International Consultant to develop Gender Marker for Gender Responsive Resilient Infrastructure of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Bangladesh

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, men and the third gender as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.There is strong evidence generated on how gender sensitive infrastructure development pays long term dividends for advancing gender equality and empowering women. On the contrary, poor infrastructure exacerbates gender inequality. When infrastructure is planned and built without keeping in mind the differential gender concerns, it has inequitable socioeconomic impact of its services on women and men. Among other things, improved infrastructure enhances women’s economic empowerment by yielding new opportunities for women’s labour force participation and access to essential services such as health and education.Even though research points otherwise, infrastructure projects are often gender insensitive assuming that its impact on men and women will be gender neutral. For example, in some contexts, gender sensitive infrastructure underpins the choice for a household to enroll their girl child in school or for a female member of the household to access a local market to sell the agricultural produce. Thus, mainstreaming and integrating gender into infrastructure is not only critical for ensuring benefits for both men and women but also for transforming gender relations and potentially improving women’s socioeconomic status over time.By way of underrepresenting women’s concerns in its design and throughout its development, infrastructure projects that do not take gender aspects into account also end up underrepresenting infrastructure investments for women. For example, ensuring adequate planning and budgeting - such as budgeting for street lights - can improve women’s safety thereby enhancing their socio-economic empowerment; just as building a road for connection to water resources can reduce women’s time poverty and drudgery from fetching water, and her exposure to potential sexual violence. Investing in gender responsive infrastructure also ensures that women and girls have equitable access to and control over public infrastructure, such as common property resources. Other than recognizing women as users and potential beneficiaries, women also need to be made part of decision making in all phases of infrastructure development - including in design, planning, construction and access among others. Since women are also employed as construction labourers, construction sites should be adequately equipped to ensure their occupational safety and rights to decent work.The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 call out the urgent need for building resilient, sustainable and inclusive infrastructure in Goal 9 which comprises three important aspects of sustainable development: infrastructure, industrialization and innovation. Target 9.1 on “Developing quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all” ensures that the differential gender concerns are identified and measured towards progress on Goal 9. In doing so, the SDGs include a comprehensive set of gender sensitive targets beyond Goal 5 on “Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls”. The SDGs thus draw on a “Gender Compact” to ensure that “no one is left behind”.More recently, the General Recommendation (37) of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 2018 on gender related dimensions of disaster risk reduction in the context of climate change has recognized that the “failure to engage in gender-responsive disaster planning and implementation means that protective facilities and infrastructures such as early warning mechanisms, shelters and relief programmes have frequently neglected the specific accessibility needs of diverse groups of women, including women with disabilities, older women and indigenous women”. It also highlights the lack of physical security as well as the lack of safe and accessible infrastructures resulting in increased levels of gender-based violence against women and girls.In the above context, National Resilience Programme (NRP) is going to support Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) to develop a Gender Marker to address gender aspects in all their infrastructure works.   UN Women together with UNDP and UNOPS is implementing NRP to sustain the resilience of human and economic development in Bangladesh through inclusive, gender responsive disaster management and risk informed development. The programme is being implemented by 4 government agencies namely Department of Disaster Management (DDM), Department of Women Affairs (DWA), Programming Division of Planning Commission and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) with technical support from UN agencies. The programme will also support civil society organization networks, local non-governmental organizations and women's organizations and gender equality advocates working on disaster risk management to ensure their actions are gender-responsive.Infrastructure systems is key to resilient development and are critical asset for protecting lives and livelihood of people during disaster. LGED is the department under the Ministry of Local Government and Development undertaking all sorts of infrastructure development works in the rural areas, and delivers almost 17% of the government’s total budget per annum. Specific objective of NRP sub-project undertaken by LGED is to achieve infrastructural resilience through risk informed, gender responsive and inclusive infrastructure planning, designing and constructing system. They are building a vital baseline for understanding the current capacities and gaps in resilient infrastructure. The project will support specifically to develop a asset management system of LGED, and a gender marker to assist in doing asset management as well as asset (infrastructure) building in a gender responsive manner.To assist the process, UN Women will help LGED together with UNOPS develop a Gender Marker in order for LGED to assess their infrastructure projects while designing, implementing and maintaining their projects, i.e. infrastructures like roads, culverts, small bridges, etc.  Once developed, UNOPS would do advocacy with Planning Commission to make the gender marker be adopted by all government departments undertaking infrastructure development works.LGED has an active Gender Forum consisting of LGED officials who mainly look after the gender aspects of the organization within. LGED attaches lot of importance to the Forum and it has potential to expand it’s mandate and support LED’s asset management system

Duties and Responsibilities

Tasks and ResponsibilitiesUnder supervision of the Programme Specialist DRR/CCA/HA, the consultant will be responsible for following:

