Research Consultant: Gender Partnership Programme

Background

The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organization of national parliaments. It has a membership of 179 Member Parliaments. The IPU promotes democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people. It works for peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action. These objectives are pursued through the Organization’s political and programmatic work, which includes research, standard-setting, knowledge dissemination, technical cooperation and capacity-building.

The IPU recognizes gender equality as a key component of democracy, and works to achieve equal participation of men and women in politics. It has a long-standing programme to support parliaments in facilitating women’s access to parliament, promoting gender equality and taking action to end violence against women and girls. In recent years, it has focused on the question of harassment and violence against women in parliament.

In 2016, the IPU published a first study on sexism, harassment and violence against women parliamentarians. To deepen documentation and understanding of the issue, the IPU has started a series of regional studies. The regional studies aim to enrich research and enhance the quality of the analysis of sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliament by exploring and taking into consideration the specific context of each region.

In 2018, a study on sexism, harassment and violence against women in parliaments in Europe was carried out in partnership with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The next regional study will focus on the parliaments of Africa and will be carried out in partnership with the African Parliamentary Union (APU) and possibly other partners.

Tasks

The Consultant will assist the IPU, and specifically its Gender Partnership Programme, in carrying out a regional study on sexism, harassment and gender-based violence experienced by women members of parliament and parliamentary staff in African countries.

For the purpose of this study, the Consultant shall carry out confidential interviews with women parliamentarians and women parliamentary staff. These interviews will be carried out in connection with the meetings of the IPU, the APU and potentially other inter-parliamentary meetings. Other interviews will be conducted in the context of missions in selected countries as well as by telephone or Skype. As the information may be of a sensitive nature, the Consultant will be bound to secrecy, discretion and confidentiality, and to adequately protect the personal data and information that they will collect in the course of the study.

Key deliverables

• Carry out a desk review of existing literature and research on violence against women in politics, in particular in Africa.
• Liaise with IPU Members as well as with the APU and other potential partners in order to reach out to a large number of women parliamentarians and women parliamentary staff in Africa.
• Contact women parliamentarians and women parliamentary staff, inform them about the study and get their agreement to participate.
• Draw up a schedule of interviews.
• Conduct a total of around 100 confidential interviews with women parliamentarians and women parliamentary staff. The interviews will be based on a written questionnaire and will be carried out face to face as much as possible or, where that is not possible, by telephone, Skype or other digital means.
• Carefully collect and transcribe the data and information collected from the respondents during the interviews and enter the data and information in an online platform designed for this purpose.
• Contribute to the data analysis process.
• Contribute to the drafting of the publication.
• Provide feedback on the final draft of the publication and contribute to reviewing its translation into other languages.
• Contribute to the preparation of the launch of the study.
• Contribute to the preparation of communication materials on the study.
• Assist the project manager in any other tasks related to the study.

Work implies frequent interaction with the following:

• Parliamentarians
• Parliamentary staff
• Staff of the IPU and APU Secretariats, and from other regional parliamentary assemblies in Africa

Qualifications and competencies

• University degree in social science, political science or law; specialization in gender studies an asset
• Five years’ work experience in work related to gender equality, women’s rights and/or violence against women
• Proven experience in research work and surveys, especially in relation to ending violence against women; published work an asset
• Experience required in interviewing victims and witnesses of sexism, harassment and violence in parliament
• Sound experience in a parliamentary setting desirable as well as familiarity with the work of international organizations; knowledge of African context an asset
• Knowledge of statistics and the use of research indicators
• Personal attributes: initiative, self-motivation, tact, discretion and sound judgement
• Complete fluency in English or French and working ability in both languages; some knowledge of additional languages (particularly Arabic and Portuguese) desirable
• Aptitude for human contact and resourcefulness; team spirit; adaptability to varying working environments and conditions

• General computer skills (MS Office applications, internet)

Time frame and conditions

The Consultant will undertake this work over a time frame starting on 1st June 2020 and concluding on 30 April 2021. Within this period the Consultant is expected to work a total of 100 days at the rate of approximately 9 days per month. A detailed working plan will be established.

The Consultant can be home-based. Work will entail travel as described below and to be determined based on research needs but subject to restrictions owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IPU shall cover the travel expenses of the missions that the Consultant will carry out for the purposes of this assignment.

The Consultant shall be expected to conduct the work based on the provisional timetable below:

 

Tasks	Place	Date
Desk review of existing literature and research	Home-based	June–July 2020
Liaise with IPU Members and partners	Home-based	June and ongoing until December 2020
Contact women MPs and parliamentary staff and schedule interviews	Home-based	June-July 2020  and ongoing as needed until December 2020
Carry out virtual interviews with women MPs and parliamentary staff	Home-based	June–September 2020 and ongoing as needed until December 2020
Travel and carry out face-to-face interviews with women MPs and parliamentary staff (tbc in view of the COVID-19 pandemic)	76th Session of the Executive Committee of the APU Dakar (tbc)	June 2020
	13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament, followed by the Fifth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament Vienna	17–21 August 2020
	142nd Assembly of the IPU and related meetings Kigali	11–15 October 2020
	43rd Conference of the APU Rabat (tbc)	November 2020
	Country missions	June–December 2020
Data entry and analysis process	Home-based	January 2021
Contribute to the publication and review the translation(s)	Home-based	February–March 2021
Contribute to the preparation of the launch of the study at the 143rd IPU Assembly	Home-based	February–March 2021
Contribute to communications and other actions related to the study	Home-based	June 2020–April 2021

Employment conditions

The External Collaborator is an independent contractor, is not considered to be an official or employee of the IPU and is not subject to the IPU Staff Regulations and Staff Rules. The External Collaborator is not entitled to recover from the IPU any income tax payable in respect of the fee provided under this contract and shall be solely liable for the payment of any national income tax due in respect of the emoluments payable under this contract. The External Collaborator will not be included in the IPU pension scheme.

Recruitment principles

Our guiding principle in selecting candidates is to secure the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity. We do not discriminate on any grounds and are committed to promoting diversity in our workforce. 

Particular attention is paid to candidates from developing countries and to achieving gender balance. We strive to provide an environment where the contribution of each individual is valued.