CONSULTANCY FOR A RAPID CARE ANALYSIS OF PRIVATE SECTOR (INT10322)

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CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND OF RAPID CARE ANALYSIS ON PRIVATE SECTOR

1. Unpaid Care and Domestic Work

The private sector is well developed and large by sub-Saharan and regional standards and plays the leading part in the Kenyan economy. The health of the economy and benefits to citizens are directly correlated to the health of the private sector. In Kenya, the private sector is noticeably split into two parts: a formal, large business sector which is relatively healthy and productive, and a massive, informal small business sector that is poorly understood and supported, yet which employs almost nine out of ten workers. Links between the formal and informal sectors are very weak – and initiatives that bridge the gap should be a priority. Agriculture, manufacturing, trade, tourism, transport and communication, and financial services account for over 80% of the private sector’s contribution to total GDP. Agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of contribution to private sector GDP and employment, though the importance of agriculture in terms of its contribution to GDP is declining relative to other sectors, while that of manufacturing remains relatively stagnant. Growth in the private sector is increasingly driven by trade, transport, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and financial services.[1]

Unpaid care and domestic work (UCDW) keep families, communities and business running. Care is a positive and valuable contribution to our economies and the functioning of our societies. It ensures healthy, thriving, well-fed children, elderly, disabled and ill people, as well as working adults. Care for people is provided by, or paid for, by families, and States, the private sector and civil society.   According to a 2019 Household Care Survey in Kenya by Oxfam, women spend an average of five hours a day on unpaid care work (as primary activity) compared to about one hour for men. In addition, if unpaid care work is included as either a secondary or simultaneous activity, the ratio is 11.1 hours for women to 2.9 hours for men.25 Women are more often expected to be the primary caregiver and are likely to spend 20% of their time looking after a child.26 Paid and unpaid care work remains largely absent from both national and county social and economic development plans and policies, making women’s paid and unpaid care work less valued than that of men and undermining Kenya’s ambitions to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Women and girls care work props up the economy and underpins society, yet there is insufficient investment in fostering gender equality in this work.

1. Why UCDW Analysis is Necessary

The SDG 5 “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” includes targets of valuing unpaid care and domestic work. The ILO calculates that of the total hours that women and men work, globally, unpaid care and domestic work represents 42% of total work time (ILO). As governments and societies discount this major segment of work, they tend to underinvest in the productivity and efficiency of these critical services that we all require. Economic reality tends to be different for women, as women need to ‘budget’ time as well as money to ‘provide’ for their families. Women tend to make decisions about their paid work based on time as well as income.

Globally, women spend twice as much time on household work and four times as much time on childcare than men (EBRD & ICRW 2019). On average, women dedicate 3.2 times more time than men to unpaid care work. Globally, the gender distribution of unpaid care and domestic work is intimately linked to the gender distribution of paid work. These patterns persist with women doing the bulk of routine housework and caring for family, a clear obstacle to their participation in paid labor. Even where women have entered the paid labor force, they continue to take on most care and domestic responsibilities. Most often women tend to have inadequate access to care is essential infrastructure services that support unpaid care work, such as transportation, water and energy systems, and health, education.

1. Why PS Should Take Care About UCDW

Sustainable Development Goal 5 Target 5.4: Recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies and the promotion of shared responsibility within the household and the family as nationally appropriate. The Rapid Care Analysis helps businesses identify options for reducing heavy domestic and care tasks or to redistribute some responsibility for care to government, civil society, or men, and to employers.

Across the world, companies, unions, and workers’ organizations continue to make progress on gender equity and respect for workers’ rights. Research shows that addressing Unpaid Care and Domestic Work (UCDW) at work benefits company operations, furthering the goals of employers, and that the gains for business are greater than the costs. Globally, 60.7% of employed adults have family responsibilities or live with people who depend on their care. When companies introduce policies and measures for addressing UCDW, this has a positive impact on women workers’ well-being. It improves their health, reduces their stress at work, leading to more concentration and worker engagement. Some measures enable women to get promoted at work, or to take part in training or in workers’ committees and trade unions. Companies and employers have responsibility to assess and address workers’ unpaid care and domestic work.

 

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY: WHY THE NEED TO ROLL-OUT THE PS RCA TOOLKIT?

