The project entails the construction/rehabilitation of the Ring Road from Bamenda to Nkambe; stretching along the Nigerian border. The Ring Road covers five Divisions in the Northwest Region and will link Bamenda, Ndop, Kumbo, Nkambe, Wum, Bafut and Bamenda.

Because of the economic potential of this stretch of road, its construction will improve agricultural development given the highly fertile soils, promote eco-tourism and facilitate trade with Nigeria.

Within the framework of its Cooperation Programme with Cameroon, the African Development Bank (ADB) which is the main funder of this project, has focused on the improvement of road connections to open up production and trading zones within Cameroon and with other countries in the Sub-Region, with special attention to gender equality issues.

When developing the project, the ADB’s 2014 – 2018 Gender Strategy set an objective of promoting gender equality mainstreaming in investments and development projects. This Gender project on strengthening gender equality along the road under construction is therefore in line with the components of pillars 1 and 2 of this Gender Equality strategy[1] and aims to: (i) use infrastructure to promote gender equality, (ii) increase the productivity of women farmers and facilitate their integration into the market, ((iii) strengthen technical training in science and technology.

This ADB’s vision is in line with the Cameroon government’s development policy, as outlined in its Growth and Employment Strategy Paper (GESP) in force during the project’s development, and in which Cameroon committed to ensuring the reduction of gender inequalities and the promotion of equal opportunities between women and men, particularly in the economic and employment spheres, as set out in the NDS30.

The project is also in line with the Cameroon’s National Gender Policy and is perfectly aligned with UN Women’s strategic priorities on Women’s Economic Empowerment and the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship. It also contributes to the achievement of MDG5.

It is within this context that the Government, through the Ministry of Public Works (MINTP), entrusted to  UN Women the implementation of the project ” ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN LIVING ALONG THE RING ROAD : BAMENDA-NDOP-KUMBO-NKAMBE-WUM-BAFUT-BAMENDA”, with the aim of building and providing socio-economic infrastructure for women living along the road under construction, so that they can benefit from the impact of the road in terms of improved family income, social resilience, protection and promotion of their rights, and participation in the sustainable and integral development of the area.

– The agreement between MINTP and UN Women focuses on:

– Conducting a study on the economic situation of women in the main economic sectors in the project’s area of influence;

– Strengthening the organisational, technical and entrepreneurial skills of women’s groups, in order to empower them and give them equitable access to basic services and infrastructure;

– Strengthening the capacities of local supervisory structures to guarantee appropriate support/advice in mastering the value chains for each of the selected production sectors;

– Supplying production inputs and equipment to alleviate the arduousness of domestic and production work for the benefit of women;

– Supporting the construction of basic community infrastructure, in particular multi-purpose units, storage warehouses and conservation and processing units, and gender sensitive markets (defining specifications, preparing tender documents, monitoring constructions, setting up management committees, etc.);

– Building the capacity of women producers to access growth markets;

– Other Services that are envisaged, include acquiring motorbikes, organizing fairs and setting up a digital information and sales platform.

As part of the effective launch of project activities, UN Women is recruiting an International Consultant to carry out a socio-economic study of the current situation of men and women living along the Ring Road.

The Consultant who will be the mission officer, will work in close collaboration with the National Consultant.  This paired team will be under the supervision of the Resident Representative of UN Women and the technical supervision of the Economic Empowerment Expert. They will propose a methodology, work plan and budget, that will be discussed before the start of the assignment on the field.

The proposed approach should enable the production in the short-term, of relevant information needed to support the efficient and effective implementation of the project for strengthening women’s economic empowerment along the road project and facilitate the reporting of progress through relevant indicators for both the donor and the UN Women’s Economic Empowerment Program.

[1] Pillar 1: Legal status and property rights; Pillar 2: Economic empowerment; Pillar 3: Knowledge management and capacity building

• Conduct a gender analysis of the socio-cultural context to identify constraints, norms and social practices harmful to girls and women in the area, including but not limited to the education of young girls, early marriages, gender-based violence, weaknesses in the mechanisms for protecting the rights of women and young girls, constraints on access to birth certificates and NIC, access to land resources, to decision-making positions, etc.
• Identify the sectors with a high concentration of men and women by councils as well as the constraints and obstacles encountered by them;
• Produce a profile of women’s farmer organizations within the project area, by sector of activity and legal status, along with their needs in terms of technical support, organization, capacity-building, logistics, etc.; in this case, identify, assess and scale needs in terms of supply of production inputs and equipment to alleviate the arduousness of domestic and production work for the benefit of women;
• Identify new economic opportunities related to the road project for women and girls, and the major challenges to their economic empowerment;
• Propose strategies for improving the situation, particularly those with a high potential for positive impact on social relations between men and women, together with an action plan and terms of reference for their implementation;
• Identify, based on weighted criteria, three locations and sites, to host a multi-purpose agro-processing and marketing unit, market sheds with latrines, water points and day-care centers for the marketing areas, as provided for in the Project Document;
• Identify potential beneficiaries for improved stoves along the project area;
• Identify, based on weighted criteria, 5 sites and locations for the construction of warehouses provided for in the Project Document;
• Identify, based on weighted criteria, sites for the drilling of 05 boreholes in the major agro-pastoral production basins;
• Provide updated socio-economic indicators on the situation of women and men along the Ring-road and propose target values after three years, as well as a framework for monitoring them;
• Identify priority intervention zones along the road due to the security situation and propose contextualised intervention approaches;
• Capture the interest of CTDs in supporting women’s economic empowerment, especially through communal development plans.
• Analyze the capacity of local authorities and decentralized government services to facilitate the implementation of project activities.

Deliverables:

Three main deliverables are expected at the end of this mission:

1) An inception report including the discussed and adjusted Methodological Note;

2) A Study Report in English and its summary in French meeting the specific objectives described above;

3) A mission report describing the progress of the mission

• – Respect for diversity
• – Integrity
• – Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Gender awareness and sensitivity
• Accountability
• Creative problem solving
•  Effective communication
• Inclusive collaboration
• Stakeholder engagement
• Leading by example

•  Have excellent academic and professional knowledge of gender and women’s economic empowerment issues;
• Have at least 5 years’ experience in carrying out similar socioeconomic studies in other African countries;
• Have excellent knowledge of the study environment;
• Have good knowledge of the local economic development and the “value chain” approach;
• Have strong experience in writing study reports;
• Have experience working with women’s organizations;
• Proven ability to work in a team and to collaborate with administrative authorities, decentralized government technical services and civil society organizations;
• Good understanding of UN Women  mandate.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION:

• Doctorate degree (Bac+ 5) in Social Sciences (Gender, Law, Economics, etc…), Rural Development, Education, Planning, Agricultural Sciences, Sustainable Development or equivalent.

EXPERIENCE:

• At least 05 years’ professional experience or academic experience in Gender and economic empowerment;
• Experience in mainstreaming gender in big projects;
• Knowledge and experience of national, regional and international legal instruments on gender;
• Proven experience in adult education (andragogy);
• Proven experience in writing scientific articles or reports;
• Experience of working in a team;
• Excellent analytical, writing, and summarising skills;

LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS:

• Excellent command of the English language, knowledge of French and a language of communication common in the project area would be an asset.