Background

The Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) is a network of 55+ civil society organizations dedicated to promoting gender equality and accountability for women’s rights. Established in 2002 during the OAU transformation, GIMAC engages AU Member States on African women’s rights at bi-annual CSO meetings alongside AU Summits. While GIMAC’s advocacy efforts have shown positive impacts, a systematic analysis was lacking. In 2022, the network conducted a comprehensive review of its activities, creating a monitoring tool to track recommendations’ incorporation into AU decisions. The report can be accessed here

The AU Theme for 2023 was “Accelerating the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” the world’s largest free trade area. The AfCFTA holds potential for African economic growth, but equitable distribution of benefits, especially for women and marginalized groups, is crucial. CSO/WROs are pivotal in advocating for women’s and marginalized groups’ rights under the AfCFTA. They educate and empower at the community level, ensuring inclusivity in benefiting from AfCFTA opportunities. Additionally, they engage in policy advocacy at national and regional levels to promote gender equality and social justice in AfCFTA implementation.

The objective of this consultancy is to monitor, document, and track the uptake of CSO/WROs recommendations by the AU on the African Union Theme for the Year 2023.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The consultant will be required to undertake the following tasks:

• Track and monitor the uptake of the 2023 CSO recommendations on the AU Theme of 2023 – the
• Acceleration of Implementation of AfCFTA in continental and regional policy decisions. This will involve:
• Identifying the key CSO recommendations on the AU Theme of 2023 – the Acceleration of Implementation of AfCFTA
• Tracking the progress of these recommendations through the AU’s decision-making process
• Monitoring the implementation of these recommendations by AU member states and regional economic communities
• Develop a report that provides a comprehensive analysis of the uptake of the 2023 CSO recommendations, including the following:
• An overview of the key CSO recommendations
• A summary of the progress made on each recommendation
• An assessment of the impact of the recommendations on the AU’s policies and programs
• Recommendations for how to improve the uptake of CSO recommendations in the future

Deliverables

• A report that provides a comprehensive analysis of the uptake of the 2023 CSO recommendations on the
• AU Theme of 2023 – the Acceleration of Implementation of AfCFTA
• A presentation on the findings of the report in Addis Ababa in August 2024

Competencies

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate solid professional competence and expert knowledge in the area of communication, gender, politics or peace and security

Teamwork:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.
• Organizational Awareness:
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Communicating and Information Sharing:
• Be able to communicate easily and effectively, using various communication channels.

Functional Competencies:

• Extensive knowledge of the global and Africa regional GEWEas well as related regional priorities in Africa.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Good knowledge of the African Union.

Other Relevant Skills

• The consultant will be required to be computer literate, have excellent writing, analytical and communicative skills and be flexible in terms of working hours.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

• An advanced degree in International Law, Development studies, Political science, Gender studies, or related Social Science field

Experience

• At least 6 years of progressive experience in national, sub-regional and regional policy evaluation and assessment, research and advocacy initiatives on GEWE issues.
• Substantive experience in evaluating and assessing organizational policy advocacy and influencing at continental policy spaces
• Technical Policy Skills with a deep familiarity and knowledge of the legislative process and experience with the advocacy spectrum, as well as the political landscape, policy opportunities, and roles of various influencers and decision- makers in a particular locale.
• Experience in gender advocacy, gender policy development, gender coordination, partner engagement, strategy development and implementation.
• Ability to analyze organizational processes, identify constraints and opportunities and recommend targeted solutions.
• Experience in working with women’s organizations at continental, regional national and community levels.

Language:

• Excellent communication skill (written and oral) in English language.

Application:

• All applications must include (as an attachment) a completed UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/about-us/employment.