UN Women Short Term Consultancy to Provide Technical Support for the Integration of Gender Perspectives in a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Legislation-Job Vacancies in Kenya 2013

 

Terms of Reference for a Short Term Consultancy to Provide Technical Support for the Integration of Gender Perspectives in a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Legislation

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Additional Category: Humanitarian response and Disaster Risk Reduction
Type of Contract: SSA
Languages Required: English
 

Starting Date (date when the selected candidate is expected to start): 15th August to 15th October  2013
 

Expected Duration of Assignment: 20 working days

Introduction:

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) was established by General Assembly resolution 64/289 of 2 July 2010 on system-wide coherence, with the mandate to assist countries and the United Nations system itself to progress more effectively and efficiently toward the goal of achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and upholding women’s rights.
This strategic plan, developed pursuant to paragraph 77 of resolution 64/2892 is the first such plan created by UN-Women. The plan lays out the organization’s priorities for achieving this goal up to 2017, and which it will assess and revise in 2013, in order to align it with the planning cycles of other United Nations agencies.
The UN-Women vision is a world where societies are free of gender-based discrimination, where women and men have equal opportunities, where the comprehensive economic and social development of women and girls is ensured so that they can lead the change that they want to see, where gender equality and women’s empowerment are achieved, and women’s rights are upheld in all efforts to further development, human rights, peace and security.
The UN-Women mandate brings together those of the four pre-existing entities, calling on the Entity to have universal coverage, strategic presence and ensure closer linkages between the norm setting inter-governmental work and operations at the field level.
The mandate is guided by the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Millennium Declaration, relevant General Assembly, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other applicable United Nations instruments, standards and legislation. Central to the UN-Women mission is its role in leading and coordinating United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into concrete action at the country level.
The mission statement of UN-Women was set out in the proposal of the Secretary- General as follows: “Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, the composite entity will work 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.
Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, the composite entity will lead and coordinate United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.”
 
