JOB DESCRIPTION

Description

UN Women is hiring a A Women: Consultant to evaluate the consideration of gender in the territorial collectivitis decentralized in Cameroon to

Background:

By adopting the Beijing declaration and action program at the fourth world conference on women in 1995, signatory governments accepted gender equality and the empowerment of women as a fundamental principle of human and sustainable development.Consequently, these countries have undertaken to transverse the “gender” dimension transversely in all their development interventions and to implement policies and programs favorable to the reduction of inequalities between women and men.

Cameroon did not stay on the fringes of this dynamic.In order to arrest this movement, the government has subscribed and joined the main international and regional legal instruments for the promotion and protection of women’s rights, as well as to the relative orientations, resulting from international conferences on development, organized in recent decades under the aegis of the United Nations.Cameroon membership in the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the African Union 2063 agenda is also a strong commitment to the country to achieve the objectives of sustainable development, among which is “gender equality” which is, moreover, explicitly considered one of the essential conditions for the achievement of other objectives.

On the internal level, Cameroon affirms in its fundamental law n ° 96/06 of January 18, 1996, the attachment of its people to the principles inscribed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Charter of the United Nations and the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights.Also, gender-related questions are specifically addressed in the national development strategy 2020–2030 (SND30) through pillar 2 on the development of human capital and well-being, especially in its social protection component.This component recognizes that the problem of gender remains important, and retains among the guidelines for the promotion of gender and equity, in addition to the development of the national political document of gender (PNG), the integration of gender issues in strategies and budgets.

Indeed, it has been found that the national plans, programs, strategies and budgets that set out development priorities still do not take into account the commitments in favor of gender equality.Regarding the state budget, despite the presidential circulars which insist on the need to take into account the gender in terms of budget preparation, the inadequacies remain with regard to taking into account the specific needs, interests and concerns of men and women, girls and boys in strategic performance frameworks, the framework of the medium -term expenses, the performance projects of sectoral administers.In addition, the proportions of the budget devoted to the reduction of inequalities between men and women in these PPAs are still low.

The gender-sensitive budgeting approach (BSG) has been identified as an effective tool to guarantee a relevant and equitable allocation of resources in the implementation of public policies and strategies, aimed at reducing women-men’s inequalities in the country.This approach, which is in line with the logic of the program budget, makes it possible to make visible and monitor the expenses carried out by the ministries under the prism of the genre.

Although BSG initiatives have started in the country since 2010, the year 2021 marks a decisive turning point, due to the implementation of a significant budgetary reform.This reform aims to now annex to the finance law the gender -sensitive budgetary document, which specifies the orientations given to the various programs and activities of the ministries.The presidential circular No. 001 of August 30, 2021 relating to the preparation of the State budget for the financial year 2022 which brings this innovation, restricts the scope of this first gender budget report to eight (08) ministerial pilots, including the MindDevel.

In view of the advantages of the BSG approach and the positive results garnered since its implementation in the country, the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development (Minddevel), under the leadership of the Adhoc Reforming Reform Committee for Local Public Finances (Conafil) is committed to supporting the CTDs in the appropriation and integration of this approach in order to allow them to enable them to arrest thisCountry, and on the other hand, to evolve in line international requirements in the promotion of gender equality in connection with the ODD 5 and the African Union aspiration 6.In this context, several partners of the State of Cameroon supported the Government of the Republic by accompanying the actors of decentralization of gender integration into chain tools “Planning, programming, budgeting and monitoring-evaluation (PPBS)” so that they play their role in local governance more effectively.

These initiatives have given rise to the development of several tools for helping gender in CTD in particular the methodological guide to support decentralized local authorities in the implementation of gender -sensitive budgeting in Cameroon, which completes the marker like Budget programs in Cameroon developed for the central level.

Gender integration into local policies and programs takes place mainly through the budgetary process.Since 2024, the CTDs have been called upon to develop their budget according to the prescriptions of law n ° 2018/012 of July 11, 2018 relating to the financial regime of the State and other public entities, that is to say among other things by submitting to the requirements of the program budget.This process was started for all regions, but with thirty-three (33) communes.The joint circular letter n ° 0000000025/LC/MINFI/MINDDEVEL of October 03, 2023 relating to the preparation of decentralized local authorities budgets for exercise 2024 sets among the objectives of local public action in the improvement of the supply of basic social services, a particular objective relating to the taking into account of the genre in the whole budgetary cycle.

In order to facilitate the process of gender integration in its scale passing initiative in all CTDs, the effectiveness of the actions already taken in application of the tools and instruments developed so far, identify the bottlenecks, but also good practices to capitalize.This justifies the realization of the study of evaluation of the taking of gender into CTD in Cameroon.

The consultant will be reporting to the Head of Programme, and will be supported by The Program Officer Women Count, who will be the point of contact on the contract and payment issues.

Description of Responsibilities

The general objective of this evaluation is to make data, information and analyzes available to assess the effectiveness of the current gender integration process in CTDs in Cameroon.This information will serve as learning elements to feed feedback, and facilitate the processing of the process.More specifically, it will be/:

I) Place an inventory of all the tools and instruments developed to date to operationalize gender integration into CTD policies and programs in Cameroon;

Ii) Appreciate the level of gender integration into CTD policies and programs in Cameroon;

Iii) identify and document the lessons learned, positive and negative, of the gender integration process in CTDs in Cameroon;

Iv) Make recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the gender integration process in CTDs in Cameroon.

Deliverables

DeliverablesExpected completion time (due day)Payment Schedule (optional)Validated starter report detailing the methodological approach adopted16/07/2024MM YYProvisional report31/08/2024MM YYDefinitive report.15/09/2024

This is a home-based consultancy.

As part of this assignment, there will be a maximum of 10 trips to Douala and other localities.

Competencies :

Core Values:

Integrity;
Professionalism;
Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

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

Please visitthis linkfor more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

Expertise in Gender and Development
Knowledge of the Decentralization context in Cameroon
Analytical and evaluation skills
Communication and writing skills
Ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders
Expertise in data collection and analysis

Education and Certification:

Master’s degree or equivalent in Economics, Anthropology, Statistics or a related field is required.
A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
A [project/programme management] certification or monitoring and evaluation diploma would be an added advantage.

Experience:

At least 5 years of progressively responsible work experience in Gender and Social Inclusion, Planning and Gender-sensitive Budgeting.
Experience in local governance and decentralization is required.
Experience in institutional analysis and capacity building.
Excellent analytical skills with strong drive for results and capacity to work independently.
Excellent English communication and writing skills; (Samples of previous work will be required.)

Languages:

Fluency in Englishor Frenchis required.
Knowledgeof [French] or [Spanish] orany other UN official language is an asset.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements