Consultancy Opportunity: Moderator for CARE Economy Definition, FEMNET

1.About FEMNET.

The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) is a pan-African, feminist and membership-based network based in Nairobi, Kenya with over 800 individual and institutional members across 50 African countries and in the diaspora. FEMNET envisions a society where African women and girls thrive in dignity and well-being, free from patriarchal and neoliberal oppression and injustices.

FEMNET recognizes that the commitment to alter relations of power, structural injustices, and systemic oppression lies at the heart of feminism. FEMNET is therefore committed to pushing towards altering power structures that perpetuate gender inequality by nurturing the African women’s movement to enable women and girls in their diversity to effectively claim, affirm, and use their collective power to end all forms of exclusion, oppression, exploitation, and injustices against them.

Founded in 1988, FEMNET exists to facilitate and coordinate the sharing of experiences, information, and strategies for human rights promotion among feminists, activists and women’s rights organizations as a strategy for collective organizing; policy influencing & advocacy; strategic communication; capacity strengthening as well as feminist solidarity and movement building.

Over the years, FEMNET has strategically positioned herself as a convener, organizer and facilitator of critical dialogues around women’s economic justice and rights; transformative women’s leadership; sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); climate justice and natural resource governance as well as, ending all forms of violence and harmful/ discriminatory practices against women and girls.

FEMNET continues to be intentional in influencing decisions made at national, regional and global levels, constantly ensuring African women voices are amplified and their needs, priorities and aspirations are prioritized in key policy dialogues and outcomes that have direct and indirect impact on their lives. FEMNET mobilizes African women to hold their States accountable to women’s rights and gender equality commitments.

Vision: African women and girls thrive in dignity and well-being, free from patriarchal and neoliberal oppression and injustices.

Mission: To mobilize African women for the achievement of gender equality and the realization of women’s and girls’ rights at all levels.

FEMNET’s Core Values

• Feminist solidarity
• Respect for diversity
• Intersectionality
• Integrity
• Commitment to women’s rights
• Professionalism and learning

2.Background and rationale.

Sharefair

The United Nations for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women), in collaboration with key partners, will from 1st to 4th November 2022 host a Regional Sharefair on the ‘Care Economy,’ to raise awareness on women and girls’ unpaid care work and its implications on the economy. The conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya. The Sharefair intends to develop an Africa definition on the care economy as well as strengthen the capacity and knowledge on unpaid care and domestic work in the region. The Sharefair will be three-folded, including the following components (1) developing an East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) definition on the care economy, in particularly around the 5Rs and resilience; (2) strengthen the capacity of practitioners, partners, trade unions, cooperatives, government officials etc. on unpaid care and domestic work in ESAR and; (3) experts dialogue meeting to share best-practices, identify synergies and ways forward to increase advocacy on the care economy in the region. The three-day capacity development, sharing and learning event will provide opportunity to further explore the role of women and girls in building and strengthening resilience and promote dialogue. In addition to strengthening the capacity and understanding of the SDGs and the 5R strategy, from an ESAR perspective. The event will also facilitate a long-term collaboration amongst regional stakeholders with the aim of identifying problems, using data and predictive methods. The main expected outcome will be increasing the capacity of unpaid care and domestic work in ESAR, including the creation of a strong regional network to amplify resilience solutions beyond the Sharefair, sustaining change in policy and practice within relevant macro-economic frameworks. Eliminating discriminatory social norms and gender stereotypes, encouraging positive masculinities, and enacting care-friendly employment policies to balance work and family commitments, facilitated by culturally relevant education curricula and media and advocacy campaigns are one of the key means in addressing the inequalities in the care economy.

3.Objectives of the consultancy and Scope of work.

The moderator will assist to facilitate the East and Southern Africa (ESAR) Care Economy Conference.

4.Deliverables & expected results.

• The moderator will also steer discussion and introduce panelist and discussants – The moderator will ensure that the program is running according to schedule by ensuring session times are adhered to – Provide recap at the beginning of each day of the session, working closely with the rapporteurs to ensure main points are documented

5.Required Qualification, Skills and Competencies

Academic Qualification 

• Relevant qualification in Gender Studies

Experience

• Experience working with the women’s rights movement in Africa
• Experience in Labour market economics, public social policy, social safety nets, or approaches to social service provision
• Sound experience in facilitating conferences and sessions for women rights organizations
• Experience in working for non-profit organizations.

6.Duration of Assignment.

This is a 4-day assignment from 1st November 2022

7.Liaison, Coordination and Reporting.

The consultant will report to the Economic Justice and Rights Lead.

8.Selection of Consultant.

The rapporteur shall be contracted by FEMNET. The contract will include Withholding Tax (WHT) deduction in line with the laws of contracting where FEMNET is headquartered. A WHT certificate will be issued to the consultant. Payment will be done through bank transfer to consultant bank account. FEMNET will not meet the costs of bank charges. Payment schedule will be agreed upon with consultant upon successful selection.

9.Intellectual Property Rights.

The consultant expressly assigns to FEMNET any copyright arising from the outputs produced while executing the service contract. The consultant may not use, reproduce, disseminate, or authorize others to use, reproduce or disseminate any output produced under the service contract without prior consent from FEMNET.

10.Terms of Service.

This is a non-staff contract and therefore the consultant is not entitled to insurance, medical cover or any other status or conditions as FEMNET staff.