The Girls’ Access To Education – Girls’ Education Challenge (GATE-GEC) programme is a 4-year UK Aid-funded initiative in Sierra Leone to increase the education opportunities for marginalised girls and children with disabilities. GATE-GEC works across six districts in Sierra Leone and consists of a consortium of four organisations. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, GATE-GEC has redesigned the project to address the immediate education, health and well-being needs among girls and other marginalised groups. Our approach responds to a need for a rapid response to the access, retention and safeguarding issues faced by marginalised girls and children with disabilities in SL. Our revised strategy is comprised of three activity strands that include Teaching and Learning, Access and Retention and Psychosocial Support Interventions. The three strands of activity work together to ensure girls and children with disabilities are supported to safely return and stay in school amid the Covid-19 crisis. The approach works at a national, regional and local level to support the ongoing educational development, health and wellbeing of girls and children with disabilities within school and community contexts.
Plan International UK requires a Gender and Social Inclusion Consultant to work with the Plan International Sierra Leone GATE-GEC team and UK National Office personnel to ensure that GESI is meaningfully mainstreamed throughout program activities and interventions appropriately tailored to meet the needs of girls, children with disabilities, and other target sub-groups. The Consultant will also provide technical advice and leadership across the consortium to advise partners on inclusivity and equity, including promotion of appropriate disaggregated data collection and decision-making to promote gender equality and equity.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) outlines the project and Consultancy requirements in detail: https://planinternationaluk-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/planukshare_plan-uk_org/EfPu26lH-5JHsjigfDS92qwBjxSQTRXMd7Ch8WxqkqH5bw?e=iTjvlW
The Consultant will have:
- At least five years of progressive experience in gender equality and social inclusion
- Degree or equivalent in Gender Studies and Development, Education or related fields, Master’s degree is added advantage
- Familiarity with the Sierra Leone context
- Expertise in mainstreaming gender and inclusion (of those with disabilities and other intersecting identities which can result in marginalisation) in education programmes specifically
- Familiarity with gender-, age- and disability-sensitive approaches to M&E, as well as both quantitative and qualitative tools for measuring changes in gender attitudes
- Extensive experience in the design and delivery of training and building staff capacity in GESI
- Previous experience in developing a program-wide action plan to support gender mainstreaming
- Demonstrated skills on preparing quality reports and other knowledge products
- A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards; and strong ethical standards to safeguarding of children
- Passionate commitment to girls/women’s rights and gender equality and an intersectional feminist approach
- Excellent communication skills (written and oral), strong command of English language and excellent research and analytical writing skills
How to apply:
Plan International UK welcomes a response to this Terms of Reference with:
- A CV
- A cover letter demonstrating how you meet the required skills and competencies
- A written statement outlining how you would approach the Consultancy, and the potential challenges that you might expect to encounter
- A sample of relevant work (e.g. a Gender Mainstreaming Action Plan or Gender Strategy developed for a similar project)
- A detailed budget with Consultancy daily fee rates all-inclusive in GBP
- Two references for Plan International to contact to discuss previous work experiences
Please submit the application documents to maggie.shergill@plan-uk.org no later than 5pm GMT on 21 October 2020 noting “GESI Consultancy” in the subject line.
Applications submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.