National Consultant to develop a Gender-Responsive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Framework and strengthen Institutional Capacity in Kigoma Region

Description

BACKGROUND 

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. 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.  

Building on this mandate, UN Women in Tanzania has played a leading role in advancing gender-responsive planning, climate action, and women’s empowerment. It has strengthened partnerships with national and local government institutions, including Kigoma Regional Authorities, to promote gender-responsive and climate-resilient development approaches. These efforts are aligned with the National Gender Policy (2023), which recognizes the critical intersection between gender equality, climate change, disaster risk reduction and peace, and security.

In parallel, Tanzania’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2025–2029) provides a strategic framework to enhance women’s participation, protection, and leadership in peacebuilding, disaster risk management, and recovery processes. UN Women supports the operationalization of this framework and other national frameworks by working with government counterparts to translate policy commitments into practical tools, institutional mechanisms, and localized action.

Kigoma Region is characterized by significant structural and socio-economic vulnerabilities that reinforce its exposure to climate and disaster risks. According to the 2022 Population and Housing Census, the region has a population of approximately 2.47 million people, of whom 75.4 percent reside in rural areas, with livelihoods largely dependent on agriculture and natural resources. While labour force participation is high (91.5 percent), much of this engagement is within low-productivity and informal activities, limiting income security and resilience to shocks.

Gender disparities further deepen vulnerability in Kigoma. Evidence from the socio-economic profile shows that women have lower access to productive resources, including land ownership (29.9 percent for women compared to 36.8 percent for men), and lower literacy rates (77.7 percent for women versus 85.5 percent for men). In addition, a significant proportion of households rely on unpaid and labor-intensive activities such as firewood collection (used by 71.2 percent of households), which disproportionately burdens women and limits their economic participation.

While national frameworks provide a strong foundation, gaps remain in the systematic operationalization and institutionalization of gender and WPS priorities within regional DRR systems, planning processes, and climate response frameworks.

This highlights the need for strengthened institutional capacity, improved coordination, and the development of practical, gender-responsive tools that link national policies with local implementation. 
In this context, this assignment therefore aims to bridge the gap between national policy commitments and subnational implementation by developing a practical, action-oriented framework that integrates gender equality, climate resilience, DRR, Women’s Peace and Security priorities   while strengthening institutional capacity for sustained implementation. This includes strengthening women’s participation in climate-related sectors and decision-making processes and ensuring that DRR systems effectively address risks related to gender inequality and GBV. 

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT 
To conduct a comprehensive gender analysis of climate and disaster risks in Kigoma and develop a gender-responsive regional Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) framework that enhances protection and GBV risk mitigation, women’s economic participation, and integrates Women, Peace and Security (WPS) priorities into regional DRR systems. The framework will serve as a practical guidance tool for the design, implementation, and scaling of ongoing and future programmes, policies, and investments at regional and community levels.

SPECIFIC TASKS
The specific tasks includes the following

a) Inception Report: Prepare and present an inception report that summarizes existing information, demonstrates understanding of the assignment, defines the scope of work, and outlines the data collection methodology and tools.

b) Gender Analysis: Conduct a comprehensive gender analysis of climate, disaster, and peace and security risks in Kigoma, examining differential vulnerabilities, capacities, and roles of women, men, and youth; assessing risks related to protection and gender-based violence (GBV); and analyzing linkages between disaster risks, peace and security dynamics, and women’s economic participation and governance including assessment of institutional capacities, coordination mechanisms, and existing DRR systems, and examining linkages between disaster risks, peace and security dynamics, and women’s economic empowerment and governance systems.

c) Stakeholder Consultations and Validation: Facilitate consultations with key stakeholders, including government institutions, community leaders, women’s groups, and relevant partners, to validate findings from gender analysis and ensure contextual relevance and ownership of results.

d) Gender-Responsive DRR Framework: Develop a gender-responsive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) framework for Kigoma Region aligned with the National Gender Policy and the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2025–2029) that is action-oriented, with clearly defined implementation pathways, institutional roles and responsibilities, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

e) Capacity Building: Conduct capacity-building workshops for local government officials and community leaders on gender-responsive disaster preparedness and response, with a strong focus on disaster-related GBV prevention and response.

DELIVERABLES
a) A comprehensive inception report detailing understanding of the assignment, refined scope of work, methodological approach, data collection tools, workplan, and stakeholder engagement strategy. 

b) A comprehensive gender analysis report on disaster related risks in Kigoma including:
Analysis of differential vulnerabilities, capacities, and roles of women, men, and youth
Assessment of protection and gender-based violence (GBV) risks
Examination of linkages between disaster risks, peace and security dynamics, and women’s economic participation and governance
c) A finalized gender-responsive Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) framework for Kigoma Region, aligned with the National Gender Policy and the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2025–2029), integrating:
Women’s participation and leadership in DRR and governance
GBV prevention, mitigation, and response
Linkages between DRR and women’s economic resilience
Practical guidance for application in ongoing and future programmes, policies, and investments
d) Capacity Building Package and Training Report documenting sessions conducted, participants, key outcomes, and recommendations for follow-up support

EXECUTION AND IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES
The assignment will be supervised by the Program Specialist in WEE in close coordination with UN Women programme teams and relevant government counterparts at national and regional levels.

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. 

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 will have the right to adapt and modify them in the future.