Procurement Process

IC – Individual contractor

Office

UNDP-PAK – PAKISTAN

Deadline

04-Nov-24 @ 07:00 AM (New York time)

Published on

21-Oct-24 @ 12:00 AM (New York time)

Reference Number

UNDP-PAK-01036

Contact

Procurement Unit – pakistan.procurement.info@undp.org

Any request for clarification must be sent in writing via messaging functionality in the System(Quantum)

Background and Context:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan Country Office intends to conduct an independent Gender Thematic Evaluation (GTE) to assess its contribution to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) in the country. The evaluation will reference the UNDP Country Programme Document (CPD) 2023-2027 and the relevant projects/programmes thereof. The GTE will evaluate the overall progress made by UNDP in mainstreaming gender and its contribution to development and institutional change in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment across Pakistan.

Pakistan dropped to 145th place on the Global Gender Gap Index 2024. The country ranks 143rd in economic participation and opportunity, 139th in educational attainment, and 132nd in health and survival. These low rankings reflect significant gender gaps in economic and political parity, as well as a lag in the Educational Attainment and Health and Survival subindexes, where many other economies have achieved parity.

Accelerating gender equality is closely tied to the empowerment of women and girls in various ways. This connection is especially relevant in todays world which faces a series of shocks and crises, including climate-related disasters, geopolitical tensions, and financial challenges such as rising living costs and greater financial vulnerabilities, particularly impacting vulnerable groups like women, girls, persons with disabilities.

UNDP’s 2023-2024 Human Development Report highlights a global gridlock of increasing inequality and political polarization, ranking Pakistan in the ‘low’ human development category at 164th out of 193 countries. According to the World Bank, 40% of Pakistan’s population has fallen below the national poverty line . Only 1 out of 4 working-age women participate in the labour force with almost 80% of them engaged in agriculture.

Vulnerable groups, especially women, girls, and persons with disabilities, bear the brunt of these challenges due to gender inequalities and their pre-existing vulnerabilities such as their usual disadvantaged position, susceptibility to gender based violence, socio-economic vulnerabilities including lack of education, employable skills, and autonomy, restricted mobility, discriminatory social norms and also the lack of gender responsive, adequate and timely financing for women related services and opportunities.

According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), of the 182 million mobile subscriptions in Pakistan, only approximately 20.9% are held by women, which equates to 38 million subscriptions highlighting the stark reality of the gender digital divide. Considering the importance of digitalization in the financial sector and its role in grabbing economic opportunities, women make only 3.3% of the total online transactions in Pakistan. A total of 18.8 million women have branchless banking accounts for digital financial services compared to 55.7 million males . The overall labour force participation rate of women in Pakistan at 21% stands well below the global percentage at 39% . The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that women’s empowerment can increase GDP by 30% . Yet Pakistan has closed only 31.6 % of the economic participation and opportunity gap, compared to 33.8 per cent in South Asia . There is, hence a clear need for evidence-based policy making, and institutional strengthening, promoting gender-responsive financing, for there to be meaningful change in poverty and gender outcomes.

In response to these challenges, the UN system has aligned its support with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2023-2027, making women’s and girls’ inclusion and empowerment a core priority. One of the framework’s five pillars is dedicated to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. Eradicating gender-based violence and harmful practices is critical for breaking the cycles of poverty and inequality that disproportionately affect women and girls.

Gender equality is central to UNDP’s interventions to achieve the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With this view, UNDP implemented its Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan (2019-2022) and is in the process of developing a new strategy. UNDP Pakistan has been supporting the Government of Pakistan (GoP) in its efforts to achieve national gender equality goals through addressing gender inequalities that keep women in poverty, including the structural barriers to women’s equitable participation in all areas of life.

To ensure visible results and sustainability, the Country Office (CO) has planned to undertake a full review of programme portfolios with a gender lens as well as conduct evaluation of the CO achievements in promoting gender equality and women empowerment across sectors. As part of this effort, UNDP seeks to hire a qualified individual consultant to conduct a Gender Thematic Evaluation of its contribution to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment during the implementation of the current Country Programme Document (2023-2027). An external perspective is essential for this process, and therefore, an experienced individual consultant will be engaged to undertake this assignment.