Mapping Care Initiatives Addressing the Disproportionate Responsibility of Unpaid Care Work on Women to Foster Dialogue with Care Partners in Rwanda at UN Women: (Deadline 21 April 2025)

Mapping Care Initiatives Addressing the Disproportionate Responsibility of Unpaid Care Work on Women to Foster Dialogue with Care Partners in Rwanda at UN Women: (Deadline 21 April 2025)

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.

Globally, women and girls perform more than 2.5 times the amount of unpaid care work compared to men, making a substantial contribution to the sustainability of economies and societies. Unpaid care work encompasses both direct tasks, such as childcare and elder care, and indirect tasks, including cooking, cleaning, and fetching water. Despite its critical role in supporting social and economic systems, unpaid care work remains undervalued and largely unrecognized in policy frameworks, particularly in low-income countries, where the burden falls disproportionately on women and girls. In Rwanda, the gender gap in unpaid care work is particularly pronounced, with women dedicating significantly more time to these responsibilities than men, reflecting the broader global trend. According to a 2022 baseline study conducted by UN Women Rwanda Country Office, the amount of time spent on unpaid care work varies based on gender and geographic location. In rural areas, women spend an average of 7.1 hours daily on unpaid care tasks, while in urban areas, this figure is slightly lower at 6.9 hours. By contrast, men in both rural and urban areas allocate only 2.1 hours per day to unpaid care work. In the Rwandan context, unpaid care work includes a wide range of activities, such as childcare, collecting water and firewood, cooking, caregiving for individuals with disabilities and the elderly, community care, educational support, and laundry. This disproportionate burden on women limits their ability to engage in paid employment and economic opportunities, reinforcing gender inequalities and hindering women’s economic empowerment.

UN Women’s global programs aim to eliminate the gendered division of labor in unpaid care work by promoting transformative approaches that focus on recognizing, reducing, and redistributing care responsibilities. In Rwanda, UN Women is implementing the “Transformative Approaches to Recognize, Reduce, and Redistribute Unpaid Care Work in Women’s Economic Empowerment Programming (3R Programme).” This program is designed to reduce barriers to women’s full participation in the economy by recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid care work. It also aims to foster public sector investment in care infrastructure and create opportunities for decent work for women.

UN Women Rwanda has worked with various partners, including the Government institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and other stakeholders, to promote the adoption of gender-responsive care policies. As part of this effort, UN Women, in collaboration with ActionAid Rwanda, has undertaken various initiatives, including the distribution of energy and time-saving technologies, support for Early Childhood Development (ECD) services, and awareness-raising campaigns through diverse channels to reduce women’s time poverty and promote gender equality. These efforts aim to address unpaid care work, advance gender equality, and support women’s economic empowerment.

In recent years, various stakeholders have undertaken significant initiatives to address unpaid care work in Rwanda, focusing on the 3R approach Recognizing, Reducing, and Redistributing unpaid care responsibilities to promote gender equality and advance women’s economic empowerment by alleviating the disproportionate burden on women. Several partners, including the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Government of Germany, OXFAM, and others, have provided crucial funding and technical support to these initiatives. Their contributions have facilitated research, capacity-building programs, men’s engagement strategies, and the distribution of energy-saving technologies, all of which play a pivotal role in easing unpaid care responsibilities and fostering more equitable household dynamics. A core objective of these efforts is to influence policy frameworks in Rwanda by advocating for the inclusion of strategies that address women’s time poverty and its far-reaching impacts on the economy and society. Through multi-sectoral collaboration, these initiatives aim to raise awareness, shift social norms, and create an enabling environment for gender-responsive policies that recognize and value unpaid care work.

The consultant will closely work with 3R Program Coordinator and under the overall supervision of the UN Women Rwanda CO Program Management Specialist. In this regard, mapping out the existing landscape, including key actors, ongoing efforts, and gaps within the care sector in Rwanda, is crucial for the effective implementation of care-related initiatives and serves as a foundation for designing future program interventions under the 3R Programme. The mapping will specifically contribute to UN Women’s and other stakeholders future programming specifically on:

• Identifying gaps and needs by highlighting underserved areas and determine where additional support is needed.
• Enhancing Coordination of key stakeholders (government, NGOs, and development partners) to enable collaboration in a more effective manner by reducing duplication of efforts and maximizing impact.
• Policy Development and Advocacy through evidence-based insights from previous and ongoing initiatives, for policymakers to design and implement strategies that promote gender equality and economic empowerment .Encouraging Innovation through identification of successful models and innovative approaches to addressing unpaid care work. This will also help in providing direction on how to allocate future resources from government and development partners by funding most impactful interventions and ensuring efficient use of limited resources.
• Raising Awareness of unpaid care work and its impact among the public, fostering community engagement and behavioral change.

