Consultancy services for Re-aligning the African Union Fund for African Women Terms of reference (FAW) with Agenda Technical Expert

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1 AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box: 3243 Tel.: (251-11) / ext Fax: (251-11) / Consultancy services for Re-aligning the African Union Fund for African Women Terms of reference (FAW) with Agenda Technical Expert Background 1. The Women, Gender, and Development Directorate (WGDD) is in the process of aligning the Fund for African Women (FAW) with the objectives of Agenda 2063 outline in the African Union Gender Equality and Women s Empowerment Strategy. This will ensure that at the end of the African Women s Decade in 2020, the Fund for Africa Women which has been created as a resource mobilization will support the implementation of the key strategic area of the new gender strategy as requested by the AU Summit in The Fund for African Women (FAW) was launched in 2011 following the adoption by the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Women s Decade (AWD) in 2010 with following objectives: a. Mobilize financial resources to support development programs and projects for women; b. Support women's initiatives in the fight against poverty, bridge the gap in gender and curb marginalization; c. Exchange experiences and best practices on economic empowerment, political and social empowerment of women; d. Facilitate the dissemination of information on the activities of African women; e. Strengthen the capacity of African women in leadership, management and entrepreneurship. 3. As of 2015, 0.5% of the AUC operational budget rather than 1% as requested by the Head state decision, WGDD had been mobilized and used $2 million only from members state to fund 119 micro projects under 7 themes of 10 African Women Decades themes 4. Member States are also seeking a stronger focus on results for the FAW, including the necessary systems and tools for knowledge management and learning. The FAW also needs to expand its resourcing base beyond the contributions of Member States which will also require that its scope and scale are able to complement other similar Funds like Trust Fund around the continent and globally. WGDD is therefore seeking the services of a consultancy firm to achieve these objectives.

2 Objectives The overall objective of this assignment is to design the second phase of the FAW as a trust Fund and align it with Agenda 2063 with a particular focus on the key priorities of AU Strategy for Gender Equality & Women s Empowerment. The specific objectives of this assignment are: Based on a detailed desk review of the current scope, structure and scale of interventions of the FAW, the consultations held and priorities defined in Agenda 2063, propose an implementation/programmatic approach aimed at increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the fund taking into account the opportunities and constraints in AU regions Following the approval of the proposed implementation/programmatic approach, design a technical proposal for specific components of the FAW and intermediate results with the aim of realising Agenda 2063 and the AWD. A specific outcome of this process will be the design of an over-arching framework for women s economic empowerment and women s rights as defined by the 2015 and 2016 AU themes, taking into account the 1 st ten-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063, AU Integrated Maritime Strategy, and other relevant decisions Design and implementation mechanism for the Fund, including roles and responsibilities of the AU Commission, the Steering Committee, the Specialised Technical Committee on Gender Equality, the Member States and RECs, etc. Taking into account the existing implementation mechanism, develop a transition plan from the current management structure Identify and recommend a set of issues upon which the realigned FAW will be focussed in line with the two themes guiding its implementation Design a results framework for the FAW, including systems and tools for knowledge management and learning, reporting and risk management; Determine possible budget scenarios and devise operating principles for directing funds to beneficiaries, sectors of projects, amount of funding per category, disbursement process and duration of the cycle from the call for proposal to the disbursement, etc. Propose a funding mechanism for identified sectors of high impact in line with the Agenda 2063, while securing funding for small projects implemented at grassroots level Define a strategy to mobilize resources above the fund s current base. This will include researching partners that have a specific interest in the fund s intervention, ensuring the design of the components of the upgraded fund is aware of these requirements and setting-up a strategy to access said resources, could also involve incentivising Member States by prioritising funding for projects in countries that have paid up Design a branding and communications strategy and a vigorous sensitisation mechanism aimed at increasing the visibility of the fund s actions around the globe and furthering its understanding among African stakeholders. This branding and communications strategy will also support the resource mobilization efforts of the FAW.

