Consultant - Political Economy Analysis (PEA) of Gender Equality and Women’s Rights Programme in Nigeria at ActionAid Nigeria

Background
The Women’s Voices and Leadership- Nigeria Project:

• The Women’s Voice and Leadership Project is a five-year Global Affairs Canada development assistance with the goal to support the capacity and activities of local and regional women’s organizations and movements seeking to empower women and girls, advance the protection of women’s and girls’ rights and achieve gender equality. 
• Nigeria is one of the recipient countries and is being managed by ActionAid Nigeria. Actions of the project includes provision of funding to local women’s rights organizations and their movements in six projects states of Bauchi, Cross River, Enugu, Lagos, Kebbi and Kwara. This is in recognition of funding gap that local women’s rights organisations face. In providing this funding, the project aims to assist these organizations and movements in their efforts to eliminate discrimination and rights violations in policy and legislation (including implementation) and the provision of services, as well as harmful social beliefs and practices.

Problem Statement: 

• The violation of the rights of women and girls is pervasive across all spheres of life in Nigeria, including economic disempowerment, political exclusion, and sexual and gender-based violence. Gender equality is undermined by patriarchal systems and beliefs that favour the interests of men above those of women.
• The complex socio-political environment of having both a federation and a tripartite system of civil, customary, and religious law makes it very difficult to harmonize legislation and remove discriminatory practices against women and girls in Nigeria. These discriminatory laws and practices affect a wide range of issues, such as freedom of movement, marriage, and inheritance. Legal recourse is problematic for women, as legal services are limited and difficult to access. Child and early forced marriage, maternal mortality, and gender-based violence rates are extremely high. 
• On the other hand, the Nigerian women’s rights movement is fragmented, and local organizations face significant barriers in improving the status of women, including limited resources and weak capacity and poor political will for the prioritisation of women and girls’ right issues.

Deliverables 

• The political economy analysis is aimed at scanning the women’s rights programming and gender equality advancement environment from different perspectives. This seeks to determine the factors hindering or contributing to the current realities.
• The PEA would review current global, national and project states trends and how these would impact the achievement of gender equality in project states specifically and in Nigeria generally. 
• It will involve gathering relevant information on the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal environment, and analysing and interpreting these findings. Specifically, the task is groups thus: 

Part A:

• Analyse the current context of women’s rights programming in the project states, and in Nigeria;
• How local women’s rights organisations and movements are organised and how they are organising in project states and Nigeria;
• Identify funding sources for women’s rights organisations; 
• Identify donor priorities to funding women’s rights organisation; and granting models/alternatives;
• Identify gaps between available funds for women’s rights organisation and the actual funding needs 
• Identify utilisation approach by the local women’s rights organisation and their movements;

Part B:

• Identify core issues on women and girls’ rights in the project states and Nigeria;
• Identify and review the legal and policy frameworks that promotes or impedes the realisation of women and girls’ rights in Nigeria making connections to international and global frameworks;
• Make recommendations on core areas/issues for intervention in the project states

Part C:

• Analyse, interpret the implications of all the issues identified and the interconnectivity between each of these. Based the findings, draw up policy implications and recommends for programming.

Approach and Methodology:

• This will involve desk review and field visit to selected project state(s) where necessary.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables
A detailed report highlighting amongst others:

• Conceptual analysis of the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal context of women’s rights programming in Nigeria.
• Conceptual analysis of the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal context across the globe and how it affects Nigeria and project states
• Key issues, challenges and opportunities for women’s rights programming and the achievement of gender equality.
• Analysis, Interpretation and Implications for Programming
• Detailed prefix and references.

Qualifications and Criteria for selection 

• We are seeking feminists, academia and/or research institutions with extensive experience/ skills in feminist and women’s rights analysis. In addition, to showing evidence of related previous work.
• Minimum of Master's degree or equivalent of 10 years’ experience in research and feminist analysis.

Place of Work & Administrative Support:

• The consultant(s) will be free to work independently from any base/location. S/he/they will be expected to provide her/his/their own work equipment. However, for the purposes of field visit, AAN will provide accommodation and other necessary logistics.

Timelines for Submission of Deliverables 
Key Activity and Number of working days:

• Inception meeting - 1
• Desk review - 6
• Field Visit (negotiable) - 4
• Development of draft repor - 3
•  Submission of draft report -
• Feedback on draft report/ Finalisation of report  - 2

Total working days - 16 days  -  Date April, 2019.
 
Ownership of Output:

• Outputs of the work done as stipulated in the call for expression of interest belongs to ActionAid Nigeria.

Mode of Payment

• Please note that only a flat fee will be paid 
• ActionAid shall however deduct the statutory 5% With Holding Tax (WHT) for individuals and 10% for limited (LTD) and public companies (PLC); and remit to relevant authority. The successful applicant would be required to provide AAN his/her Tax Identification Number (TIN) for the purposes of remittance