The overall objective of the assessment: 

The overall objective of this consultancy is to map existing care initiatives in Rwanda that address unpaid care work for women in Rwanda. identify key care providers (including NGOs, government, and the private sector), assess existing gaps and opportunities in the care sector, explore potential partnerships, and document findings and recommendations in a comprehensive report. This mapping will help us understand the landscape surrounding unpaid care work, including partners and resources, by identifying gaps in policy and implementation and ensuring that these issues are adequately addressed in a coherent and coordinated manner. Ultimately, this exercise will contribute to informing future program interventions under the 3R Programme, aligning care-related initiatives with broader gender equality and economic empowerment objectives

Specific Objectives:

• Map and identify key care initiatives across sectors (i.e., Education, health, social services)
• Map out stakeholders involved in the care initiatives identified (i.e., Government, NGOs, Private Sector).
• Assess gaps and opportunities in care provisioning, including care services, infrastructure, time saving technologies/equipment, particularly focusing on how these gaps disproportionately affect women’s participation in the labour market.
• Explore potential partnerships and collaborations between different care providers to address the identified gaps.
• Document findings and actionable recommendations for improving care provisioning, potential partnership and collaborations, innovative models, and ways to foster greater investment in the care economy.
• Highlight scalable good practices and innovations, documenting findings and actionable recommendations to improve care provisioning, foster partnerships, promote innovative models, and encourage greater investment in the care economy
• Provide insights into how existing initiatives can be integrated into the broader framework of the 3R Programme and inform the development of future interventions.
• Assess how care initiatives addressing the disproportionate responsibility of unpaid care work on women align with and contribute to broader national policy formulation and advocacy efforts in Rwanda.

Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work

The consultant will be responsible for:

• Map out key stakeholders engaged in care initiatives in the country including government agencies, NGOs, private sector actors, and development partners, and engage in dialogue with them to understand their roles, objectives, and challenges in the care sector
• Identify and document key care initiatives implemented by NGOs, the government, and the private sector.
• Assess the scope, geographic reach, and impact of these initiatives, with a particular focus on gender equality and Women economic empowerment
• Assess existing gaps in the care sector, particularly those that impede women’s economic participation, and analyze how these gaps affect women’s time poverty and gender inequality.
• Highlight key innovations and best practices and identify opportunities for scaling them up particularly in the areas of unpaid care work, time-saving technologies, and access to essential services.
• Identify and analyze the effectiveness of existing resource allocations, funding mechanisms, and partnerships that sustain gender-transformative care initiatives in Rwanda’s care sector.
• Assess the feasibility of these partnerships in terms of enhancing care services, reducing women’s time poverty, and promoting gender equality
• Produce a comprehensive report summarizing the mapping of care initiatives , actors, resources, the gaps and opportunities, and propose partnerships to be explored for gender transformative care systems in Rwanda.
• Provide actionable recommendations for integrating care initiatives into future policy and program interventions in Rwanda.
• Present the report and findings at stakeholder consultation platforms, integrating feedback to enhance its quality, relevance, and usability.

During this assignment, the consultant shall be responsible for the following deliverables:

No	Deliverables	Tentative time frame
1	Inception Report: Presentation of inception report with detailed methodology references, evidence from previous similar studies, data collection tools including interview questions and interviewee list, and a work plan to the stakeholders.	7 days
2	Submit a Mapping Report: A comprehensive report, including executive summary, preliminary findings, analysis, and recommendations.	25 days
3	Final Mapping Report: Incorporating feedback from UN Women including an executive summary, detailed analysis, and recommendations.	6 days
4	PowerPoint presentation summarizing the findings.	3 days
5	Presenting the findings at minimum 3 stakeholder platforms.	9 days

Consultant’s Workplace and Official Travel

This is a home-based consultancy.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues;
• Accountability;
• Creative Problem Solving;
• Effective Communication;
• Inclusive Collaboration;
• Stakeholder Engagement;
• Leading by Example.

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Values and Competencies Framework:

Functional Competencies:

• Strong commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Strong organizational skills and self-direction.
• Ability to prioritize and work under pressure with colleagues at all levels.
• Strong communication and interactive facilitation skills.
• Have excellent analytical, writing and synthesis skills.
• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural environment.
• Demonstrate ability to produce quality results on time

Education and Certification:

• A Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Economics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Studies, Gender Studies, or a related field.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experiences 

• At least 7 years in conducting assessments, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), particularly in evaluating programs related to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, care economy is required.
• Experience in conducting in-depth mapping of care related initiatives, assess their impact on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment, and analyse gaps and opportunities within the care sector is required.
• Experience in the care economy sector, focusing on gender promotion and women’s empowerment is desirable
• Experience in facilitating dialogue with diverse stakeholders including government agencies, NGOs, private sector actors, and development partners to understand their roles, objectives, and challenges in the care economy is desirable.
• Strong understanding of the Rwandan context, with specific expertise in addressing rural women’s economic challenges and promoting care initiatives that enhance their economic opportunities is desirable.
• Experience in assessing the scope, reach, and effectiveness of care initiatives, including the use of quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate their contribution to reducing women’s time poverty and promoting gender equality is desirable
• Experience in producing high-quality, evidence-based reports that summarize findings, present actionable recommendations, and effectively communicate the potential for integrating care initiatives into broader program interventions.

Languages

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of French or any other UN official is an asset.

How to Apply.

Interested candidates should submit:

• Personal CV or P11 (P11 can be downloaded from: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-P11-Personal-History-Form.doc)
• A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page)
• A detailed technical proposal, including methodology, timeline, and work plan.
• A financial proposal.
• Two examples of previous similar assignments.

Deadline for Application: 21^st April 2025.

Statements :

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Diversity and inclusion:

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.

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