Assessment of Care Policy and practises of targeted private sector Institutions (INT10096)

1. ABOUT OXFAM

Oxfam is an international confederation of 21 organizations working in over 60 countries worldwide seeking to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice around the world. Oxfam is determined to change that world by mobilizing the power of people against poverty. Around the world, Oxfam works to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we campaign so that the voices of the poor influence the local and global decisions that affect them. In all we do, Oxfam works with partners, public and private sector institutions alongside vulnerable women and men to end the injustices that cause poverty. Read more about Oxfam from https://kenya.oxfam.org/  

2. ABOUT THE TIME TO CARE PROJECT

 Oxfam in collaboration with the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA) and Youth Alive Kenya (YAK) will implement a 6-year programme dubbed ‘Care Project Kenya in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kiambu and Nakuru counties in Kenya. The project aims to improve gender equality and care infrastructure for women and girls in Kenya. The Care Project will benefit directly 5,916 people and 2,021,800 people indirectly as shown in the table below:

These include both rural and urban populations, in particular small-scale farmers, women-headed households, unemployed and vulnerable men. The Care Project will take an intersectional approach, integrating efforts to combat exclusion and discrimination across identity markers such as gender, age, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and income.

1. Programming Vision and Approach

 The Project’s  central vision is to improve gender equality and care infrastructure for women and girls in Kenya through care[1] programming.

One of the main barriers preventing women and girls from participating in society and economies is that they bear disproportionate responsibility for Unpaid Care and Domestic Work (UCDW), which pushes them further into poverty. According to reports published by Oxfam, globally, women and girls undertake more than 75% of unpaid care work, and makeup two-thirds of the paid care workforce. They carry out 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work every day. When valued at minimum wage, this would represent a value to the global economy of at least $10.8 trillion a year, more than three times the size of the global tech industry. Oxfam’s research in Nairobi’s informal settlements before the pandemic confirmed that, compared to men, women spend significantly more time on UCDW and less time on paid work. For instance, women in Kenya spend around 5 hours a day on care activities, whereas men spend just 1 hour a day and women are more often expected to be the primary caregiver and are likely to spend 20% of their time looking after a child[2].

To address these barriers, The Care Project will take an innovative approach to change social norms in ensuring that domestic workers and unpaid caregivers, particularly women and girls in Kenya, are treated with dignity and respect within their communities, and are able to fully exercise agency and decision-making so that they can lead fulfilling lives and have equal opportunities to participate fully in economic, social, cultural and political spaces..

The Kenya private sector has over the years substantially contributed to the country’s economic development. Private sector contributes over 80% of the GDP, a substantial percentage of total employment, and the bulk of export earnings. In Kenya’s Vision 2030, the long-term development blueprint, the private sector is recognized as a key contributor to the transformation of Kenya into an industrialized and high-middle income country. It is also recognized that the private sector in Kenya is uniquely composed of formal businesses as well as the MSME sector. The private sector, both formal and largely informal businesses and MSMEs, create employment and entrepreneurship opportunities thereby increasing the quality of life and the improvement of the Kenyan economy. The MSME sector is said to account for about 80% of current jobs, contributes to over 92% of new jobs created annually and about 45% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).[3] This undoubtedly places the private as key stakeholder in promoting gender equality and improving care infrastructure in Kenya.

3. PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE

The Time to Care project intends to target the private Sector as a key stakeholder to influence and advocate for the adoption of gender transformative care policies and practices within the institutions. It is vital that the private sector take leadership in recognizing , redistributing and reducing unpaid care ; rewarding paid care workers with more decent work and wages, promoting representation, social dialogue and collective organizing and bargaining for paid workers. As a result, the TTC project will  provide support to targeted private sector institutions to design and implement gender-transformative care policies that integrate environmental analysis and strengthen the care economy .

Additionally, the assignment seeks to determine the extent to which care policies and practices exist within the identified institutions, the extent to which they are being implemented and identify barriers if any to the implementation. To realize this the successful consultant will be expected to: –

1. Map out the private sector institutions to be engaged throughout the project.
2. Conduct an analysis of the existing gender transformative care policies and practices.
3. of identified institutions. Assess and track extent to which private sector institutions invest in and budget for models, policies and infrastructure related to care in Kenya. Provide an analysis of private sector recognition and vale of paid care work through integration of social protection policies in labor standards for shared responsibility as nationally appropriate.
4. Identify barriers to the institutionalization and implementation of gender transformative care policies and practices within the institutions.
5. Provide recommendations to address identified gaps and supporting the targeted private sector institutions to adopt gender transformative care policies and practices within their workplaces.

With this in mind, the assignment will employ qualitative data approaches for data collection and analysis.

Oxfam expects the consultant(s) leading the assignment to use a gender lens. In its work, Oxfam seeks to apply a Feminist Approach to Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (FMEAL)..

4. METHODOLOGY

The consultant(s) should be prepared to use appropriate qualitative and participatory data collection approaches and techniques that will guarantee quality and ethical compliance.

Primary Data Collection– information gathering from targeted private sector institutions. The assignment will involve the development of a structured series of Key Informant Interviews/ Expert Consultations and other information gathering techniques that will be used in parallel under the assignment.

