Terms of Reference for Gender and Protection Analysis

Job Description

Terms of Reference for Gender and Protection Analysis to be conducted in Bonthe, Sierra Leone 

Background/Context: 

Action Against Hunger in Sierra Leone is currently implementing  The Nutrition-sensitive Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Program (NuCAMPS) to improve  food securityP and nutrition for vulnerable populations in Bonthe, Falaba, and Moyamba districts of Sierra Leone, particularly women and children, by promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, enhancing access to diverse nutritious foods, and adopting sustainable energy solutions. 

The program focuses on three main result areas: 

• Promote Climate-Smart Agriculture for Increased Productivity and Climate Resilience: This involves providing climate-resilient agro-inputs, training on sustainable farming techniques, and improving access to timely weather information to empower smallholder farmers.  

• Enhanced Access to Dietary Diversity, Nutrition, WASH, and Health Services: The program promotes nutritious crop varieties, nutrition education, and improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services to ensure the overall health and well-being of communities. 

• Catalyzing Adoption of Sustainable Energy Solutions: NuCAMPS supports the establishment of community woodlots, restoration of mangroves, and provision of energy-efficient cooking solutions, which reduce reliance on traditional energy sources. 

Through these interventions, NuCAMPS aims to build resilience to climate change, improve health outcomes, and empower communities, ultimately leading to sustainable improvements in livelihoods. The program also emphasizes gender equality and the inclusion of marginalized groups to ensure equitable access to resources and decision-making processes. By fostering community ownership and collaboration with local stakeholders, NuCAMPS seeks to create lasting impacts that extend beyond the program’s duration. 

Action Against Hunger carried out a gender and Protection Analysis in Bonthe between January and March 2023. The study identified specific gender, and protection risks in the intervention area, to create holistic programming approaches that respond to people’s needs, including their protection needs. The specific sectors that have been studied are : Nutrition and Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Food security and Livelihood and Mental Health and Psychological Support.  

In order to strengthen the quality of the multisectoral response led by ACF via Irish Embassy funding, a multisectoral gender analysis will be conducted in order to inform and adapt the project activities. This analysis will highlight the specific problems related to gender risks in the intervention area and strengthen gender interventions.  

Objectives of the Analysis: 

The objective is to identify the vulnerabilities of the population: 

– Analyze pre-existing and current power dynamics and gender roles including access to and control of resources, different constraints and risks, gender diversity and diversity of difficulties faced by the women, men, boys and girls. 

– Develop operational recommendation through a gender action plan 

More specifically, the consultant is expected to provide the following information on:  

• Agriculture 

• Livelihoods  

• Nutrition and Health 

• WASH 

• Climate change and environment 

• Sustainable Energy Solutions 

The consultant will formulate recommendations related to agriculture and livelihood, specifically to ensure:  
 

– Equal benefits of agriculture activities for marginalized groups considering the division of work, access to resources and decision making. (E.g recommendation on how to provide planting materials, Crops, Inputs, automatic weather stations …). A focus on access/ownership to land/resources (financial resources and others) is expected to adapt activities. 

• Inclusivity and equality while doing agriculture and business management training 

• Inclusivity and equality while doing awareness raising and activities related to climate change  

• Women empowerment through VSLA /IGA activities 

 
The consultant will formulate recommendations related to climate change and sustainable energy solution, more specifically:  

 
– an analysis on knowledge and impact of climate change in the different community groups, focusing on preservation of mangrove ecosystem  
 

 – Inclusivity and equal benefice for all groups while implementing restoration and conservation activities and efficient cooking solutions  

 
– Inclusivity and equality in monitoring of reclaimed sites 
 

– Inclusivity and equality in the purchase and distribution of tree and fruit seedlings for the establishment of woodlots in Bonthe and Falaba 

– Activities on sustainable Energy Solutions are adapted to all needs (specifically women needs) without doing harm.  

 
The consultant is also expected to update existing information on Health, Nutrition, MHPSS and Wash in Bonthe and Moyamba. Data collection will be needed in Falaba :  

The consultant will formulate recommendation to avoid reproduction of inequalities and double burden for women while improving nutrition, health, MHPSS and wash (e.g recommendation on men engagement on nutrition/health education and washself approach: inclusivity of management committees; inclusivity of SBCC materials and communication events; inclusivity of construct/rehabilitate infrastructure). 

The consultant will adopt an intersectional approach according to the targeted population groups (by age, sex, disabilities) and provide meaningful information to ensure do no harm and avoid backlashes. Protection risks will need to be identified for the main activities.  

