Call for Consultant – GEDSI Responsive Market Systems Assessment for EU POWER Project At World Vision

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Project background

The POWER Project aims to support women and vulnerable people in all their diversity to fully enjoy and exercise their equal economic, labour, and social rights in Timor-Leste. The Action aims to contribute to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, focused on gender equality, and feed into SDGs 1-11, 13, 16, and 17 through the Action’s activities to provide people with equal opportunities and access to assets, services, and economic activities, which will increase their access to goods, services, and information leading to improved livelihoods. The Action will increase women’s participation in the labour market by improving their access to training opportunities and by expanding savings group opportunities and linking them to finance institutions and services. The Action recognizes that a holistic approach must be undertaken to break down women’s barriers to financial literacy and support women’s access to and usage of financial services.

2. Purpose

Economic empowerment is the capacity of women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes in ways that recognize the value of their contributions, respect their dignity, and make it possible to negotiate a fairer distribution of the benefits of growth. Economic empowerment increases women’s access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development, and market information.

World Vision adopts a holistic approach to Women Economic Empowerment; promoting women’s economic advancement, access to opportunities, services, and resources, and agency, including decision-making ability in households and markets, manageable paid and unpaid workloads, and well-being. Finally, World Vision promotes equitable systems where women can benefit from equitable policies, laws, institutional practices, and social norms.

One of the foundational activities of WEE is to conduct a Gender Sensitive/Responsive Market System Assessment that aims to understand the market system through a gender lens. This includes understanding the barriers and opportunities of market system actors to be inclusive and work well to serve the community, especially women and youth as their suppliers, customers, and employees.

3. Scope of Work

The Gender Responsive Market Assessment weighs income-generating opportunities for WEE as a key criterion alongside market demand, profitability, and pro-poor potential, and can help inform producer groups’ selection of their value chain, with low entry barriers for women (e.g. close to the home, lower level of inputs). Wherever possible, green, circular models that factor in environmental and climate concerns will be explored. The assessment will guide the Action’s approach to technical training, which will be based on a strong understanding of labour market dynamics. Ultimately, the information from the assessment will help savings and producer groups to understand which products to prioritize for production and processing.

4. Preferred consultant profile

• Extensive understanding of agricultural and rural development in Timor-Leste, from both a development cooperation and private sector perspective, demonstrated by previously performing similar analyses.
• Experience in assessment study or implementation of the activities related to market system development and/ or value chain development Timor-Leste
• Excellent knowledge of, and experience with, GEDSI assessment
• A university degree in a relevant area is an asset.
• Excellent understanding of international development and its implementation and funding mechanisms (public and private)
• Good understanding of agricultural (and other) businesses and value chain trends and direction, including major areas of interest and intervention, as well as interactions with the private sector
• At least five (5) years of relevant experience working in the area of agricultural and/or other business and value chain development
• Capacity to perform the work on the ground in the project area – either by self or via partner staff.
• Fluency in English.
• Consultant should be in-country.