Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) seeks a consultant/consultant team to conduct a livelihood and income generating activities training in five districts of Sudur Paschim Province 7.

Summary

Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) along with its implementing partners Women for Human Rights (WHR) and Tewa is seeking consultant/ consultancy team to conduct an entrepreneurship/ livelihood training in the five districts- Achham, Bajura, Dadeldhura, Doti, Kanchanpur of Province 7 under the project entitled Participation and Voice for Excluded Women in Nepal (PAVE). The project aims to improve the participation, leadership and influence in decision-making in local and provincial level government across formal and informal spheres of 1,379 women (including marginalized women).

The project aims to support and strengthen: 1) Individual political leaders - elected women, including those who are marginalized, will have improved knowledge, skills and resources to participate in governance and represent the views of their constituents more effectively; 2) Individual civil society leaders will be enabled to become aspirant political leaders - members of WROs, including those who are marginalized, will have increased capacity to engage in local politics and decision-making that affects their lives; and 3) Communities will be enabled to provide increased support to women to participate meaningfully in civil society and politics; and 4) The women’s movement will take coordinated and collective action at all levels to change negative gendered social norms in support of women’s participation.

Background

After the introduction of the new constitution in 2015, the second constituent assembly carried out three elections to form the three tiers of government. At the Ward committee level (the lowest administrative unit of government) the constitution mandated that there should be five members – one Ward Chairperson and four members. Out of the four members, two have to be female. During the Ward Elections in 2017, the Dalit Constituent Assembly members campaigned for one seat to be elected to a Dalit woman.

The campaign was successful and, as a result, there are now more than 6,500 Dalit women elected to the Ward committees throughout the country. However, most of these Dalit women come from non-political as well as poor economic backgrounds, factors which have impacted on their abilities to properly represent their constituencies to date. These factors are also compounded by the prevailing patriarchal social realities in Nepal that discriminate against all women being active in public spaces. All these factors are compounded further in Province 7 which is one of the least developed provinces in the country.

The project Participation and Voice for Excluded Women in Nepal (PAVE), has been designed to address the needs of all elected women in Province 7 (both Dalit and non-Dalit) so they are able to play a more active and effective role for their constituents. One key area of focus for the project is to enhance the economic situation of elected women and marginalized women. Elected women often find their active engagement in political leadership hampered because in stepping up to lead, they have to step away from income generating activities. The project will therefore seek to find appropriate ways for women to balance their time to engage in political leadership and continue to generate income for their families.

Competencies of the Consultant:

• Experience in carrying out livelihood and income generating activities.
• Having sufficient knowledge and experience of the lived realities of rural women in Nepal. Experience of Province 7 would be an added advantage.
• Experience of working with Dalit communities and marginalized women.
• Proven track record of at least five years in carrying out such analysis.
• Have sufficient pool of resources (both human resources of related field and hardware)

For the detailed TOR, Please CLICK HERE

The training is part of a 3-year project funded by DFID through the Jo Cox Memorial Fund and Womankind Worldwide- entitled Participation and Voice for Excluded Women in Nepal (PAVE)