Location and scope of the Gender and Protection Analysis: 

The Gender and Protection Analysis will be carried out in  Bonthe, Falaba,, and Moyamba districts of Sierra Leone 

Responsibilities of the Consultant: 

The consultancy will be hired to 

• Conduct Gender and Protection Analysis  

• Training for project staff on how to integrate recommendations of the report in the project. 

Main activities of the consultant: 

• Design of the methodology, with ACF project team and technical support from Headquarters 

• Planning and conducting the evaluation in the intervention area 

• Recruitment and training of a team of enumerators for data collection and entry  

• Collection and analysis of secondary and primary data 

• Drafting of a report, including analysis, conclusions, recommendations and action plan   

• Presentation and validation of the results during an internal session 

• Training for the project team on how to integrate the recommendations into the various stages of the project 

Methodology  

The methodology will be developed and specified by the consultants and will cover the following: 

• Review of secondary data – desk review   

• Preparation of Context-specific work plan and revised ToR 

• development and/or adaptation of data collection tools (based on existing ACF tools) 

• Recruitment/training and supervision of emumerators 

• Field analysis in the target areas. 

• Data analysis: the data collected from desk review, stakeholder consultation and field survey will be analyzed as per scope  

• Reporting: based on the data collected and analyzed, recommend the key gaps for intervention and propose adaptation in Action Against Hunger programme implementation methodology, as well as in ACF’s MEAL tools, when deemed relevant. 

• Develop a gender action plan 

• Debriefing with Action Against Hunger team 

Facilitating a training of Action Against Hunger team on how to integrate the recommendations into the various stages of the project cycle.  

Target of the gender and protection analysis 

The gender and protection analysis will include the following people as priority groups, including the most vulnerable groups: 

– Women and men 

– Children, adolescents, youth, adults and the elderly 

– The different ethnic and/or religious groups that exist. 

– People with disabilities  

– community structures such as Farmer Based Organizations, Mother Support Groups, traditional leaders 

– Humanitarian, governmental and community organizations in the area,  

Consultancy Deliverables: 

Research proposal: Methodology, tools, literature materials proposed for the consultancy based on initial briefings, consultations and experience for approval by Action Against Hunger. 

A comprehensive gender analysis report addressing the scope highlighted above, following the structure below: 

• Executive summary 

• List of acronyms 

• Introduction 

• Methodology 

• Findings and analysis 

• Conclusions  

• Recommendations and gender action plan  

• Annexes 

• 1 PowerPoint presentations for the debriefing meeting(s) 

• Gender and Protection training deliverables (including a PowerPoint presentation) 

• Training report and Action Plan  

Terms and Conditions: 

Action Against Hunger will set up a steering committee to supervise the Gender and Protection Analysis during the consultancy period. The committee will meet based on needs to provide follow-up in the consultancy work. 

Application and Qualification 

Interested candidates are requested to send their Expression of Interest including CV, sample of previous work done, an estimated budget (including daily rate), technical fees to logistics department at Action Against Hunger logman@sl-actionagainsthunger.org by 17 April 2025 Qualified national applicants are encouraged to apply. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  

• Advanced Degree, preferably with post graduate degree in social science, gender / women studies, international development, human rights, public health or related field; 

• Minimum 5 years of experience working on gender issues, gender and development, gender equality, gender mainstreaming, policies analysis and capacity building; 

• Demonstrated expertise in gender analysis, gender planning and mainstreaming of gender in projects and programmes, empowerment;   

• Knowledge of climate change and sustainable energy solutions  

• Considerable experience in development and use of gender analysis tools and methodologies, analysis and quality reporting; 

• Project management experience; 

• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral; 

• Good facilitation skills 

• Experience and commitment to promoting gender equality within humanitarian work 

• Strong analytical and research skills, including the ability to process large amounts of information, extract critical analysis and distribute it appropriately 

• Experience with qualitative data analysis, with quick turnaround time for use 

• Familiarity with digital data collection systems 

• Experience and capacity to work in harsh conditions and insecure environments 

• Experience in conflict affected areas is an asset 

• Able to work independently 

• Maturity, cultural sensitivity, tactfulness, diplomacy, inter-personal skills and ability to work well under pressure in a demanding environment and tight deadlines.  

• Computer Skills (knowledge of Microsoft Office and Outlook is a pre-requisite). 

• Fluency in written and spoken English.  

• Previous experience on gender analysis particularly in the context of in Africa as well as language skills in the local language is an added value.