Terms of Reference (TOR) – Gender Analysis and Strategy Consultant

KENYA BLUE ECONOMY SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM (KBEST)

CONTEXT/ BACKGROUND

Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) is implementing the Kenya Blue Economy Skills Training Program (KBEST) in close collaboration with the Kenyan Ministry of Education (MoE), primarily through the State Department of Vocational and Technical Training’s Directorate of TVET and the State Department for Post-Training and Skills Development.

KBEST is a 7-year (2022-2029) program funded by the Government of Canada that will support the development and delivery of skills training programs for employment in the blue economy, an emerging sector with significant potential in Kenya. The training programs will directly benefit youth, 40% of whom will be women and girls. This program will strongly focus on increasing the participation of adolescent girls and women, youth and vulnerable populations in demand-driven technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in promising blue economy fields, thus supporting them to achieve greater economic equality. As part of the program, a subset of trainees will have access to full scholarships and paid industry placement opportunities. The program will also engage in community outreach campaigns and advocacy work.

The program will focus on two regions: the coastal region along the Indian Ocean in Eastern Kenya, and the Lake Victoria region in Western Kenya. It will work with local county governments’ Departments of Education in each region and will engage with 20 county level Vocational Training Centres (VTC) in two clusters with national level training centres. The project will also engage the private sector in the identification of skills gaps, the development of relevant occupational standards and curricula, and the improvement of training facilities. The capacity of Kenyan institutions and agencies will be enhanced so they can better implement TVET reform initiatives, increase their effectiveness in delivering industry-response skills training, and strengthen the quality of industry-responsive skills training programs.

KBEST’s ultimate outcome is “Increased economic opportunities for male and female graduates of from TVET training institutions in the blue economy in Kenya.” The two intermediate program results are:

1. Strengthened quality of gender- and industry-responsive blue economy skills training for youth, particularly girls/adolescent girls and women, at national and county-level TVET institutions
2. Increased equitable participation of youth, particularly girls/adolescent girls and women, in gender- and industry-responsive blue economy skills training in Kenya

SCOPE

CICan is currently looking to hire a Kenyan consultant to support the project in producing a gender equality (GE) analysis and project gender strategy.

The objective of the analysis is to identify the gender equality and intersectionality considerations at play at individual, community and institutional levels in the program’s two regions, particularly as these relate to education and employment in the blue economy. The final report must include a comprehensive presentation of the key gender-based barriers faced by women, youth and vulnerable populations, including those living with disabilities and in marginalized communities, in each region that result from discriminatory social norms at the levels of family/community, TVET institutions, and the private sector such as, inter alia:

• girls being kept out of school for family duties,
• lack of knowledge of or access to sexual health and reproductive information and services resulting in early and/or unwanted pregnancy and other health concerns,
• unpaid care responsibilities,
• gender-based violence, including sexual harassment in VTCs,
• exclusionary curricula and teaching methods.

Please note that the consultancy must identify the specific impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on women in each region. CICan will share its A.M.I.E. framework which helps to categorize these barriers according to whether these affect access, retention, employment, and entrepreneurship. The consultancy must use the Government of Canada’s GBA+ framework, but the use of other tools is welcome

In terms of the strategy, it should describe how KBEST can address the barriers identified in the analysis, including how the project will engage with women’s rights organizations. The strategy must also address how KBEST can minimize the backlash that women and girls may experience in both training and subsequent employment and entrepreneurship in the blue economy, including outlining the elements of an approach for how KBEST can engage with boys and men at various levels to address this potential backlash and promote gender equality.

In developing the strategy, it will be essential that the consultant understand the project’s Logic Model and make suggestions for modifications if needed.

Specific tasks for both the analysis and strategy include but may not be limited to:

• Becoming familiar with and using documentation already produced by the KBEST team, including notes from consultations, the preliminary gender equality analysis produced for the program’s initial proposal, the high-level gender strategy produced for the program’s initial implementation plan, and the blue economy labour market analysis that was just completed for the program.
• Conducting additional literature reviews as needed.
• Preparing data collection tools as needed; for example, interview guides for the consultations to be conducted. The tools developed should align with KBEST’s results-based management (RBM) tools.
• Preparing a mapping of the existing services provided to the diverse groups of women, girls, men or boys facing challenges and barriers, particularly as regards GBV and SEA.
• Conducting consultations with a variety of stakeholders in the program’s two focus regions, and including input from women and girls (as actual beneficiaries)
• Consulting with key KBEST staff.
• Analyzing data collected.
• Preparing draft and final reports, including information on the methodology used and its rationale, and a complete list of persons and organizations consulted in the two regions.

DURATION

October 3, 2022-November 21, part-time

LEVEL OF EFFORT

Interested consultants will propose a workplan of not more than 35 days.

DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE

Consultancy workplan – note that consultations in the two regions are expected to take 5 days each for a total of 10 days: October 6

Consultation interview guides: October 13

Consultations Coast and Lake regions: October 17-28

Draft report and services mapping (2 regions): November 11

Final report of no more than 30 pages, excluding annexes: December 2

LOCATION

The Consultant will be based in Kenya and is expected to work from home/remotely with some travel within the two regions of the project.

RATE

Commensurate with the position.

REPORTING

The Consultant will work under the direction of the Manager of Operations, Caribbean, and Anglophone Africa, CICan or their designate. The Consultant is expected to work with a high degree of coordination and collaboration with the KBEST Gender Advisor, Senior Program Officer and additional KBEST team members.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Must be Kenyan citizen with considerable work experience in Kenya
• At minimum bachelor’s degree in gender studies, social sciences, statistics, or a related subject area
• Experience conducting gender analyses for international projects, experience with Global Affairs Canada-funded projects an asset
• Experience with M&E within a results-based management framework
• Experience developing reliable data-gathering tools and gathering and analyzing information from different project partners/stakeholders
• Experience with women’s rights organizations
• Knowledge of blue economy/climate change an asset
• Experience working with TVET institutions or post-secondary sector is highly desirable
• Ability to report findings clearly and concisely
• Strong communications and problem-solving skills
• Fluency in English and Swahili
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and tight timelines
• Willingness to travel in Kenya

It is expected that the literature review will make reference to, inter alia, official Government of Kenya documents relating to gender equality and the blue economy; Global Affairs Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy and its Gender Equality Toolkit; and reliable sources such as the United Nations for information on current global trends, developments and innovations in gender equality and related fields (i.e. women’s economic empowerment, women’s rights, human rights etc.) and the blue economy.