Consultancy: Gender Audit for Energy Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) – Practical Action
Assignment title: Gender Audit in energy SAGAs for Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya (WEEK) Phase 3 Project
Description: The overall objective of the SAGAs gender audit is to assess the implementation progress of the gender action plans developed during WEEK phase II and identify challenges, gaps, and opportunities for institutionalization of gender equality within the institutions.
Location and Project Team: Nairobi, Embu, Kirinyaga, Kitui, Meru and Tharaka Nithi.
The consultant will work in close collaboration with Practical Action’s Gender Advisor, the Project team, and the Impact & Influence team to deliver on the expected results.
Duration Dates: August 2023-September 2023
Number of Working Days: 23 days
Introduction to Practical Action
Practical Action is an international development organization putting ingenious ideas to work so that people in poverty can change their world. We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Challenges made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality. We work with communities to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions for agriculture, water and waste management, climate resilience and clean energy. And we share what works with others, so answers that start small can grow big. We are a global change-making group. The group consists of a UK-registered charity with community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, an independent development publishing company and a technical consulting service. We combine these specialisms to multiply our impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone.
Background and Purpose of the Assignment
In Kenya, Practical Action has been implementing interventions to address the inequalities that exist in the energy sector and empower women in partnership with ENERGIA and other partners. The Women in Energy Enterprises in Kenya (WEEK) Phase 3 Project is a 4-year project (October 2022 – 30th September 2026) funded by ENERGIA (International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy) as part of the larger programme dubbed: Women Driving Energy Transition and Climate Justice. The key intervention areas include: Women’s Economic Empowerment, Advocating and Influencing for Enabling Energy Markets and Policy Environment, Integration of Gender Transformative Approaches in Energy Policies and Programs and Thought Leadership (Acquiring, generating and disseminating robust data, evidence and knowledge to enhance the gender responsiveness of energy policies and practices). During the implementation of the WEEK Phase II project, Practical Action supported the Ministry of Energy to establish the Energy Sector Gender Committee which is mandated to steer and oversee the implementation of the Gender Policy by all energy stakeholders. The committee membership is constituted of different directorates within the Ministry of Energy and Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) in the energy sector i.e., Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), Geothermal Development Company (GDC), Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC), Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KENGEN), Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (KETRACO). The project further built the capacity of the institutions on gender mainstreaming in energy planning and delivery. With the increased understanding on gender mainstreaming, the institutions were supported to develop and implement gender action plans, to ensure that the institutions and their programs are engendered. During the implementation of the WEEK phase 3 project, Practical Action shall continue to support the capacity-building initiatives for the institutions on gender mainstreaming. In order to effectively accomplish this and contribute to the achievement of Kenya’s energy targets, it is important to assess the institutionalization of gender equality in the institutions’ policies, strategies programs, budgets, structures and service provision, after the development of the gender action plans during WEEK II.
The Purpose of this Assignment
Practical Action is hiring a consultant to conduct a gender audit of the Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies (SAGAs) within the energy sector (EPRA, KPLC, KENGEN, REREC, NuPEA, KETRACO and GDC) to determine whether, the gender action plans developed during WEEK phase II project are being implemented effectively. The audit will help to assess progress in institutionalizing gender equality; identify critical challenges and gaps in attitudes, commitments and decision-making; and make recommendations for improvement. The findings will also guide the WEEK phase 3 project on the subsequent gender mainstreaming activities, which will include strengthening of the gender action plans and further support in their implementation. Further, the findings will support in strengthening the project influencing plan.
Objective of Assignment
The overall objective of the SAGAs gender audit is to assess the implementation progress of the gender action plans developed during WEEK phase II and identify challenges, gaps, and opportunities for institutionalization of gender equality within the institutions. The specific objectives of the assignment include:
1. To assess the extent of integration of a gender perspective in the policies, strategies, budgets, programmes and service delivery of the SAGAs i.e., a. What steps have been taken to build the foundation for change to occur? b. What changes have actually occurred?
2. To document best practices and lessons learned and identify gaps in gender mainstreaming by the SAGAs and build organizational ownership on gender responsiveness.
3. To identify the existence of SAGAs internal practices, policies and related support systems for gender mainstreaming and their effectiveness.
4. To identify the current challenges and other areas of concern in regard to gender mainstreaming among the SAGAs
5. To formulate the recommendations to ensure the SAGAs effectively address the identified gaps.
Scope of the Assignment
The Gender Audit for the SAGAs will cover the gender mainstreaming work of the institutions to provide a baseline for progress on gender mainstreaming, inform the strengthening of the gender action plans and guide the work of SAGAs on Gender mainstreaming towards achieving gender equality in the energy sector. The key focus areas of the SAGAs gender audit will include:
1. Precursor changes focusing on the foundations that have been built for policy changes to take place.
a) Leadership and decision-making
b) Staff capacity and attitude to mainstream gender.
c) Organization culture
d) Processes and procedures for gender mainstreaming
2. Implementation Plan
a) Gender mainstreaming in programs and policies
b) Tools and resources for gender mainstreaming
c) Planning and budgeting for gender mainstreaming
d) Monitoring and evaluation processes
Methodology
The consultant will provide an innovative methodology to be used in addressing the objective of this assignment. However, the consultant will be responsible for the following:
1. Desk Review and Preparation
1. Complete a desk review of project documents to gain a sound understanding of the project’s original plan, objectives, and assumptions. The consultant will also review previous reports on Practical Action’s engagement with the SAGAs.
