Position Title: Gender Specialist / Coach (Consultant)

1. Background

1.1. Information on the mandating organisation: Frieda

The Swiss NGO Frieda – the Feminist Peace Organisation is a peace and development organisation working towards gender equality, the empowerment of women, and participation of women in conflict resolution and peace building efforts. Its regional focus is around the Mediterranean (South-East Europe, Maghreb, and Middle East).

Frieda’s engagement in South-East Europe goes back to 1996 and remained ever since a key element in the international cooperation programme of the organisation. Frieda cooperates with local NGOs, mostly women’s organisations, which develop and implement empowerment strategies in their respective context and field of activities: They fight for better access to resources such as education, income and healthcare for women; they fight against gender-based violence and they campaign for legal equality and more political influence for women.

Frieda has been implementing projects in Kosovo for more than ten years, working with local non-governmental organisations in the areas of income generation, gender equality, protection against violence, and the promotion of non-violent living.

1.2. Information on the partner organisation

Initiative for Agricultural Development in Kosovo IADK is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation established in 2004, emerging out of LWF Program. For 18 years, since its establishment, the organization has implemented above 125 projects, with aim to advance small farmers, women and youth in agriculture. IADK continues to become stronger as by learning and developing along the way, who currently is one of the major players in agriculture development in Kosovo, one of the largest NGO in this sector that provides different agriculture services, closely cooperating with relevant institutions, ministry/policy makers, those that have high valued sector expertise. IADK aims to address particularly the agricultural and rural sector problems by improving the quality and quantity of the agriculture sector, increasing knowledge and competitiveness of farmers and strengthening the role of farmers. Therefore, IADK cooperates closely with farmers in Kosovo and their associations, public and private agricultural advisory specialists, other non-governmental organizations, municipalities and government authorities such as MAFRD. Through the cooperation with Frieda, IADK has accentuated the gender and vulnerability perspective in its work and would like to further deepen it.

1.3. Short description of the Frieda-supported IADK project

In the project, the capacities of marginalized and vulnerable groups are enhanced through enabling them to generate income and advocate for their interests with public institutions. IADK, through this project, strives for concrete outcomes wherein women, men, and youth find employment or become self-employed thanks to the implemented interventions. Recognizing the elevated unemployment rate in Kosovo, particularly in rural areas, the ultimate goal is to ensure that women, men, and youth from marginalized population groups secure a meaningful and valued role with-in society.

The main components of the project are:

• To support rural women, men, and youth with professional trainings (VET) in food processing, economic, and social development skills.
• To support the creation of small-scale businesses owned by women/men, young women and young men.
• To increase awareness about agricultural opportunities by promoting different activities of youth and women who benefited from income generating activities.

2. Objective of the Consultancy

To provide specialized training and advice / coaching to IADK and specifically project staff members on integrating an intersectional gender perspective into the project management cycle, with a special focus on the project funded by Frieda.

3. Scope of Work

The Gender Specialist / Coach will:

1. Develop training modules focused on:

• How to include and consider gender disparities in the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects
• Gender-sensitive implementation of projects:
• How to recognize gender-specific / vulnerability aspects
• Different ways to tackle gender and vulnerability issues, including conflict-sensitive, intersectional, and systemic approaches in direct work with target groups.
• Methods for gender-responsive data collection and analysis: How can gender disparities, their influence on the project as well as the project’s impact on them be made visible?

2. Facilitate participatory trainings tailored to staff capacity on one hand and practical requirements, which are connected to the implementation and M&E of projects, on the other hand.
3. Provide guidance and resources on incorporating (intersectional) gender considerations into project cycle management, including M&E.
4. Provide on-demand and on-the job support for staff, ensuring continuous expertise in addressing and dealing with above-mentioned questions.
5. Provide guidelines and toolkits as a support for staff.

4. Deliverables

• Tailored introduction training and materials.
• Coaching project staff on gender-sensitive approaches, including conflict-sensitive and intersectional perspectives.
• Provide guidelines and toolkits for gender- and conflict-sensitive, intersectional approaches for staff support.

5. Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Social Sciences, or related fields.
• Minimum of 5 years of demonstrated experience in developing, mainstreaming and implementing gender- and conflict-sensitive, intersectional policies, M&E, capacity-building and coaching.
• Excellent knowledge of the local context and region where the project is implemented, i.e. rural areas in Kosovo, especially in terms of gender and conflict.
• Experience in working with vulnerable population groups
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Fluency in English; proficiency in Albanian.

6. Duration

The consultancy will cover a total duration of 20 to 25 days (within 6 months), including preparation, training delivery, coaching and reporting phases (modalities will be defined together with the consultant).

7. Reporting

The Gender Specialist will report directly to Frieda and coordinate closely with the IADK team.

8. Application

Interested applicants should submit a CV, a brief cover letter highlighting relevant experience (1 page max.), and references from similar assignments by May 25, 2025, by e-mail to: [email protected]

Questions can be submitted to the same e-mail no later than May 19 2024.