Facilitator – Annual Gender Forum on Women’s Political Participation At Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa

CONSULTANCY ACTIVITY: Facilitation of the Annual Gender Forum on women’s Meaningful engagement in governance and electoral processes in South Sudan.

DATES: 28th to 29th February 2024

LOCATION: Juba, South Sudan

A. INTRODUCTION

Participation of women and girls in national development is a critical element for inclusive and sustainable development. While statistic indicates progressive enhancement of gender equality in South Sudan, there are persistent barriers that continue to challenge meaningful participation and engagement of women. Since 2022, SIHA has been implementing the We Cannot Wait prrogramme in S. Sudan with support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to empower women’s rights organizations, groups and activists in the Greater Horn of Africa to champion gender equality in the political, legal, and socio-cultural spheres. This is being done through movement building, capacity enhancement, documentation and information sharing amongst others.

B. BACKGROUND:

The Annual Gender Forum is planned to bring women from all diversities to develop a consolidated political demand document, (the women’s gender-agenda) to be used as a political tool to demand for an-engendered socio-economic, and political-economic accountability from political actors.

The process of developing the document will start from the regional level i.e., Bentiu, Wau, and Juba using outreach activities, local gender forums, and WCW coalition meetings. During these meetings, the women will discuss and agree on at least 5 major gender priorities for women and girls in the region. These issues will be deliberated upon during the annual national gender forum and consolidated into one document.

Regarding the programme for the event, the first day will be a collective care session with the participants. There will be presentation on Mental Health by Health Net TPO/ Dr. Atong of Juba Teaching Hospital Head of department Psychotic Unit. The session is to build a firm and healthy mind-set for the women to push their agenda. In between the sessions, there will be energizers and yoga sessions to keep participants attentive.

The second session will focus on reflection of last year’s National Gender Forum and the strategic priorities from the three states (Wau, Bentiu and Juba). The women will assess what was achieved, gaps and way forward. This session will also be in the programme for the local gender forums, outreach activities, and the WCW coalition reflections.

The third session is for the women to present their regional gender priorities for discussion and agreement. At the end of the session, they should be able to agree on five common gender priorities to inform a consolidated demand document. These priorities should be measurable and specific.

Lastly is a session on the recently passed electoral bill and the Women’s Charter developed by the women through the support of UN-Women. The women will discuss ways forward on how the gender-agenda can be used to inform the electoral process and advance the Charter. They will leverage on the experiences of key women leaders to share experiences, lessons learnt, and challenges to ensure collective advocacy for effective participation of women in the 2024 general elections. Other regional opportunities for elaborate synergy can be included in the discussion.

The forum targets WCW women coalition members from Bentiu, Wau and Juba, Women Leaders from Parliament, line ministries, development partners, CSOs and other stakeholders. Direct targeted beneficiaries are 40 majorly women and young women inclusive of persons living with disabilities.

C. OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

The overall objective of this assignment is to facilitate and guide discussions during the annual gender forum to ensure elaborated understanding of the socio-economic and political processes in the country for women’s movement building and development of a collective gender-agenda for the December 2024 elections.

E. DELIVERABLES OF THE ASSIGNMENT:

• Make a presentation on shared experiences from the region and strategies for women to adopt during electoral processes.
• Guide the women leaders develop a two-paper manifesto as a result of collective consensus by the women leaders on key gender priorities for the women and girls in South Sudan for the upcoming election.
• Together with the women leaders develop a precise roadmap for women’s meaningful engagement in governance and electoral processes using the manifesto/gender-agenda.
• Develop the Annual Gender Form report including recommendations and resolutions of the forum for submission.

Qualification:

• University degree in gender, human rights, social studies, or any other relevant field.
• Proven experience in facilitating similar events organized by other regional or international organizations.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
• Strong ability to manage challenging debates and accommodate audiences from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to facilitate both short and long sessions following innovative, engaging, and interactive approaches.
• Strong analytical skills and critical thinking.
• Strong advocacy and campaigning skills
• Adherence to SIHA code of conduct.