3 Deliverables 5. The technical expert is expected to produce the following deliverables: An inception report which defines the methodology, work plan for the assignment and provides an outline of the programme description document A report on the consultations organized with the Steering Committee and the STC and on the field visits An evaluation report based on the review of the current scope, structure and scale of interventions of the FAW and priorities defined in Agenda 2063 A programme document/technical proposal which o orients the future interventions of the FAW o includes a hierarchy of results and a specific strategy for women s economic empowerment and women s rights o is informed by the relevant high impact and fast tract projects of Agenda 2063 and o provides an exit strategy post-2023, the end of the First Ten Year Implementation Plan. o includes estimated budgets for each intermediate result area A performance management plan which provides the hierarchy of results to be implemented and includes a monitoring and evaluation plan and related tools and data quality control mechanisms Manual for FAW project management (approval procedures at national and continental levels, eligibility criteria, roles and responsibilities of actors involved, etc.) Branding, communications and resource mobilization strategy documents which are action oriented and include tools, templates, briefs and PowerPoint presentations for immediate use by WGDD and a marketing and resource mobilization campaign to launch the upgraded and aligned FAW Scopes of work for the management structure of the fund, including the steering committee, the project management team and future evaluation tea Plan and implement a validation workshop of the upgraded and aligned FAW either at the AUC headquarters or at another convenient workshop Plan and implement the launch of the upgraded and aligned FAW through a marketing and resource mobilization campaign before September Timing, duration and place of work: 6. This assignment is for 6 months and expected to start in November 2018 and will be split into two phases. Phase one will consist of the design of the upgraded and aligned FAW which needs to be completed and the outputs validated. Phase two will consist of the launch of the FAW through the implementation of a marketing and resource mobilization campaign. The assignment will include several visits to AUC headquarters and two additional visits to locations most suited for the launch of the upgraded and aligned FAW. The expert will work remotely with WGDD staff and the project manager hired to supervise this assignment. The Expert will also help build

4 the long term capacity of WGDD and ensure sustainability of the project beyond the consultant s term. Qualifications, experience and Competencies A. Technical Expert Master s degree in applied economics, MBA and project management At least 10 years leading the design of large scale projects and technical proposals Applied experience with design, management and implementation of grants/fund of various sizes Demonstrated experience in women s economic empowerment and women s rights Strong understanding of constraints and opportunities with project management in the African context, particularly the African Union Proven ability to drive teams to success during a very short period of time Attention to detail and emphasis on high quality Strong written and oral communications skills in English and French are an advantage. Remuneration: Payment will be fixed amount of USD 60,000. This amount includes all of the Consultant's fees, reimbursable and profits as well as any tax obligation that may be imposed on the Consultant. The amount however excludes travel costs where the Consultant is required to travel from their home country in the course of executing their duties. This is a lump sum contract. Assessment of CVS: Interested candidate must provide information demonstrating that he/she has the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. Consulting firms may propose an individual, but only the experience and qualifications of the individual shall be used in the selection process, and that his or her corporate experience shall not be taken into account, and the contract would be signed with the proposed individual. For evaluation of the expressions of interest the following criteria will be applied: a) General Education Qualification and Relevant Training (20 points); b) Experience Related to the Assignment (30 points); c) Technical approach and methodology (40 points) d) Work plan (10 points)

5 Submission of CVS and technical proposals Interested candidates are requested to submit the following documents for AUC s consideration as an attachment to the CVs: a) Technical Proposal on: understanding and interpretation of the TOR methodology and approach to be used in undertaking the assignment time and activity schedule Interested applicants should submit their CVs and technical proposals to the under listed address. The title of the Consultancy should be clearly stated in the subject matter of the . The deadline for submission of is Monday 12 th November2018 The Head Procurement, Travel and Stores Division African Union Commission, Roosevelt Street, Building C, 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel ; OR tender@africa-union.org