The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a non-political organization of the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) of ten countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, covering an area of 8.5 million km2 with a total population of about 280 million people, most of whom are rural dwellers pursuing agricultural-based livelihoods. About one third of Eastern and Central Africa’s (ECA’s) total land area is devoted to agricultural use making the agriculture the most common occupation in the region. ASARECA serves as a platform for promoting regional collaborative research to address trans-national problems and sharing of benefits and spillovers arising from such research, thereby adding value to what can be achieved at national level. The Mission of ASARECA is to “enhance regional collective action in agricultural research for development, extension and agricultural training and education to promote economic growth, fight poverty, eradicate hunger and enhance sustainable use of resources in Eastern and Central Africa.”This calls for understanding of the social dynamics that influence peoples choices in agriculture. Cognizant of the impact of these interactions on setting of the research agenda, ASARECA embraced gender mainstreaming and equal opportunity as a vital consideration in the agricultural value chain and embarked on Gender Mainstreaming (GM) in the organization through a systematic process of gender mainstreaming.
Background
ASARECA has developed a Gender Mainstreaming Strategy 2011-2014 to guide systematic integration of gender into its programmes and policies with the principal purpose of enhancing the achievement of the organization’s mission.
The goal of the Gender Mainstreaming Strategy is to ensure that ASARECA achieves gender responsiveness at all levels of the institutional frameworks and all stages of design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the agricultural research agenda. This goal is intended to permeate through the seven ASARECA programme areas of: Staple Crops; High Value Non-Staple Crops; Livestock and Fisheries; Agro-biodiversity and Biotechnology; Natural Resource Management and Biodiversity; Policy Analysis and Advocacy, and Knowledge Management and Up-scaling as well as the support units i.e., Finance; Administration and Human Resource; Monitoring and Evaluation; Partnerships and Capacity Development; and Information and Communication that are vital to the institutions operations. The Programs’ and Units’ expected outputs and outcomes are anticipated to directly contribute to the achievement of the overall ASARECA results. A cascade of objectives and indicators has been employed to ensure alignment and contribution of various initiatives to overall expected impacts.
The purpose of the consultancy
The purpose of this consultancy is, to develop a gender policy to facilitate the implementation of the gender strategy thus promoting gender mainstreaming as a means of fostering poverty reduction, and to promote gender equality and equal opportunity among its target audiences within the ASARECA region. In undertaking this assignment, the consultant will be expected to address the following objectives.
Overall objective of the assignment
To develop a comprehensive gender policy to guide the processes of gender mainstreaming for the ASARECA institution and partners, in carrying out their activities to meet the organizations goal and objectives of gender mainstreaming. The policy will also augment the mainstreaming of gender equality in all ASARECA programmes/ units and projects, operational policy, and human resource, procurement and finance processes. The policy will both provide direction and the means for holding ASARECA accountable to the goal of gender mainstreaming.
Specific Objectives of the Assignment
The specific objectives of this consultancy are to:
- Develop a gender policy coherent to the context of ASARECA and in line with international gender mainstreaming principles and relevant to the CAADP and FAAP principles.
- Provide the logical link between the policies in ASARECA and the practical aspects of different sections.
- Develop achievable guidelines and action points for each prioritized ASARECA result area.
Tasks
In order to meet the overall objective of the assignment, the consultant will work with the Gender Expert to:
- Develop and test tools for collecting information
- Conduct a desk review of existing relevant documents and guidance on ASARECA and its research programmes such as the strategy and regional frameworks such as CAADP, FAAP, and COMESA among others to build a context for the Gender Mainstreaming Policy. These will also include key international, regional and various national instruments on gender such as the CEDAW, Beijing Platform of Action, etc.
- Interview key persons in all ASARECA programmes and units as well as ASARECA partners to capture specific expectations and concerns in the area of gender mainstreaming for the entire institution.
- Prepare an appropriate policy document outlining the goal, objectives, principles and the Action Plans for both strategic and institutional mainstreaming of Gender.
- Present draft policy, action plan and guidelines to a stakeholder’s workshop for their comments.
- Produce a detailed report on the stakeholder workshop
- Incorporate stakeholder comments and finalise the gender policy including key definitions and glossary.
- Present the final document to a panel of experts to be appointed by ASARECA
- Collate comments from stakeholders during the validation process and produce a final document on the regional gender policy and action plan in line with CAADP Pillar IV among others.
Approach and Methodology
The work will involve both desk review of relevant documents and face to face interaction with key stakeholders. Online survey tools such as survey monkey can be employed for this purpose as applicable. In addition, an initial workshop will be held with ASARECA staff and a final validation workshop to present findings to them.
Consultancy Deliverables:
The consultant will work closely with the ASARECA Gender Expert and the Manager, Policy Analysis and Advocacy Programme (PAAP). All reports will be submitted to the ASARECA Gender Expert on dates as may be agreed during the inception meeting. At the end of the consultancy, the following are required as the deliverables:
- Policy and Strategy on Gender Mainstreaming for ASARECA
- Action Plan on Gender Mainstreaming in ASARECA
- Stakeholders Workshop report
Duration of the assignment
The work shall be carried out over a period of 12 weeks, effectively commencing the week after the contract is signed by both parties and shall be finalized by June 30th of 2012.
Consultant’s qualification
- At least a Masters Degree in social science and Gender Studies
- Ten years experience of working on gender mainstreaming in agricultural and or research institutions
- Practical experience working in ECA region with demonstrated knowledge of key gender issues pertinent to the region
- Excellent and demonstrated written and communication skills
Performance criteria
The Consultants are expected to undertake the services with the highest standards of professional and ethical competence and integrity. She/he should be able to deliver the listed assignments in the most effective and efficient manner.
We invite suitably qualified individuals to apply (either as individual consultants or through an organisational affiliation) by submitting the following (a) An Expression of Interest indicating the consultant’s understanding of the assignment, a statement on the consultant’s capability to undertake the assignment and a detailed CV and financial proposal.
Procedures for submission of proposals
Interested parties should submit their technical and financial proposals, curriculum vitae, and statement of capability by 5 pm 9th April 2012 to: Procurement and Contracts Officer, ASARECA Secretariat, P. O Box 765, Plot 5 Mpigi Road, Entebbe, Uganda: fax +256 414321777; email: i.muhiirwa@asareca.org or procurement@asareca.org with a copy to paap@asareca.org and f.olinga@asareca.org.
For further information on ASARECA, its strategy, operational plan and the research programs and units, the gender strategy visit the ASARECA’s website: www.asareca.org.
No comments: