Consultant (Develop of Election Journey Guide for Women in Politics) at UN Women

Location: Homebase, Nigeria
Type of Contract: Individual Contract
Post Level: National Consultant
Starting Date: (date when the selected candidate is expected to start) 27-Nov-2017
Duration of Initial Contract: 40 working days over a two months’ period (from date of signing contract)

Background

• Nigeria’s transition to democracy has been remarkable given the 17 years of uninterrupted constitutional rule witnessed since 1999. Democracy world over is however a learning process and some challenges remain in deepening of the democratic process.
• Nigeria’s political history of authoritarian military regimes stifled participation and inclusivity for all its civil society and particularly marginalized groups such as women. 
• Clearly, the political status of women has not changed significantly 17 years after the transition to civilian rule. The current democratization process is characterized by consistent and unacceptable under-representation of women in elective positions of leadership even though women are estimated to be about 50% of the Nigerian population.
• UN Women remain committed to combating the dismal representation of women in political activities. Within the context of women’s political empowerment and with funding support from the government of Canada, UN Women will develop capacity building guide for women on for political activities titled ‘’ Election Journey for Women’’.
• The guide when developed would enhance the capacity of women and young girls to participate in political activities in Nigeria. The rationale is to have a generic and standardized capacity enhancement guide/manual for building capacity of female politicians in Nigeria towards practical political career.
• In this context, UN Women would engage an expert to develop the Election Journey Guide for women’s participation in political activities in Nigeria.

Duties and Responsibilities
Goal:

• The overall goal of the project is to increase women’s participation and representation in elective positions in Nigeria

Objectives:

• To increase the knowledge and skills of women to participate in political activities.
• Enhanced understanding tools that facilitate increased participation and representation and the rights of women and girls

Methodology:

• The Consultant will undertake a desk review of relevant existing instruments and tools. The Election Journey guide will able to build the capacity of women at all level of governance. The consultant will present a draft modules/guide to stakeholder’s consensus and validation meeting. The ‘Election Journey’ Guide, which will contain a series of accessible modules on:
  • The legal framework guiding Nigeria’s elections;
  • The electoral system and its consequences on women’s participation and representation;
  • The different stages to become voters and candidates and how to fulfill them;
  • How to organize and undertake an electoral campaigns;
  • The role of the Electoral Commission and the Judiciary;
  • The role of political parties during the electoral process;
  • The role of the elections Observers and Monitors’ team; resource mobilization for elections etc.

Duties and Responsibilities
The Consultant will be responsible for following tasks:

• Prepare Inception Report and work plan for delivering the assignment
• Desk review of relevant and existing documents on elections in Nigeria
• Develop a guide containing series of accessible information/modules on Nigeria’s election
• Prepare executive summary for feedback, and present final copy to UN Women.
• Facilitate launch/ dissemination to be organized UN Women

Key deliverables and timeline:

• Inception report which includes proposed methodology and work plan (5 days from commencement)
• Draft election guides for stakeholder’s review (25 days from commencement)
• Submission of final copy of election journey guide to UNW (30 days from commencement)
• Facilitate Stakeholders dissemination meeting (40 days from commencement)

Competencies
Core Values and Guiding Principles:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling UN Women values and ethical standards.
• Demonstrates a commitment to UN Women’s mission and vision.
• Able to work effectively within a team.
• Displays cultural and gender sensitivity and adaptability.
• Able to multi-task and juggle competing demands.
• Can assess and prioritize work needs quickly.
• Able to relate to external partners, including other international organizations and agencies, NGOs, grassroots community groups, etc.

Functional Competencies:

• Sound expertise on practical electioneering in Nigeria
• Gender equality and women’s empowerment, including on women’s political participation
• Academic and practical research experience including curriculum development
• Fluent in Microsoft word, excel, e-mail, web-based applications and databases.
• Demonstrated leadership and personal examples of promoting knowledge management and a professional learning environment.
• Outstanding networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills.
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, donors and civil society.
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously with people from varied cultures and professional backgrounds.
• Results based management skills.
• Ability to deliver specific outputs in a timely and efficient manner
• Ability to produce well-written documents demonstrating excellent interpersonal communication skills.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• Advanced university Degree (Master's Degree or equivalent) in Gender Studies, Educational Curriculum, Political Science, Sociology, International Relations, or relevant field and/or equivalent practical experience.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience.
• Research, curriculum development, communications, advocacy etc.
• Substantive experience in women’s leadership and political participation
• Experience in working in a multicultural environment.
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights, women’s rights and related instruments.
• Experience with UN Intergovernmental processes.Experience related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality is an asset.