Supporting Women on Board of Syndicates, Universities and Board of Organizations (Phase 2)

About the Program:  

LLWB, in partnership with UK embassy Foreign, commonwealth & Development office (FGCD) is leading on a project that aims to facilitate and increase female representation on the boards of organisations, syndicates, and universities, promoting gender equality and diversity in decision-making positions.  

In this program LLWB will conduct gender audits of 2 institutions be it syndicates, Universities and or Organizations, after the gender audit, develop gender action plans for the institutions and lead on training of the stakeholders of these institutions on issues related to gender mainstreaming, equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Participating institutions will identify gaps in knowledge and practice for gender mainstreaming at various levels. The institutions will develop a gender-sensitive action plan. The participatory methodology will help identify needs for capacity building in gender at the levels of individuals and the organization.  

The project will also, later, mentor women selected from these institutions to be members of boards as per LLWB flagship journey of supporting women in boards of institutions.  

The project will also support selected women from each institution to have a well-known certification related to board diversity and certified director program. 

Scope of Consultancy:  

LLWB is seeking short-term expert consultants to conduct a participatory gender audit for LWLB partner institution to establish a baseline on gender mainstreaming. The gender audit will seek to promote learning on individual and organizational levels on how to practically and effectively mainstream gender in the policies, procedures, programs, content production, and structures of the participating organizations. 

LLWB is looking to recruit consultants who are certified Gender expert to Conduct a gender audit for an institution in Lebanon (Syndicate or University or Non-governmental organization).  

The participatory gender audit aims to integrate a gender perspective into the institution's policies. It is an effective tool for promoting adult learning on an individual level as well as on the organisational level. It guarantees that a gender approach is being developed in a self-reflective approach to consolidate gender equality, non-discriminatory and inclusive values at the different levels of the organisation’s structure, the policies and programs, the knowledge production (research), the internal procedures, written and customary, and the language used in the different  communication tools used by the institution. 

The report of the gender audit must include a set of recommendations to address and implement the results and findings of the gender audit. Based on the report, and additionally a gender action plan will be developed for the institution.  

This will include as per the ILO method:  

• Inception report outlining methodology and work plan of the consultancy assignment 
• Organize and attend meetings for the audit report with LLWB and with the selected institution. 
• Lead on the desk review, which will analyze documents (policies, budgets, codes, guidelines, emails, and internal and external products) produced by the partner organization that will be audited from a gender perspective. 
• Prepare lead, and conduct a survey with all relevant stakeholders (Institution staff + their collaborators as per Gender audit needs) to feed into a first general diagnosis that will cover all activities and sectors of work of the organization in terms of gender equality and gender mainstreaming at different levels (strategic, financial, operational, communication or organizational (HR, organizational culture).​ 
• Conduct at least 5 Semi-structured key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders to explore more in detail and in a qualitative approach the survey outcomes, identifying gaps, best practices, and ways for improvement in addressing gender in a transformative way. Attention will be given to proper representation in these interviews.  
• Conduct On-site visits to the Institution premises to meet with the management, staff and stakeholders and assess their gender approach and potential gaps in situ, by the gender auditor. These will include interviews and the organization of one or two focus groups and/or a participatory workshop to test the first findings and gather further inputs and contributions that will feed into the final findings of the diagnosis report and the recommendations.​ 
• Prepare a gender audit report and present it to the institution and LLWB with clear methodology, and recommendations on how to develop success stories and areas of improvement  
• On a second phase based on gender audit report recommendations  
• The consultant will Draft a gender Action plan Based on the findings and the recommendations of the PGA report (this process can start during the onsite workshop and/or focus groups) to be validated and included in the final report.​ 
• Present final report and action plan and inception report to LLWB and institution, once the final report is complete, the findings will be presented to the institution by the consultant in the presence of LLWB. 

Timeline:  
The gender experts are to submit a time frame for implementing the gender audit for the participating partner organizations and action plans within the period September 2024 – October 2024. 

Required Qualifications:  

• Applicants must hold a degree in social sciences, socio-economic sciences, gender studies, or any other relevant field. Preferably, trained in and holding ILO certification in Participatory Gender Audits. The following qualifications are required; 
• At least five years of work experience in conducting gender audits and/or related DEI organizational assessments. 
• Relevant experience with NGOs and private firms in the arenas of organizational development, raising safeguarding and accountability standards. 
• Experience with ILO Gender Participatory Audit is particularly desirable. Please scan and add your ITC ILO Certification.  
• Fluency in Arabic is necessary, in presence in Lebanon to perform the audit too. Ability to produce a well-written report in English and in Arabic is required. LLWB will select the consultant or consultant team most suitable for the assignment, considering the proposal submitted by the applicant, experience, cost and availability 
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Deliverables:  

• Inception report outlining methodology and work plan of the consultancy assignment. 
• Conducting the gender audit within the agreed framework and timeframe with the participating institution. 
• A draft gender audit report for the institution to be shared with the targeted institution and LLWB for feedback and comments. 
• Full report on the process conducted for each institution:  
• Presentation of findings for the targeted institutions and LLWB 
• A final report that presents and explains in a clear and concise way the expert’s main findings with supporting evidence, as well as their recommendations based on the findings. Each report shall make clear recommendations for performance improvement along with proposed framework and action plans to address the findings. 
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With this call for proposal, LLWB requests interested express to express their interest and send a cover letter with clear commitment to perform the audit, and draft the action plan with the institution, the auditor needs to send a financial proposal covering all the above deliverables and ensure that MOF certification is needed. Note: Failing to provide these documents will lead to a deduction of the withholding tax (8.5%) as per the Lebanese Law.