Country: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Closing date: 19 Sep 2018
Overview of Plan International
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian charity with over 80 years of experience in working to advance children’s rights around the world. Plan’s child-centred community development (CCCD) programming approach is a holistic, multi-sectoral approach to working with communities to empower children and adolescents to support the fulfilment of their rights. This work focuses specifically on promoting girls’ rights and gender equality. Plan International UK is one of 20 national organisations which support programmes in over 50 low- and middle-income countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Background
The Innovating Pathways for Employment Inclusion (IPEI) programme aims to increase the wellbeing and inclusion of people with disabilities living in urban locations Kenya and Bangladesh. Led by Leonard Cheshire, the innovative programme will work with global, regional and national actors representing disabled people’s organisations, UN Agencies, World Bank, INGOs and academic institutions to support people with disabilities into waged employed. The programme seeks to improve systems, policies and the enabling environment to overcome barriers to the meaningful inclusion of persons with disabilities in private sector employment, with a focus on developing and testing new approaches for disability inclusive employment. Funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), under UK Aid Connect, the programme consists of an eight-month co-creation phase where members of the consortium will conduct research and test approaches, followed by 3-year implementation period.
The programme is being delivered by a consortium, led by Leonard Cheshire, and in partnership with Plan International, CBM, International Labour Organisation, Work Bank, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Action Network for the Disabled and Bangladesh Business Disability Network.
As a leading organisation for gender equality and inclusion, Plan International will work with the consortium members to ensure that the programme and its interventions address the specific vulnerabilities, risks and barriers to access facing women with disabilities.
Purpose of the Consultancy
Plan International UK is seeking to appoint a consultant Gender Advisor to provide technical advice to the above programme. The consultant will:
Provide technical advice to ensure gender is mainstreamed across the IPEI activities delivered during the co-creation phase
Work with consortium members and relevant staff in Plan International country offices to ensure that the design of the three-year IPEI programme is informed by learning from girls’ rights and gender equality work and that it responds to intersectionality of gender, disability and employment
Represent Plan International UK with consortium members at programme related meetings and workshops and advise on gender related issues, notably where these intersect with economic empowerment for women and girls with disabilities
Scope of Work
An initial report outlining detailed technical advice on how to develop and adapt the project implementation plans in order to maximise the impact for disabled women and girls.
Provide technical support to ensure activities implemented during the co-creation phase are gender sensitive. This will include supporting consortium members to develop research protocols to ensure key gender related policies are included; in policy analyses to ensure gender equality gaps in policies are understood; reviewing various research studies on employment practices and labour markets to to ensure that findings and recommendations from various studies are gender-sensitive.
Participate in programme development and provide technical advice to the consortium to ensure the IPEI programme design addresses the specific vulnerabilities, risks and barriers to access facing women with disabilities.
Contribute to development of programme monitoring and evaluation framework, including developing a draft set of suggested indicators, targets and processes for the measuring the project’s impact on disabled women and girls; and developing a draft engagement plan (including beneficiary selection process and feedback mechanisms) to ensure there are strong mechanisms for involving and responding to the needs of disabled women and girls
Timeframe
It is anticipated this piece of work will require 20 -30 days between September 2019 and March 2019.
Profile of Consultant:
Demonstrable expertise on women and girls’ rights and gender equality
Thematic expertise on women’s economic rights policy and programming
Expertise on disability inclusion and intersectionality with gender (strongly preferred)
Experience supporting the design of women’s economic rights activities/projects/programmes
Evidence of providing technical advice on gender to range of organisations (INGOs, academic institutions and/or private sector)
Experience of advising/supporting the design and implementation of gender-sensitive research
Experience of working with a variety of organisations (NGOs, academic institutions, private sector) to collaboratively design gender-sensitive projects
Excellent analytical and communication skills, both written and spoken
Able to communicate effectively and powerfully the everyday experiences of poor and marginalised girls and young women to a range of stakeholders
Willingness to participate in programme development meetings and workshops, may include travel to London, Bangladesh and/or Kenya (to be agreed
In addition to meeting the criteria, consultant applications will also be assessed on value for money.
How to apply:
Plan International UK welcomes a response to this Terms of Reference with:
A CV (maximum two pages) including examples of relevant previous work
A cover letter demonstrating how you meet the required skills and competencies
A short, written statement (maximum one page) outlining how you would approach the task, and the potential challenges that you might expect to encounter
Consultancy fee rates all inclusive in GBP
The deadline for applying is 10am Wednesday 19 September.Please send your applications or any questions relating to this consultancy to:Hannah.burrows@plan-uk.org. Applications will be assessed, and interviews held on a rolling basis.**