Country Gender Equality Profile Lead Consultant

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.

Zimbabwe seeks to become an upper middle-income country by 2030. The attainment of gender equality and women’s rights as afforded to all female citizens in the Constitution is critical for Zimbabwe’s attainment of the Vision 2030 goals. The Vision is based on the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (October 2018 to December 2020) and two successive five-year National Development Strategies (NDSs), the first of which has been developed.

The country has signed and ratified the major international and regional gender equality and women’s right commitments. These include the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the 1995 Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action, the Protocol to the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development, among others.

Closing the political, economic, and socio-economic inequalities between females and males, however, remains one of the country’s major development challenges. The country’s gender inequalities also are situated and compounded by a multi-hazard humanitarian environment which has included three consecutive years of drought, major damage from Cyclone Idai in 2019 and uneven economic reforms. In 2020, the country joined the global community in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of the global El Nino have pushed the country further into prolonged droughts and in April 2024, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe declared a state of emergency as the drought was declared a National Disaster. The country also issued the Drought Flash Appeal (March 2024-March 2025) requesting US$351 million from humanitarian partners to target close to three million people in need.

The World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index Report 2024 ranks Zimbabwe at no.52 which puts it in the top 100. The Global Gender Gap Index annually measures the state and change in gender parity in the areas of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment.

Zimbabwe has managed to close gender disparities in education, but a slightly higher proportion of females (27% compared to 23.1% males) continue to leave school due to gender stereotypes and norms that encourage females to marry, unplanned pregnancies leading to marriage and poverty in rural homes where the education of boys is favoured over that of girls. Gender stereotypes and norms also lead to more women who attend tertiary institutions to choose fields of studies that provide career options that balance their responsibilities between jobs and a family.

Agriculture continues to be one of the mainstays of the country’s economy and the 2019 Labour Force Survey shows 11,235,467 in the sector comprising of 56.9% females and 43.01% males. A ZimStat survey to measure SDG 5.a.1 (Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land by sex) shows about 45% of the population in agriculture have ownership or secure rights over agricultural land with women constituting a smaller proportion (44.9 percent) than males (45.9 percent), and women constitute more than half (56.4 percent) of the owners or right-bearers of agricultural land. However in terms of agricultural labour, gender disparities emerge with more women in the agricultural sector being in vulnerable employment. Women constitute about 81% of contributing family workers in the sector and females are only 38% of the employees in paid employment in agriculture.

A dedicated National Country Gender Equality Profile (NCGEP) which provides timely and an up-to-date analysis of the progress and challenges towards Zimbabwe’s achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and specifically SDG 5, is one of the strategic priorities of the country’s Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MoWACSMED) as a key source for evidence-based policy making, programming and advocacy by all sectors and stakeholders. It also provides a strong baseline of data for tracking a measurable change in the lives of women and girls in the country. The NCGEP is critical for the development of a more gender-responsive National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2), Country Common Assessment (CCA) and the next UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).

 

“Government of Zimbabwe (2018): Towards an Upper Middle-Income Economy by 2030-New Dispensation Core Values”

National Development Strategy (2021-2025)

Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe, Women and Men in Zimbabwe Report (2019), published by ZimStat in 2020 with support from the Spotlight Initiative

Duties and Responsibilities

UN WOMEN Country Offices (UNWOMEN COs) have the mandate to support national Governments with the production of the NCGEP in accordance with the UN Women Strategic Plan 2022-2025 outcome 6, indicator 0.6f which speaks to the “Production, Analysis and Use of Gender Statistics, Sex-disaggregated data and knowledge”. The NCGEP therefore is an in-depth, national-level analyses of the status of women and men, based on both statistics and qualitative data.

UN Women Zimbabwe CO in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) provided technical and financial support to the Government of Zimbabwe through the MoWACSMED to produce the country’s first Gender Profile during the period of 2020-2022 which also includes a gendered analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In its support for the country’s second NCGEP, UN Women will work again with the MoWACSMED and collaborate with a range of partners within the public and private sectors, civil society, academia and within the UN to build national ownership and capacities in producing the second NCGEP.

The year 2024 provides an opportune time for Zimbabwe to begin to produce a timely and high-quality NCGEP to be published in early 2025. The country has conducted several large censuses and prevalence surveys (2022 Population and Housing Census, in 2024 data was gathered for the Zimbabwe Demographic & Health Survey, data collected for the forthcoming Zimbabwe Gender Inequality Index, data collected in 2024 for the country’s Economic Census (conducted every 10 years) which will inform the NDS2, among other smaller surveys conducted by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency). Zimbabwe also prepared and presented in 2024, the country’s SDG Voluntary National Review III report which contains some up-to-date administrative data from Government entities. All these reports provide a wealth of new and timely quantitative data for a strong gender statistics analysis.