Living wages are critical, but they don’t usually solve work-life balance. The ETI Gender Data Guidance calls for a fair standard of living that is calculated by the combination of income and time required to care for a family, not only wages. Oxfam research findings [LINK to WE-Care] contradicts the common assumption that women with more assets and income are able to spend fewer hours on unpaid care work. Instead, reducing women’s care workload required a combination of equipment and services to facilitate housework, and change in social norms about men’s roles. In addition, the employer/company policies and practices may exacerbate difficult work-life balance issues and the role of private sector firms in supporting workers with family responsibilities is strongly confirmed in international conventions and institutions. Thus, Oxfam believes that the RCA complements, and does not replace, important efforts for living wages, non-discrimination and women’s rights, and emphasizes the PS-RCA roll out with the following broad objectives-

• Understand and sensitize the Private Sector Management about the unpaid care and domestic works (UCDW).
• Realize and sensitize the Private Sector Workers about the unpaid care and domestic works (UCDW).
• Figure out the incentives of employers in the private sector (PS) and employees where UCDW is counted.
• Advocate for Care policy and practice review and uptakes of PS.
• Promote better workplace and social norms around care work essential infrastructure, policies and decent work.
• Roll out the Private Sector Rapid Care Analysis tool kit (Please refer to workplan below) targeting 3-4 enterprises in Nairobi.
• Capture learnings from roll out of the RCA and contribute to refining and improving of the Rapid Care Analysis tool kit.
• Develop practical recommendations for care work within the 5R’s: Recognition, Re-distribution, Reward, Representation and Resilience in the private sector and promote better workplace and social norms in line with SDG 8 as regards decent work and relevant tenets under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

SCOPE OF WORK

Applying to the Kenyan context, the Private Sector Rapid Care Analysis will include the following scope and timeline:

Data Collection Method

The Assessment workshop using the Rapid Care Analysis Toolkit will be facilitated through Focus Group Discussion of two separate groups of women and men. Qualitative data will be collected from the RCA participants composed of enterprises engaged in the ISME project.  Over-all Guidance in conducting the RCA from the PS Toolkit is as follows.

STEPS   Agenda and Topics/Strategies Timeframe

Step 1 Engaging and buying-in of PS     Conversation with PS managers:

1. Discuss UCDW concept
2. Role of the company and its benefits of the RCA
3. Discussion of company operations and policies

Toolkit: Resource 1,2,3 and 5

See Annex 1 in Toolkit: Questions          

1-2 hours

Step 2 Gathering Evidence         Gathering context-specific and gender informed information of company and workers specifically addressing UCDW in a private sector context.

 

1. Company level coordination and data collection
2. Small group discussion of workers

Conduct PS RCA Exercises: (E-Exercises)

-E1: Caregiving relationships

-E2: Time use -Calculate hours worked in a typical day (adding paid work and unpaid work and domestic work)

-E3: Identify tasks and responsibilities of UCDW that are most difficult to balance with paid work 

-E4: Care services

-E5: Further seek to understand mental load of care work during work hours.

-E6: Managing paid work and unpaid care work during peak work periods in the year

-E7: Solutions; How can the enterprise support workers by reducing /addressing unpaid care and domestic work through appropriate, context specific measures policies?

              1 whole day Session

Step 3 Acting    Processing and Refining inputs              10 Working Days

 

 

WORKPLAN

The assignment should be from May to June  2023. The consultant is expected to conduct and facilitate the following activities and timeline:

TIMELINE             SCOPE /DELIVERABLES Remarks

1 st – 2nd  Week May 2024 (14 Working Days)   Facilitate and coordination with target Private Sector entities

 

Inception and Actual Conduct/Data Collection of the Rapid Care Analysis              Ensure coordination with partners and private sector participants

 

Facilitate the conduct of assessment workshop with focus groups composed of 12-15 men and women participants

3rdWeek May-4th  Week  of May             (15 Working days)           Data Analysis, and Writing of the Rapid Care Analysis and development Action Plan development with private sector entities

              Submit Assessment Report and action plan developed.

 

2nd Week June, 2024    Submission of 1st Draft             

               Review Present results Oxfam in Kenya Team

3rd  Week, June 2024    Finalizing Report

Submission of Final Report        Final report with Peer review comments addressed

 

1. CONSULTANT QUALIFICATION

 

• Post Graduate university degree in Masters in Gender, Law, International Law, Social Sciences.
• Experience in successfully leading Gender assessments and Rapid Care Analysis of resilient development and community-led project-related projects.
• Experience working in labor sector and women economic empowerment or gender and well-being and assisting business on policy making.
• At least over 6 years of relevant professional experience in fields related to gender, social studies, women’s economic justice and development work
• Strong gender analysis, research experience and excellent analytical writing skills including communication.
• Proven track record of facilitating adult learners and consultancy experience with diverse stakeholders
• Experience in working for labor rights recognition and advocating for policy reforms in the world of work will be an added advantage.
• A proven ability to produce a comprehensive report with clearly identifiable evidence-based outcomes realized because of project contribution.
• Required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values as well as the promotion of gender justice and women’s rights
• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to safe programming, equity, inclusion, and diversity principles.
• Excellent report writing and quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical skills.
• Fluency in English and Swahili.

 

Key Attributes:

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities.
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work.
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who meet Oxfam are as safe as possible.

