The AfDB Gender Women and Civil Society Department seeks to recruit a consultant for a period of 6 months to support its work stream on women economic empowerment, which is Pillar 2 of the Gender Strategy.

The AfDB Gender Women and Civil Society Department seeks to recruit a consultant for a period of 6 months to support its work stream on women economic empowerment, which is Pillar 2 of the Gender Strategy.

 

Immeuble du Centre de commerce International d’Abidjan CCIA

Avenue Jean-Paul II

01 BP 1387

Abidjan 01, Côte d’Ivoire

Gender, Women and Civil Society Department

E-mail: b.jones@afdb.org; and copy r.ijimbere@afdb.org

Telephone: +225 20265836/20264246

Description:

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: Gender Expert.
2. The services to be provided under the Assignment include: to support the Bank’s efforts to advance Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) through the Bank’s Gender, Women and Civil Society department main deliverables. That is to provide support in operationalizing the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Program Capacity Building Pillar and provide support in implementation of the Bank’s Gender Marker System by contributing to mainstreaming gender in the Bank operations. More specifically, the consultant will be expected to;

• Foster strategic partnerships with public and private institutions to provide capacity building services to WSMEs, cooperatives and other women’s associations in critical areas such as financial literacy, business plan development as well as technical assistance to participating financial institutions (FIs)
• Support development of platforms and tools to support diagnostic studies, gender disaggregated data collection, reporting and analysis and showcasing of best practices on capacity building of WSMEs and technical assistance to FIs
• Lead efforts to operationalize the Women in ICT work stream by engaging with relevant partners to implement a We-Fi grant initiative to provide financial support and technical assistance to female technology entrepreneurs in target countries
• Participate in project missions and drafting of project documents to promote the implementation of the Bank’s Gender Marker Strategy and mainstream gender in Banks operations
• Contribute to the development of indicators to monitor the impact of Bank projects on gender equality
• Collaborate with Task Managers to propose categorization of projects under the Gender Marker system and fulfill the necessary conditions according to the category
• Assess the potential impact of proposed projects on gender equality; perform assessments and analysis and propose mitigation measures and participate in country team meetings to ensure that gender dimensions are taken into account
• Co-design and manage sessions on gender and the digital revolution during the Multilateral Development Bank’s Global Gender Summit
• Participate in the development of strategies, policies, procedures and various reports relating to gender equality and women’s empowerment

3. The Gender, Women and Civil Society Department (AHGC) invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested eligible consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services (documentation, references for similar services, experience in comparable Assignments, etc.).
4. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a short list and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Rules and Procedure for the Selection of Corporate Consultants. Please, note that interest expressed by a consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include it in the shortlist. It is expected that interested individual consultants shall already be registered or register in the Bank’s DACON System for consultants. The link to the relevant registration is http://dacon.afdb.org/dacon/
5. The estimated duration of services is 6 months with possibility of renewal and the estimated starting date is 1^st June, 2019.
6. Interested individuals may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: (9h00. – 17h00 GMT).
7. Expressions of interest must be received at the address below no later than Wednesday 22^nd May 2019 at 17h30 GMT local time and specifically mentioning Gender Expert.

For the attention of:

Mr. Basil Jones

Gender Programme and Policy Coordinator

African Development Bank Group

Gender, Women and Civil Society Department

Immeuble du Centre de commerce International d’Abidjan CCIA

Avenue Jean-Paul II

01 BP 1387

Tel : +225 20268239/20264246

E-mail: b.jones@afdb.org and copy r.ijimbere@afdb.org

Establishment of the shortlist

8. The shortlist of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end of the request of expression of interest. The consultants in the shortlist will be evaluated on the following criteria based on the CVs and other documents received.

General Qualifications and suitability to the Tasks 40 Experience in the specific assignment 40 Experience with International Institutions 10

Language Capacity

Working knowledge of the Africa Region

Terms of reference for the recruitment of a consultant:

Background:

The African Development Bank is committed to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Indeed, gender is cross cutting across the Bank’s High 5 priorities. The African Development Bank Gender Strategy (2014-2019) Investing in Gender Equality for Africa’s Transformation, objective is to operationalize the Bank’s commitment to gender equality as espoused in the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy 2013-2022. The strategy will guide the Bank to effectively integrate gender equality into its operations and promote gender equality in Africa. The Bank will therefore contribute to inclusive growth and social progress by broadening opportunities for women and men to participate equally in, and benefit from, the creation of wealth. The strategy is anchored in the Bank’s overall vision of supporting Africa’s transformation into a competitive, diversified, integrated, and prosperous continent, fully participating in global trade and investment—a continent whose high quality growth creates more employment opportunities for all, especially women and youth. This strategy seeks to strengthen gender mainstreaming in the Bank’s High 5 Priorities of Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.

