GENDER SPECIALIST CONSULTANT

Job Description

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Gambia Participates (GP) is an NGO dedicated to advancing democratic governance, civic participation, accountability, and inclusive development in The Gambia. As part of its commitment to strengthening inclusive democratic institutions, GP is implementing a gender mainstreaming initiative targeting political parties and civil society organizations.

Despite important progress in The Gambia’s democratic transition, women and other underrepresented groups continue to face barriers to meaningful participation and leadership within political parties and civil society organizations. These challenges are reflected in unequal representation in decision-making, gender-blind institutional policies and practices, limited accountability mechanisms, and organizational cultures that do not fully support inclusion.

Addressing these gaps requires strengthening institutional systems, policies, leadership practices, and organizational culture to promote gender equality and inclusive governance.

As part of its commitment to advancing democratic governance and inclusive participation, Gambia Participates (GP), with funding from the EU-UNDP GREAT Project, is implementing a gender mainstreaming initiative targeting four (4) political parties and four (4) civil society/community-based organizations.

GP seeks to engage a Gender Specialist Consultant to undertake comprehensive institutional gender assessments, identify key gaps and opportunities, and develop or revise Gender Policies and Gender Action Plans tailored to each organization.

Through a participatory and evidence-based approach, the consultancy will support participating organizations to institutionalize gender-responsive policies, systems, and practices that strengthen inclusive governance and align with national legislation and international gender equality standards.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The assignment has the following objectives:

1. To conduct comprehensive institutional gender assessments for eight (8) organizations to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities for gender mainstreaming.
2. To assess institutional policies, governance systems, organizational culture, leadership, and practices that influence gender equality and inclusion.
3. To develop or revise institutional Gender Policies and accompanying Gender Action Plans tailored to the needs of each organization and aligned with national and international gender equality frameworks.
4. To facilitate stakeholder review, validation, and adoption of the Gender Policies and Gender Action Plans to strengthen institutional ownership and implementation.
5. To produce a consolidated comparative report highlighting common findings, good practices, and strategic recommendations to inform future gender mainstreaming efforts.

3. SCOPE OF SERVICES

The consultancy will be implemented over four (4) phases through a participatory and evidence-based approach to assess institutional gender mainstreaming, strengthen organizational systems, and support the development and adoption of gender-responsive institutional policies and action plans.

Phase 1: Inception and Methodology Development

Month 1

The Consultant shall:

1. Conduct an inception meeting with GP senior management, the Programs Team, and the UNDP focal person to align on the assignment objectives, scope, deliverables, reporting arrangements, and implementation schedule.
2. Review relevant project documents, organizational profiles, stakeholder lists, and applicable national and international gender equality frameworks to inform the assessment methodology.
3. Develop a comprehensive Institutional Gender Assessment Framework outlining:
   • The assessment methodology;
   • Key thematic areas;
   • Assessment criteria; and
   • Data collection approaches.
4. Develop data collection tools, including:
   • Key Informant Interview (KII) guides;
   • Focus Group Discussion (FGD) guides, where applicable;
   • Membership survey questionnaires;
   • Document review checklist; and
   • Organizational Gender Policy and Gender Action Plan templates aligned with national legislation and recognized international good practices.
5. Prepare a sampling strategy that ensures adequate representation of leadership, staff, members, women, youth, and other relevant stakeholder groups across participating organizations.
6. Submit an Inception Report for GP’s review and approval, outlining the methodology, assessment framework, work plan, sampling strategy, data collection tools, quality assurance measures, and implementation timeline.

Phase 2: Institutional Gender Assessments

Month 2

The Consultant will conduct comprehensive institutional gender assessments across the eight (8) participating organizations using a participatory and mixed-methods approach.

3.2.1 Institutional Analysis

The Consultant shall:

1. Review relevant institutional documents, including:
   • Organizational by-laws or constitutions;
   • Human resources (HR) manuals;
   • Recruitment and promotion policies;
   • Strategic plans;
   • Codes of conduct;
   • Safeguarding, anti-harassment, and PSEAH policies;
   • Financial and budgeting frameworks; and
   • Other relevant governance documents.
2. Examine existing institutional policies, procedures, and practices to identify strengths, gaps, barriers, and opportunities for advancing gender equality.
3. Assess resource allocation and budgeting practices to determine the extent to which they support gender-responsive programming and institutional commitments.
4. Assess institutional governance systems, leadership structures, decision-making processes, gender representation, organizational culture, accountability mechanisms, and institutional capacity for gender mainstreaming.