Secondary data review:  The consultant will identify in consultation with Oxfam in Kenya, YAK and KUDHEIHA relevant policies and documents within the targeted institutions for review; and government policies that provide mandate that private sector institutions institutionalize gender transformative care policies and practices.

Stakeholder mapping and Analysis of private Sector Institutions: The consultant will identify in consultation with OiK, KEPSA, YAK and KUDHEIHA an extensive list of private sector Institutions to be engaged. The consultant will then take lead in conducting an analysis of the private sector Institutions based on a criterion to be agreed upon.

Data collection and Instruments

The identified consultant will develop relevant data collection tools and identify appropriate means of collecting the data which will be discussed and agreed upon with Oxfam prior to the data collection exercise.

Ethical considerations

The consultant will put in place measures to ensure data collection adheres to all necessary ethics and guidelines provided by local laws on data protection and ‘Do no Harm’ standards, Oxfam safe programming and feminist principles.

5. KEY ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

The assignment will start upon signing of the contract between Oxfam and the successful consultant(s) or an otherwise agreed upon date. The exact due dates for all deliverables will be finalized with Oxfam prior to submitting the inception report, so long as the dates continue to fall within the broad start and finish dates of the consultancy.

Oxfam envisions the review as a collaborative undertaking between itself, partner staff in Kenya and the successful consultant(s). We expect that the selected consultant(s) will engage with and provide feedback on a continual basis. On our part, we commit to collaborating with the selected individual/team and to providing sufficient time for a back-and-forth approach.

a)  Inception Report

The inception phase will begin with a thorough desk review of existing project documents and current research on care work >. Based on this analysis, the inception report will include:

• List of Private Sector Institutions to be mapped.
• Roles and responsibilities of team members executing the work,
• Data collection tools
• Proposed methodology.
• Updated budget,
• A proposed schedule of meetings with key Oxfam staff to check progress and provide updates throughout all phases of the work, and

In-country data collection can only begin after Oxfam approves the inception report.

b)  Final Report

The final report will provide an analysis of care policies/frameworks, Private sector stakeholders mapped out and the recommendations. The report shall provide clear documentation and findings, focusing on:

• Executive summary (2-3 pages)
• Introduction
• Purpose and objectives
• Methodology
• Findings
• Conclusion and recommendations

c)  Annexes to the Final Report

The final report shall also include a number of annexes, which will provide context to the report’s findings and recommendations. Suggested annexes include:

• Terms of Reference for the final review.
• Final review inception report.
• Data collection tools,
• List of individuals and stakeholder groups consulted.
• List of supporting documentation reviewed.
• All raw data (transcripts from In-depth Interviews, should be submitted to Oxfam in Kenya Offices in Nairobi for reference and future use

6. PROFILE OF THE REVIEW TEAM

The consultancy can include different team members. Key competencies of the team include:

• Good understanding of policies and frameworks regulating Care work.
• Experience on approaches of conducting stakeholder mapping and analysis.
• Ability to facilitate and relate to stakeholders at multiple levels and in diverse contexts.
• Strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills in English
• Strong analytical, communication and report writing skills.
• Good spoken and written communication skills in Kiswahili and English.

7. TAX AND VAT ARRANGEMENTS

Oxfam will deduct withholding tax from the professional fees which will be in conformity with the prevailing government rates and submit the same to the Government of Kenya.

8. BID REQUIREMENTS

Consultant(s) who meet the above requirements should submit bids, which at minimum include the following:

• Suitability statement, including commitment to availability for the entire assignment.
• Brief statement of the proposed study methodology including a detailed work plan.
• Detailed financial proposal, including daily costs.
• Information on the team composition and level of effort of each team member – include updated curriculum vitae that clearly spell out qualifications and experience.
• Contacts of three organizations that have recently contracted the consultant to carry out relevant study.
• Samples of similar and/or related work done previously

Budget financial proposal must indicate all-inclusive costs for conducting the assignment.

N/B: The entire bid should be a MAXIMUM OF fifteen (15) PAGES inclusive of CVs and Budgets. Bids not meeting this requirement will not be considered.

9. REPORTING LINES

The consultant shall work under the supervision of the Oxfam’s Gender Justice and Women Rights technical team.

[1] Care work describes a range of different activities: direct, personal, and relational care activities, such as feeding a baby or nursing an ill partner; and indirect care activities, such as cooking and cleaning. It includes unpaid care work, which is work provided without a monetary reward by unpaid caregivers, and paid care work, which is work performed for pay or profit by a wide range of personal service workers, including domestic workers, who provide direct and indirect care in households (ILO, 2018).

 [3] Private Sector Partnerships for Sustainable Development, Finnish Development NGOs (Fingo)

How to apply:

Oxfam Kenya invites individuals who meet the criteria to submit Expression of Interest that clearly articulates the consultant(s) understanding of the terms of reference, methodology for executing the work including key deliverables and tentative budget should and clearly indicated “Assessment of Care Policy and practises of targeted private sector Institutions.”

Expression of Interests shall be sent to [email protected] , no later than close of business on 15^th December  2023. Only applicants who qualify will be contacted.