•  Desk review of the existing processes and mechanisms of developing resilient infrastructure within LGED to identify and analyses good practices of mainstreaming and integrating gender and into them;
• Undertake KIIs and consultation both for gathering ideas for gender marker as well as for validation of the draft Gender Marker;
•  Drafting the outline of Marker (Criteria of Marker – how to incorporate gender, Application of Marker –step by step scoring/marking process) following Guideline on Integrating Gender throughout Infrastructure Phase for Asia and the Pacific developed jointly by UNWOMEN and UNOPS;
• Drafting the gender marker and facilitate the National Consultation for validation of draft gender marker;
•  Finalize the Gender Marker Toolkit with training module for LGED to use in designing, constructing and maintaining their assets/infrastructure;
• Provide ToT to Gender Forum and relevant LGED officials on using of Gender Marker for gender responsive infrastructure development.

Expected deliverables and timeline:Based on the above description of roles and responsibilities, the consultant will submit the following deliverables for this assignment.

Deliverables:

Inception Report:

• A brief Inception Report outlining approach, methodology and workplan with timeline.  This report must offer an outline of basic criteria and step by step marking process of the gender marker;
• Desk review of preparatory works especially to understand infrastructure investment/ development decision making processes, procedures and the actors engaged in Bangladesh to be able to suggest the marking process.

Timeline: 2 Days (by 5 August).

Gender Marker:  

• Review of the existing processes and mechanisms of developing resilient infrastructure within LGED to identify and analyse good practices of mainstreaming and integrating gender;
• Undertake KIIs and consultation workshop with LGED officials (in BD);
• Prepare Draft Gender marker;
• Facilitate workshop to get feedback on the proposed gender marker from wide stakeholders (in BD);
• Finalize Gender Marker Toolkit.

Timeline: 12 Days (By 30 August).

Payment: 1st installment i.e. 50% of total contracted amount will be disbursed upon submission of the inception report and the Gender Marker.

ToT on Gender Marker:

• Prepare training module and take preparation for ToT;
• Facilitation of ToT on Gender Marker (in BD) .

Timeline: 7 Days (By 15 November).

Payment: Second or final installment i.e. 50% of the total contracted amount will be disbursed upon submission of training module and deliberation of TOT on gender marker.

Contract duration and location:

This consultancy is home-based during the period of August 2019 to November 2019. The consultant will be required to travel to Dhaka twice for two to three days each time. Travel will be based on UN Women Policy or UNW will reimburse your ticket cost. Please quote your air ticket cost for international part at most direct and economic route. Also mention your travel itinerary in the financial proposal. UNW will verify your quoted price with their vendors and reimburse you the lowest fare allowable as per Travel Policy. Daily Subsistence Allowance, terminal fee and other travel costs will be provided in compliance with UN Women’s Travel Guideline.

Competencies

Competencies

• Strong demonstrable knowledge of infrastructure development;
• Strong demonstrable knowledge of UN Women’s mandate on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Experience engaging and working with diverse stakeholders and constituents;
• Excellent research knowledge on analyzing quantitative and qualitative data;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills; and
•  A past publications record is highly desirable.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Masters or a higher degree in architectural/planning sciences, social sciences and/or Social Work /Gender Studies/Public Administration/Policy.

Experiences:

• A minimum of seven (7) years of experience related to gender mainstreaming/advocacy within infrastructure development;
• Strong demonstrable knowledge of UN Women’s mandate on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Experience engaging and working with diverse stakeholders and constituents;
• Excellent research knowledge on analyzing quantitative and qualitative data.

Language

•  Excellent analytical and writing skills; and
• A past publications record is highly desirable.

Submission of application:

The following documents should be submitted as part of the application:

• Cover letter, signifying interest in the assignment and outlining relevant qualifications and experiences;
• Personal History Form or P11, downloadable through http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/about-us/jobs;
• Writing samples;

Financial proposal: Indicate professional fees or daily rate. Travel will be based on UN Women Policy or UNW will reimburse your ticket cost. Please quote your air ticket cost for international part at most direct and economic route. Also mention your travel itinerary in the financial proposal. UNW will verify your quoted price with their vendors and reimburse you the lowest fare allowable as per Travel Policy

NOTE: Documents required before contract signing:

• UN Personal History Form;
• Full medical examination and Statement of Fitness to work and travel for consultants with travel involved. (This is not a requirement for RLA contracts);
• Security Certificate BSAFE: EN: https://agora.unicef.org/course/info.php?id=17891;
•  Individual subscribers over 65 years of age are required to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays at their own cost and obtaining medical clearance from the UN Medical Director prior to taking up their assignment;
• Release letter in case the selected consultant is government official.