Background to the assignment:
The adoption of the Hyogo Framework of Action by the world conference on disaster reduction and its subsequent endorsement by the general assembly of the United Nations marked the beginning of a process with the declaration of the International Decade for natural Disaster Reduction 2005 to 2015.
A mid-term review of the process led by United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) in 2010-2011 showed that integration of gender perspectives in disaster risk reduction was still lagging and further pointed out that inclusion of gender and community perspective were areas that required greater focus and attention if the goals for greater resilience were to be reached by 2015 {Ref: Hyogo framework for action 2005-2015; building the resilience of nations and communities to disasters; mid-term valuation 2010/11}.
Ensuring that disaster risk programming is gender responsive still remains one of the themes that require accelerated attention and action in a post 2015 framework {Ref:DRR in Africa; status report on implementation of Africa regional strategy and Hyogo framework for action, executive summary; May 2013}.
Several global and regional commitments {Ref:For example BPFA, CEDAW, AU protocols commitments, The Great Lakes Region protocols} along with others on climate change set out minimum requirements and guidelines for stakeholders; such as Governments, UN agencies and civil society; on gender equality programming for development, humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) initiatives at all levels; at policy, institutional to community level action.
Kenya has been frequently experiencing disasters and emergencies including droughts, floods, landslides, ethnic conflicts and clashes, diseases and epidemics, fires among others which necessitate multi-sectoral preparedness and responses. Disasters and emergencies affect and impact on women, men, boys and girls differently due to their roles, responsibilities and status in the society.
Women and girls are more adversely affected as a result of their perceived lesser status in the society and with the increase of risks and vulnerabilities that come with emergencies and disasters; there is a profound effect on their lives at all levels.
After the March 2013 general elections; a new Government was formed in April 2013, and a presidential directive on a humanitarian paradigm shift and investing more on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) by humanitarian stakeholders was issued.
This among other actions has created momentum and has elicited deliberations on the formation of a Disaster Risk Management Authority/Institution.
A motion introduced in parliament in July 2013 requests for the  fast-tracking of  the establishment of a Disaster Management Authority/Institution that would take leadership in coordinating all DRR initiatives and to further manage and rehabilitate institutions and infrastructure, and facilities impacted on by various  disasters.
In this regard, UN Women in fulfillment of its mandate in supporting gender equality programming in Governments and the UN System, in this case UNISDR and the Government of Kenya, the Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) and other relevant stakeholders, has committed to supporting this process through provision of technical gender expertise.
Scope of work:
The scope of this assignment focuses on but not limited to
  • providing substantive technical gender leadership during the drafting and formulation of the DRR bill and/or review of the existing draft DRR bill;
  • further articulate through a technical policy brief and an advocacy pack (an advocacy note, and a DRR and gender fact sheet);
  • technical  guidance to support  integration of gender in the formulation of DRR structures and legislation and in the resultant policy and implementation frameworks;
  • and to hold at least two technical briefings/meetings with relevant multi-sectoral stakeholders to further advocate for the inclusion of gender perspectives  and to disseminate the technical guidelines;
  • and to attend the various technical working groups/sessions held by stakeholders to ensure gender dimensions are integrated during the duration of the assignment.
Methodology:
To achieve the expected deliverables, the consultant is expected to:
  • Conduct a status review through review of existing and ongoing regional, national and sub national level DRR processes, strategies, plans of action, reports (including the draft DRR bill and policy) and other relevant legislations and acts of parliament to identify the gender commitments and/or gaps.
  • Direct and on spot technical support to the  existing DRR technical /coordination mechanisms to enable effective integration of gender perspectives in the DRR bill, policy and resultant strategies, particularly in formulation and drafting of the bill.
  • Conduct various levels of strategic consultations (bilateral, small working groups and workshops) with multi stakeholders to facilitate dialogue, technical inputs and facilitate ownership inputs to enhance inclusion of gender perspectives in the DRR processes.
  • To lead the drafting and validation of the guidance materials; the policy brief and advocacy pack that guides integration of gender perspectives in DRR processes at both national and sub national levels.
Outputs:
The expected outputs will be the following;
1. A gender responsive DRR Bill and resultant papers/frameworks/strategies. Specifically; participate in drafting of the legislation/bill, on-spot technical support to the drafting team and the technical /coordination mechanisms and periodical briefings to the strategic stakeholders, KEWOPA, UN Women and UNISDR among others.
2. A policy brief and an advocacy pack developed and disseminated to all stakeholders. Specifically draft, consult, finalize and validate the gender and DRR Policy brief and Advocacy pack with participation from various key stakeholders.
3. Technical forums to enhance dissemination of the gender and DRR Policy brief and Advocacy pack facilitated.  Specifically attend existing meetings as held by the National DRR platform, other DRR platforms and stakeholder forums as organized by UNISDR and UN Women.
The consultant will work under the guidance of UN Women Kenya Country Office.
She/he will work closely with the Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian/DRR team who will be guiding the entire process.
Further, the consultant will work closely with counterparts from UNISDR, KEWOPA, the existing technical/coordination mechanism and the necessary Government line ministries involved.
 
Duration of assignment: The assignment will take 20 working days spread over two months.
 
Contractual Arrangements:
The consultancy agreement is between UN Women and the consultant who will be accountable to UN Women Kenya, under the supervision of the Country Director and working closely with the humanitarian/DRR team.

The consultancy is expected to commence on 15th of August   and completed by 15th of October 2013, and for a period on 20 working days.

Remuneration: Remuneration will be based on experience and qualifications using UN Women Rules and Regulations.

Qualification, Skills and Experience: 

  • A Master’s degree in gender, international law, Disaster Risk Management, human rights, international studies or any other related field with at least 10 years proven past experience in policy and programmatic engagement on gender and DRR/humanitarian/climate change.
  • She/he should have demonstrated ability and excellent communication skills to facilitate high level meetings and multi-stakeholder consultations and a proven track record in the production of high quality reports, analysis and technical guidance briefs at both policy and programmatic levels on gender and DRR/humanitarian action/climate change.
Other Skills: She/he should possess excellent analytical, written and oral communication skills, presentation skills, and diplomacy skills as well as ability to work independently and in a team.
 
Language: Fluency in oral and written English is necessary.
 
Application Procedures:
Applications should contain:
A brief cover letter (not exceeding one page), clearly indicating
(i) Experience in the area of gender and DRR/Humanitarian action/climate change and expertise
(ii) Indicative daily fee in US Dollars and
(iii) period of availability.
A current and updated Curriculum Vitae.
Contact details for 3 references. Please note that your previous employers could also be contacted.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
Please make sure you provide all requested materials
Please email your applications to: consultancies.eharo@unwomen.org not later than 10th August 2013 with the subject line clearly marked “NATIONAL CONSULTANT – GENDER TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO THE DRR LEGISLATION”.



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