Consultancy - International Expert to prepare a background document on gender, innovation and technology in support of the CSW 67 Africa consultations

Background

Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, UN Women will work for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women will lead and coordinate United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world. It will provide strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The sixty-seventh session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) will be held in New York from 6th to 17th March 2023. The priority theme of CSW 67 is: innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Member States will also be invited to review the agreed conclusions of the sixty-second session theme on challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.

As a key instrument for delivering women’s rights, CSW presents the reality of women’s lives throughout the world while influencing global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Besides, it takes a leading role in monitoring and reviewing progress and challenges in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, among others.

25 years since the World Conference on Women in Beijing, the world has witnessed two things: a global digital revolution and not a single country having achieved gender equality. While technology and innovation are being hailed as crucial means to accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the statistics on access, to whom the benefits accrue and roles in developing them, point to huge disparities across the sexes. Gender equality is nowhere near to being achieved in tech and innovation. Women are less likely to access widely used forms of technologies, lead innovation institutions or become inventors. For example, according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an estimated 2.7 billion people remain unconnected to the internet with women accounting for 57% of the population that use the internet compared to 62% of men globally. Furthermore, in Africa, women account for only 24% of the population, while men account for 35% of users. While mobile phone ownership has become ubiquitous around the world, including in Africa, there is still a disparity between men and women’s ownership, which has implications for example, for their access to communication, connectivity to the internet, financial inclusion and access to information they can use to empower themselves. According to the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSMA) Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019, women in low- and middle-income countries are 10% less likely than men to own a mobile device.

Access to technology in Africa is uneven, and beyond gender, other factors such as geographical location, social norms and income affect women and men’s access and benefit from technological innovations. Some countries in the region have thriving tech scenes,  which have contributed to the creation of jobs particularly for young people, the growth of e-commerce through new payment and marketing options and the deployment of technology to address development challenges related to health, poverty, provision of public services and responding to GBV. Technology is being deployed across African countries to provide advice to women farmers on weather patterns, information on markets and financing opportunities. The Buy from Women (BfW) platform under the Global Flagship Programme on Climate Smart Agriculture, which UN Women is piloting, is designed with women farmers. It connects them to buyers and addresses one of the key structural barriers, women farmers face, which is limited knowledge of and access to market opportunities. Harnessing this potential to benefit the largest number of women and men across Africa is therefore crucial.

Research by the IFC and World Bank (through the Digital Development Program Trust Fund) in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Rwanda showed that by 2030 some level of digital skills will be required for 50-55% of jobs in Kenya, 35-45% in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Rwanda, and 20-25% in Mozambique . Given the low numbers of women currently in the technology sector, with only 2 out of 10 jobs in science, engineering and ICT held by women globally, ensuring they have the digital skills to take up these opportunities must be at the core of economic empowerment policies and programmes by governments in Africa. Technology’s potential to transform Africa extends beyond economic sectors. Across the continent, technology has been harnessed to promote social and political change. Social media for example, has been used to spotlight violations of women’s rights and mobilize citizens to action. It is changing the electoral landscape in Africa, with more women candidates finding it an inexpensive tool to raise their profile with potential voters. The Generation Equality Action Coalition on Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality, notes in its contributions to the GEF Accountability Report 2022, that there is a worryingly low number of women innovators globally. Women account for only 16.5% of inventors listed on international patent applications, based on which, projections by the Coalition estimate that, gender parity would therefore only be achieved in 2053.

On the normative and policy front, the region recognizes the importance of leveraging science, technology and innovation to promote peace and development. As part of the African Union Agenda 2063, the first of a series of 10-year Science, Technology and Innovation Strategies for Africa (STISA-2024) and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) have been developed. These emphasize building the human capital requirements for the 21st century as a foundation for Africa’s growth. STISA 2024 calls for increased investment in Research and Innovation and enhanced Education and Training to support economic growth, job and wealth creation, with emphasis on an innovation-led and knowledge-based economy.

While structural changes are needed to achieve transformational development, innovation has been identified as a key driver to accelerating growth and development in Africa. However, for this to be achieved, there needs to be strengthened focus on the large-scale outcomes of innovations, and how they can be systemically integrated into the economy. As countries navigate the unprecedented challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftershocks, it is therefore important to establish mechanisms for identifying locally developed and adapted innovations, as well as documenting lessons and best practices to foster exchange and collaboration at the national, regional and global levels.

The sixty seventh CSW is an opportunity for governments, civil society organizations, and technical and financial partners to have deliberate on and jointly reflect on the trends, achievements, challenges and existing gaps related to the priority theme. The outcome of the Commission’s consideration of the priority theme during its 67th session will take the form of agreed conclusions, to be negotiated by all Member States.

UN Women in partnership with the African Union (Women, Gender and Youth Directorate), UN Economic Commission and UNDP is convening a virtual Africa Pre-CSW66 Expert Consultation. This will be followed by two-day Hybrid – In person and Virtual Africa Ministerial Consultations. The main objective is to review continent wide trends, achievements, challenges and gaps related to the theme. The consultations will also consolidate an African position in the lead up to the global CSW in March 2023.

Objectives of the assignment

The main objective is to prepare the background document focusing on the priority theme and provide technical expertise during the Experts and Ministerial consultations.

UN Women seeks the services of an international expert to prepare a background document for use during the Expert and Ministerial consultations. S/he will also be required to work with a team of rapporteurs to consolidate the Expert group meeting minutes and the final report. In addition, they will work with a technical team to produce the Outcome Document following the Ministerial consultations. The consultant will be under the direct supervision of UN Women Regional Coordination and Planning Specialist. 

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Prepare the draft background document focusing on innovation, technology, education, gender in Africa as well as drawing out the intersections with other sector or thematic issues including politics, women’s economic empowerment and political participation. Facilitate virtual or in-person consultations as well as a desk review of key documents in preparing the background document.
2. Present findings and lead the discussions during the Technical Experts sessions to provide their expertise to help inform the deliberations.
3. Draft the Africa Pre-CSW67 Expert Meeting outcome document in line with the priority and review themes of the 67th CSW.
4. Coordinate the rounds of reviews and edits of the draft outcome document at the Experts meeting.
5. Coordinate the rounds of reviews and edits of the draft outcome document during and post the Ministerial consultation.
6. Ensuring that key messages are captured from the various sessions of the technical experts meeting.
7. Present findings at the Ministerial consultations and guide, based on their expertise in the area of innovation and technology in gender equality.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity;
• Integrity;
• Professionalism.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and  Competencies: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies

• Strong knowledge of gender equality as it relates to innovation and technology in the African and global context;
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research;
• Ability to draft succinct technical documents for inter-governmental processes;
• Strong facilitation and moderation skills with diverse audiences;
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments and civil society.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced degree in technology, innovation, gender studies, environmental studies, international development or related disciplines is required;

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of relevant research, programming or private sector experience on gender equality and innovation and technology in Africa or globally;
• Experience of drafting technical documents and reports for similar inter-governmental processes
• Sound knowledge of international standards on human rights; women’s rights particularly in the context of innovation and technology.
• Experience with Intergovernmental processes including those related to women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming and gender equality is an asset;
• Experience working with multi-stakeholder organizations is essential: governments, Civil Society Organizations, the UN, multilateral and bilateral institutions. 

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in oral and written English;
• Knowledge of French or Portuguese would be an added advantage.

Note:

Please note that applications without a completed and signed UN Women P-11 form will be treated as incomplete and will not be considered for further assessment. UN Women Personal History form (P-11) can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.  At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employees, trained, compensate, and promotes regardless of race, religion ,colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualification, competence, integrity and organizational needs.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

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