National Consultant - Women's engagement in agricultural value chains in North Unguja and Pemba Regions

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. UN Women exists to advance women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Placing women’s rights at the center of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations system efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality are translated into action worldwide. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States’ priorities and efforts while building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (RGoZ) has partnered with the UN Women Tanzania Country Office to implement government initiatives aimed at accelerating community development and Gender Equality, contributing to the elimination of violence against women and girls and hence improving the socio-economic well-being of the people in Zanzibar. The partnership is under the Zanzibar Joint Program (ZJP), which 12[1] UN agencies that are implementing activities under 4 thematic areas: Food systems transformation, climate change and adaptation, ending violence against women and children (VAWC)[2] and investment in human capital.

The ZJP targets vulnerable communities living in low-lying areas of Kaskazini Unguja and Kaskazini Pemba regions (28% of the total population of Zanzibar), most of whom depend on the blue economy for their livelihoods, food, and income. Both regions experience high basic needs and food poverty rates, high food insecurities and high levels of school dropout rates with low access to health and WASH services.

UN Women is implementing targeted interventions within the realms of Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) and food systems. The primary objective is to enhance the capacity of organizations that prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and provide essential services. We aim to equip these service providers with the tools they need to deliver effective prevention and response initiatives that directly address VAWC. Moreover, our efforts are directed towards reducing gender discrimination, which restricts women’s participation in inclusive value chain commodity production. By fostering inclusive and decent employment opportunities through skills development, we seek to empower women and alleviate poverty in vulnerable communities located in Kaskazini Pemba and Kaskazini Unguja in Zanzibar.

While the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (RGoZ) has prioritized ending violence against women and children (VAWC) through national policies, plans and awareness campaigns, women in rural and farming communities continue to face deep-seated, multi-layered challenges that are deeply intertwined with their economic and social status. Many women lack economic independence, making them more vulnerable to abuse. Social attitudes often tolerate violence, with some justifying "wife-beating." In remote rural areas, women face increased risks of non-partner violence when collecting firewood, fetching water, or farming sea cucumbers. In addition, Inadequate legal frameworks and poor enforcement of existing anti-discrimination laws mean that even when victims seek help, they often face "fragmented" support systems that fail to provide long-term safety or empowerment.

UN Women delivers a holistic approach to prevent and respond to VAWG. This means working to promote safe environments in agriculture value chains, which contribute to attitudinal changes towards VAWG, promotion of women’s economic independence, and adaptation of initiatives that combine technology with environmental resilience, ensuring that women and girls live free from violence and contribute to sustainable development. Efforts also aim to transform community attitudes to eliminate tolerance and socialization of discriminatory norms and foster equitable relationships and collective accountability to prevent and respond to VAWC. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that includes changing community norms, ensuring legal protection, providing economic alternatives for women, and strengthening rural and localized VAWC-related service networks.

The ZJP targets women who are engaged in selected agriculture value chains, i.e., seaweed, sea cucumber, cassava, and banana and surrounding communities to identify and address context-specific VAWG risks. Through collaboration with Local Government Authorities and existing government systems such as VAWC protection and climate/agriculture committees, interventions enhance coordination among stakeholders, strengthen understanding and use of referral pathways, and promote positive social change that limits women's engagement in agriculture value chains. The joint UN program will further support efforts towards improved community attitudes and perceptions on violence against women and children lead to an increased number of women's engagement in value chains farming in Unguja and Pemba North Regions.

UN Women seeks an individual consultant (or consultant team) to conduct a mapping of forms of violence in low-lying areas of Kaskazini Unguja and Kaskazini Pemba regions that limit women's engagement in key economic value chains and identify areas of improvement within the context of existing discriminatory practices, including gender stereotypes. The mapping recommendations will enhance advocacy, awareness-raising, community mobilization, and promote legal and policy reforms to improve the prevention of all forms of violence and to promote the use of essential services for survivors of violence. The implementation of the identified recommendations from the study is expected to facilitate increased engagement of women in the agriculture value chains in selected regions of Kaskazini Unguja and Pemba.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

To map forms of violence affecting women in the low-lying areas of Kaskazini Unguja and Kaskazini Pemba. The study examines how these barriers limit women’s participation in key economic value chains—specifically seaweed, sea cucumber, cassava, and banana farming—while identifying opportunities to address gender stereotypes and discriminatory practices.

SPECIFIC TASKS.

