertise in Gender Equality & Social Inclusion (GESI) support in the private sector in industries including agriculture, food production, job tech and digital.
• Applicants must have demonstrable experience implementing successful decent work strategies for women and youth that drive more female youth participation and retention.
• Demonstrate experience supporting programme partners to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate GESI processes and tools in informal settings.
• Working knowledge of issues and opportunities related to GESI and decent work in the country and how these should be captured and applied in results measurement plans.
• Strong interpersonal skills and proven ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships across teams and organisations.
• Applicants must have experience using both qualitative and quantitative data collection/research techniques and use their findings to inform knowledge platforms.
• Attention to detail and ability to perform multiple tasks, balancing competing priorities effectively and efficiently often within a required period.

Level of Effort and Reporting:

The Technical Assistance (T.A.) role will span over a period of 3-4 months, from December 2024, and may be amended as necessary depending on the CFYE needs and after discussing with the consultant. The total days for the assignment is a maximum of 35 days.

You will report to the Tunisia Country Lead and CFYE’s gender lead, and work closely with the Technical Assistance Representative. You will also work closely with representatives from the participating IPs. All deliverables must be approved by both CFYE and the IP.

How to Apply:

Deadline for offer submission 5 December 11:59pm Central European Time (CET). 

For any questions, please reach out to Sarah Ebady at [email protected] before 30 November 2024. 

Our company provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.

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