3.2.2 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Stakeholder Consultations

The Consultant shall:

1. Conduct structured interviews with organizational leadership, board or executive committee members, staff, and other relevant stakeholders, with a minimum of three (3) to four (4) interviews per organization.
2. Explore:
   • Institutional culture;
   • Leadership commitment;
   • Informal norms;
   • Barriers to gender equality;
   • Existing good practices; and
   • Organizational readiness for reform.

3.2.3 Membership Surveys and Focus Group Discussions

The Consultant shall:

1. Administer membership surveys using an agreed sampling strategy that ensures adequate representation of women, men, youth, persons with disabilities, leadership, and members, as appropriate.
2. Collect sex- and age-disaggregated data on:
   • Participation;
   • Leadership opportunities;
   • Organizational inclusion;
   • Decision-making;
   • Perceptions of institutional culture; and
   • Experiences of discrimination or exclusion.
3. Conduct Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), where appropriate, to complement survey findings and provide deeper qualitative insights into organizational experiences and perceptions.

At the conclusion of the assessment phase, the Consultant shall prepare an Institutional Gender Assessment Report for each participating organization, outlining key findings, institutional strengths, identified gaps, and prioritized recommendations for gender mainstreaming.

Phase 3: Development and Revision of Gender Policies and Gender Action Plans

Months 2–3

Based on the findings of the institutional gender assessments, the Consultant shall develop or revise organization-specific Gender Policies and accompanying Gender Action Plans.

3.3.1 Development of New Gender Policies

For organizations without existing Gender Policies, the Consultant shall:

1. Develop a comprehensive Gender Policy aligned with:
   • National legislation and gender policies;
   • International gender equality commitments;
   • Recognized good practices in democratic governance; and
   • Institutional gender mainstreaming standards.

3.3.2 Review and Revision of Existing Gender Policies

For organizations with existing Gender Policies, the Consultant shall review and revise the policies to strengthen:

1. Institutional commitments to gender equality and inclusion;
2. Equal opportunity and affirmative action measures;
3. Gender-responsive governance and leadership;
4. Prevention of discrimination, sexual harassment, and other forms of harassment;
5. Safeguarding and PSEAH measures;
6. Gender-responsive budgeting and resource allocation;
7. Roles, responsibilities, accountability, and reporting arrangements; and
8. Monitoring, evaluation, and policy review mechanisms.

3.3.3 Development of Gender Action Plans

The Consultant shall develop a Gender Action Plan for each participating organization outlining:

• Priority actions;
• Implementation arrangements;
• Responsible persons or institutional units;
• Implementation timelines;
• Performance indicators; and
• Resource considerations.

The Gender Action Plans shall provide a practical roadmap for the effective implementation of each organization’s Gender Policy.

Phase 4: Validation, Institutional Adoption, and Final Reporting

Month 4

The Consultant shall:

1. Facilitate one (1) technical review session and one (1) validation workshop with representatives of the participating organizations to review:
   • Institutional Gender Assessment findings;
   • Draft Gender Policies; and
   • Gender Action Plans.
2. Incorporate stakeholder feedback and finalize all deliverables.
3. Provide technical support to participating organizations throughout their internal policy approval and adoption processes, in accordance with their respective governance structures.
4. Prepare a Consolidated Comparative Gender Assessment Report highlighting:
   • Common institutional strengths;
   • Key challenges;
   • Emerging trends;
   • Good practices; and
   • Strategic recommendations to strengthen gender mainstreaming across political parties and civil society organizations.

4. DELIVERABLES

The table below outlines the key deliverables expected from the Consultant.

5. TIMELINE

The total duration of the assignment is four (4) months, commencing on [TBD] and concluding on [TBD].

Requirements

6. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF THE SERVICE PROVIDER

The Service Provider/Consultant should possess the following qualifications and experience:

1. An advanced degree in Gender Studies, Political Science, Development Studies, Law, Sociology, or a related field.
2. A minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience in gender mainstreaming, institutional strengthening, organizational development, democratic governance, or related areas.
3. Demonstrated experience in conducting institutional gender assessments, gender audits, or similar organizational assessments, including the development of evidence-based recommendations for organizational reform.
4. Proven experience in developing or revising Gender Policies, Gender Action Plans, and other institutional gender mainstreaming frameworks for public institutions, political parties, civil society organizations, or governance institutions.
5. Demonstrated expertise in mixed-methods research, data collection, analysis, and participatory facilitation.
6. Experience supporting organizations through institutional policy review, validation, approval, and adoption processes.
7. Strong analytical, communication, and report-writing skills in English.
8. Familiarity with The Gambia’s governance, political, and civil society landscape is highly desirable.

7. REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION

7.1 Reporting Line

The Service Provider shall report directly to the Programs Manager of Gambia Participates (GP).

7.2 Progress Meetings

Regular progress meetings shall be held weekly with GP to review implementation progress, discuss challenges, address emerging issues, and agree on next steps.

7.3 Submission of Deliverables

All reports and deliverables shall be submitted in English and in electronic format, including:

• PDF format; and
• Editable Microsoft Word format.

Hard copies shall be provided for key deliverables where required by GP.

8. PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The total contract value for this four-month assignment is GMD 415,000.

Payments shall be made according to the following schedule:

Payment Conditions

1. All payments shall be contingent upon the satisfactory completion and approval of the respective deliverables.
2. Gambia Participates reserves the right to withhold or adjust payments in cases of unsatisfactory performance, incomplete deliverables, or failure to meet agreed contractual requirements.

9. GP’S RESPONSIBILITIES

Gambia Participates will provide reasonable support to facilitate the successful implementation of the assignment. This will include:

1. Providing access to relevant available documents and information required for the assignment.
2. Assigning dedicated program support staff to facilitate coordination and communication with the Consultant.
3. Introducing the Consultant to relevant key stakeholders and facilitating stakeholder meetings and consultations.
4. Providing timely review and feedback on submitted deliverables.
5. Facilitating access to relevant stakeholders required for interviews, consultations, surveys, focus group discussions, validation sessions, and other assessment activities.

10. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND COMPLIANCE

10.1 The Service Provider shall adhere to the highest professional and ethical standards throughout the implementation of the assignment.

10.2 The Service Provider shall comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and professional standards of The Gambia.

10.3 The Service Provider shall comply with Gambia Participates’ applicable organizational policies and procedures, including, but not limited to:

• Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy;
• Sexual Harassment and Safeguarding Policies;
• Code of Conduct; and
• Confidentiality and Data Protection requirements.

The Service Provider shall be required to sign all relevant declaration, confidentiality, safeguarding, and compliance forms as required by Gambia Participates.

11. CONFIDENTIALITY

All information shared by Gambia Participates with the Service Provider, as well as all information, data, documents, and findings generated or obtained during the course of the assignment, shall be treated as strictly confidential.

The Service Provider shall not disclose, reproduce, distribute, or otherwise make such information available to any third party without the prior written consent of Gambia Participates, except where disclosure is required by applicable law.

The confidentiality obligation shall survive the termination or expiration of the contract.

12. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

All intellectual property rights arising from or relating to the services rendered under this Terms of Reference, including but not limited to reports, assessment findings, datasets, tools, templates, policies, action plans, analyses, and other materials, shall be the sole property of Gambia Participates.

The Service Provider shall not reproduce, publish, distribute, or otherwise use any deliverables or materials developed under this assignment for purposes outside the contract without the prior written authorization of Gambia Participates.

13. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Proposals submitted for this assignment will be evaluated based on the following weighted criteria:

13.1 Technical Proposal

The technical proposal will be assessed based on the extent to which it demonstrates:

• A clear understanding of the assignment and its objectives;
• Appropriateness and quality of the proposed methodology;
• Understanding of institutional gender mainstreaming;
• Quality of the proposed assessment approach and data collection methods;
• Feasibility of the proposed work plan and timeline; and
• Appropriate quality assurance and stakeholder engagement mechanisms.

13.2 Experience and Qualifications

The experience and qualifications component will consider:

• Academic and professional qualifications;
• Relevant years of professional experience;
• Previous experience conducting institutional gender assessments or gender audits;
• Experience developing and revising Gender Policies and Gender Action Plans;
• Experience working with political parties, civil society organizations, public institutions, or governance actors; and
• Relevant experience in The Gambia or comparable contexts.

13.3 Financial Proposal

The financial proposal will be assessed based on:

• Overall cost;
• Cost-effectiveness;
• Value for money; and
• Alignment of proposed costs with the scope, methodology, level of effort, and deliverables.

Additional Information