METHODLOGY

The consultant will be expected to adopt a mix method approach, i.e., a qualitative and quantitative approaches. Qualitative data collection methods will include Focus Group Discussions with the target population, Key Informant Interviews and Desktop Research. The consultant will be required to design stakeholder mapping matrix that clearly outlines the roles responsibilities and power influence of the stakeholders to be interviewed. In addition, the consultant will adopt quantitative approach in the assessment. This will include conducting household interviews with the target population.

Gender Sensitive Methodology: The consultant will adopt gender responsive approach to the assignment and will put in place measures that mitigate any gender biases that may arise.

Targeting/Sample Size Calculation: The identified consultant is expected to identify an appropriate sampling technique/targeting for both the qualitative and quantitative data collection methods which will be discussed and agreed with Oxfam prior to the data collection exercise.

Data collection tools and Instruments: The identified consultant will develop relevant data collection tools and identify the appropriate means for collecting the data which will be discussed and agreed with, prior to the data collection exercise. For the FGD’s and KII’s the consultant will work with Oxfam in review of instruments.

The data will be analyzed using appropriate data analysis packages. The data should be presented in a logical, meaningful, reader friendly and simple language on a date agreed with Oxfam and partners.

Ethical Considerations: The consultant will put in place measures to ensure data collection adheres to all necessary ethics and guidelines provided by local laws on data protection and ‘Do no Harm’ standards.

Roles and responsibilities

The assignment will be conducted by the consultant with the support from the Oxfam Gender Justice and Women’s Rights Team, Oxfam MEAL advisor and the partners.

Activity               Responsible Others       Others

Agreement on Terms of Reference         Oxfam   With agreement from consultants

Development of Research tools              Consultant in collaboration with Oxfam   Consultants

Piloting of research tools           Consultants      Consultants

Data Collection- (FGD sessions)             Consultants      Consultants

Data analysis    Consultants      Consultants

Report writing   Consultants      With support of Oxfam as required, including for review

 

 

Expected deliverables

The expected deliverables schedule is as follows:

Inception Report

• Within 3 days after signing the contract.
• The inception report should detail the following:
• The consultant’s clear understanding of the proposed assignment.
• Methodology to be used for the assignment.
• Data types, collection plans and analytical approach.
• Overall work plan for the assignment

Zero Draft Report

• 20 working days after submission of the inception report in the format below:

 

Final Report

• Within the last five days to the expiry of the contract duration which is approximated as a total of 40working days for the entire assignment.

The production of the assessment report will be the liability of the consultancy team covering all the aspects as outlined in the ToRs. The final report should be:

• Produced in English language and should be simple in expression and easy to understand.
• The final assessment report (including an Executive Summary) and presentation of a summary report in PowerPoint.
• The final report should be no more than 30 pages excluding Executive summary, appendices, and bibliography.
• The report format and text should be an A4 paper size and a legible font.
• The consultant will be liable to submit an electronic copy of the assessment report by the agreed deadline.

The report should contain the different elements mentioned below. All parts should be clearly distinguished from each other and of sufficient quality.

• Cover page.
• Table of contents.
• An executive summary that should include objectives of assessment, the major findings of the assessment, summaries, conclusions, and recommendations.
• A justification of the methods and techniques used (including relevant underlying values and assumptions, theories) with a justification of the selections made (of persons interviewed, towns/counties or activity sites visited).
• Eventual limitations of the assessment.
• A presentation of the findings and the analysis thereof (including unexpected, relevant findings).
• Conclusions which must be derived from findings and analysis thereof.
• Recommendations should be clearly related to conclusions but presented separately. Recommendations should be practical and divided up for various actors or stakeholders in the various thematic areas and include guidelines of how they can be implemented.
• Report annexes that include data collection tools and schedule, sampling procedures and frame and sampled towns/counties, and list of survey team members.
• References to sources used, such as interviews, literature, reports, must be given.

Confidentiality of issues discussed MUST be stressed during interviews and safeguarded by the consultant(s). The data should be disaggregated by gender and age as it is extremely important when identifying key issues of the response and assessing gender and protection vulnerabilities. Firms or

Consultant(s) who meet the requirements should submit their bids (Maximum 10 pages), which should include the following:

• A suitability statement, including commitment to availability for the entire assignment when required.
• A brief statement on the proposed case study methodology including a detailed plan.
• A detailed financial proposal. The financial proposal should include daily costs.
• Updated curriculum vitae that clearly spell out relevant qualifications and experience.

 

[1] https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/The_State_of_Kenya_s_Private_Sector_-_Recommendations_for_Government-Development_Partners_and_the_Private_Sector.pdf

 

How to apply:

Please submit applications on or before 19^th April, 2024  and in the subject line: Private Sector Rapid Care Analysis.  All Expression of interests should be sent to address: KPConsultancyServices@oxfam.org.uk