Short Term Consultancy for Mashreq Gender Facility project

Consultancy

Private sector analysis and coordination support / Mashreq Gender Facility - Iraq

BAKCKGROUND

Gender equality is smart economics, contributing to poverty reduction, strengthening resilience and boosting shared prosperity. Empowering women and girls have an intrinsic value and is instrumental to achieve more inclusive institutions, sound policies, and effective development outcomes.

In the Mashreq countries of Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon important gains have been made in women’s access to education and health, but persistent challenges remain in women’s economic opportunities. In the Mashreq countries, around 1 in 5 women work and less than 5% of firms are led by a woman. Legally, there are certain restrictions related to areas and tasks in which women can work in all three countries. Women also have less access to formal financial services. Furthermore, countries are faced with context-specific problems, especially in the face of fragility and conflict.

Increased female economic participation would contribute to inclusive growth, and to help grow the middle class. Closing the gender gap in labor force participation rates by 25 percent can boost GDP (PPP terms) by 9 percent in Lebanon, 10 percent in Jordan and 11 percent in Iraq (ILO 2018).

Mashreq Gender Facility, launched on January 19, 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon, providing technical assistance to Mashreq countries to enhance women’s economic opportunities as a catalyst towards more inclusive, sustainable, and peaceful societies, were economic growth benefits all. The 5-year Facility (2019-2024) supports country level activities guided by government developed Action Plans under three, interconnected, pillars:

i. Dialogue & Participation.

ii. Data & Knowledge.

iii. Innovating for Results.

Female labor force participation (FLFP) rate in Iraq is particularly low. The FLFP in Iraq now is (10.6 percent), compared with the male labor force participation rate (68.0 percent)[1] which can undermine the country’s potential to maximize economic growth. To respond to the challenge of low FLFP, the Mashreq Gender Facility (MGF) and the Government of Iraq (GoI) launched a national Women Economic Empowerment Action Plan (WEEAP) which has set the ambitious goal of increasing FLFP rate by 5 percentage points by 2024.

In Iraq, the MGF is supporting the implementation of a government-led country work plan developed within the context of Iraq, inclusive of the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI). In the second plan of Iraq 2021-2022, one of the main pillars is Women’s financial inclusion, which focusing on capacity-building training courses, targeting the female entrepreneurs and response to crisis in relations to running businesses and access to finance. MGF is partnering with International Finance Corporation (IFC) team to deliver activities of this pillar.

Currently MGF in collaboration with Baghdad Chamber of Commerce and Iraq Private Banks League (IPBL) planning to organize and deliver the Financial Management training (11 modules) led by IFC. The training will be delivered to approximately 30 selected MSME women- led participants. The purpose of this consultancy is to engage a consultant providing technical and coordination support to activities under women’s financial inclusion pillar including implementation of the financial management training.

OBJECTIVE & TASKS OF THE CONSULTANCY

The main objective of the consultancy is to provide technical and coordination support in the implementation of the MGF work plan pillars related to the private sector engagement.

A key task will be to support communication and coordination with our counterparts in Iraq including the National Coordinator Dr. Yusra K. Mohsen, Director of Women Empowerment Directorate and the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce provide the WB team with any orientations(s), feedback and comment(s) from these key stakeholders on private sector related MGF activities.

As part of the MGF Iraq core team, the Consultant will be working closely with other colleagues and the MGF Iraq lead, as , and further be expected to: Follow up and report on the progress of businesses of female entrepreneurs undertaking training courses on financial management with IFC in coordination with the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce.

Liase with Baghdad Chamber of Commerce and WBG on progress of management training and support with conducting qualitative assessment of the training course.

Provide updates to MGF team and support with newsletters and progress reports, presentations and technical discussions as needed; provide regular market intel and information to the team about any changes in the region impacting progress of the project.
Attend and participate in WB and official meetings with the counterparts.
Identify and support the preparation of relevant briefs, summaries, working papers, reports and promotional materials for internal and external users, in coordination with the WBG team and counterparts.
Identify potential challenges that will impact the project delivery, timeline or efficiency; track progress on targets making sure WBG requirements are met.

DELIVERABLES UNTIL THE END OF JUNE 2023

High-level report on the overall progress of the selected female entrepreneurs undertaking the financial management training course. Reports will mention any challenges, feedback and level of satisfaction of the participants attending the trainings.
Presentation on the progress of entrepreneurship activities related to the course above and how the courses have impacted their SME business to track the impact of the trainings, as needed.
Inputs to newsletter, briefs, reports etc, as per discussions with the team.

CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS

Master’s degree in Economics, Public Administration, Finance, Social Sciences or related areas.
At least 5 years of working on private-public sector engagement and coordination topics in Iraq. Experience in gender equality and women’s empowerment issues is highly desired.
Experience in facilitating and communicating across different stakeholders is required, and experience of capacity building activities with public and private sector stakeholders is a merit.
Proven record in timely delivery of progress reports, communications pieces, analytical reports and documents with high quality.
Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work effectively in a team, to build and maintain networks and ability to liaise with government officials and the World Bank teams effectively. Experience working with the government, and/or previous work with the World Bank or other international and donor organization is highly desirable.
Proficiency in written and spoken English and Arabic required.

ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS AND REMUNERATION

The duration of the initial Consultancy is a total of 20 days, spanning over the period February 2023, to June 30, 2023. Remuneration for this Short-Term Consultancy will be determined based on the candidate’s experience and the Terms of Reference. Based on program needs and fund availability, the contract may be extended for an additional full year of part time work.

In the day-to-day activities, the consultant will work closely with the National Coordinator of the Mashreq Gender Facility, Dr. Yusra K. Mohsen, and liaise with the World Bank Country Technical Specialist- CO-lead of the MGF, Gharam Alkastalani Dexter, and other persons in the Iraq team. Final reporting responsibility is to Gharam Alkastalani Dexter..

The World Bank reserves the right to shorten and/or terminate the contract and/or suspend payments if the consultant does not fill the commitments, or if the project is cancelled.

For interested candidates please send your CV to: Ms. Gharam Alkastalani Dexter gdexter@worldbank.org, Ms. Zheen Almukhtar, zalmukhtar@worldbank.org.

[1] Iraq Labor Force Survey 2021.