Research Consultant to Develop Gender and Capacity Assessmen...

The Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Research Consultant to Develop Gender and Capacity Assessment Baseline Study 

Background

The project “Gender Equality in the Economic Sphere: Our Right, Our Priority” (NEAR-TS 2020/420-955) is supported by the European Union and implemented by the Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center in Palestine (DWRC), in partnership with COSPE, EducAid and the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), during the period 1/01/2021 until 31/12/2023. The project aims at enhancing Palestinian CSOs engagement in and contribution to advancing gender equality in Palestine, in particular women’s economic rights. Its specific objective is to increase women’s CSOs initiatives ability to influence at the local and national levels to creating an enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment. The project also includes an intermediary objective, which is to strengthen the autonomy and capacities of 30 women CSOs in Qalquilya, Tulkarem, Nablus Tubas/northern valley, and Hebron governorates, Jordan Valley, and Gaza Strip border areas to address the labour and economic rights of women, including young women and women with disabilities (WWDs) within their communities. 

The action will contribute to the global objective of strengthening the role of Palestinian CSOs to play their legitimate role as advocates with regards to the legislative and policy framework and related interventions that impact women’s realization of their economic rights, including the right to decent work, seeking to foster progress on the achievement of relevant SDGs. The action will give special attention to fostering women’s CSOs role in decision-making at the local level, particularly with local authorities, building on existing mechanisms of engagement such as women’s shadow councils, consultative committees set up by municipalities or by ministries at governorate level. The action will primarily contribute to strengthened women’s CSOs capacities and engagement for participation in decision-making in relation to cross-cutting issues of SDG5 and SDG8, i.e. gender mainstreaming in economic and labour sector policies. Through capacity-building based on assessment and activation of the role of grassroots women organizations (women’s unions, cooperatives and CBOs), it will contribute to more capable, transparent, accountable and sustainable CSOs, in particular empowered small and medium sized CSOs, including DPOs.  

Objectives of the Assignment

PWWSD seeks to procure the services of a consultant to support the data collection process for the baseline based on the project overall objective, outcomes and expected results.  The development of the baseline will last for 2 months and will entail performing gender-based analysis and capacity assessment of community-based women rights organizations, including women with disability rights organizations, in advocating for policies that serve promoting women’s participation in the labour market. 

Under the leading supervision of the Gender and Development Specialist at PWWSD, the process of developing the baseline will engage PWWSD and EducAid field researchers, including experienced persons with disability as field researchers themselves, to guarantee the adoption of inclusive methodologies in the process of data collection and a special attention to the rights of women with disability. 

This action requires baseline gender analysis and capacity assessment of selected women CSOs and DPOs, with a focus on women rights to access labour market, descent work, and disability mainstreaming. The baseline study will be undertaken by PWWSD in coordination with EducAid, and will provide data to accurately identify the gaps in capacities of the CSOs and capture the change that has occurred over the course of the action based on measurement tools and outline sustainable results for selected women CSOs. 

The consultant selected will work closely with PWWSD Gender and Development Specialist and EducAid. He/she will support the fieldworkers in the process of data collection and regularly review the data to ensure their effectiveness and clarity. At the end of the data collection, the disability mainstreaming expert of EducAid will elaborate the data with the PWWSD research team in order to organize follow-ups to the gender analysis.

Scope of work

A baseline and gender analysis report including needs assessment of selected grassroots women CSOs for the action with a focus on the labour sector and mainstreaming on disability will be conducted, so that skills and capacity gaps are clearly identified for each organization and overall, as well as awareness, education and lobby and advocacy on women’s labour rights and descent work. 

The timeframe of the baseline will be maximum 2 months, including support fieldwork and data analysis. PWWSD Gender and Development Specialist will lead the process and EducAid will be engaged to guarantee full inclusion in the process of research and disability mainstreaming in the outcomes. The baseline will be used to determine the priority issues and the capacities of grassroots WCSOs to address women’s economic rights. 

Noting that the research design and methodology, including research key questions (Qualitative and Quantitative), a description for the methods and tools that will be used to collect and analyze the data; criteria and indicators against which findings will be measured, are already drafted, the consultant is expected to accompany a team of field researchers from PWWSD and EducAid who will be in charge of collecting data in the areas covered by the project based on the methodology and tools that are already developed. Each field researcher from PWWSD will be accompanied by a field researcher selected by EducAid. The field researchers will be supervised by PWWSD and EducAid’s focal points, who will search synergies with other EducAid projects where disability mainstreaming is implemented, by integrating the research’ findings with already existing data. Finally, PWWSD gender and development specialist and a disability-mainstreaming expert will review the data analysis in order to support the project’s partners in planning the following activities and the structure of the endline. 

Duties and Responsibilities: 

Design stage

Conduct desk review of programme documents, logical framework, plans of action, and relevant researches and recently published reports on women’s rights to descent work and inclusion in the economy.

Develop a context analysis: the situation of Palestinian women in labour market, database and relevant gender-based analysis of the project areas in which the CBOs function. 

Data Collection and Data Entry Stage

Support the Quantitative data collection with PWWSD and EducAid field researchers

Conduct Qualitative data collection with PWWSD and EducAid field researchers

Develop a database and ensure proper data cleaning and entry 

Analyze the data, and ensure a participatory approach during the development of findings in coordination with PWWSD Development and Gender Specialist and EducAid disability mainstreaming focal point.    

Report Writing Stage

Produce a draft baseline report and submit for review. 

Amend the draft report based on comments provided and submit the final report for approval

The Consultant is expected to:

Submit an inception report by 5 April 2021;

Work closely with PWWSD’s team; 

Maintain an open and frequent communication with PWWSD and EducAid on progress;

Deliver the key deliverables in a timely manner under the terms of the contract;

Submit the draft baseline study in Arabic for feedback; 

Integrate feedback from PWWSD and project partners and submit a final baseline study;

The report will be developed in Arabic;

Required qualifications of consultant/collaborator

Interested consultant should possess:

A proven experience of conducting baseline studies for projects of similar nature, developing/validating indicators of similar nature and magnitude in the field of gender and disability mainstreaming

A researcher who is specialized in Gender and Development and who has more than 10 years of experience in academia and researching in Palestine is required.

Good understanding of national and international policy frameworks on gender equality, women's rights, and women’s access to economic and productive resources, including understanding of the social, cultural, and political context of Palestine and its relation to the topic of the research is a must.

Experience in applying human rights-based-approach (HRBA) in researches.

Fluency in Arabic and English is required. 

How to Apply

Interested firms are required to submit the following:

A Technical proposal with specific focus addressing the purpose and objectives of the assignment, methodology and proposed work plan in Gantt chart style, including context (brief), approach, and a proposed timeframe. 

CVs of the research consultant. 

Financial offer: detailed budget breakdown of the proposed costs in EURO. 

Interested consultant should also be prepared to submit previous examples of relevant work done, especially regarding conducting baseline and gender analysis in relevant fields.

Timeline of activities

The consulting firm will provide the services described under “Scope of Work” in Section 3 according to the following time schedule:

By 28/July/2021: submit draft report.

By 10/August/2021: submit final report.

Following activities should be accomplished during the project period –

Progress report (one page) – bi-weekly basis

Conference call with PWWSD and EducAid – on weekly basis

Schedule of payments and deliverables

Interested consulting firms are requested to be sent to [email protected], with the subject line: “Baseline Study – PWWSD and EducAid”  by 11 July 2021

For technical questions please feel free to call: 0595724888

For operational questions please feel free to call: 0598310292