LLWB/UK: Consultant, to Undertake a mapping and analysis research study of Women on Boards in Public Institutions in Lebanon

About the Program:
LLWB, in partnership with UK embassy Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) 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 decisionmaking positions. In this program LLWB will conduct gender audits of two institutions be it syndicates, Universities and or Organizations. After the gender audit, LLWB will also 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 related to board diversity and certified director program. Scope of Consultancy: To further explore the situation of women on boards in public institutions in Lebanon, LLWB is seeking to recruit a short-term consultant to undertake a mapping and analyses of the women on boards of public institutions, the types of institutions, the main challenges facing having women on the board of directors of public institutions. This activity will focus specifically on public institutions in Lebanon, aiming to analyze the representation of women in leadership positions within these entities. Through a combination of data collection tools, stakeholder consultations, and in-depth research, LLWB intends to generate a publishable comprehensive report detailing the status of women on the boards of public institutions, the main challenges remaining and the main recommendations to have more women on boards of public institutions.
The primary objective of this mapping exercise is to identify the number of women serving on the boards, their roles, and their representation as a percentage of the total board composition. Additionally, LLWB seeks to assess the level of gender diversity and inclusion using a clear methodology within public institutions' leadership structures. This mapping activity will involve research methods, including surveys, calls, and meetings with responsible stakeholders that the selected consultant will lead on.
These efforts will be directed towards gathering pertinent data, identifying key findings, and formulating recommendations for the parliament, the government and the relevant ministries to enhance gender diversity and inclusion in public institutions' leadership roles. Ultimately, the comprehensive report produced from this mapping and analyze initiative will serve as a valuable resource for adoption at the national level. It will inform policy decisions, guide organizational practices, and advocate for greater gender equality and representation in corporate settings throughout Lebanon.
The study findings will be validated by LLWB and deliberated in a consultation meeting and launching meeting with various stakeholders.

The research/study should include and not limited to:
1. Inception report outlining methodology and work plan and timetable of the consultancy assignment.
2. Meeting with LLWB head of pillar, Executive director and Project Manager to discuss methodology and outcomes.
3. Collect data about all public institutions in Lebanon that do fall under the Central Inspection mandate and their main ministry and or directorates they are linked to or is spearheading them and draft a report on the boards of these institutions from a gender and inclusive perspective and the type of nominations and or advancement of the board members in each of them.
4. Include clear variables such as selection and nomination of board members of public institutions, monitoring the role of board members in KIIs and or Survey disaggregated by sex and age and number of mandates as the aim of the study is to measure the number of women on boards in public institutions, and how board members women and men were selected.
5. Prepare, lead and conduct an anonymous potential survey/sample to be discussed with all relevant stakeholders to have a national overview focusing on quantitative data related to the main challenges for having women on the boards in the public institutions as per the type and categories, sex, age, disaggregated data on women and men on boards and number of mandates by sex, age and disability is needed.
6. Conduct at least 10 Semi-structured key informant interviews with relevant stakeholders (Sample to be discussed with whom) to explore more in detail and in a qualitative approach the mapping and updated literature review and survey and quantitative and qualitative outcomes, identifying gaps, challenges of having women on Boards in public institutions and in which Institutions.
7. Present final publishable report for LLWB review, and once the reviews are finalized and amended, the consultant presents the findings during a validation meeting and a launching meeting.
8. The consultant will be invited to participate in a podcast with LLWB under SAWTIK project (30 minutes to be recorded for You tube)
9. Submit an article of half a page in English and one article in Arabic to describe the impact and potential impact of the mapping and analyses with quotes and recommendations that could be used in media and LLWB publications. (of maximum 250-300 words each)

Timeline: The expert is to submit a time frame for implementing the women on board mapping and analysis for public institutions in Lebanon within the period September 2024 – October 2024.

Required Qualifications:

• Applicants must hold an advanced degree in social sciences, socio-economic sciences, gender studies, political sciences, public policies, law, or any other relevant field. The following qualifications are required.
• At least 10 years of work experience in conducting research and studies with private and public institutions.
• At least 10 years of qualitative and quantitative research methodology with public sector institutions.
• Proven experience in gender transformative and inclusion research and studies
• Robust knowledge of public institutions' work, and robust knowledge and previous experience in leading research on public sector.
• Proven experience in the CSOs sector and the various methods of advocacy that could be used to amend legislation with multiple stakeholders be it: public sector, private sector, government, parliament commissions, CSOs including NGOs, syndicates, media, Academia and schools.
• Proven experience in law making, and law amending
• Proven experience in collaborative work
• Excellent public speaking, communication, diplomatic abilities.
• Excellent Arabic and English written and English skills, French is a plus
• Ability to produce a report in English and in Arabic is required.

LLWB will select the individual consultant most suitable for the assignment, considering the proposal submitted by the applicant, experience, financial offer and availability

Deliverables:
1. Inception report outlining methodology and work plan and timetable of the consultancy assignment.
2. Meeting with LLWB head of pillar, Executive director and MP to discuss methodology and outcomes and expected results.
3. Collect data about all public institutions in Lebanon that do fall under the Central Inspection mandate and their main ministry and or directorates they are linked to or is spearheading them and draft a report on the boards of these institutions from a gender and inclusive perspective and the type of nominations and or advancement of the board members in each of them.
4. Survey, questionnaires and qualitative and quantitative data collection tools used for the research to be shared in raw data, as well as shared in analyzed form with LLWB Project Manager, Executive Director, Head of pillar.
5. Draft research including updated literature review on the women in boardrooms of public institutions, quantitative and qualitative analysis methodology used and main recommendations and research mapping outcomes, identifying gaps, challenges of having women on Boards in public institutions, how selection criteria's and variables differ in public institutions.
6. Final publishable report for LLWB review in English (in word and pdf , with clear consent forms in PDF for all type of data collected) and once the reviews are finalized and consultant amends the draft, the consultant to also present an executive summary in English and Arabic versions (in word version and pdf version ) and presentation of the study in Arabic (PDF and PPT format).
7. Consultant to present the presentation and study on Validation meeting and launching meeting.
8. Submit an article of half a page in English and one article in Arabic to describe the impact and potential impact of the mapping and analyses of the research on women in public institutions boards in Lebanon with quotes and recommendations that could be used in media and LLWB publications. (of maximum 250-300 words each)
9. Note: The consultant will be invited later in November to participate in a podcast episode of 30 min with LLWB under SAWTIK project (30 minutes to be recorded for social media)
10. With this call for proposal, LLWB requests interested consultants to express their interest and send a cover letter with a clear commitment to perform the Mapping and Analysis during the timeframe described in this TOR.