National Consultant-Technical Support to the Ministry of Planning and Development

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works 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.

UN Women Ethiopia, through its National Planning and Gender-Responsive Budgeting program, aims to ensure that gender equality commitments are adequately financed and that the plans and reports of state ministries are aligned with these commitments.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has demonstrated a clear commitment to addressing gender and other social inequalities that hinder sustainable and equitable development through enabling legal, policy, and institutional frameworks that support gender equality and women’s empowerment at all levels of development.

However, despite these commitments, sectoral ministries do not adequately mainstream gender equality into their plans. This is evident from the budget requests submitted to the Ministry of Finance by the sectoral ministries, which do not adequately factor in the needs of women and girls.

The Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPD) is the government agency responsible for national planning and development. As such, the Ministry is mandated to review the plans of sectoral ministries to ensure that they mainstream gender equality and women’s empowerment. The MoPD plays a vital role in shaping Ethiopia’s sustainable growth and socio-economic transformation.

The MoPD through its Women Affairs Directorate has contributed towards mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in development endeavors.  However, the MoPD has noted that additional institutional capacity building support is needed to strengthen the GESI interventions and sustain what has been done thus far. 

Currently, the MoPD is developing its gender mainstreaming guideline. In light of this, UN Women proposes to support the Ministry in enhancing the capacity of experts within the MoPD so that the Ministry can adequately include GESI within its mandate.    

 The consultant will work in close collaboration with the technical focal point at MoPD and will be reporting to UN Women’s Programme Analyst,  supported by the Programme Associate, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Justification and Alignment with UN Women’s Strategic Note

Given the broad mandate of the MoPD to oversee the strategic plans of the country, it is crucial to ensure adequate gender mainstreaming within the Ministry. To achieve this, UN Women proposes a two-step approach:

1. Preliminary Gender Capacity Assessment: UN Women will conduct an initial assessment to understand the existing capacity within the MoPD related to gender mainstreaming. This assessment will identify strengths, gaps, and specific needs.
2. Targeted Capacity Building Programme: Based on the assessment findings, UN Women will design and deliver a tailored capacity building that will address the identified gaps and empower experts within the MoPD to effectively integrate gender equality considerations into their work.

The entire capacity building effort will be guided by a comprehensive training manual, ensuring the sustainable institutionalization of gender-responsive practices within the Ministry.

The initiative is aligned with UN Women Ethiopia’s Strategic Note, Outcome 3: “All people in Ethiopia benefit from an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable economy” and Output 1.3 “The GoE at national and sub-national levels, and gender machineries and women’s civil society organizations, have increased capability, tools and political will to integrate, monitor and respond to gender inequalities in planning, financing and budgeting, including investments in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).”

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

Assess the gaps in the MoPD regarding the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment within the different departments of the ministry, the country’s strategic plan, as well as monitoring and evaluating the implementation of these plans and deliver a targeted capacity-building program guided by a training manual.

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverables

• Assess existing documents, templates and manuals within MoPD and conduct key informant interview with the different department of the MoPD
• Prepare preliminary assessment template and share with UN Women and MoPD for review.
• Produce a gender capacity gap assessment report of the MoPD (English and Amharic)
• Propose a recommendation to enhance gender responsive planning and monitoring with in the MoPD.
• Produce a training manual (English and Amharic version) 
• Provide targeted capacity building, based on the outcome of the assessment, in two rounds using innovative approach.

Competencies

Core Values: 

• Respect for Diversity 
• Integrity 
• Professionalism 

Core Competencies: 

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues 
• Accountability 
• Creative Problem Solving 
• Effective Communication 
• Inclusive Collaboration 
• Stakeholder Engagement 
• Leading by Example 

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:  

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: 

• Ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Evidence of having undertaken similar assignments
• Experience around analysis of national plans and strategies, budget analysis and development of assessments.
• High level written and oral communications skills in Amharic and English
• Result-oriented, team player, exhibiting high levels of enthusiasm for gender equality, diplomacy and integrity.
• Demonstrate excellent interpersonal and professional skills in interacting with government and development partners at regional and federal level
• Experience in conducting assessment, writing high quality reports both in English and Amharic

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree in Gender, Economics, International Development, or other relevant Social Science fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years professional experience related to the qualifications stated.
• Demonstrated expertise with comprehensive and documented knowledge of national planning strategies, coupled with a strong understanding of gender mainstreaming principles.
• Proven experience in conducting assessments, developing training manual and delivering training, and facilitating workshops for government officials.
• Familiarity with effective training methodologies and techniques.
• Experience working with the United Nations will be considered an advantage

Languages:

• Fluency in English and Amharic is required.

How to Apply

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: )
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns, or other materials.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided?on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. 

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)