Mespt-Prq03491-2024 – Consultancy For Development Of Mespt Gender, Youth And Social Inclusion Strategy At Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust

TERMS OF REFERENCE

CONSULTANCY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF MESPT GENDER, YOUTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION STRATEGY

(FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANTS ONLY)

Bids from firms will be rejected.

INTRODUCTION

Micro Enterprises Support Program Trust (MESPT) was established in 2002 by the Government of Kenya and European Union. EU later relinquished their position to the Royal Danish Embassy in Kenya, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA) through a Trust Deed of 2013. The Trust is a development organization with a purpose to grow small holder farmers and Agri SMEs to increase productivity, incomes and enhance competitiveness for job creation especially for youth and women. This is achieved through capacity building which includes skills development, technical support, business advisory, financial and market linkages.

Our focus is to facilitate support and provision of integrated financial and business development services for small holder farmers and Agri SMEs in Kenya. This is aimed at enabling beneficiaries to access finance, increase agricultural productivity, agro-processing, and access markets/ trade opportunities. For over a decade, MESPT has partnered with development agencies, donors, and investors to build the capacity of the business services sector and the agricultural sector in Kenya through a unique tripartite business model that links Farmers, Agri- SMEs, and Financial Institutions – creating linkages along value chains.

OBJECTIVE

To develop the Trust’s gender, youth and social inclusion strategy and action plan while integrating Human Rights approaches through a thorough analysis of existing frameworks, stakeholder perspectives, and cross-cutting issues.

Specifically, the strategy will reflect gender and social inclusion as a cross-cutting issue in organization’s strategic implementation plan, including in programs, policies, practices, systems/procedures; staffing; culture and resources to deliver on organization’s commitment to address gender inequality and social exclusion as follows:

THE SCOPE OF WORK

Conduct a Gender and Social Inclusion Analysis

• Conduct gender and social inclusion analyses in the project areas to identify key challenges and opportunities. The gender analysis should elaborate on gender roles in socio-economic activities like agriculture and natural resource management, dependencies on natural resources, environmental degradation, women’s access to productive resources and their legal rights, as well as their influence in collective decision-making. The gender analysis should also include a review of national, regional, and international gender equality and environmental mandates and policies. It should explore gender dynamics across six core thematic areas: (1) legal and customary laws; (2) attitudes, customs and beliefs related to gender norms; (3) division of time, space, and labour; (4) participation, inclusion, and representation; (5) access and control of resources and services; and (6) environmental stressors and vulnerability.

Conduct a stakeholder mapping

• Map local and national stakeholder groups to engage with, including in conducting the gender analysis. As part of the gender analysis methodology, consultations with a wide-network of in-country gender experts is encouraged. It will be important for the consultant to develop a contact list of gender-related groups, women’s organizations, indigenous peoples’ rights organisations and other relevant stakeholders that participate in consultations to help ensure these stakeholders are engaged in our work.

Develop a Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion Action plan

• Develop a gender action plan to guide and advise on gender mainstreaming in all our projects and the organisation. The gender action plan should draw upon results from the gender analysis and include actions to overcome barriers (gender gaps) identified during the gender analysis. The gender action plan should provide guidance in relation to strategies; capacity building initiatives; strategic alliances with gender and women’s organizations, as well as relevant civil society organizations with strong work on gender in the Trust’s sites of intervention.

Conduct MESPT SWOT Analysis and Policy Review

• In relation to programs to review how well gender and social inclusion is incorporated into the project cycle management and within the agricultural value chains
• In relation to policy influencing, communication and fundraising to review how far messages are gender transformative
• In relation to HR to review the gender sensitivity of recruitment, induction, promotion, reward and recognition system, and all staff assessment processes
• In relation to finance to review how budgets are created and what money is made available for integrating gender and how it is tracked
• In relation to staff gender competencies, review commitment to development and training

Validation and strategy finalization

• Synthesize findings from the gender analysis to inform the development of the Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion Strategy.
• Organize virtual workshops with Management, staff, relevant partners, and stakeholders to present the draft strategy and seek feedback
• Board level validation and approval

EXPECTED OUTPUT

1. Inception Report outlining the methodology, stakeholders’ engagement plan, Data collection tools and checklists and detailed work schedule.
2. Gender and Social Inclusion Analysis Report
3. Draft gender youth and social inclusion strategy and action plan.
4. Final gender youth and social inclusion strategy and action plan incorporating stakeholder’s comments
5. A GYSI monitoring and evaluation framework

Period: 30 days delivered over a period of three months. The successful consultant should be available within the period of the assignment.

QUALIFICATIONS/SPECIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree in Gender Studies and Development, Education or related fields
• At least 10 years of progressive experience developing gender and social inclusion strategies and implementation plans for development organizations
• Previous experience in developing a programme-wide GESI Strategy and Action Plan
• Be familiar with gender, youth and disability sensitive approaches to M&E
• Demonstrated skills on preparing quality reports and other knowledge products
• A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards; and strong ethical standards to safeguarding
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral), strong command of English language and excellent research and analytical writing skills
• Experience in and/or knowledge and understanding of Kenya agricultural and enterprise development context desirable

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT

The individual Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Gender, youth and Social Inclusion Advisor. During his/her assignment, the consultant will be provided with all necessary information and office space to undertake online interviews and engagements.

DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS

1. Covering letter explaining how your experience addresses the requirements of the TOR.
2. CV of consultant (s) involved in the exercise.
3. KRA Pin Certificate and Tax compliance Certificate
4. 3 references of relevant past works, scope, role and contacts for the last 3 years
5. Provide detailed proposal with a detailed Work plan demonstrating the number of man-days to be employed and budget for this work.

The following should be under annexes.

1. Detailed CV of the consultant with detailed relevant experience related to the assignment.
2. Recommendation letters by other firms you have carried out similar assignments.
3. Financial proposal not exceeding 1 page must include:
4. Professional rate per day in Kenyan shillings and man days for the same
5. Detailed description of any other related costs

Please note that all quotes should be inclusive of relevant taxes

TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL EVALUATION

FINANCIAL EVALUATION (20 MARKS)

The overall weights for the evaluation of the technical and Financial will be 80:20 respectively. MESPT reserves the right to select and negotiate with the successful bidder. The financial proposal must reflect the cost per man day, number of man days for each activity and number and level of human resource per activity. All quotation must be inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT, WHT etc.)

PAYMENT PLAN

The payment plan to the Consultant will be as follows: –

1. First payment-30% of agreed cumulative budget upon signing of the contract and delivery of inception report /meeting
2. Second payment-50% of agreed cumulative budget upon satisfactory completion of the desk reviews, assessments /field work and draft strategy, Action plan and monitoring framework
3. Third and final payment-20% of agreed cumulative budget upon satisfactory incorporation of feedback, validation and presentation to and approval by the Board of Trustees.

CONDITIONS

1. MESPT reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal.
2. Any canvassing will lead to automatic cancellation of the submitted proposal.