Terms Of Reference For Production Of The Second Generation Of The Country Gender Status Report For Rwanda
Background
The Government of Rwanda has made women’s empowerment and inclusion a hallmark of recovery and reconstruction of the Country. This approach has been globally hailed as novel in both intent and scope. Gender Equality in the country is driven by the political will at the highest levels, the establishment of National Gender Machinery Institutions (Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, Gender Monitoring Office, National Women’s Council), existing favorable policies and programs including home grown solutions as well as the revision and amendment of discriminatory laws or adoption of gender related laws such as: Law Governing Land in Rwanda which guarantees equal rights on land access, ownership and utilization; Law establishing and governing maternity leave benefits scheme where a woman is allowed 3 months fully paid maternity leave and 4 days of paternity leave to name a few.
In its reconstruction journey, Rwanda has also a story to tell, a story of great achievements in several fields and specifically in positioning Gender Equality to the highest level of a constitutional fundamental principle of human rights, good governance and democracy. Several assessments demonstrate Rwanda’s achievements such as the World Economic Gender Gap Report of 2022 which ranks Rwanda as the sixth country world wide out of 146 Countries on ability to close the Gender Gap in four fundamental areas namely; Economic Participaton and opportunity, Education, Health and Surival as well as Political Empowerment. In addition, Rwandan women in leadership have played a pivotal role in the country’s political, economic and social development at all levels in the country. In Parliament, women are represented at 61.3% while 30.3% as Heads of public institutions, 40% as Governors, 42% in Judiciary and 27% as presidents of District Councils.

In relation to economic empowerment, Finscope Rwanda 2020 report states that only 8% of Rwandan women are financially excluded compared to 32% in 2012 and women have embraced existing opportunities including their enrolment and participation in saving groups whereby 49% of them (women) have a formal way of saving compared to 61% of their male counterparts. ICT development in Rwanda has widened women’s education and financial opportunities among others. In Education, Rwanda has promoted the enrolment of women in STEM fields whereby in Secondary schools, in 2020/2021, 48.4% of Girls were enrolled in STEM options versus 62.5 % of their male counterparts.
Within the health sector, the health workforce and infrastructure development, innovative data collection tools including Rapid SMS for emergency labor and tracking the Maternal and Child health continuum of care have resulted in considerable decrease of maternal and infant mortality rates. For example, DHS, 2019/2020 highlighted that the maternal mortality ratio has declined significantly to 203 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019/2020 from 210 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014-2015 down from 1071 in 2000 and the distribution of women aged 15-49 using modern contraceptive method stood at 58.4%.

Similar Jobs in Rwanda
Learn more about UN Women Rwanda
UN Women Rwanda jobs in Rwanda

However, with the outbreak of COVID-19, the socio-economic trajectory of Rwanda alike many other countries in the world was negatively altered, with the Exports and Tourism sectors the most hit amid disruption in international trade and travels. Recent assessments carried out on the impact of COVID-19 in Rwanda have consistently shown that women are adversely affected by COVID-19 economically due to their high involvement in the informal sector and underrepresentation in the digital economy, unsecure employment, as well as high involvement in unpaid care work and in subsistence farming. For instance, a recent Covid-19 Gender Rapid Assessment commissioned by the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF) in partnership with UN Women and UNFPA found that a high proportion of rural and urban women (59% and 52% respectively) reported closure of their businesses as a result of the pandemic, compared to 49% for men in both rural and urban areas. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated women and girls’ vulnerability to GBV. GBV data released by RIB have shown an increase of GBV cases from 969 cases in March 2020 to 1,243 cases in June 2020 translating to 28.3 % increase in only three months of COVID-19
In addition, Rwanda still faces some challenges that require concerted efforts to address gender equality related barriers and ensure the creation of robust gender accountability systems to advance the relevant GEWE legal and policy commitments. The country has charted its way to reaching a Middle-Income Country (MIC) status and has been implementing Vision 2050 the framework that will see the Country’s accountability to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

To sustain the efforts to track the implementation of gender equality commitments and in line with the objectives of the State of Gender Equality in Rwanda (2019), the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO) in collaboration with UN WOMEN seeks to generate and disseminate a report that provides an up to date information on the status of gender equality including progress and gaps to provide evidence that informs policy priorities, decisions and initiatives to advance the country’s development agenda. In this context, UN WOMEN on behalf of Gender Monitoring Office seeks to hire a senior consultant to develop a second generation of the ‘’Country Gender Status Report (CGSR).’’

Objectives of the assignment
The main purpose of producing the second-generation Country Gender Status Report is to document and showcase Rwanda’s achievements on gender equality promotion, women’s empowerment across different sectors, the prevailing challenges, the promising practices and recommendations on priorities requiring much focus and action.
Specific objectives of the assignment include;
• Assess and document Rwanda’s achievements on gender equality and women’s empowerment based on selected indicators.
• Examine the socio-cultural, economic, political, and legal barriers that hinder the full implementation of GEWE commitments and the available opportunities to accelerate efforts to address them.
• Specifically provide an analysis of the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on women and men, with a specific analysis on how the multiple forms of discrimination experienced by women exacerbate the impact of the pandemic on their lives.
• Identify good practices and lessons learned from relevant GEWE related initiatives at national and local levels in Rwanda.
• Outline strategic recommendations to accelerate the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women in Rwanda.
• Produce a policy brief reflecting key issues and related recommendations across the Government Pillars as enshrined in the report.
Scope of the assignment
The Second generation of the Country Gender Status Report development will cover the period of 2018 to date. The report will embark on the indicators used in the 1st generation with a possibility of adding new indicators where deemed necessary.

Expected Output
• A high-quality 2nd generation Country Gender Status Report on the state of gender equality documenting the achievements produced.
• A PowerPoint presentation for use during the validation processes produced.
• Strategies to enhance gender accountability to gender equality and women’s empowerment advised.
• A maximum of 5 pages policy brief which comprehensively summarizes the report developed.
Deliverables
Under the overall supervision of the GMO and UN Women, the consultant will be responsible for the following deliverables:
Deliverables Activity Timing
Inception Report for the elaboration of the Country Gender Status report Develop an inception report with detailed methodology and scope, data collection tools and work plan. 5 days
Data collection and First draft of Country Gender Status report Lead the data collection process, compilation, analysis and report consolidation. Submit a first draft report with key achievements, gaps, best practices and clear recommendations will be developed and presented in a validation workshop.
35 days
Presentations PowerPoint presentations to be used in all validation workshops. The Consultant will facilitate all workshops.
1 day
Final Country Gender Status report Consultant will after incorporation of given comments and guidance, finalize the profile and submit the final Country Gender Status report to be externally validated. 10 days
PowerPoint presentations Presentation with key findings to be used in dissemination forums. 1 day
Policy briefs Produce a policy brief reflecting key issues and related recommendations across the Government Pillars as enshrined in the report. 5 days
Methodology
6. The methodology to be employed during the profiling assignment combines a desk review of existing gender related literature and reports produced at national level as well as existing administrative data that may contribute to the quality of the report. Consultative meetings and interviews with key stakeholders will also be used to provide qualitative information that will complement quantitative information.

Timelines
The assignment will be performed within a period of 57 working days effective from the date of contract signing.
Institutional responsibilities
Gender Monitoring Office:
• To lead and oversee on a daily basis the Country Status report.
• Organize relevant meetings deemed necessary in relation to the assignment. This will involve mapping of potential contributors and stakeholders who will directly or indirectly contribute to the report.
• Support in providing relevant documentation to the consultant to accomplish the task in a timely manner.
• Contribute to the conceptualization and implementation of dissemination of related actions.

UN Women:
• Perform the recruitment process of the individual consultant to undertake the assignment in close collaboration with GMO.
• Pay costs related to the assignment to produce a Country Gender Status Report as will be agreed upon by both parties.
• Hire an individual expert(s) to design and print the report and policy brief once the final documents are available.

Required skills and experience
The individual consultant that will be selected to carry out this assignment should possess the following profile:
Academic Qualifications and Experience:
• A Master’s Degree in gender studies, economics, social sciences or related disciplines is required.
• A minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience that combines research and consultancy on gender and women’s economic empowerment at the national, regional and international levels.
• Demonstrated knowledge of national and international gender commitments, policy and legal frameworks.
• Be able to work under minimum supervision while maintaining a high level of accuracy.
• Excellent writing and analytical skills.
• Commitment and full- time availability to do the task during time of the contract.
• Knowledge of socio-cultural, geopolitical, economic and environmental country context is an advantage.
• Having done assignments of similar nature will be an added value.

Languages:
• Excellent command of written and spoken English and Kinyarwanda; working knowledge of French is an advantage.
Supervision
The Consultant will develop the second-generation of the Country Gender Status Report under close guidance and supervision by GMO and UN WOMEN.
Payment
Consultancy remuneration will be given in a phased manner and upon the approval of the following deliverables:
• Approved Inception report
• First validated draft of the Country Gender Status Report
• Final approved version of the Country Gender Status Report and approved policy brief.

Submission Procedure
• Interested individual consultants should submit electronic copies of Technical and Financial” proposals via email to offers@unwomen.org. The technical proposal should contain at least: CVs, copies of academic credentials, 3 certificates of good completion of previous related consultancy work as well as a technical proposal document showing the understanding of the intended scope of work, detailed methodology, and work plan. The financial offer should indicate the total budget in the proposal with a detailed breakdown including applicable taxes if any. Applications should be addressed to:
The UN Women Country Representative,
UN Women
Kigali-Rwanda
Deadline for application is : 15 November 2022 at 5pm Kigali time. Only pre-selected candidates will be notified.
Source: NEC Elections report 2016, 2021 and MINALOC administrative data,2021
Mineduc Education statistical yearbook 2020,2021
MIGEPROF, Covid-19 Rapid Gender Assessment, 2020
MIGEPRPF, Covid-19 Rapid Gender Assessment, 2020