Terms of Reference

Services of Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Advisor

About CPDI

Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) is an independent, non-partisan and a not-for-profit civil society organization, which has been working on the issues of peace and development since 2005. It is registered under Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984 (XLVII of 1984), which was later substituted by the Companies Act 2017. CPDI seeks to inform and influence public policies and civil society initiatives through research-based advocacy and capacity building to promote active citizenship, build peace and achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Areas of special sectoral focus include promotion of peace and tolerance; rule of law; local governance; transparency and access to information; budget watch; media development; electoral reforms; legislative strengthening, democratic development, climate change mitigation and adaptation; and public health.

About the Assignment

1.        Background

The assignment is under a project with focus on strengthening media persons’ capacity for free, independent, and responsible reporting, which is being jointly implemented by CPDI and Individualland. Both CPDI and IL are leading civil society organizations with distinguished track record of working for good governance and democratic development with special focus on local governance, right to information, media development, elections, and legislative development. Our project aims to contribute to democratic consolidation and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms through capacity building and engagement of media persons (i.e., journalists, bloggers, vloggers, podcasters) and civil society with relevant state institutions and corporate entities and through media literacy among youth to counter fake news.

2.        Purpose and Scope of the Assignment:

The overall purpose of the assignment is to ensure that all work and interventions under the project are responsive to gender and social inclusion considerations. In general, the Gender and Social Inclusion (GSI) Advisor will be expected to (a) review and give input on all project relate documents; (b) contribute to gender sensitization and capacity building of project staff, including of partner organizations; (c) help in developing relevant strategies, plans and manuals, as needed; (d) serve as trainer in the relevant training workshops; (e) facilitate linkages and engagement of project team and other stakeholders with relevant media associations, regulators, officers, platforms, legislators and policy makers;  (f) provide backstopping and mentoring support to partner organizations, members of the cohort and other civil society/ community leaders or influencers engaged through the project; and (g) any other relevant activity. The GSI Advisor will ensure that the project will be effectively contributing to gender and social inclusion not just in project activity but also in the media reports, civil society engagement and in the policy making processes that are influenced with the support of the project.

More concisely, the Advisor will perform the following tasks and responsibilities:

1. To develop a comprehensive Gender and Social Inclusion Strategy (GSIS) for the action, which will provide assessment of the situation on ground, risks/ opportunities matrix and suggest appropriate interventions. It will also highlight barriers to women participation, legal framework, relevant donor programs and government initiatives, and the evidence from past interventions about successful interventions.
2. To identify forums for engagement that are most relevant to advance the cause of gender inclusive/ sensitive policies, regulations, and media reporting.
3. To facilitate the implementation of the GSIS in coordination with the project management by reviewing, assessing, and ensuring that all the implementation, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and reporting plans are inclusive and gender sensitive.
4. To encourage and ensure women participation by creating opportunities for them to come forward and be equal participants in various project initiatives.
5. To build capacity of relevant stakeholders, especially women, and advocate for strengthening engagement and oversight of relevant public/ private bodies for effective implementation of women rights and freedoms.
6. To ensure gender sensitive planning, resource allocation, project execution and oversight processes, especially in relation to project activities.
7. Assist in developing SMART indicators to monitor the gender inclusion, diversity and social inclusion of project supported initiatives and awarded consultancy services.
8. To systematically coach and advise project team on gender mainstreaming and social inclusion aspects in relation to all project activities.
9. To provide input in the quarterly reports to reflect gender, diversity and social inclusion in project activities.
10. To review project approach, methodologies, interventions, materials and activities from gender and social inclusion perspective.
11. To review and update the GSIS based on M&E reports and stakeholders’ feedback.
12. Any other relevant task that may be agreed with the project’s management.

3.        Deliverables and Payments: 

The GSI Advisor will be paid against the actual days of performance based on the agreed daily rate. For this purpose, the tasks to be performed will be agreed on in advance with the Project Manager, who will also review quality and approve the deliverable before payment. The deliverables may include:

In case of any other priority task which is not listed in the table above, the Project Manager may issue an addendum. The Project Manager will ask the GSIS Advisor for the required documents and reports to process payments against actual days of work.

CPDI reserves the right to breakdown the tasks and engage more than one consultant for the deliverables under this assignment.

4.        Required Qualification/Specifications: 

• Master’s degree (at least 16 years) in Media Studies, Journalism, Gender Studies, Development Studies, or any related social science field.
• At least 10 years of professional working experience with focus on gender and social inclusion.
• Excellent understanding of media and related issues and challenges in Pakistan. Any media-related work/ professional experience will be an advantage.
• Previous experience of developing GSIS and training manuals and delivering training workshops will be preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and deliver quality outputs.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required.