Facilitator– Africa CSW 67. At The African Women’s Development and Communications Network

1.Introduction And Background.

Since inception in 1988, 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) justice; climate justice and natural resource governance as well as, ending all forms of violence and harmful/ discriminatory practices against women and girls.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the global inter-governmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. The CSW discusses progress and gaps in the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the key global policy document on gender equality and emerging issues that affect gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. The outcomes of each session in CSW are forwarded to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for follow-up.

Although CSW is a recognized global body entirely dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, it is still a space that many feminists, women’s rights activists, girls and women from Africa and organizations have limited access to. Following the virtual CSW66, FEMNET in collaboration with APWLD (Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development) held a series of reflective meetings on the meaningful and effective participation of global south activists before, during and after global advocacy spaces

To facilitate and encourage African women’s access and active participation in the CSW67, FEMNET is looking to bring CSW67 to Africa, hosting women and girls from each of the 5 sub regions of Africa during the first week of CSW67.

The Africa CSW67 convening main objectives are to:

• Facilitate intergenerational, intersectional, and cross-sectoral interaction for in-person spontaneous networking and contributions towards the CSW outcome document and negotiations (reflections, exchange of ideas, sharing actions).
• Unpack and understand the CSW convening, including sessions on the history of CSW, its relevancy and advocacy pressure points.
• Enhance women and girls’ participation in negotiations by collectively strategizing and linking with other women and girls who will be physically present in New York and are in Government delegations.
• Expand the connection between those who can engage at CSW and those who are not able to engage due to the discriminative rules around accessing the physical location of CSW.

2.Objective of the Consultancy.

The facilitator will be required to:

• Manage expectations and clarify roles and responsibilities of participants
• Present goals, themes and structure of the day (FEMNET will support with guidance on this) and generate agreement on this
• Ask the right questions to facilitate a structured discussion around the Africa CSW67 program (FEMNET will support with guidance on this)
• Have sufficient knowledge and skills to ask probing questions to encourage a deeper analysis
• Have proficient skills to ensure all agencies are equally contributing to the discussion
• Note key points throughout the discussion and build on them
• Summarize complex issues and agreements to ensure accuracy and guide discussion.
• Build consensus through facilitating discussion on priorities, principles and next steps (FEMNET will support with guidance on this).
• Prepare summary points of the session
• Coordinate with the rapporteur to ensure main points are reflected in the Africa CSW67 report
• Other tasks related to achieving the required goals of the roundtable discussion.

3.Deliverables.

Facilitation of Africa CSW67.

4.Key competencies of the consultant .

• Advanced university degree in Development studies, Gender studies and social sciences studies is preferred, although relevant profiles may be considered.
• The consultant should espouse Pan African Feminist values.
• Experience in facilitating sessions in similar spaces
• Evidence of completion of previous equivalent assignments.
• Sound theoretical and practical background in the field of Gender and Feminist analysis
• Experience working in Africa Africa region

5.Duration of Task.

• The consultancy will be conducted on 27th February to 3rd March 2023.
• The consultancy period will be 5 days including preparations and writing of the report.

6.Selection of Consultant.

The consultant shall be contracted by FEMNET. The contract will include Withholding Tax (WHT) deduction in line with laws of contracting where FEMNET is headquartered. A WHT certificate will be issued to the consultant. Payment will be done through bank transfer to the consultant bank account. FEMNET will not meet the costs of bank charges. Payment schedule will be agreed upon with the consultant upon successful selection. In case of team/firm applicants, a designated assignment contract manager (lead consultant) will be the contact between FEMNET and the team and responsible for all deliverables.

7.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.

8.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.