The promotion of women entrepreneurs is one of the African Development Bank’s top priorities. It is within this framework that the AfDB created the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), a pan-African initiative with a principal objective of bridging the finance gap for women in Africa and unlocking their entrepreneurial capacity. To close the financing gap, AFAWA uses a holistic approach based on three pillars: strengthening access to financing for women-owned/led businesses, building the capacity of women entrepreneurs and financial institutions, and engaging in dialogue with African governments to support key legal, policy and regulatory reforms that improve business-enabling environments to accelerate women’s entrepreneurship. Under the proposed AFAWA capacity building component, AfDB will provide capacity building services to women entrepreneurs including their access to mentoring, entrepreneurship training courses, and know-how to grow their businesses. In addition, the AfDB will build the capacity of financial institutions to address the specific needs of women-owned/led Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (WMSMEs) through the internal strengthening of relevant functions.

The Bank in 2017 approved the Gender Marker System (GMS), in response to the need to strengthen the Bank’s approach to gender mainstreaming in its operations. The objective of the GMS is to systematize gender mainstreaming in Bank operations as well as contribute to effective monitoring and evaluation of gender in the Bank’s High Five Priorities. It is expected that at least 50% of all projects under development in 2019 will be categorized and meet the requirements of the GMS.

In order to implement the GMS and improve the mainstreaming of gender in Bank operations as well as operationalize the AFAWA Capacity Building Pillar, the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department would like to recruit a Gender Consultant.

Objectives of the assignment:

The African Development Bank’s (AfDB), Gender Women and Civil Society Department seeks to recruit a consultant for a period of 6 months to support its work stream on women economic empowerment, which is Pillar 2 of the Gender Strategy. The gender consultant will support in achieving the departments main deliverables including support to the AFAWA initiative and Gender Mainstreaming in the Banks operations.

Main activities and deliverables:

Under the supervision of the Gender Policy and Program Coordinator, the Consultant will;

• Foster strategic partnerships with business support organizations, public and private institutions to provide capacity building services to WSMEs, cooperatives and other women’s associations in critical areas such as financial literacy, business plan development as well as technical assistance to participating financial institutions (FIs)
• Support development of platforms and tools to support diagnostic studies, gender disaggregated data collection, reporting and analysis and showcasing of best practices on capacity building of WSMEs and technical assistance to FIs
• Lead efforts to operationalize the Women in ICT work stream by engaging with relevant partners to implement a We-Fi grant initiative to provide financial support and technical assistance to female technology entrepreneurs in target countries
• Participate in project missions and drafting of project documents to promote the implementation of the Bank’s Gender Marker Strategy and mainstream gender in Banks operations
• Contribute to the development of indicators to monitor the impact of Bank projects on gender equality
• Collaborate with Task Managers to propose categorization of projects under the Gender Marker system and fulfill the necessary conditions according to the category
• Assess the potential impact of proposed projects on gender equality; perform assessments and analysis and propose mitigation measures and participate in country team meetings to ensure that gender dimensions are taken into account
• Co-design and manage sessions on gender and the digital revolution during the Multilateral Development Bank’s Global Gender Summit
• Participate in the development of strategies, policies, procedures and various reports relating to gender equality and women’s empowerment

Qualifications and experience required:

1. Graduate Degree (Masters or equivalent) in Economics, Inclusive Innovation, Business Administration, International development, or other related field
2. Have more than four (4) and a maximum of six (6) years of professional experience in the areas of gender analysis; or the design/implementation of projects promoting women’s empowerment, inclusive innovation and empowerment;
3. Have an effective understanding of regional social issues and knowledge of the practices of development agencies of key bilateral and multilateral partners would be an advantage;
4. Demonstrated understanding of and experience working on the digital gender divide
5. Demonstrated experience in designing entrepreneurship programs and fostering strategic partnerships
6. Fluency in English and/or French;
7. Be a national of one of the member countries of the Bank.

Duration and location of the assignment:

This is a six (6) month consultancy, with possibility of renewal, from the date of signature of the Contract. The Consultancy is based at the Bank’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire beginning 1^st June 2019.

Remuneration:

The consultant will receive a monthly lump sum. No additional benefits or per diems will be paid. The consultant is responsible for his/her own health insurance and accommodation costs. The Bank will cover full costs of any required missions and provide per-diem in accordance with rules governing consultant mission travel.

Administration/Reporting:

The Consultant will submit a monthly report detailing the activities carried out and the status of each activity and will report to the Gender Policy and Program Coordinator in the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department.