Terms Of Reference For The Accompanyment Of An Audit Of The France Exchange – Taking Into Account The Equality Of Gender And The Intersecional Approach At Action against Faim France

Background

Action against Hunger has the vision of a world without hunger, a world where women, men, girls, boys and people of all identities and abilities have access to adequate nutritional food and drinking water and can do so with dignity. Action against Hunger believes that gender equality consists of an intrinsic human right and an end in itself. We can only achieve this vision if we place women’s rights and gender equality at the heart of everything we do.

Gender inequality and exclusion vary in their expressions, but in all the countries where we intervene ( including France ), we are witnessing different forms of discrimination based on gender, stereotypes, unequal distribution of power and resources between women, men, girls, boys and people of various gender identities as well as exclusion based on multiple factors. These factors include: social class, religion, ethnicity, abilities, language, sexual orientation and gender identity. Gender inequality exacerbates the negative consequences of all other forms of exclusion.Understanding the intersection of these factors of discrimination and using this analysis at the institutional and programmatic level will allow us to strengthen our commitment to gender equality.

We must therefore consider gender equality and the interventional approach as an essential strategy aimed at ensuring food security and eradicating hunger. We will work to dismantle patriarchal power structures, the promotion of feminist leadership and approaches, and the sharing of power as an essential condition for gender equality.

A gender audit is both a tool and a process. Its aim is to promote a concrete and effective integration of equality at the institutional and programmatic level, this is an essential approach to guarantee that internal, political, strategies and procedures meet the commitments of the ACF gender policy approved in 2021. The process will increase our collective capacity to examine our actions from an interventional perspective, to identify our strengths and weaknesses and to develop an ongoing action plan for mainstreaming equality.

Goals

The overall objective of the gender audit of ACF headquarters is to provide a baseline and contribute to the development of a gender mainstreaming strategy and the intersection approach.

Specific objectives :

• Evaluate the current strategic and conceptual approach to gender and inclusion ;
• Examine gender mainstreaming and the intersectional approach in the organization’s processes, structures, systems, policies and cultures ;
• Evaluate how gender and intersectionality figure – and to what extent, it is integrated ( action and resources implemented ) – in global programming, communication and advocacy ;
• Document good practices and identify current challenges ;
• Contribute to the establishment of a baseline and make recommendations.

The gender audit will be based on a combination of the following: documentary analysis ( policies, protocols, processes, etc. ), interviews, group discussions, self-assessment surveys, etc.

The consultant is responsible for conducting a gender audit in the following areas :

1. Mission of the organization ;
2. Organizational culture ;
3. Allocated policies and human resources ;
4. Actions implemented for the integration of the gender dimension within the different departments ;
5. Capacity building actions implemented ;
6. ( institutional, policy / strategy advocacy and communication actions … ).

With all the departments / entities of ACF France headquarters :

1. Board of Directors ;
2. General Management ;
3. Management Committee ;
4. Operations Department ;
5. Expertise and Advocacy ;
6. Communication and Development Department ;
7. Human Resources Department ;
8. Administration and Finance Department ;
9. Logistics Delegate Directorate;
10. Information Systems Delegate Directorate ;
11. Audit, Risks and Compliance Service.

Deliverables

1. A framing note ( electronic support ) from 10 to 20 pages. The note should present the methodology and a work plan for carrying out the audit. The note should also include the data collection protocol and methods of analysis. The note is submitted to the steering committee for examination and before being finalized and adopted as deliverable.
2. An interim report will be presented with the main results based on the data collection processes, the conclusions obtained, and will propose recommendations. This report will be amended by the steering committee and the consultant will integrate the amendments and table the final report.
3. A final report for :

• Reflect on our progress and the current state of integration of the gender dimension and the intersectional approach to our work and the structure of our organization ;
• Offer options for the level of ambition of our organization in terms of gender mainstreaming and intersectionality in the future ;
• Provide ideas and practical recommendations on how ACF can improve and better integrate equality into its strategic and conceptual framework, into processes, structures, internal policies and cultures of the organization ;
• Provide presentation material for the dissemination of the audit report, internally and the basic data compiled ;
• A summary of the recommendations.

Calendar and budget

The calendar must be set according to the availability of the consultant and the people mobilized internally. The audit will have to be finalized in late February 2024.

A maximum of 2-3 months of work is planned to carry out this gender audit, to be distributed according to the proposed methodology.

Profile of the consultant.e

• Higher university education ( bac + 5 ) in one of the following areas: sociology, economics, law, gender and other similar training in addition ;
• Confirmed experience in carrying out gender audits, in the areas of the transformative gender approach, diversity and inclusion, as well as in the processing and statistical exploitation of data ;
• Adaptability to different levels of gender management and to various trades ( communication, marketing, HR, development programs … ) ;
• A knowledge of the environment of international NGOs being a plus ;
• Have skills in communication and group animation techniques ;
• Excellent analytical and writing skills.