2. Engage with the program team to have a better understanding of the assignment and the engagement with the SAGAs to date.
2. Develop the Evaluation Design
The consultant will develop the study design based on the findings from the desk review, feedback from the program team as well as their experience in conducting a gender audit. The consultant will discuss and agree on the following with Practical Action Kenya: 1. The methodologies chosen, tools and questions to use with each group. 2. Specific stakeholders/ SAGAs representatives to engage. Practical Action believes using engaging and empowering qualitative evaluation methods. Therefore, focus group discussions and key informant interviews can be used.
3. Field Work
Using the schedule and the chosen methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative information will be gathered. However, the consultant is responsible for:
1. Training the field assistants on the data collection methodologies as well as the data collection tools. Closely observing how the tools are being used and guiding improvement.
2. Leading on key informant interviews targeting the external stakeholders
3. Leading a reflection session with the program team to reflect on the findings so far, verifying if they are correct or not, and then gaining deeper understanding to the reasons.
3. Data Analysis
The consultant will be responsible for data analysis. The key findings and recommendations will then need to be drawn from this analysis.
4. Draft Report
The consultant will be required to develop a draft report.
1. This should follow the template in Annex B of this TOR.
2. The data collection tools should be included in an annex.
3. Clear and actionable recommendations
5. Sharing of Findings
The consultant will be required to hold a session to share the findings with key staff in Practical Action. The method is up to the consultant, but it is important to make it visual and engaging giving time for participants to ask questions and interrogate the findings.
6. Final Report
The consultant will update the draft report based on any feedback given by Practical Action either during the sharing session or via e-mail. This will then be submitted to Practical Action
Deliverables
Working closely with Practical Action’s Gender Advisor and the Project Manager, the consultant is expected to deliver a final gender audit report highlighting the gender issues for each of the SAGAs with clear strategies and recommendations on how to address them. More specifically, the consultant will submit the following deliverables on dates that will be agreed on during the inception meeting.
- An inception report, indicating clearly, the consultant’s understanding of the assignment and the tools & methodology to be adopted for the assignment.
- Draft gender audit report for feedback and comments by Practical Action team
- A final gender audit report and recommendations for each of the SAGAs
- Conduct a preliminary finding workshop with the team.
- Prepare for and facilitate a dissemination and action planning event for the results of the gender audit and recommendations, upon the approval of the SAGAs and in close coordination with Practical Action
- Power point presentation for disseminating the gender audit report.
Skills Required by the Consultant
Education
- Masters in gender studies, socio-economic studies, social sciences, or any other related development fields.
Experience
The Consultant must have the following qualifications:
- Significant experience in conducting gender audits for public institutions, civil society organizations or development partners of at least 5 years.
- At least 8 years of experience in working on energy and gender issues,
- Experience working with or researching with the SAGAs is an asset.
- Proven experience of actioning recommendations internally is an added advantage.
- Good analytical, report writing, presentation and facilitation skills.
- Familiarity with SAGAs and their roles in the energy sector is key.
Terms of Payment:
The payment schedule will be as follows:
25% – Delivery of the brief report on findings from the desk review and review of project monitoring data
25% – Completion of the field trips and national meetings according to the plan
25% – Submission of the draft report
25% – Acceptance of the final report
Safeguarding
Practical Action firmly believes that no person, regardless of age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or ethnic origin or any other personal characteristic, should experience harm, including sexual exploitation or abuse, and Practical Action takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard those who come in contact with our work. Practical Action is committed to raising awareness of safeguarding risks and to taking measures to minimize those risks.
All employees, trustees, volunteers, consultants, partners and others acting on behalf of Practical Action are expected to behave in ways that safeguard others from harm, sexual exploitation and abuse. This includes evaluation consultants and their team members.
A detailed TOR can be accessed here- https://practicalaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ToR-WEEK-3-Gender-Audit-for-Energy-SAGAs.pdf
Guidelines for Submission of Expression of Interest
The Consultant must have the following qualifications:
- Masters in gender studies, socio-economic studies, social sciences, or any other related development fields.
- Significant experience in conducting gender audits for public institutions, civil society organizations or development partners of at least 5 years.
- At least 8 years of experience in working on energy and gender issues.
- Experience working with or researching with the SAGAs is an asset.
- Proven experience of actioning recommendations internally is an added advantage.
- Good analytical, report writing, presentation and facilitation skills.
- Familiarity with SAGAs and their roles in the energy sector is key.
Practical Action is an equal opportunities employer, and we encourage applications from under-represented groups. We stay committed to cultivating an inclusive and diverse working environment and believe that people from different backgrounds or cultures give us different perspectives, and the more perspectives we have, the more successful we will be. By building a culture where everyone feels heard, respected, and valued we give everyone working with us the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
We are committed to safeguarding and protecting children and vulnerable adults and as such candidates will be subject to pre-contracting checks.
The successful applicant must have the pre-existing right to both live and work in Kenya.
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
