TERMS OF REFERENCE:

Communication / Knowledge Management Consultant to support the IFAD/FAO Grant on “Regional Capacity Building and Knowledge Management for Gender Equality”

Background:

The purpose of the two-year IFAD/FAO Grant on “Regional Capacity Building and Knowledge Management for Gender Equality” is to improve the effectiveness of operations undertaken by IFAD and its field partners to reduce rural poverty by increasing capacity for gender mainstreaming. This is expected to be achieved through:

building capacity in gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment among the staff and implementing partners of IFAD-supported project and programmes (Component 1); and
improving participatory learning and knowledge management (Component 2).

The present assignment relates to Component 2 of the Grant; which includes the following main activities:

Promote networking and horizontal learning (through participatory action learning and research) of gender specialists / project gender focal points;
Generate case studies for use in advocacy and policy dialogue;
Identify and disseminate (through an annual regional competition) gender mainstreaming successes and innovations and thereby promote an innovation culture. Dissemination is aimed to make learning and good practices more widely available to practitioners, policy-makers and the development community as a whole.
Produce joint IFAD/FAO policy briefs on key themes relevant to rural women.

Regional differences in terms of needs, strategic priorities, maturity and thematic experience in dealing with gender issues will result in a varying mix of activities implemented under Component 1 across regions. Activities of global interest will include the holding of a final learning and sharing event, organization of the jury for the regional competitions and production of general policy briefs.

The target audience of the participatory learning and knowledge management activities under the Grant is broad and versatile, including: staff from IFAD funded projects, IFAD and FAO field officers and country programme management teams, project steering committees, cooperating institutions, as well as government counterparts, NGOs and CBOs.


Objective and tasks of the Consultancy:

In the context of the above, the objective of the consultancy will be to define a learning/knowledge management and communication strategy for gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment exploring the best approaches and tools to use and the best mechanisms for dissemination. The KM strategy will build on existing knowledge sharing methods and dissemination mechanisms and tools, in an attempt to avoid duplicating and/or creating new knowledge dissemination mechanisms.

To fulfil the above objective, the Consultant will carry out the following tasks:

1.Conduct an audience analysis, to identify the gender knowledge needs of the different target audiences of the Grant activities. To accomplish this, a methodology needs to be developed that might include a survey done on a representative sample of the target group. As mentioned above, the target audience of the learning and knowledge management strategy is versatile and might have to be defined for each activity separately;

2.Define a systematic method of capturing knowledge as it emerges in the context of the different activities implemented under the Grant. Rather that applying a one-fit-all methodology - given the nature of the Grant (different activities with different outputs) - develop a menu of methods and tools;

3.Undertake a mapping exercise of existing communities of practice/networks, websites and other on-line resources dealing with gender-related activities and define how these can support the knowledge sharing and learning strategy; and

4.Identify existing and planned initiatives/events (at regional or HQ level) of IFAD and FAO that might support the generation, sharing, storing and application of gender mainstreaming knowledge. These could be regular regional workshops, seminars, or special events (e.g. on International Rural Women’s Day, etc.)

5.Prepare a web-based platform where this information will be made available and where the community can actively interact through selected knowledge sharing/ knowledge management tools.


Working modalities:

The Communication/Knowledge Management Consultant will work under the overall guidance of the two Grant Lead Officers, Ms. Maria Hartl (IFAD/PT) and Ilaria Sisto (FAO/ESW) and under the direct supervision of the Grant Coordinator, Ms. Ida Christensen (FAO/TCI).

In carrying out the above tasks, the Consultant will be working closely with a designated Working Group of the Grant’s Learning and Knowledge Management (L/KM)Task Force, including with KM Focal Points, Ms. Roxanna Samii (FAO/EC) and Melina Archer (FAO/ESW). The work will adhere to a participatory process involving face-to-face interviews with staff and partners at IFAD and FAO HQ; focus groups and e-discussions, as well as frequent interaction with the KM Task Force members to present findings and seek relevant feedback. The work will be carried out mainly at IFAD’s HQ, with visits to FAO HQ and telephone contact (skype, teleconference) with regional partners.


Qualifications and profile of Consultant:

Communications/Knowledge Management Practitioner with experience in rural development (if possible in gender-related issues) and sound familiarity with various knowledge management and knowledge sharing methods and tools.
People-centred person with excellent inter-personal communication skills and ability to work with people of different cultures.
Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English, and (desirable) working knowledge of French and/or Spanish.


Outputs:

Different audience needs are analysed and reported;
Methods and tools identified and adapted to the needs of the audience as expressed in the surveyt
Mapping exercise conducted and preparation of a comprehensive list of existing networks, communities of practice, websites and other on-line resource dealing with gender-related activities;
Action Plan detailing the various KM activities to be carried out during the life of the Grant (2 years) for each regional activity.
A project document for the establishment of the web-based platform


Timeframe:

The duration of the consultancy will be of three months stretched over a five-month period, starting on or around 1 September 2009 and ending on or around 30 January 2010.

Written outputs should be submitted and presented to the Task Force at least 2 weeks before the end of the assignment, so as to allow time for incorporation of comments into a final Draft.

Kindly contact the Grant Coordinator (see signature below) of interested.

Ida Christensen Rural Sociologist
Coordinator: IFAD/FAO Grant Regional Capacity Building & Knowledge Management for Gender Equality
UN - Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Investment Centre Division - Latin America & the Caribbean Service (TCIL)
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 1, IT-00153, Rome (Italy)
Tel: +39.06.57056613; Fax: +39.06.57054657
Office: D-580 , Extension: 56613
Investment Centre: http://www.fao.org/tc/tci/