FNT/EOI/93/2022 -Facilitator AFMA-TOGO.

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 convener, 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.

Vision: African women and girls thrive in dignity and well-being, free from patriarchal and neoliberal oppression and injustices.

Mission: To mobilize African women for the achievement of gender equality and the realization of women’s and girls’ rights at all levels.

FEMNET’s Core Values

• Feminist solidarity
• Respect for diversity
• Intersectionality
• Integrity
• Commitment to women’s rights
• Professionalism and learning

2.Background and Rationale.

Since 2017, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) has been deepening knowledge and enhancing capacities and skills for a cohort of women leading and driving initiatives around economic justice advocacy. As a result, we have trained a cohort of passionate feminist economists and gender advocates to engage and influence macroeconomic policies.

FEMNET, through the Annual Feminist Macroeconomic Academies (AFMA), continues to advance transformative approaches that challenge the structural causes of women’s economic disempowerment through the creation of structured learning platforms for selected key activists, movement leaders, academics, journalists, and diverse networks working towards achieving women’s rights, economic justice, and gender equality. Our aim is to deepen their appreciation of how macroeconomic policies shape the lived realities of women, and how their efforts at the local level can influence and shape these policies.

3.Objectives of the consultancy.

Macroeconomic policies shape and inform priorities in key social and economic sectors such as agriculture and natural resource extraction, health and education. These key sectors across the economy have disproportionate impact on women and girls. There is a need to strengthen the capacity of women to actively participate in the formulation of inclusive economic and development policies. In particular, we are advocating for women to engage with, and influence macroeconomic policies as they shape and have a direct impact on access to economic opportunities and resources.

The 2022 AFMA West Africa will focus on Monetary Sovereignty and will explore feminist perspectives on the monetary and fiscal crisis in the West African region. These have limited the ability of these states to formulate economic policies that align to their domestic development objectives amid global economic shocks. Monetary Sovereignty – the right of a country to issue, regulate and use a national currency to meet domestic development needs – remains a concern for many West African states where calls for monetary reform and shifts from the use of the CFA Franc have been underway for years. The multiple, converging crises (such as Covid-19, debt, and the ecological crisis) as well as geopolitical conflicts (Russo-Ukraine war), have drastically shifted the global economic terrain and highlighted the limited capacity of CFA countries to utilize their national economic and monetary policies to respond to external economic shocks. The result has been a devastating rise in the cost of basic goods and services, a currency depreciation commensurate with the fall in value of the Euro against which the CFA is pegged, and further constricted fiscal capacities of governments to adequately provide public services that ensure the wellbeing of the people, especially women and girls.

In order to form equitable systems and structures fundamental to women’s economic justice, the quality of public services and the funding allocated towards them by African governments needs to be a priority. How governments choose to develop and implement recovery plans from current, and past, crises on the continent are key. And this requires adequate financing informed by economic policies, including monetary policies, that align with the domestic needs of states to ensure the well-being of citizens, especially women and girls.

4.Scope of work.

• Review and execute the proposed academy program to ensure that it leads to the realization of outcomes of the workshop as stated in the Concept Note. This will be done in consultation with FEMNET’s Program Officer for Economic Justice and Rights, and include compilation of pre-course reading materials that will be shared with participants (i.e., video links, podcasts, articles, book titles, etc.)
• Facilitate assigned sessions over two days during the course of the AFRICAN FEMINIST MACROECONOMIC ACADEMY (AFMA) which will held between 21st and 25th November 2022.
• Ensure that Participants are facilitated to make contributions during sessions of the meeting, and that free sharing of ideas and strategies is equally encouraged from all participants.
• Develop the necessary documents/tools needed to realize the objectives of the workshop which include the guiding questions for the group sessions, Presenters and Moderators’ guidelines and evaluation at the end of the training;
• Work in collaboration with the Rapporteur to ensure that the final report of the AFMA-WEST Africa 2022 captures all discussions and recommendations from the workshop.
• Final report consisting of course content guide of areas covered during facilitated sessions of maximum 5 pages, drafted together with the rapporteurs.

5.Deliverables & expected results.

• Course content/ modules on Monetary Sovereignty and Financialization in Africa.
• Course content/module on gender and feminist macroeconomics.
• Based on the above contributions to the final (AFMA-West Africa)2022 report.
• Guiding Questions for the group sessions.
• Guidelines for Moderators and translators.

6.Required Qualification, Skills and Competencies.

• Advanced university degree in Economics, Development studies, Gender studies and Social Sciences is preferred, although relevant profiles may be considered.
• The consultant should espouse Pan African Feminist values.
• At least 5 years’ relevant experience supported by strong research skills.
• Evidence of completion of previous equivalent assignments.
• Sound theoretical and practical background in the field of Gender and Macroeconomics, Women’s economic empowerment, debt, austerity policies, tax, economic justice, and citizen participation.
• Africa Regional experience, working similar issues. Bonus: experience in issues relating to West Africa.
• Experience with policy making processes and basic principles of public policy research will be an advantage.
• Strong writing, analytical and research skills, and ability to apply them in interdisciplinary contexts and innovative problem-solving ability.

Other attributes:

1. A track record of producing innovative, out–of–the-box thinking communications strategies and products.
2. Excellent communication skills and fluency in spoken and written English.
3. Capability to deliver with quality and within tight deadlines.
4. Ability to break down complex information into user friendly knowledge products.

7.Duration of Assignment.

The work will be done in 5 days which include 2 days for preparation, 2 days for facilitation of the workshop and 1 day for development of the report.

8.Liaison, Coordination and Reporting .

The consultant will report to the Economic Justice and Rights Lead.

9.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 foralldeliverables.

10.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.

11.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.