Expanding Women’s Labor Force in Lebanon (EWLFL) Consultancy

Introduction

The goal of WGDP: EWLFL activity supports women entrepreneurs as catalysts for positive change in business as well as in their families and communities, with gender-appropriate and gender-specific interventions. Its goal is that Lebanese women become effective catalysts of entrepreneurial development for their businesses and families in a time of economic crisis. The WGDP: EWLFL Program provides a gender-focused, tailored, externally accredited certification to the women entrepreneurs of USAID’s private sector development programs in Lebanon, some of whom may not have access to higher education or other formal certification programs to demonstrate their knowledge and gain external corroboration for their businesses in the market. WGDP:EWLFL will carry out complementary activities to improve the enabling business environment and link the women to business opportunities that stimulate their resilience capacities. It does so through three main objectives:

Strengthened business development services for Lebanese women entrepreneurs

Improved enabling environment for women's entrepreneurship

Improved resilience capacities of Lebanese women-led enterprises

The consulting service, for which this Terms of Reference (ToR) is provided, is to manage the conduct of the study on constraints and opportunities for woman entrepreneur in Lebanon. The result of this study will inform the subsequent contextualization of the project approach in order to better target and address the needs and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

Objectives of the Study

WGDP: EWLFL’s Theory of Change is grounded on many development theoretical approaches where integrating women into development programs are central to efforts of lifting people out of poverty. Among them are women in development (WID), women and development (WAD) and gender and development (GAD). Common among these approaches are the recognition of the participation and contribution of women towards economic development and how inequalities experienced by women hinders their development as significant actors in the development processes. By addressing the constraints faced by women entrepreneurs WGDP: EWLFL hopes to open up more economic opportunities for women and hasten their transformation to become even more effective development partners that will bring about inclusive economic growth in Lebanon.

In this regard, the main objectives of the study is to

Identify and understand the constrains and challenges for women entrepreneurs in Lebanon, and

formulate recommendations that will help address the constraints and challenges identified.

In order to achieve the objectives, the Consultant is expected to complete the following:

Present the profile of women entrepreneurs and the characteristics of industries in which they operate. This could include but is not limited to:

Educational background / attainment

Socio-economic classification

Industry type / classification

Type / form of business

Registration status

Period in business

Complete a socioeconomic analysis of the business environment in Lebanon to give insights to:

a. The broad business enabling environment and the specific impact/effect of this environment to women entrepreneurs

b. The problems and opportunities in the current state of linkages and interactions between women entrepreneurs and different stakeholders at multiple levels – micro, meso, and macro.

Conduct a Gender Analysis that will describe the existing gender relations in the business sector and give insights into:

a. Access to assets – The different levels of access, use, ownership, and control of tangible and intangible assets that may promote or hinder women entrepreneurs’ business success. Example of these assets are:

i. Tangible

Land

Labor

Capital

Equipment

Credit

ii. Intangible

Information

Social Networks

Groups

Kinship relationship

Practices and participation – Business practices and norms as well as economic participation may vary between women and men and may provide a picture of what men and women can do, how they can spend their time, where they can go.

Beliefs and perceptions – Beliefs and perceptions shape expectations about appropriate roles for men and women and may have effects on what women entrepreneurs are allowed to do, to learn, and to meet.

Laws policies and institutions – Institutions (formal and informal laws, policies, regulations, etc) could mediate women’s and men’s economic opportunities and include (but not limited to) issues regarding

i. Ownership and inheritance rights

ii. Due process

iii. Employment opportunities

iv. Wages

Scope of work

Overview

The total duration of the engagement is 8 weeks. The Consultant should work in close coordination with the WGDP: EWLFL project team to carry out the study and complete it within the project duration. The consultant is expected to:

Conduct a document review – A document review is a way to collect data through review of internal and external documents relevant to the objectives of this ToR. It is expected that the Consultant will familiarize themselves to the project by reviewing key internal documents such as:

a. Project Proposal

b. Project M&E Plan

c. Gender Integration Guidance

d. And other relevant LWR/CORUS gender documents

In addition, the Consultant should review external documents related to women entrepreneurs especially within the context of Lebanon. These documents could include:

a. Journals

b. Academic papers

c. Project reports including evaluation

d. Other relevant researches

Conduct secondary data analysis – The Consultant should gather and analyze statistics relevant to the objectives of the ToR published by government agencies or other public bodies such as international organizations. This statistics could include:

a. Periodic surveys and statistics provided by the Central Administration of Statistics such as:

Demographics and social statistics

Economic statistics

Gender statistics

b. Millennium Development Goals (MDG)

Datasets provided by World Bank, UN, and other similar organizations and could include:

c. UNData

d. Doing Business Statistics

e. Eurostat

Conduct key informant interviews (KII) – The Consultant is expected to conduct 5 KIIs. The informants for these interviews should be selected based on their knowledge and understanding of business and women in business. One informant should be selected for each category:

a. Government agency

b. Chamber of commerce

c. Donor

d. Women business organization

e. Successful women entrepreneur

Description of Tasks

The following will be the tasks that the Consultant need to undertake to complete this engagement.

Prepare and submit an inception report

Within two weeks after contract signing, the Consultant is expected to submit an Inception Report. A kick-off meeting will be held immediately after contract signing to level of expectations and clarify tasks and deliverables.

The Inception report contains details of:

· The Consultant’s understanding of the work

· Detailed methodology for the study which include

o Information on data sources and collection strategy

o List of informants

· Draft of the data collection instrument (for the KII)

· Timeline for the engagement

Collect Data

Upon acceptance of the Inception Report, the Consultant should make plans to collect the data specified in the Inception Report. The Consultant should be aware that mobility restrictions may exists and should consider this when finalizing the data collection work plan. Data collection should be completed within two weeks after commencement of the data collection activity.

Data quality during interviewing (KII)

The Consultant is also responsible for collecting the highest quality data possible and subjecting interviewers and data to great scrutiny to ensure quality.

Data quality during data transcription/translation and cleaning

Data quality controls should also be enforced regarding interview transcription. Quality control will cover all data that will be collected including notes from KIIs.

Data transcription and/or translation

The Consultant should strive to translate data and notes collected to English.

Conduct analysis and deliver draft report

Six weeks after contract signing, the Consultant is expected to submit a draft report in English to the WGDP: EWLFL project team.

Submit Final Report

Eight weeks after contract signing, a final report should be submitted incorporating all the comments in the draft.

Implementation Arrangement and Timetable

All deliverables will be subject to review and approval of the WGDP: EWLFL team. Review will take 3 to 5 days. This should be taken into consideration when developing the workplan.

A suggested timeline for the major activities is given in the table below.

TASK WEEKs

Prepare and submit an inception report 1&2

Collect Data 3&4

Conduct analysis and deliver draft report 5&6

Submit Final Report 7&8

Desirable Minimum Qualifications:

Master’s Degree on sociology, economics, public administration, or other related social studies.

At least three (3 years) of experience involving conducting studies in the public sector in Lebanon.

Implemented and/ or managed at least three (3) qualitative studies on gender or gender issues.

Implemented and/or managed at least three (3) qualitative studies using any the following methods: Focus

Group Discussions, Key Informant Interviews, and community observations.

Experience working with government, civil society and Micro enterprises.

Excellent analytical, oral and written communication skills in English.

Experience in report writing.

*LWR will not sponsor visa's for this position. Applicants must be authorized to work in Lebanon*

*LWR will not sponsor visa's for this position. Applicants must be authorized to work in Lebanon *

*Resume's submitted without cover letters will not be reviewed*