The specific task includes the following.
• Inception report: Prepare and present an inception report that summarizes existing information, understanding of the assignment, scope of the work, and data collection methodology and tools.
• Desk review: Conduct a desk review of existing reports and other data/evidence sources on the overall situation of VAWG in Zanzibar, and draw lessons learned.
• Conduct Qualitative and quantitative mapping of existing forms of violence, negative norms and gender stereotypes existing in the selected localities that exacerbate women's engagement in value chains in agriculture.
• Map existing initiatives to prevent VAWG such as utilization of policy, plans and strategies, local plans, engagement of key stakeholders and community engagement including the actors in the value chain of the agriculture sector.
• Map the available services and utilization of the services by survivors of violence. and services and referral pathways for ending VAWG in Zanzibar. These include Service Name, Type of Service, Geographic Coverage, Operating Hours, and accessibility and survivor-centered preparedness.
• Map other community-led mitigation initiatives that empower women and prevent women’s exposure to risks of all forms of violence.
• Prepare lessons learned and recommendations from the duty bearers and beneficiaries in addressing VAWC in the agriculture sector.

DELIVERABLES
• An inception report with details of the assignment, modalities of the work, and the Work Plan.
• First draft the report with findings, lessons learned and recommendations.
• Report on stakeholders' consultations to review and validate the findings, lessons learnt and recommendations
• Final report on both soft and hardcopy

EXECUTION AND IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES

The assignment will be supervised by the Program Specialist in EVAWG throughout the mapping exercise.

TIME FRAME AND LOGISTICS

The Consultant will carry out the assignment for an overall period of three months from the day of signing the contract. Related to logistics, the consultant will sign specific contracts which provide details including the consultancy costs and modality of payments.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payments will be made upon submission and acceptance of the specified deliveries. These are grouped into three tranches, with the amount and percentage of facilitation fee indicated in the table below. The level of payment will be determined by the profile of the candidates.

[1] UN WOMEN, UNICEF, FAO, ILO, UNIDO, UNCDF, UNEP, UNDP, WHO, UNFPA, IOM, UNESCO

[2] Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) pillar

Deliverables
• Delivering Inception report: An Inception Report on the assignment and work plan including time frames on how the work will be undertaken within 7 days after the award of the contract – 25%.
• Draft Report: The First draft Mapping report with findings, lessons learnt and recommendations report within 20 days after the award of the contract – 30%.
• Final report: Presentation of the Final Report to stakeholders’ consultations to review and validate the draft report following 27 days after the award of the contract – 30%.
• Final Report - English version. Final process report with raw data in both soft and hardcopy following 35 days after the award of the contract - 15%

UN Women reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. All materials developed by the consultant will remain the copyright of UN Women and RGoZ will have the right to adapt and modify them in the future.

Expected Results

Expected results should focus on producing actionable data that links gender-based violence (GBV) and social norms directly to economic performance in agriculture value chains with a case of Cassava, Banana, Seaweed and Sea Cucumber Farming.

Specific results:
• A comprehensive identification of the physical, sexual, economic, and psychological forms of violence that women face in low-lying areas, which limit women's productivity and participation in selected farming activities.
• A list of existing services available to survivors of violence, including an evaluation of the accessibility and quality of these support systems.
• An identification of community-led initiatives aimed at preventing and responding to violence against women and girls (VAWG) that promote women's engagement in agricultural value chains and other economic activities.
• An assessment of the ongoing efforts to address violence against women and children (VAWC) through government agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), faith-based organizations, and community groups.
• Strategic recommendations for improvement.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:
• Timely and quality report design and inputs
• Relations with partners and stakeholders
• Regular communication with key partners and staff
• Adherence to UN Women standards and rules

CORE VALUES / GUIDING PRINCIPLES
• Integrity: Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.
• Professionalism: Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.
• Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity: Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff. Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating differences in values and learning from cultural diversity.

CORE COMPETENCIES
• Ethics and Values: Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.
• Organizational Awareness: Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.
• Work in teams: Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multiethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Communicating and Information Sharing: Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.
• Self-management and Emotional Intelligence: Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have consistent behavior towards others.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES:
• Strong technical knowledge and expertise on EVAW and VAC
• Outstanding writing skills, with proven ability to meet tight deadlines.
• Communicate sensitively, effectively, and creatively.

Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

The assignment requires the service of a reputable Consultant with the following qualifications and experience.
• At least a master's degree in social science, Development or Gender Studies, Legal Studies or related fields.

Experience:
• Experience in conducting assessments, related studies and strategies
• Ability to work with a team and meet deadlines.
• Ability to access, analyze and integrate a wide range of opinions and a variety of information.
• Ability and experience to interact with communities.
• Knowledge and experience in developing gender-related strategic plans and policy documents in Zanzibar.
• Working in Tanzania, East and Southern Africa is a requirement.
• Knowledge and capacity to provide high-quality reports.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Experience in working on Gender Based Violence Program evaluation, development and Strategies is an asset.
• The individual consultant should have experience working with other UN agencies with similar assignments, specifically in Policy development/review, briefs, plans and strategies.
• Written and oral proficiency in English and Swahili is required

Language Requirements:
• Written and oral proficiency in English and Swahili is required

Evaluation of Applications

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
• Profile and experience of the individual in relation to the subject of the present mission.
• The methodology proposed for the conduct of the mission.
• The financial offer.