Drafting Position Statement and Recommendations for CSW68 by African civil society, feminist, girls and women’s rights advocates

1.About FEMNET.

The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) is a pan-African, feminist and membership-based network based in Nairobi, Kenya with over 800 individual and institutional members across 50 African countries and in the diaspora. FEMNET envisions a society where African women and girls thrive in dignity and well-being, free from patriarchal and neoliberal oppression and injustices.

FEMNET recognizes that the commitment to alter relations of power, structural injustices, and systemic oppression lies at the heart of feminism. FEMNET is therefore committed to pushing towards altering power structures that perpetuate gender inequality by nurturing the African women’s movement to enable women and girls in their diversity to effectively claim, affirm, and use their collective power to end all forms of exclusion, oppression, exploitation, and injustices against them.

Founded in 1988, FEMNET exists to facilitate and coordinate the sharing of experiences, information, and strategies for human rights promotion among feminists, activists and women’s rights organizations as a strategy for collective organizing; policy influencing & advocacy; strategic communication; capacity strengthening as well as feminist solidarity and movement building. Over the years, FEMNET has strategically positioned herself as a convenor, organizer and facilitator of critical dialogues around women’s economic justice and rights; transformative women’s leadership; sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); climate justice and natural resource governance as well as, ending all forms of violence and harmful/ discriminatory practices against women and girls.

FEMNET continues to be intentional in influencing decisions made at national, regional and global levels, constantly ensuring African women voices are amplified and their needs, priorities and aspirations are prioritized in key policy dialogues and outcomes that have direct and indirect impact on their lives. FEMNET mobilizes African women to hold their States accountable to women’s rights and gender equality commitments. For more information, visit our website www.femnet.org.

2.Background on the Consultancy Assignment.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. Established in 1946 as a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the CSW continues to be instrumental as a global advocacy platform for shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in all their diversity.

CSW is an important space for advocacy given that it is one of the unique policy space that is dedicated to entirely discuss gender and women’s rights issues at the global level. It does provide feminists, activists and women’s rights advocates with the space to hold their governments accountable to the promises made especially under the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Every year, FEMNET is keen to mobilize African women and girls in all their diversities to deliberate, analyze and co-create priority policy recommendations on the CSW theme, grounded on their lived realities and experiences – which is used to strategically influence African governments positions and many times inform the resulting Agreed Conclusions.

FEMNET is a member of the NGO CSW/Africa, one of the regional forums of Non Governmental Organization Commission on the Status of Women established in 2013 as a substantive committee under the auspices Conference of NGOs (CoNGO). NGOCSW/Africa was created to increase the effectiveness of African Civil Society participation in the Commission on the Status of Women. Since her establishment, NGO CSW/Africa has provided leadership to African women and girls in mobilizing women and girls to participate in CSW and ensuring that women and girls effectively engage and contribute to processes leading up to, during and after the Commission. Other members of NGO CSW/Africa include Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), Egyptian Feminist Union, Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS), Kadirat Tunisia, Servitas Cameroon, Women for Change Cameroon (WfAC), Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), Women in Law Southern Cameroon (WLSA) and Zamara Foundation.

The hybrid (both virtual and in-person) sixty-eighth session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York from 11th to 22nd March 2024 under the priority theme “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective”. The Review theme will be on ‘social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls’ (agreed conclusions of the sixty-third session). As with previous years, representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non- governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world are invited to contribute to the CSW68 session. Ultimately, the outcome of the Commission’s consideration of the priority theme during its 68th session will take the form of agreed conclusions, to be negotiated by all Member States.

In preparations for the CSW68, FEMNET in partnership with members of the NGO CSW/Africa, will convene a series of regional Pre-CSW68 consultations with African feminists, activists, girls and women’s rights advocates in all their diversitiesjust before the Pre-CSW68 Experts and Ministerial consultative meeting, to be held in November 2023.

The core purpose of the pre-CSW68 consultations for African feminists, activists, girls and women’s rights advocates is to:-

• Ensure that the knowledge, lived experience and realities of feminists, activists, girls and women in Africa are documented and influence national and regional consultations and negotiations convened by African states before and during CSW68.
• Co-create key advocacy strategies, partnerships and recommendations towards gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.
• To gather and consolidate the demands of African feminists, activists, girls and women’s rights advocates that will form the basis for the Position Statement to influence the Agreed Conclusions.

3.Scope of Work and Terms of Reference.

FEMNET is seeking to engage a consultant to draft the Position Statement for African women and girls in all their diversities ahead of CSW68. Specifically, the Consultant will:

• Conduct a desk literature review to analyze the theme of CSW68, and ensure the draft Position Statement aligns with pan-African feminist perspectives and corresponds to commitments in legal and development frameworks and aspirations including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Generation Equality Action Coalition commitments, AU Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa etc. The draft Position Statement should also link to the CSW68 priority theme and the review theme.
• Liaise with FEMNET and NGO CSW/Africa members to present an initial unpacking of the CSW68 theme and what it means for African women and girls in all their diversity. This presentation will be made during the regional CSOs pre-CSW 68 consultation meetings in November 2023.
• Submit a 5-paged Position Statement and Recommendations for CSW68 by African feminists, activists, girls and women’s rights advocates, which will be used to influence the meeting of the AU Specialized Technical Committee on CSW68 and the Ministerial segment in November 2023.
• Review the African Ministerial Outcome document to identify gaps that need to be prioritized and reinforced in the Position Statement by African feminists, activists, girls and women’s rights advocates.
• Submit the final designed Position Statement and Recommendations for CSW68 by African feminists, girls and women’s rights advocates.
• Analyse the zero draft CSW68 Agreed Conclusion document and submit a summary of gaps, priorities and recommendations for targeted advocacy before and during the CSW68negotiations.

4.Duration of Assignment.

The Assignment is sequenced to be executed for a period of twenty (20) days (spread between 1st November 2023 – 22nd December 2023).

5.Key Deliverables and Outputs.

• Draft Position Statement and Recommendations for CSW68 by African civil society, feminist and women’s rights advocates to be presented to the Technical Experts Committee on CSW68 in October 2023.
• Well-designed Position Statement and Recommendations for CSW67 by African civil society, feminist and women’s rights advocates.
• Submit a summary of the analysis of the zero draft Agreed Conclusions (highlighting gaps, priorities and recommendations) for targeted advocacy before and during the CSW68 negotiations.
• A 2-page report detailing the drafting process, including names/ contacts of the key informants, literature review references and any recommendations/ feedback not included in the final Position Statement.

6.Liaison, Coordination and Reporting.

The Consultant will report to FEMNET’s Programme & Policy Manager and will work closely with the thematic leads and the Communications & Information Lead at FEMNET Secretariat.

7.Required Qualification, Skills and Competencies.

The Consultant should possess:-

• Over 7 years proven experience working in programme and policy analysis in Africa on gender justice, with a focus on economic justice.
• Experience writing a policy position statement for a similar endeavor
• In-depth understanding of national, regional and global policies and development frameworks related to gender equality.
• Strong research skills, ability to analyse/ synthesize related information and develop highly quality, compelling and publishable knowledge products.
• Experience working with, and nurturing partnerships with governments, UN agencies, donors, women’s rights and civil society organizations in Africa and globally.
• Proven experience developing policy statements/ briefs, including professional experience in conducting interviews.
• Excellent written, oral and communication skills (English/French/Portuguese language).
• Ability and availability to start work immediately.
• Strong understanding of safeguarding and committed to uphold safeguarding.

8.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 will be the contact between FEMNET and the team and responsible for all deliverables.

9.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.

10.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.