UN Women Zimbabwe therefore seeks the services of an International/Regional Consultant to support the CO as Lead consultant the development of the NCGEP (2025-2030).

1. OBJECTIVES

The consultant will be required to develop and implement an agreed upon NCGEP Action Plan of Work that aligns to the following NCGEP’s objectives:

• To provide a strategic analysis of GEWE (Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and Women’s Rights) status, progress and priorities for evidence-based advocacy, policy dialogues and policy making
• To strengthen UN System Coordination including to inform the UN’s forthcoming CCA and UNSDCF processes.
• To inform the development of UN Women Zimbabwe’s next Strategic Note and localize implementation of the corporate Strategic Plan
• To support and complement monitoring and reporting on global and regional frameworks by providing a comprehensive analysis on the impact of normative and legislative GEWE frameworks.
• To contribute to Zimbabwe’s gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

 

1. UN WOMEN’S CORE PRINCIPLES FOR DEVELOPING A NCGEP

In responding to these TORs, the consultant should consistently follow and embed the core principles provided below into the NCGEP processes:

• International Norms and Standards -all CGEPs must be framed against the key GEWE international norms and standards, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security, among others, as well as relevant intergovernmental outcomes, such as resolutions of the General Assembly and agreed conclusions of the Commission on the Status of Women
• National Ownership and Capacities – ownership and buy-in should be sought through consultations with a diversity of stakeholders for the UN Women-led CGEP to be produced.
• Enhanced UN Coherence and Gender Mainstreaming – recommendations provided by the CGEP can, along with other UNDG planning and accountability tools, advise the UNCT on the strategy to support countries to achieve GEWE.

 

Deliverables

 

The Lead Consultant will collaborate with a National Consultant. The Lead Consultant will be responsible for the following:

• Development of the CO Action Plan and Inception Report, inclusive of methodology and timelines for the development of the NCGEP
• Responsible for the preparation of the Quantitative Analysis - comprehensive, but focused analysis of gender data and statistics- of the NCGEP
• Development of the CO strategy on how the content, findings and recommendations of the NCGEP will be used in the CCA/UNSDCF and other strategic national development strategies, policy development and programming.
• Convene and provide monthly progress updates, and where relevant and appropriate, report drafts to the CO and the NCGEP Advisory Group
• Overall preparation and writing of the NCGEP reports (drafts and Final report)

 

 

Deliverable	No of days/duration	%Allocation and amount
CO NCGEP Action Plan submitted	8	30%
CO Strategy for the Strategic Use of the NCGEP	8
Inception Report submitted	9
Quantitative Analysis of data submitted	25	70%
Draft NCGEP report submitted	25
Final NCGEP report submitted	25

 

Organizational setting, reporting and collaborators.

 

The consultant will report to the UN Women Zimbabwe Deputy Country Representative, and will be supported by the UN Women Deputy Country Representative, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues. The Deputy Country Representative also may appoint an internal CO team to provide additional support.

 

 

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy. The Lead Consultant will be required to travel to the UN Women Zimbabwe CO to conduct strategic interventions as per her/his deliverables and required actions in the NCGEP as agreed with the Deputy Country Representative. The Lead Consultant will be required to travel and spend 25 days at the start of the consultancy soon after contracting for early discussions in preparation for the first three deliverables (CO NCGEP Action Plan, CO Strategy for the Strategic Use of the NCGEP, Inception Report) and travel will be required for spending 25 days in country towards the period of preparation for the Draft NCGEP report).

.

 

Guidance Note, UN Women, Country Gender Equality Profiles

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:  Gender Statistics & production of gender statistical reports Research Planning & Execution Writing and Editing Skills Team Leadership Development of gender-responsive Policy Briefs and Infographic materials

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:   Advanced university degree (Masters, PhD) in gender studies, public policy, economics or related disciplines is required.     Experience: At least 10 years of progressively responsible work experience in research and production of gender knowledge management publications, reports and policy briefs in various areas (political, economic, social, legal instruments, etc.) Experience in producing gendered analytical reports, papers and publications for international and other renowned institutions, including for UN entities. Experience in Gender Statistics. Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently and with a team. Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)   Languages: Fluency in English is required.

V. 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.